A handheld video game console is a lightweight, portable
electronic device with a built-in screen, game controls, speakers and
replaceable and/or rechargeable batteries or battery pack.[1] Handheld game consoles are smaller than home video game consoles
and contain the console, screen, speakers, and controls in one unit,
allowing people to carry them and play them at any time or place.[2] [3]
In 1976, Mattel introduced the first handheld electronic game with the release of Auto Race.[4] Later, several companies—including Coleco and Milton Bradley—made their own single-game, lightweight table-top or handheld electronic game devices.[5] The oldest true handheld game console with interchangeable cartridges is the Milton Bradley Microvision in 1979.[6]
Nintendo is credited with popularizing the handheld console concept with the release of the Game Boy in 1989[3] and as of 2011 continues to dominate the handheld console market[7] with their Nintendo DS and DSi systems.[8] However, Nintendo's latest handheld, the Nintendo 3DS, has been their largest handheld or video game console investment success in 30 years.
In 1979 the LCD-based Microvision, designed by Smith Engineering and distributed by Milton-Bradley, became the first handheld game console and the first to use interchangeable game cartridges.[6] The Microvision game Cosmic Hunter (1981) also introduced the concept of a directional pad on handheld gaming devices[citation needed], and is operated by using the thumb to manipulate the on-screen character in any of four directions.[17]
In 1979, Gunpei Yokoi, traveling on a bullet train, saw a bored businessman playing with an LCD calculator by pressing the buttons. Yokoi then thought of an idea for a watch that doubled as a miniature game machine for killing time.[18] Starting in 1980, Nintendo began to release a series of electronic games designed by Yokoi called the Game & Watch games.[19] Taking advantage of the technology used in the credit-card-sized calculators that had appeared on the market, Yokoi designed the series of LCD-based games to include a digital time display in the corner of the screen.[20] For later, more complicated Game & Watch games, Yokoi invented a cross shaped directional pad or "D-pad" for control of on-screen characters.[21] Yokoi also included his directional pad on the NES controllers, and the cross-shaped thumb controller soon became standard on game console controllers and ubiquitous across the video game industry as a replacement for the joystick.[22] When Yokoi began designing Nintendo's first handheld game console, he came up with a device that married the elements of his Game & Watch devices and the Famicom console,[23] including both items' D-pad controller. The result was the Nintendo Game Boy.
In 1982, the Bandai LCD Solarpower was the first solar-powered gaming device. Some of its games, such as the horror-themed game Terror House, featured two LCD panels, one stacked on the other, for an early 3D effect.[24] In 1983, Takara Tomy's Tomytronic 3D simulated 3D by having two LED panels that were lit by external light through a window on top of the device, making it the first dedicated home video 3D hardware.[25]
Even though third-party rechargeable batteries were available for the battery-hungry alternatives to the Game Boy, these batteries employed a nickel-cadmium process and had to be completely discharged before being recharged to ensure maximum efficiency; lead-acid batteries could be used with automobile circuit limiters (cigarette lighter plug devices); but the batteries had mediocre portability. The later NiMH batteries, which do not share this requirement for maximum efficiency, were not released until the late 1990s, years after the Game Gear, Atari Lynx, and original Game Boy had been discontinued. During the time when technologically superior handhelds had strict technical limitations, batteries had a very low mAh rating since batteries with heavy power density were not yet available.
Modern game systems such as the Nintendo DS and PlayStation Portable have rechargeable Lithium-Ion batteries with proprietary shapes. Other seventh-generation consoles such as the GP2X use standard alkaline batteries. Because the mAh rating of alkaline batteries has increased since the 1990s, the power needed for handhelds like the GP2X may be supplied by relatively few batteries.
The original Game Boy
Nintendo released the Game Boy on April 21, 1989 (or in September 1990 for UK). The design team headed by the late Gunpei Yokoi had also been responsible for the Game & Watch system, as well as the Nintendo Entertainment System games Metroid and Kid Icarus.
The Game Boy came under scrutiny by some industry critics, saying that
the monochrome screen was too small, and the processing power was
inadequate. The design team had felt that low initial cost and battery
economy were more important concerns, and when compared to the
Microvision, the Game Boy was a huge leap forward.
Yokoi recognized that the Game Boy needed a killer app—at least one game that would define the console, and persuade customers to buy it. In June 1988, Minoru Arakawa, then-CEO of Nintendo of America saw a demonstration of the game Tetris at a trade show. Nintendo purchased the rights for the game, and packaged it with the Game Boy system. It was almost an immediate hit. By the end of the year more than a million units were sold in the US,[26] and 25 million were sold by 1992.[verification needed] As of March 31, 2005, the Game Boy and Game Boy Color combined to sell 118.69 million units worldwide.[27][28]
Atari Lynx
In 1987, Epyx
created the Handy Game; a device that would turn into the Atari Lynx in
1989. It was the first color handheld console ever made, as well as the
first with a backlit
screen. It also featured networking support with up to 17 other
players, and advanced hardware that allowed the zooming and scaling of
sprites. The Lynx could also be turned upside down to accommodate left-handed
players. However, all these features came at a very high price point,
which drove consumers to seek cheaper alternatives. The Lynx was also
very unwieldy, consumed batteries very quickly, and lacked the
third-party support enjoyed by its competitors. Due to its high price,
short battery life, production shortages, a dearth of compelling games,
and Nintendo's aggressive marketing campaign, and despite a redesign in
1991, the Lynx became a commercial failure.
Despite this, companies like Telegames helped to keep the system alive
long past its commercial relevance, and when new owner Hasbro released
the rights to develop for the public domain, independent developers like
Songbird have managed to release new commercial games for the system
every year until 2004's Winter Games.
