Handheld game

console

A handheld game console, or simply

handheld console, is a small, portable self-
contained video game console with a built-
in screen, game controls and speakers.[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]

A Nintendo DS Lite, which will go on

being the best-selling handheld
console of all time and second overall

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 first commercial successful
handheld console was Merlin from 1978
which sold more than 5 million units.[6] The
first handheld game console with
interchangeable cartridges is the Milton
Bradley Microvision in 1979.[7]

Nintendo is credited with popularizing the

handheld console concept with the release
of the Game Boy in 1989[3] and continues
to dominate the handheld console
market.[8][9] The first internet-enabled
handheld console and the first with a
touchscreen was the Game.com released
by Tiger Electronics in 1997.[10] The
Nintendo DS, released in 2004, introduced
touchscreen controls and wireless online
gaming to a wider audience, becoming the
best-selling handheld console with over
150 million units sold worldwide.[11]

History

Timeline

This table describes handheld games

consoles over video game generations
with over 1 million sales.
 Generation
Manufacturer First Second Third Fourth Fifth Sixth Seventh Eighth
(1972– (1976– (1983– (1993–
(1987–2004) (1998–2015) (2005–2020) (2011–pres
1983) 1992) 2003) 2006)

Atari Lynx
Atari (+II)
(~3 million)
WonderSwan
Bandai (+Color,
SwanCrystal)
(3.5 million)
NEC TurboExpress
(1.5 million)
Game
Game Boy Boy Game Boy Nintendo Nintendo Ni
(+Pocket, Color Advance DS 3DS S
Nintendo Light) (at family family family (+Li
(at least 64.4 most (81.5 million) (154 (76 (1
million) 54.3 million) million) m
million)
N- Gage
Nokia (+QD)
(3 million)

Sega Game Gear Nomad(~1

(10.6 million) million)
PSP
(+Go, PS Vit
Sony Street) (16.21 mi
(81.09
million)
Valve Ste
(~

Origins

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.[12] 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.[13] Handheld electronic
games, in turn, find their origins in the
synthesis of previous handheld and
tabletop electro-mechanical devices such
as Waco's Electronic Tic-Tac-Toe
(1972)[12] Cragstan's Periscope-Firing
Range (1951),[14] and the emerging
optoelectronic-display-driven calculator
market of the early 1970s.[15][16] 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."[17]

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.

—Michael Katz, former marketing

director, Mattel Toys.[17]

Game & Watch Ball

The result was the 1976 release of Auto

Race.[18] Followed by Football later in
1977,[19][20] the two games were so
successful that according to Katz, "these
simple electronic handheld games turned
into a '$400 million category.'"[12] Mattel
would later win the honor of being
recognized by the industry for innovation in
handheld game device displays.[21] Soon,
other manufacturers including Coleco,
Parker Brothers, Milton Bradley, Entex, and
Bandai[5] began following up with their own
tabletop and handheld electronic games.

In 1979 the LCD-based Microvision,

designed by Smith Engineering and
distributed by Milton-Bradley,[22] became
the first handheld game console and the
first to use interchangeable game
cartridges.[7] The Microvision game
Cosmic Hunter (1981) also introduced the
concept of a directional pad on handheld
gaming devices,[23] and is operated by
using the thumb to manipulate the on-
screen character in any of four
directions.[24]

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.[25] Starting in
1980, Nintendo began to release a series
of electronic games designed by Yokoi
called the Game & Watch games.[26]
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.[27] For later, more
complicated Game & Watch games, Yokoi
invented a cross shaped directional pad or
"D-pad" for control of on-screen
characters.[28] 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 since.[29][30] 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,[31] 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, features two
LCD panels, one stacked on the other, for
an early 3D effect.[32] In 1983, Takara
Tomy's Tomytronic 3D simulates 3D by
having two LCD panels that were lit by
external light through a window on top of
the device, making it the first dedicated
home video 3D hardware.[33]

Beginnings
The late 1980s and early 1990s saw the
beginnings of the modern-day handheld
game console industry, 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

The original Game Boy

Nintendo released the Game Boy on April

21, 1989 (September 1990 for the UK). The
design team headed by 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 Nintendo president Hiroshi
Yamauchi, 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 as a launch title. It was almost an
immediate hit. By the end of the year more
than a million units were sold in the US.[34]
As of March 31, 2005, the Game Boy and
Game Boy Color combined to sell over 118
million units worldwide.[35][36]

Atari Lynx

Atari Lynx I and II

In 1987, Epyx created the Handy Game; a

device that would become the Atari Lynx in
1989. It is the first color handheld console
ever made, as well as the first with a
backlit screen. It also features networking
support with up to 17 other players, and
advanced hardware that allows the
zooming and scaling of sprites. The Lynx
can 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 is also
very unwieldy, consumes 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

TurboExpress handheld
The TurboExpress is a portable version of
the TurboGrafx, released in 1990 for
$249.99. Its Japanese equivalent is the PC
Engine GT.

