The Gameboy and Gameboy Pocket could not play Gameboy Color games - not ones that were made specifically for the console. There were three classes of Gameboy games back in the day - Gameboy games, "Gameboy Color" games which were really just optimized Gameboy games to take advantage of the colors, and Gameboy Color games, which couldn't be run on the original system at all. Near the end of its life, most Gameboy Color games were of this sort.

I think they could.  I must consult the mighty Wikipedia on this one.  Be back in a few.......

@Soriku

How??

If the games didnt even fit in the slot?

@Nordlead

Alright so the NES and SNES are also the same console?

Yes, the Game Boy and Gameboy colour should be counted seperately. The reason they weren't seems to be largely based on difficulties in tracking handheld hardware so early on.

But the gameboy advance has always been counted separately and the Gameboy Pocket was merely a hardware revision of the Gameboy.

So you're right on won point.

Just to clarify, there were there cartridges

Grey (GB, but could be played on GBC)
Black (GBC, but could be played on GB)
Clear (GBC only).

We went through this before I'm certian, it was concluded that GB,GBC and GBM were all the same line while the SP was a seperate line and now the DS.

Similarly the PSP,PSP2 and now PSP3 are all grouped together, why I vaugely remember it being something about minor sku differences, it could just be that they are all being sold as the same product. Which bring the arguement about the PSX vs the PS2 which makes you wonder was the PS2 really the next system or next gen...

That puts into light another thing, is the Xbox360 really any different from the Xbox to the point where their sales should be seperated.

Going back you can see the the GB and GBC support the same differences as the PSX to the PS2 except the PS2 could play movies and had USB and a online port adapter. Then the PS3 plays movies but it's key difference is that it has many of the external functions or add-ons for the PS2 built in (Storage and online.).

So it may be safe to say that the PS2 is actually an advancement to the PSX but the apparent functions of the PS3 may not be so outspoken versus the PS2... It does have XMB though, so I guess that would be enough to create a distinguishment of sorts.

XD

don't be an idiot.

Maybe if the jump was as huge as saying that the original DS was black and white and that the dsi has mostly dsi specific games released for it not supported by the original DS like the gbc did that would be true.

The improvements made by the dsi are subtle and so far there hasn't been an influx of dsi specific games not supported by the original ds. Going from a black and white screen to color is a massive improvement.

Any DSi game that uses the camera is not playable on the DS/Lite. Hence why they are similar scenarios.

EDIT: they may not be here yet, but they will be.

Cartridges

"Transparent cartridges are designed for, and therefore will only work with, the Game Boy Color or the Game Boy Advance. Black cartridges are designed for the Game Boy Color and will also work on previous systems, as they have a similar design to the original grey Game Boy cartridges. The black cartridges can be easily identified from the grey ones. The European and American releases of the Pokémon games feature different color cartridges."

That's what the Wiki says, anyway.  In my opinion, the Super Gameboy AND the Gamecube's Gameboy Player should be added to Gameboy sales.  Then again, I've been sniffing glue.