TurboExpress handheld
The TurboExpress was a portable version of the TurboGrafx,
released in 1990 for $249.99 (the price was briefly raised to $299.99,
soon dropped back to $249.99, and by 1992 it was $199.99). Its Japanese
equivalent was the PC Engine GT.
It was the most advanced handheld of its time and could play all the TurboGrafx-16's games (which were on a small, credit-card sized media called HuCards). It had a 66 mm (2.6 in.) screen, the same as the original Game Boy, and could display 64 sprites at once, 16 per scanline, in 512 (some say only 482[citation needed]) colors. It had 64 kilobytes of RAM. The Turbo ran its two 6820 CPUs at 3.58 MHz in parallel.
The optional "TurboVision" TV tuner included RCA audio/video input, allowing users to use TurboExpress as a video monitor. The "TurboLink" allowed two-player play. Falcon, a flight simulator, included a "head-to-head" dogfight mode that could only be accessed via TurboLink. However, very few TG-16 games offered co-op play modes especially designed with the TurboExpress in mind.
Gamate and game cards
The Bitcorp Gamate was the one of the first handheld game systems
created in response to the Nintendo Gameboy. It was released in Asia in
1990 and distributed worldwide by 1991.
Like the Sega Game Gear, it was horizontal in orientation and required 4 AA batteries. Unlike many later Gameboy clones, its internal components were professionally assembled (no "glop-top" chips). Unfortunately the system's fatal flaw was its screen. Even by the standards of the day, its screen was rather difficult to use, suffering from similar motion blur problems that were common complaints with the first generation Gameboys. Likely because of this fact sales were quite poor, and Bitcorp closed by 1992. However it has recently been discovered that new games continued to be published for the Asian market, possibly as late as 1994. The total number of games released for the system remains unknown.
Interestingly, Gamate games were designed for stereo sound, but the console was only equipped with a mono speaker. To appreciate the full sound pallet, a user must plug into the head phone jack. Doing so reveals very sophisticated music.
Sega Game Gear
The Sega Game Gear was the third color handheld console, after
the Lynx and the TurboExpress. Released in Japan in 1990 and in North
America and Europe in 1991, it was based on the Sega Master System,
which gave Sega the ability to quickly create Game Gear games from its
large library of games for the Master System. While never reaching the
level of success enjoyed by Nintendo, the Sega Game Gear proved to be a
fairly durable competitor, lasting longer than any other Gameboy rivals.
While the Game Gear is most frequently seen in black or navy blue, it was also released in a variety of additional colors: red, light blue, yellow, clear, and violet. All of these variations were released in small quantities and frequently only in the Asian market.
Following Sega's success with the Game Gear, they began development on a successor during the early 1990s, which was intended to feature a touchscreen interface, many years before the Nintendo DS. However, such a technology was very expensive at the time, and the handheld itself was estimated to have cost around $289 were it to be released. Sega eventually chose to shelve the idea and instead release the Sega Nomad, a handheld version of the Mega Drive (Genesis), as the successor.[29]
Supervision: 2nd version.
The Watara Supervision was released in 1992 in an attempt to compete
with the Nintendo Game Boy. The first model was designed very much like a
Game Boy, but it was grey in color and had a slightly larger screen.
The second model was made with a hinge across the center and could be
bent slightly to provide greater comfort for the user. While the system
did enjoy a modest degree of success, it never impacted the sales of
Nintendo or Sega. The Supervision was redesigned a final time as "The
Magnum". Released in limited quantities it was roughly equivalent to the
Game Boy Pocket. It was available in three colors: yellow, green and
grey. Watara designed many of the games themselves, but did receive some
third party support, most notably from Sachen.
A TV adapter was available in both PAL and NTSC formats that could transfer the Supervision's black and white pallet to 4 colors, similar in some regards to the Super Game Boy from Nintendo.
Hartung Gamemaster
The Hartung Game Master was an obscure handheld released at an
unknown point in the early 1990s. Its graphics were much lower than most
of its contemporaries, similar in complexity to the Atari 2600. It was
available in black, white, and purple, and was frequently rebranded by
its distributors, such as Delplay, Videojet and Virella.
The exact number of games released is not known, but is likely around 20. The system most frequently turns up in Europe and Australia.
By this time, the lack of significant development in Nintendo's product line began allowing more advanced systems such as the Neo Geo Pocket Color and the WonderSwan Color to achieve moderate success.
Game.com
The Game.com (pronounced in TV commercials as "game com", not "game
dot com", and not capitalized in marketing material) was a handheld game
console released by Tiger Electronics
in September 1997. It featured many new ideas for handheld consoles and
was aimed at an older target audience, sporting PDA-style features and
functions such as a touch screen and stylus. However, Tiger hoped it
would also challenge Nintendo's Game Boy and gain a following among
younger gamers too. Unlike other handheld game consoles, the first
game.com consoles included two slots for game cartridges, which would
not happen again until the Tapwave Zodiac, the DS and DS Lite, and could
be connected to a 14.4 kbit/s modem. Later models had only a single
cartridge slot.
The Game Boy Color was the first handheld by Nintendo featuring Colors
The Game Boy Color (also referred to as GBC or CGB)
is Nintendo's successor to the Game Boy and was released on October 21,
1998 in Japan and in November of the same year in the United States. It
features a color screen, and is slightly bigger than the Game Boy Pocket. The processor is twice as fast as a Game Boy's and has twice as much memory. It also had an infrared communications port for wireless linking which did not appear in later versions of the Game Boy, such as the Game Boy Advance.
