It was released in China as the iQue Game Boy Micro on October 1, 2005, and later released in South Korea on November 9, 2005. The system was released in Japan on September 13, 2005, in North America on September 19, 2005, in Australia on November 3, 2005., and in Europe on November 4, 2005.
The Game Boy Micro was announced by Nintendo of America's vice president of sales and marketing, Reggie Fils-Aimé, at the company's Electronic Entertainment Expo press conference on May 17, 2005. Ltd president Satoru Iwata, was "unusual for Nintendo". Developed under the code name "Oxy", the company tried many ways to see how small they could make the Game Boy, opting for a metallic casing that, according to Nintendo Co. Harrison explained that unlike the traditional console development process, Nintendo was always thinking about new ideas for the Game Boy, describing it as a "continuous process of invention". According to Nintendo of America vice president George Harrison, the idea for a smaller version of the Game Boy was first discussed in 2004.