Because, Nintendo had the games library to be able to sit on its haunches. I can attest to that - I had a Gameboy and my sister had a Game Gear. And yes, I'd occasionally borrow hers to play Sonic, Earthworm Joe and Sonic Spinball, but she borrowed mine far more often because I had Donkey Kong Land, Kirby's Dreamland, Super Mario Land, Tetris, Qix, etc etc.
Ah, fond memories...
Ah, fond memories...
I was particularly fond of the Mario games for the Original Gameboy, significantly different enough from the regular Marios, both in storyline, and in the platforming itself. I just wish I had gotten the various RPGs for the original Gameboy back in the day. I seem to remember there were several final fantasies released for it that were totally original(or so I think, again my memory could be wrong, that was back when I was like..10).