The Game Boy Color was a response to pressure from game developers for a new system, as they felt that the Game Boy, even in its latest incarnation, the Game Boy Pocket, was insufficient. The resulting product was backward compatible, a first for a handheld console system, and leveraged the large library of games and great installed base of the predecessor system. This became a major feature of the Game Boy line, since it allowed each new launch to begin with a significantly larger library than any of its competitors. As of March 31, 2005, the Game Boy and Game Boy Color combined to sell 118.69 million units worldwide.[27][28]
The console was capable of displaying up to 56 different colors simultaneously on screen from its palette of 32,768, and could add basic four-color shading to games that had been developed for the original Game Boy. It could also give the sprites and backgrounds separate colors, for a total of more than four colors.
Neo Geo Pocket Color
The Neo Geo Pocket Color (or NGPC) was released in 1999 in
Japan, and later that year in the United States and Europe. It was a
16-bit color handheld game console designed by SNK, the maker of the Neo Geo home console and arcade machine. It came after SNK's original Neo Geo Pocket monochrome handheld, which debuted in 1998 in Japan.
In 2000 following SNK's purchase by Japanese Pachinko manufacturer Aruze, the Neo Geo Pocket Color was dropped from both the US and European markets, purportedly due to commercial failure.[citation needed]
The system seemed well on its way to being a success in the U.S. It was more successful than any Game Boy competitor since Sega's Game Gear, but was hurt by several factors, such as SNK's infamous lack of communication with third-party developers, and anticipation of the Game Boy Advance.[citation needed] The decision to ship U.S. games in cardboard boxes in a cost-cutting move rather than hard plastic cases that Japanese and European releases were shipped in may have also hurt US sales.[citation needed]
The Wonderswan Color
The WonderSwan Color is a handheld game console designed by Bandai. It was released on December 9, 2000 in Japan,[30] and was a moderate success.
The original WonderSwan had only a black and white screen. Although the WonderSwan Color was slightly larger and heavier (7 mm and 2 g) compared to the original WonderSwan, the color version featured 512 kB[31] of RAM and a larger color LCD screen. In addition, the WonderSwan Color is compatible with the original WonderSwan library of games.
Prior to WonderSwan's release, Nintendo had virtually a monopoly in the Japanese video game handheld market. After the release of the WonderSwan Color, Bandai took approximately 8% of the market share in Japan partly due to its low price of 6800 yen (approximately US$65).[31]
Another reason for the WonderSwan's success in Japan was the fact that Bandai managed to get a deal with Square to port over the original Famicom Final Fantasy games with improved graphics and controls.[31] However, with the popularity of the Game Boy Advance and the reconciliation between Square and Nintendo, the WonderSwan Color and its successor, the SwanCrystal quickly lost its competitive advantage.
The Game Boy Advance was a major upgrade to the Game Boy line
In 2001, Nintendo released the Game Boy Advance (GBA or AGB), which added two shoulder buttons, a larger screen, and more computing power than the Game Boy Color.
The design was revised two years later when the Game Boy Advance SP (GBA SP), a more compact version, was released. The SP featured a "clamshell" design (folding open and closed, like a laptop computer), as well as a frontlit color display and rechargeable battery. Despite the smaller form factor, the screen remained the same size as that of the original. In 2005, the Game Boy Micro was released. This revision sacrificed screen size and backwards compatibility with previous Game Boys for a dramatic reduction in total size and a brighter backlit screen. A new SP model with a backlit screen was released in some regions around the same time.
Along with the Nintendo GameCube, the GBA also introduced the concept of "connectivity": using a handheld system as a console controller. A handful of games use this feature, most notably Animal Crossing, Pac-Man Vs., Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, Metroid Prime, and Sonic Adventure 2: Battle.
As of December 31, 2007, the GBA, GBA SP, and the Game Boy Micro combined have sold 80.72 million units worldwide.[32]
GP32
The original GP32 was released in 2001 by the South Korean company Game Park
a few months after the launch of the Game Boy Advance. It featured a
32-bit CPU, 133 MHz processor, MP3 and Divx player, and e-book reader. SmartMedia
cards were used for storage, and could hold up to 128mb of anything
downloaded through a USB cable from a PC. The GP32 was redesigned in
2003. A front-lit screen was added and the new version was called GP32
FLU (Front Light Unit). In summer 2004, another redesign, the GP32 BLU,
was made, and added a backlit screen. This version of the handheld was
planned for release outside South Korea; in Europe, and it was released
for example in Spain (VirginPlay was the distributor). While not a
commercial success on a level with mainstream handhelds (only 30,000
units were sold), it ended up being used mainly as a platform for
user-made applications and emulators of other systems, being popular
with developers and more technically-adept users.[33]
N-Gage
N-Gage QD
Nokia
released the N-Gage in 2003. It was designed as a combination MP3
player, cellphone, PDA, radio, and gaming device. The system received
much criticism alleging defects in its physical design and layout,
including its vertically-oriented screen and requirement of removing the
battery to change game cartridges. The most well known of these was "sidetalking",
or the act of placing the phone speaker and receiver on an edge of the
device instead of one of the flat sides, causing the user to appear as
if they are speaking into a taco.
The N-Gage QD was later released to address the design flaws of the original. However, certain features available in the original N-Gage, including MP3 playback, FM radio reception, and USB connectivity were removed.
Second generation of N-Gage launched on April 3, 2008[34] in the form of a service for selected Nokia Smartphones.
The Nintendo DS has two screens (the lower of which is a touchscreen), a microphone and Wi-Fi connectivity.
The Nintendo DS was released in November 2004. Among its new features were the incorporation of two screens, a touchscreen,
wireless connectivity, and a microphone port. As with the Game Boy
Advance SP, the DS features a clamshell design, with the two screens
aligned vertically on either side of the hinge.
