The Game Boy makes a fun appearance in Ars Technica’s comprehensive history of FireWire, the USB that wasn’t:
They asked Apple's resident connector expert what they should use. He noted that Nintendo's Game Boy link cable was unlike anything else, and they could make it unique to their technology by swapping the polarization around. The connector could use exactly the same technology—same pins and everything—and it would look different. Better yet, the Game Boy link cable was the first major connector that put the fragile springy parts inside the cable. That way, when the springy bits wear out, you just have to buy a new cable rather than replace or repair the device.