It is the most advanced handheld of its

time and can play all the TurboGrafx-16's
games (which are on a small, credit-card
sized media called HuCards). It has a
66 mm (2.6 in.) screen, the same as the
original Game Boy, but in a much higher
resolution, and can display 64 sprites at
once, 16 per scanline, in 512 colors.
Although the hardware can only handle
481 simultaneous colors. It has 8 kilobytes
of RAM. The Turbo runs the HuC6820 CPU
at 1.79 or 7.16 MHz.

The optional "TurboVision" TV tuner

includes 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 can 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
 Gamate and game cards

The Bitcorp Gamate is one of the first

handheld game systems created in
response to the Nintendo Game Boy. It
was released in Asia in 1990 and
distributed worldwide by 1991.

Like the Sega Game Gear, it was horizontal

in orientation and like the Game Boy,
required 4 AA batteries. Unlike many later
Game Boy clones, its internal components
were professionally assembled (no "glop-
top" chips). Unfortunately the system's
fatal flaw is its screen. Even by the
standards of the day, its screen is rather
difficult to use, suffering from similar
ghosting problems that were common
complaints with the first generation Game
Boys. Likely because of this fact sales
were quite poor, and Bitcorp closed by
1992. However, 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.

Gamate games were designed for stereo

sound, but the console is only equipped
with a mono speaker.
Sega Game Gear

Sega Game Gear

The Game Gear is the third color handheld

console, after the Lynx and the
TurboExpress; produced by Sega.
Released in Japan in 1990 and in North
America and Europe in 1991, it is based on
the 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
Game Gear proved to be a fairly durable
competitor, lasting longer than any other
Game Boy 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 Genesis Nomad, a
handheld version of the Genesis, as the
successor.[37]

Watara Supervision

The Watara Supervision with tilting

screen
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
is grey in color and has a slightly larger
screen. The second model was made with
a hinge across the center and can 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 palette to 4
colors, similar in some regards to the
Super Game Boy from Nintendo.

Hartung Game Master

The Hartung Game Master is an obscure

handheld released at an unknown point in
the early 1990s. Its graphics fidelity was
much lower than most of its
contemporaries, displaying just 64x64
pixels. It was available in black, white, and
purple, and was frequently rebranded by its
distributors, such as Delplay, Videojet and
Systema.

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

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 be developed.
Sega Nomad

Sega Nomad

The Nomad was released in October 1995

in North America only.[38][39] The release
was six years into the market span of the
Genesis, with an existing library of more
than 500 Genesis games. According to
former Sega of America research and
development head Joe Miller, the Nomad
was not intended to be the Game Gear's
replacement; he believed that there was
little planning from Sega of Japan for the
new handheld.[40] Sega was supporting
five different consoles: Saturn, Genesis,
Game Gear, Pico, and the Master System,
as well as the Sega CD and 32X add-ons.
In Japan, the Mega Drive had never been
successful and the Saturn was more
successful than Sony's PlayStation, so
Sega Enterprises CEO Hayao Nakayama
decided to focus on the Saturn.[41] By
1999, the Nomad was being sold at less
than a third of its original price.[42]

Game Boy Pocket

 The 1st release Game Boy Pocket

The Game Boy Pocket is a redesigned

version of the original Game Boy having
the same features. It was released in
1996. Notably, this variation is smaller and
lighter. It comes in seven different colors;
red, yellow, green, black, clear, silver, blue,
and pink. It has space for two AAA
batteries, which provide approximately 10
hours of game play.[43] The screen was
changed to a true black-and-white display,
rather than the "pea soup" monochromatic
display of the original Game Boy.[44]
Although, like its predecessor, the Game
Boy Pocket has no backlight to allow play
in a darkened area, it did notably improve
visibility and pixel response-time (mostly
eliminating ghosting).[45]

The first model of the Game Boy Pocket

did not have an LED to show battery levels,
but the feature was added due to public
demand. The Game Boy Pocket was not a
new software platform and played the
same software as the original Game Boy
model.[46]
Game.com

Game.com

The Game.com (pronounced in TV

commercials as "game com", not "game
dot com", and not capitalized in marketing
material) is 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.