The DS's lower screen is touch sensitive, designed to be pressed with a stylus, a user's finger or a special "thumb pad" (a small plastic pad attached to the console's wrist strap, which can be affixed to the thumb to simulate an analog stick). More traditional controls include four face buttons, two shoulder buttons, a D-pad, and "Start" and "Select" buttons. The console also features online capabilities via the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection and ad-hoc wireless networking for multiplayer games with up to sixteen players. It is backwards-compatible with all Game Boy Advance games, but not games designed for the Game Boy or Game Boy Color.
In January 2006, Nintendo revealed an updated version of the DS: the Nintendo DS Lite (released on March 2, 2006 in Japan) with an updated, smaller form factor (42% smaller and 21% lighter than the original Nintendo DS), a cleaner design, longer battery life, and brighter, higher-quality displays, with adjustable brightness. It is also able to connect wirelessly with Nintendo's Wii console.
In October 2008, Nintendo announced the Nintendo DSi, with larger, 3.25 inch screens and two integrated cameras. It will have an SD card storage slot in place of the Game Boy Advance slot, plus internal flash memory for storing downloaded games. It was released on November 1, 2008 in Japan, and was released in North America April 5, 2009, and April 3, 2009 in Europe.
As of December 31, 2009, the Nintendo DS, Nintendo DS Lite and Nintendo DSi combined have sold 125.13 million units worldwide.[35] In 2010 Nintendo released a larger version of the DSi, called the DSi XL.
The GameKing 2.
The GameKing was a handheld game console released by the Chinese
company TimeTop in 2004. The first model while original in design owes a
large debt to Nintendo's Gameboy Advance. The second model, the
GameKing 2, is a more direct rip-off, this time of Sony's PSP. This
model also was upgraded with a backlit screen, with a distracting
background transparency (which can be removed by opening up the
console). A color model, the GameKing 3 apparently exists, but was only
made for a brief time and was difficult to purchase outside of Asia.
Whether intentionally or not, the GameKing has the most primitive
graphics of any handheld released since the Game Boy of 1989.[citation needed]
As many of the games have an "old school" simplicity, the device has developed a small cult following. The Gameking's speaker is quite loud and the cartridges' sophisticated looping soundtracks (sampled from other sources) are seemingly at odds with its primitive graphics.
TimeTop made at least one additional device sometimes labeled as "GameKing", but while it seems to possess more advanced graphics, is essentially an emulator that plays a handful of multi-carts (like the GB Station Light II). Outside of Asia (especially China) however the Gameking remains relatively unheard of due to the enduring popularity of Japanese handhelds such as those manufactured by Nintendo and Sony.
PlayStation Portable
The PlayStation Portable (officially abbreviated PSP)[36] is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment.[37] Development of the console was first announced during E3 2003,[38] and it was unveiled on May 11, 2004 at a Sony press conference before E3 2004.[39] The system was released in Japan on December 12, 2004,[40] in North America on March 24, 2005,[41] and in the PAL region on September 1, 2005.[42]
The PlayStation Portable is the first handheld video game console to use an optical disc format, Universal Media Disc (UMD), for distribution of its games. UMD Video discs with movies and television shows were also released. The PSP utilized the Sony/SanDisk Memory Stick Pro Duo format as its primary storage medium.[43][44] Other distinguishing features of the console include its large viewing screen,[45] multi-media capabilities,[46] and connectivity with the PlayStation 3, other PSPs, and the Internet.[47][48]
The Gizmondo
Tiger's Gizmondo came out in the UK during March 2005 and it was
released in the U.S. during October 2005. It is designed to play music,
movies, and games, have a camera for taking and storing photos, and have
GPS functions. It also has Internet capabilities. It has a phone for
sending text and multimedia messages. Email was promised at launch, but
was never released before Gizmondo, and ultimately Tiger Telematics',
downfall in early 2006. Users obtained a second service pack,
unreleased, hoping to find such functionality. However, Service Pack B
did not activate the e-mail functionality.
The Game Park Holdings GP2X F-100
The GP2X is an open-source, Linux-based handheld video game console
and media player created by GamePark Holdings of South Korea, designed
for homebrew developers as well as commercial developers. It is commonly
used to run emulators for game consoles such as Neo Geo, Sega Genesis,
Sega Master System, Sega Game Gear, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, Nintendo
Entertainment System, PC-Engine/TurboGrafx-16, MAME and others.
A new version called the "F200" was released October 30, 2007 and features a touchscreen, among other changes. Followed by GP2X Wiz (2009) and GP2X Caanoo (2010).
The Dingoo A320
The Dingoo A320 is a micro-sized gaming handheld that looks like a
GameBoy micro and is open to game development. It also supports music,
radio, emulators (8 bit and 16 bit) and video playing capabilities with
its own interface much like the PSP. There is also an on board radio and
recording program. There are currently two colors available—white and
black. Dingo (also known as Geimi) A330 has also been released in
market. The Dingoo A360 was also released,A380 which is available in
pink, white and black and recently, the latest version, the A320E was
released.
PSP Go
The PSP Go is a version of the PlayStation Portable handheld game
console manufactured by Sony. It was released on October 1, 2009 in
American and European territories, and on November 1 in Japan. It was
revealed prior to E3 2009 through Sony's Qore VOD service. Although its
design is significantly different from other PSPs, it is not intended to
replace the PSP 3000, which Sony continued to manufacture, sell, and
support. On April 20, 2011, the manufacturer announced that the PSP Go
would be discontinued so that they may concentrate on the PlayStation
Vita. Sony later said that only the European and Japanese versions were
being cut, and that the console would still be available in the USA.
