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.
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
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.