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Today we're spoiled by the abundance of advanced cameras available, whether it's just a smartphone's lens or a professional SLR.

But these pictures of New York taken with a Game Boy Camera by photographer David Friedman are oddly alluring, despite paling in comparison to modern technology.

Taken in 2000, the photos reveal various locations around New York in 'stunning low definition'.

Photographer David Friedman has revealed his amazing photos of New York life taken back in 2000 using a Game Boy Camera, a primitive accessory for Nintendo's Game Boy that once held the Guinness World Record for the world's smallest camera. Here we see a park bench as a street stretches into the distance

Nintendo's Game Boy, released in 1989, pioneered the age of modern portable gaming – together with its successor the Game Boy Colour, it sold 118.69 million units worldwide.

A little-known accessory released in 1998, though, was the Game Boy Camera.

This tiny device, capable of taking black and white photos at a resolution of 256x224, attached into the Game Boy and in 1999 held the Guinness World Record for the world's smallest digital camera.

By modern standards the camera is incredibly primitive, but in 2000 it was a novelty to have such a small device capable of taking photos.

And so, as Friedman explains on his website, he took to the streets of New York to give it a shot.

Originally he had planned to work on a project adding colour to Game Boy photos, but first he decided to give the accessory a whirl on the streets.

Here's two differing views of the Prometheus statue and fountain at the Rockefeller Center main entrance in New York. One is taken through the eyes of Friedman's Game Boy Camera in 2000, while the other is a photo taken on 15 June 2012 with a somewhat more advanced device. We'll let you decide which is which

Look appealing? Here Friedman snaps a classic shot of a slice of New York pizza

Surely anticipating the rise of the selfie, Friedman is seen here snapping a picture of himself with the camera

'When I first got the camera, I took a walk through midtown taking pictures,' he writes.

He had forgotten about the photos until recently when he decided to share them.

'I was doing some general Lightroom file maintenance and was looking at some of my oldest digital images, and there they were," he told Business Insider.

'These aren't actually my oldest digital photos, but they're close.'

Nintendo's Game Boy (left) was released in 1989 and went on to become a worldwide phenomenon in portable gaming, spawning many successors and imitators. The Game Boy Camera (right), meanwhile, was a little-known accessory launched in 1998 that was once the world's smallest digital camera

Guessing game: On one side, the New York Public Library as seen in the year 2000 through the eyes of a Game Boy. On the other, a more recent colour picture taken with a modern digital camera

Here is seen a Giacometti statue, one made by Swiss sculptor Alberto Giacometti, at the New York Museum of Modern Art

To make them easier to see, they are scaled up by 200%, as originally they were intended only to be viewed on the much smaller Game Boy screen.

The photos highlight some iconic locations in New York, and also provide some glimpses of life in the city.

In one photo we see the entrance to the Rockefeller Plaza in all its grainy glory; in another just a simple slice of pizza is given the Game Boy treatment.

And Friedman even anticipate the rise of the selfie by snapping a picture of himself, all those 14 years ago. 

Two people on the New York subway are seen through the eyes of the tiny lens on the Game Boy Camera here

No, these aren't real taxis - here Friedman spied a number of toy taxis on the streets of New York and decided to snap a picture

Now you see it: Here a subway speeds past as Friedman grabs a quick snap with the Game Boy Camera