Unlike previous PSP models, the PSP Go does not feature a UMD drive, but
instead has 16 GB of internal flash memory to store games, video,
pictures, and other media. This can be extended by up to 32 GB with the
use of a Memory Stick Micro (M2) flash card. Also unlike previous PSP
models, the PSP Go's rechargeable battery is not removable or
replaceable by the user. The unit is 43% lighter and 56% smaller than
the original PSP-1000, and 16% lighter and 35% smaller than the
PSP-3000. It has a 3.8" 480 × 272 LCD (compared to the larger 4.3" 480 ×
272 pixel LCD on previous PSP models). The screen slides up to reveal
the main controls. The overall shape and sliding mechanism are similar
to that of Sony's mylo COM-2 internet device.
Pandora
The Pandora is a handheld game console/UMPC/PDA hybrid designed to take advantage of existing open source software and to be a target for home-brew development.
It runs a full distribution of Linux, and in functionality is like a
small PC with gaming controls. It is developed by OpenPandora, which is
made up of former distributors and community members of the GP32 and
GP2X handhelds.
OpenPandora began taking pre-orders for one batch of 4000 devices in November 2008 and after manufacturing delays, began shipping to customers on May 21, 2010.[49][50]
Nintendo 3DS
The Nintendo 3DS is the successor to Nintendo's DS handheld.
The autostereoscopic device is able to project stereoscopic
three-dimensional effects without requirement of active shutter or
passive polarized glasses, which are required by most current 3D
televisions to display the 3D effect. The 3DS was released in Japan on
February 26, 2011; in Europe on March 25, 2011; in North America on
March 27, 2011 and in Australia on March 31, 2011. The system features
backward compatibility with Nintendo DS series software, including
Nintendo DSi software. It also features an online service called the
Nintendo eShop, launched on June 6, 2011 in North America and June 7,
2011 in Europe and Japan, which allows owners to download games, demos,
applications and information on upcoming film and game releases. On
November 24, 2011 a limited edition Legend of Zelda 25th Anniversary 3DS
was released that contained a unique Cosmo Black unit decorated with
gold Legend of Zelda related imagery, along with a copy of The Legend of
Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D.
Xperia PLAY
The Sony Ericsson Xperia PLAY is a handheld game console smartphone
produced by Sony Ericsson under the Xperia smartphone brand. The device
runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread, and is the first to be part of the
PlayStation Certified program which means that it can play PlayStation
Suite games. The device is a horizontally sliding phone with its
original form resembling the Xperia X10 while the slider below resembles
the slider of the PSP Go. The slider features a D-pad on the left side,
a set of standard PlayStation buttons (
, 
, 
and 
)
on the right, a long rectangular touchpad in the middle, start and
select buttons on the bottom right corner, a menu button on the bottom
left corner, and two shoulder buttons (L and R) on the back of the
device. It is powered by a 1 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, a
Qualcomm Adreno 205 GPU, and features a display measuring 4.0 inches
(100 mm) (854 × 480), a 5 megapixel camera, 320 MB RAM, 512 MB internal
storage, and a micro-USB connector. It supports microSD cards, versus
the Memory Stick variants used in PSP consoles. The device was revealed
officially for the first time in a Super Bowl ad on Sunday, February 6,
2011. On February 13, 2011, at Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2011, it was
announced that the device would be shipping globally in March 2011, with
a launch lineup of around 50 software titles.
PlayStation Vita
The PlayStation Vita is the successor to Sony's PSP Handheld
series. It was released in Japan and parts of Asia on December 17,
2011[1] and was released in Europe, Australia, and Latin and North
America on February 22, 2012. The handheld includes two analog sticks, a
5-inch (130 mm) OLED multi-touch capacitive touchscreen, and supports
Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and optional 3G. Internally, the Vita features a 4 core
ARM Cortex-A9 MPCore processor and a 4 core SGX543MP4+ graphics
processing unit, as well as LiveArea software as its main user
interface, which succeeds the XrossMediaBar. The device is fully
backwards-compatible with PlayStation Portable games digitally released
on the PlayStation Network via the PlayStation Store. However, PS One
Classics and TurboGrafx-16 titles were not compatible at the time of the
primary public release in Japan. The Vita's dual analog sticks will be
supported on selected PSP games. The graphics for PSP releases will be
up-scaled, with a smoothing filter to reduce pixelation.
It was first unveiled on January 5, 2011, on the Consumer Electronics Show (CES). The Switchblade won The Best of CES 2011 People's Voice award. It has since been in development and the release date is still unknown.
In 1976, Mattel introduced the first handheld electronic game with the release of Auto Race.[4] Later, several companies—including Coleco and Milton Bradley—made their own single-game, lightweight table-top or handheld electronic game devices.[5] The oldest true handheld game console with interchangeable cartridges is the Milton Bradley Microvision in 1979.[6]
Nintendo is credited with popularizing the handheld console concept with the release of the Game Boy in 1989[3] and as of 2011 continues to dominate the handheld console market[7] with their Nintendo DS and DSi systems.[8] However, Nintendo's latest handheld, the Nintendo 3DS, has been their largest handheld or video game console investment success in 30 years.
Contents |
History
Origins
Main article: Handheld electronic game
The origins of handheld game consoles are found in handheld and
tabletop electronic game devices of the 1970s and early 1980s. These
electronic devices are capable of playing only a single game,[3] they fit in the palm of the hand or on a tabletop, and they may make use of a variety of video displays such as LED, VFD, or LCD.[9] In 1978, handheld electronic games were described by Popular Electronics magazine as "nonvideo electronic games" and "non-TV games" as distinct from devices that required use of a television screen.[10] Handheld electronic games, in turn, find their origins in the synthesis[citation needed] of previous handheld and tabletop electro-mechanical devices such as Waco's Electronic Tic-Tac-Toe (1972)[9] Cragstan's Periscope-Firing Range (1960s),[11] and the emerging optoelectronic-display-driven calculator market of the early 1970s.[12][13]
This synthesis happened in 1976, when "Mattel began work on a line of
calculator-sized sports games that became the world's first handheld
electronic games. The project began when Michael Katz, Mattel's new
product category marketing director, told the engineers in the
electronics group to design a game the size of a calculator, using LED
(light-emitting diode) technology."[14]Our big success was something that I conceptualized—the first handheld game. I asked the design group to see if they could come up with a game that was electronic that was the same size as a calculator.The result was the 1976 release of Auto Race.[15] Followed by Football later the same year[citation needed], the two games were so successful that according to Katz, "these simple electronic handheld games turned into a '$400 million category.'"[9] Mattel would later win the honor of being recognized by the industry for innovation in handheld game device displays.[16] Soon, other manufacturers including Coleco, Parker Brothers, Milton Bradley, Entex, and Bandai[5] began following up with their own tabletop and handheld electronic games.
