To
Microvision
0 The world of handheld video game consoles all
started with Microvision by Milton Bradley.
0 It was released in 1979
0 It was designed by Jay Smith
0 It grossed $8 million in the first year of release
0 It appeared in the movie “Friday the 13th Part 2”
0 Few cartridges, small screen, and lack of support from
home video game companies, led to its demise in
1981
Game Boy
0 The second handheld console was the original Game
Boy.
0 Five years after the Microvision hit its demise, the
Game Boy was released.
0 It was released by Nintendo
0 Its “killer app” was the famous ‘Tetris’
0 As of 2005 the Game Boy and Game Boy Color
combined to sell 118.69 million units worldwide.
Atari Lynx
0 Created in 1987 Epyx created Handy Game, which
became Atari Lynx in 1989.
0 First handheld console with colour and a backlit
screen.
0 Featured network support-up to 17 other players.
0 Could be turned upside down to accommodate left
hand players.
0 Came at very high price, leaving people looking for
cheaper choices.
TurboExpress
0 Portable version of TurboGrafx
0 Released in 1990 for $249.99
0 Price briefly raised to $299.99 but soon dropped back
down.
0 Most advanced handheld of its time.
0 Could play all TurboGrafx-16’s games.
0 Had an optional “TurboVision” TV tuner.
0 “TurboLink” allowed for two player multiplayer.
Bitcorp Gamate
0 One of first handheld systems made in response to the
GameBoy
0 Games designed with stereo sound but console only
came with mono speaker, to get full music you must
plug in headphones to reveal sophisticated music.
0 Internal components professionally assembled.
0 Bitcorp closed in 1992.
0 New games continued to be published, possibly until
1994.
Sega Game Gear
0 Third coloured handheld console.
0 It was released in Japan in 1990
0 Released in North America in 1991
0 Based on Sega Master System, which gave Sega the
chance to make games quickly from its Master System
library.
0 Most frequently seen in black or navy-blue, but also
came in red, light blue, yellow, clear, and violet.
Watara Supervision
0 Released in 1992 in attempt to compete with the
GameBoy
0 Never impacted the sales of Sega or Nintendo
0 Watara designed many games themselves but had
third party support, mainly from Sachen.
0 TV adapter could transfer the black and white colour
pallet to four colours.
Hartung Game Master
0 Obscure handheld released at an unknown point in
the early 1990’s
0 Graphics lower than most of its contemporaries.
0 Was available in black, white, and purple.
0 Likely around 20 games were released for the console.
0 Frequently turns up in Europe and Australia.
Game.com
0 In TV commercials pronounced it Game com not Game
dot com.
0 Released in 1997 by Tiger Electronics.
0 Featured many new ideas for handhelds
0 Aimed towards older targeted audience.
0 Tiger also hoped it would gain the attention of a
younger audience as well.
0 Two slots for game cartridges.
Game Boy Colour
0 Nintendo’s successor to the GameBoy.
0 Released in 1998
0 Response to pressure from game developers for a new
system.
0 First handheld with backward compatibility
0 Capable of displaying up to 56 colours simultaneously
on screen.
0 Could add four colour shading for games made for the
original GameBoy.
Neo Geo Pocket Color
0 Released in 1999 by SNK
0 16 bit handheld game console
0 Dropped in US and Europe markets in 2000
0 More successful than any Game Boy competitor
0
WonderSwan Color
0 Released in 2000 by Bandai
0 Had moderate success
0 Original had only black and white screen
0 Slightly larger than the original WonderSwan
0 512kB of RAM and colour LCD screen
0 Bandai got a deal with Square
0 Only released in Japan
GameBoy Advance
0 Released in 2001 by Nintendo
0 Nintendo added two shoulder buttons, a larger
screen, and more computing power than the GameBoy
Color
0 Design revised two years later into the Game Boy
Advance SP
0 In 2005 the Game Boy Micro was released
0 As of December 31, 2007 all of the above consoles
including the GameCube combined sold 80.72 million
units world wide
Game Park 32
0 Released in 2001 by Game Park
0 Released a few months after the GameBoy Advance
0 32bit CPU, 133MHz processor, Mp3 and DivX player,
and E-book reader
0 SmartMedia cards used for storage
0 Redesigned in 2003
0 Popular with developers and technically-adept users
N-Gage
0 Released in 2003 by Nokia
0 Designed as a combination of MP3 player, cellphone, PDA,
radio and gaming device
0 Received much criticism
0 Defects in physical design include its vertically oriented
screen and you must remove the battery to change the
game
0 Most well known defect was “sidetalking” which was the
act of placing the speaker and receiver on the edge, not a
flat side, which made the user look like they were speaking
into a taco.
Nintendo DS
0 Released in 2004
0 Had two screens, a touchscreen, and a normal screen
0 Also had wireless connection and a microphone port
0 In 2006 Nintendo revealed an updated version- the
Nintendo DS Lite
0 The DS Lite has a cleaner design, longer battery life,
and a brighter, higher quality screen
0 The DS Lite was also able to connect with the Wii
Game King
0 Released by TimeTop
0 Released in 2004
0 The first design owes a large debt to the GameBoy
Advance
0 The second design was a more direct rip-off of the
PSP
PlayStation Portable
0 Abbreviated to PSP
0 Manufactured and Marketed by Sony Computer
Entertainment
0 Released in March 2005
0 First handheld to use an optical disc format, the UMD
(Universal Media Disc)
0 Can connect to the PlayStation 3, other PSPs, and the
Internet
Gizmondo
0 Released by Tiger Telematics
0 Released in 2005
0 Designed to play music, movies, and games, have a
camera, and GPS functions
0 It also connected to the internet
0 Had a phone for sending texts, and multimedia
messages
0 Email was promised but never happened before
Gizmondo and Tiger Telematics downfall
Game Park Holdings GP2X
0 Open source, hand held console and media player
0 Released by GamePark Holdings
0 Commonly used to run emulators for other game
consoles such as Neo Geo, Sega Genesis, Sega Master
System, Sega Game Gear, Amstrad CPC, and
Commodore 64
0 Designed for homebrew developers and commercial
developers
Dingoo
0 Micro-sized handheld that looks similar to the
GameBoy Micro
0 It supports music, radio, emulators, and a recording
program
0 Currently two colours-white and black
PSP Go
0 Version of the PSP
0 Manufactured by Sony
0 Released in 2009
0 In 2011 the PSP Go was discontinued so Sony could
focus on the PSP
0 Later Sony said it would only be discontinued in
Europe and Japan
0 Shape and Sliding Mechanism are similar to the Mylo
COM-2 internet device
iPod Touch
0 Portable media player, personal digital assistant, hand
held game console, and a Wi-Fi device
0 It is the first iPod with wireless access
0 It has wireless access to the iTunes Store, and App
Store
0 You can download and purchase apps straight onto
your iPod
0 The fourth generation of the iPod Touch includes a
camera
Nintendo 3DS
0 The successor to the Nintendo DS handheld
0 Released March 27, 2011 in North America
0 Able to project stereoscopic 3D effects without
requirement of an active shutter or a passive
polarized glass
0 ^^ Above requirements are necessary for most 3D
televisions to show the 3D effect
0 Has online service called the Nintendo eShop
PlayStation Vita
0 The successor to the PSP
0 Released in Japan and parts of Asia on December 27,
2011
0 Was expected to be released in North America on
February 22, 2012
0 Has a four core processor and a four core graphics
processing unit
0 Supports Bluetooth, and optionally, 3G
Bibliography
0 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handheld_console