My cousin had one... Makes me curious how well it actually did sell? I know my young nephews are pretty obsessed with their toy digital camera.
I wonder that if despite the laughable fidelity (it retrospect) if it didn't tap into a pretty base interest in children who (without better alternatives) still had a lot of fun with it
As a child at the time, the ability to take pictures with one's Gameboy was so amazing. The ability to take a picture of your friend at school was mind blowing to me at the time.
Interactive photo booths that printed photos and stickers called purikura became very popular in late 90s Japan. There was also a lot of hype about digital cameras at the time, and new capabilities digital photography could offer, although the tech wasn’t quite ready yet.
Plus Nintendo has long been a company to take risks on unusual applications of technology in general.