—Michael Katz, former marketing director, Mattel Toys.[14]
In 1979 the LCD-based Microvision, designed by Smith Engineering and distributed by Milton-Bradley, became the first handheld game console and the first to use interchangeable game cartridges.[6] The Microvision game Cosmic Hunter (1981) also introduced the concept of a directional pad on handheld gaming devices[citation needed], and is operated by using the thumb to manipulate the on-screen character in any of four directions.[17]
In 1979, Gunpei Yokoi, traveling on a bullet train, saw a bored businessman playing with an LCD calculator by pressing the buttons. Yokoi then thought of an idea for a watch that doubled as a miniature game machine for killing time.[18] Starting in 1980, Nintendo began to release a series of electronic games designed by Yokoi called the Game & Watch games.[19] Taking advantage of the technology used in the credit-card-sized calculators that had appeared on the market, Yokoi designed the series of LCD-based games to include a digital time display in the corner of the screen.[20] For later, more complicated Game & Watch games, Yokoi invented a cross shaped directional pad or "D-pad" for control of on-screen characters.[21] Yokoi also included his directional pad on the NES controllers, and the cross-shaped thumb controller soon became standard on game console controllers and ubiquitous across the video game industry as a replacement for the joystick.[22] When Yokoi began designing Nintendo's first handheld game console, he came up with a device that married the elements of his Game & Watch devices and the Famicom console,[23] including both items' D-pad controller. The result was the Nintendo Game Boy.
In 1982, the Bandai LCD Solarpower was the first solar-powered gaming device. Some of its games, such as the horror-themed game Terror House, featured two LCD panels, one stacked on the other, for an early 3D effect.[24] In 1983, Takara Tomy's Tomytronic 3D simulated 3D by having two LED panels that were lit by external light through a window on top of the device, making it the first dedicated home video 3D hardware.[25]
Late 1980s through early 1990s
The late 1980s and early 1990s saw the beginnings of the handheld game console industry as we know it, after the demise of the Microvision. As backlit LCD game consoles with color graphics consume a lot of power, they were not battery-friendly like the non-backlit original Game Boy whose monochrome graphics allowed longer battery life. By this point, rechargeable battery technology had not yet matured and so the more advanced game consoles of the time such as the Sega Game Gear and Atari Lynx did not have nearly as much success as the Game Boy.Even though third-party rechargeable batteries were available for the battery-hungry alternatives to the Game Boy, these batteries employed a nickel-cadmium process and had to be completely discharged before being recharged to ensure maximum efficiency; lead-acid batteries could be used with automobile circuit limiters (cigarette lighter plug devices); but the batteries had mediocre portability. The later NiMH batteries, which do not share this requirement for maximum efficiency, were not released until the late 1990s, years after the Game Gear, Atari Lynx, and original Game Boy had been discontinued. During the time when technologically superior handhelds had strict technical limitations, batteries had a very low mAh rating since batteries with heavy power density were not yet available.
Modern game systems such as the Nintendo DS and PlayStation Portable have rechargeable Lithium-Ion batteries with proprietary shapes. Other seventh-generation consoles such as the GP2X use standard alkaline batteries. Because the mAh rating of alkaline batteries has increased since the 1990s, the power needed for handhelds like the GP2X may be supplied by relatively few batteries.
Game Boy
Main article: Game Boy
Yokoi recognized that the Game Boy needed a killer app—at least one game that would define the console, and persuade customers to buy it. In June 1988, Minoru Arakawa, then-CEO of Nintendo of America saw a demonstration of the game Tetris at a trade show. Nintendo purchased the rights for the game, and packaged it with the Game Boy system. It was almost an immediate hit. By the end of the year more than a million units were sold in the US,[26] and 25 million were sold by 1992.[verification needed] As of March 31, 2005, the Game Boy and Game Boy Color combined to sell 118.69 million units worldwide.[27][28]
Atari Lynx
Main article: Atari Lynx
TurboExpress
Main article: TurboExpress
It was the most advanced handheld of its time and could play all the TurboGrafx-16's games (which were on a small, credit-card sized media called HuCards). It had a 66 mm (2.6 in.) screen, the same as the original Game Boy, and could display 64 sprites at once, 16 per scanline, in 512 (some say only 482[citation needed]) colors. It had 64 kilobytes of RAM. The Turbo ran its two 6820 CPUs at 3.58 MHz in parallel.
The optional "TurboVision" TV tuner included RCA audio/video input, allowing users to use TurboExpress as a video monitor. The "TurboLink" allowed two-player play. Falcon, a flight simulator, included a "head-to-head" dogfight mode that could only be accessed via TurboLink. However, very few TG-16 games offered co-op play modes especially designed with the TurboExpress in mind.
Bitcorp Gamate
Main article: Gamate
Like the Sega Game Gear, it was horizontal in orientation and required 4 AA batteries. Unlike many later Gameboy clones, its internal components were professionally assembled (no "glop-top" chips). Unfortunately the system's fatal flaw was its screen. Even by the standards of the day, its screen was rather difficult to use, suffering from similar motion blur problems that were common complaints with the first generation Gameboys. Likely because of this fact sales were quite poor, and Bitcorp closed by 1992. However it has recently been discovered that new games continued to be published for the Asian market, possibly as late as 1994. The total number of games released for the system remains unknown.
Interestingly, Gamate games were designed for stereo sound, but the console was only equipped with a mono speaker. To appreciate the full sound pallet, a user must plug into the head phone jack. Doing so reveals very sophisticated music.
Sega Game Gear
Main article: Sega Game Gear
While the Game Gear is most frequently seen in black or navy blue, it was also released in a variety of additional colors: red, light blue, yellow, clear, and violet. All of these variations were released in small quantities and frequently only in the Asian market.
Following Sega's success with the Game Gear, they began development on a successor during the early 1990s, which was intended to feature a touchscreen interface, many years before the Nintendo DS. However, such a technology was very expensive at the time, and the handheld itself was estimated to have cost around $289 were it to be released. Sega eventually chose to shelve the idea and instead release the Sega Nomad, a handheld version of the Mega Drive (Genesis), as the successor.[29]
Watara Supervision
Main article: Watara Supervision
A TV adapter was available in both PAL and NTSC formats that could transfer the Supervision's black and white pallet to 4 colors, similar in some regards to the Super Game Boy from Nintendo.
Hartung Game Master
Main article: Hartung Game Master
The exact number of games released is not known, but is likely around 20. The system most frequently turns up in Europe and Australia.
Late 1990s
The Game Boy was nine years old before it got its first successor. In 1998, the Game Boy Color was released. It used the smaller and lighter form-factor of the Game Boy Light (released in Japan only), but featured a full color screen. It was also backwards-compatible, so that it could play not only games specifically made for the Game Boy Color, but standard Game Boy games as well. It did not have significantly more computing power than the Game Boy, however.By this time, the lack of significant development in Nintendo's product line began allowing more advanced systems such as the Neo Geo Pocket Color and the WonderSwan Color to achieve moderate success.
Game.com
Main article: Game.com
Game Boy Color
Main article: Game Boy Color
The Game Boy Color was a response to pressure from game developers for a new system, as they felt that the Game Boy, even in its latest incarnation, the Game Boy Pocket, was insufficient. The resulting product was backward compatible, a first for a handheld console system, and leveraged the large library of games and great installed base of the predecessor system. This became a major feature of the Game Boy line, since it allowed each new launch to begin with a significantly larger library than any of its competitors. As of March 31, 2005, the Game Boy and Game Boy Color combined to sell 118.69 million units worldwide.[27][28]
The console was capable of displaying up to 56 different colors simultaneously on screen from its palette of 32,768, and could add basic four-color shading to games that had been developed for the original Game Boy. It could also give the sprites and backgrounds separate colors, for a total of more than four colors.
Neo Geo Pocket Color
Main article: Neo Geo Pocket Color
In 2000 following SNK's purchase by Japanese Pachinko manufacturer Aruze, the Neo Geo Pocket Color was dropped from both the US and European markets, purportedly due to commercial failure.[citation needed]
The system seemed well on its way to being a success in the U.S. It was more successful than any Game Boy competitor since Sega's Game Gear, but was hurt by several factors, such as SNK's infamous lack of communication with third-party developers, and anticipation of the Game Boy Advance.[citation needed] The decision to ship U.S. games in cardboard boxes in a cost-cutting move rather than hard plastic cases that Japanese and European releases were shipped in may have also hurt US sales.[citation needed]
Wonderswan Color
Main article: Wonderswan Color
The original WonderSwan had only a black and white screen. Although the WonderSwan Color was slightly larger and heavier (7 mm and 2 g) compared to the original WonderSwan, the color version featured 512 kB[31] of RAM and a larger color LCD screen. In addition, the WonderSwan Color is compatible with the original WonderSwan library of games.
Prior to WonderSwan's release, Nintendo had virtually a monopoly in the Japanese video game handheld market. After the release of the WonderSwan Color, Bandai took approximately 8% of the market share in Japan partly due to its low price of 6800 yen (approximately US$65).[31]
Another reason for the WonderSwan's success in Japan was the fact that Bandai managed to get a deal with Square to port over the original Famicom Final Fantasy games with improved graphics and controls.[31] However, with the popularity of the Game Boy Advance and the reconciliation between Square and Nintendo, the WonderSwan Color and its successor, the SwanCrystal quickly lost its competitive advantage.
2000s
The 2000s saw a major leap in innovation, particularly in the second half with the release of the DS and PSP.Game Boy Advance
Main article: Game Boy Advance
The design was revised two years later when the Game Boy Advance SP (GBA SP), a more compact version, was released. The SP featured a "clamshell" design (folding open and closed, like a laptop computer), as well as a frontlit color display and rechargeable battery. Despite the smaller form factor, the screen remained the same size as that of the original. In 2005, the Game Boy Micro was released. This revision sacrificed screen size and backwards compatibility with previous Game Boys for a dramatic reduction in total size and a brighter backlit screen. A new SP model with a backlit screen was released in some regions around the same time.
Along with the Nintendo GameCube, the GBA also introduced the concept of "connectivity": using a handheld system as a console controller. A handful of games use this feature, most notably Animal Crossing, Pac-Man Vs., Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, Metroid Prime, and Sonic Adventure 2: Battle.
As of December 31, 2007, the GBA, GBA SP, and the Game Boy Micro combined have sold 80.72 million units worldwide.[32]
Game Park 32
Main article: GP32
N-Gage
Main article: N-Gage (device)
The N-Gage QD was later released to address the design flaws of the original. However, certain features available in the original N-Gage, including MP3 playback, FM radio reception, and USB connectivity were removed.
Second generation of N-Gage launched on April 3, 2008[34] in the form of a service for selected Nokia Smartphones.
Tapwave Zodiac
Main article: Tapwave Zodiac
In 2004, Tapwave released the Zodiac. It was designed to be a PDA-handheld game console hybrid. It supported photos, movies, music, Internet,
and documents. The Zodiac used a special version Palm OS 5, 5.2T, that
supported the special gaming buttons and graphics chip. Two versions
were available, Zodiac 1 and 2, differing in memory and looks. The
Zodiac line ended in July 2005 when Tapwave declared bankruptcy.Nintendo DS
Main article: Nintendo DS
The DS's lower screen is touch sensitive, designed to be pressed with a stylus, a user's finger or a special "thumb pad" (a small plastic pad attached to the console's wrist strap, which can be affixed to the thumb to simulate an analog stick). More traditional controls include four face buttons, two shoulder buttons, a D-pad, and "Start" and "Select" buttons. The console also features online capabilities via the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection and ad-hoc wireless networking for multiplayer games with up to sixteen players. It is backwards-compatible with all Game Boy Advance games, but not games designed for the Game Boy or Game Boy Color.
In January 2006, Nintendo revealed an updated version of the DS: the Nintendo DS Lite (released on March 2, 2006 in Japan) with an updated, smaller form factor (42% smaller and 21% lighter than the original Nintendo DS), a cleaner design, longer battery life, and brighter, higher-quality displays, with adjustable brightness. It is also able to connect wirelessly with Nintendo's Wii console.
In October 2008, Nintendo announced the Nintendo DSi, with larger, 3.25 inch screens and two integrated cameras. It will have an SD card storage slot in place of the Game Boy Advance slot, plus internal flash memory for storing downloaded games. It was released on November 1, 2008 in Japan, and was released in North America April 5, 2009, and April 3, 2009 in Europe.
As of December 31, 2009, the Nintendo DS, Nintendo DS Lite and Nintendo DSi combined have sold 125.13 million units worldwide.[35] In 2010 Nintendo released a larger version of the DSi, called the DSi XL.
Game King
Main article: Game King
As many of the games have an "old school" simplicity, the device has developed a small cult following. The Gameking's speaker is quite loud and the cartridges' sophisticated looping soundtracks (sampled from other sources) are seemingly at odds with its primitive graphics.
TimeTop made at least one additional device sometimes labeled as "GameKing", but while it seems to possess more advanced graphics, is essentially an emulator that plays a handful of multi-carts (like the GB Station Light II). Outside of Asia (especially China) however the Gameking remains relatively unheard of due to the enduring popularity of Japanese handhelds such as those manufactured by Nintendo and Sony.
PlayStation Portable
Main article: PlayStation Portable
The PlayStation Portable is the first handheld video game console to use an optical disc format, Universal Media Disc (UMD), for distribution of its games. UMD Video discs with movies and television shows were also released. The PSP utilized the Sony/SanDisk Memory Stick Pro Duo format as its primary storage medium.[43][44] Other distinguishing features of the console include its large viewing screen,[45] multi-media capabilities,[46] and connectivity with the PlayStation 3, other PSPs, and the Internet.[47][48]
Gizmondo
Main article: Gizmondo
Game Park Holdings GP2X
Main article: GP2X
A new version called the "F200" was released October 30, 2007 and features a touchscreen, among other changes. Followed by GP2X Wiz (2009) and GP2X Caanoo (2010).
Dingoo
Main article: Dingoo
PSP Go
Main article: PSP Go
Pandora
Main article: Pandora (console)
OpenPandora began taking pre-orders for one batch of 4000 devices in November 2008 and after manufacturing delays, began shipping to customers on May 21, 2010.[49][50]
FC-16 Go
Main article: FC 16 Go
The FC-16 Go is a portable Super Nintendo
manufactured by Yobo Gameware in 2009. It features a 3.5 inch display,
two wireless controllers, and CRT cables that allow cartridges to be
played on a television screen. Unlike other Super Nintendo clone
consoles, it has region tabs that only allow NTSC North American
cartridges to be played. Later revisions feature stereo sound output,
larger shoulder buttons, and a slightly re-arranged button, power, and
A/V output layout.2010s
Nintendo 3DS
Main article: Nintendo 3DS
Sony Ericsson Xperia PLAY
Main article: Sony Ericsson Xperia PLAY
, 
, 
and 
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on the right, a long rectangular touchpad in the middle, start and
select buttons on the bottom right corner, a menu button on the bottom
left corner, and two shoulder buttons (L and R) on the back of the
device. It is powered by a 1 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, a
Qualcomm Adreno 205 GPU, and features a display measuring 4.0 inches
(100 mm) (854 × 480), a 5 megapixel camera, 320 MB RAM, 512 MB internal
storage, and a micro-USB connector. It supports microSD cards, versus
the Memory Stick variants used in PSP consoles. The device was revealed
officially for the first time in a Super Bowl ad on Sunday, February 6,
2011. On February 13, 2011, at Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2011, it was
announced that the device would be shipping globally in March 2011, with
a launch lineup of around 50 software titles.PlayStation Vita
Main article: PlayStation Vita
Razer Switchblade
Main article: Razer Switchblade
The Razer Switchblade is a upcoming pocket-sized like a Nintendo DSi XL and runs on Windows 7,
features a multitouch LCD screen and an adaptive keyboard that changes
keys depending on the game you play. It also features a full mouse.It was first unveiled on January 5, 2011, on the Consumer Electronics Show (CES). The Switchblade won The Best of CES 2011 People's Voice award. It has since been in development and the release date is still unknown.
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