Game Boy Color

 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.[35][36]

The console is capable of displaying up to

56 different colors simultaneously on
screen from its palette of 32,768, and can
add basic four-color shading to games
that had been developed for the original
Game Boy. It can also give the sprites and
backgrounds separate colors, for a total of
more than four colors.

Neo Geo Pocket Color

 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 is a
16-bit color handheld game console
designed by SNK, the maker of the Neo
Geo home console and arcade
machine.[47] 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.[48]

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.[49] 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.[50]

Wonderswan Color

The Wonderswan Color

The WonderSwan Color is a handheld

game console designed by Bandai. It was
released on December 9, 2000, in
Japan,[51] 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[52] 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).[52] 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.[52]
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.

Early 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

 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 features 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 sacrifices 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 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.[53]

Game Park 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.[54]

N-Gage

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[55] in the form of a service for
selected Nokia Smartphones.

Cybiko
 Cybiko Classic with extended antenna
on the main desktop

The Cybiko is a Russian hand-held

computer introduced in May 2000 by David
Yang's company and designed for teenage
audiences, featuring its own two-way radio
text messaging system. It has over 430
"official" freeware games and applications.
Because of the text messaging system, it
features a QWERTY keyboard that was
used with a stylus. An MP3 player add-on
was made for the unit as well as a
SmartMedia card reader. The company
stopped manufacturing the units after two
product versions and only a few years on
the market. Cybikos can communicate
with each other up to a maximum range of
300 metres (0.19 miles). Several Cybikos
can chat with each other in a wireless
chatroom.

Cybiko Classic:

There were two models of the Classic

Cybiko. Visually, the only difference was
that the original version had a power
switch on the side, whilst the updated
version used the "escape" key for power
management. Internally, the differences
between the two models were in the
internal memory, and the location of the
firmware.

Cybiko Xtreme:

The Cybiko Xtreme was the second-

generation Cybiko handheld. It featured
various improvements over the original
Cybiko, such as a faster processor, more
RAM, more ROM, a new operating system,
a new keyboard layout and case design,
greater wireless range, a microphone,
improved audio output, and smaller size.

Tapwave Zodiac

In 2003, 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.
Mid 2000s

Nintendo DS

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 like the Game Boy
Micro, it is not compatible with 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.
On October 2, 2008, Nintendo announced
the Nintendo DSi, with larger, 3.25-inch
screens and two integrated cameras. It
has 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, April 2, 2009 in Australia, April 3,
2009 in Europe, and April 5, 2009 in North
America. On October 29, 2009, Nintendo
announced a larger version of the DSi,
called the DSi XL, which was released on
November 21, 2009 in Japan, March 5,
2010 in Europe, March 28, 2010 in North
America, and April 15, 2010 in Australia.
As of December 31, 2009, the Nintendo DS,
Nintendo DS Lite, and Nintendo DSi
combined have sold 125.13 million units
worldwide.[56]

Game King

The GameKing 2

The GameKing is 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 Game Boy Advance. The
second model, the GameKing 2, is believed
to be inspired by Sony's PSP.[57] 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.

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

PlayStation Portable

The PlayStation Portable (officially

abbreviated PSP)[58] is a handheld game
console manufactured and marketed by
Sony Computer Entertainment.[59]
Development of the console was first
announced during E3 2003,[60] and it was
unveiled on May 11, 2004, at a Sony press
conference before E3 2004.[61] The system
was released in Japan on December 12,
2004,[62] in North America on March 24,
2005,[63] and in the PAL region on
September 1, 2005.[64]

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.[65][66] Other distinguishing
features of the console include its large
viewing screen,[67] multi-media
capabilities,[68] and connectivity with the
PlayStation 3, other PSPs, and the
Internet.[69][70]

Gizmondo

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.

GP2X Series

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, Genesis, Master System, Game
Gear, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64,
Nintendo Entertainment System,
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).

Late 2000s
Dingoo

The Dingoo A320

The Dingoo A-320 is a micro-sized gaming

handheld that resembles the Game Boy
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 onboard
radio and recording program. It is currently
available in two colors — white and black.
Other similar products from the same
manufacturer are the Dingoo A-330 (also
known as Geimi), Dingoo A-360, Dingoo A-
380 (available in pink, white and black) and
the recently released Dingoo A-320E.

PSP Go

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 US. 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
 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.[71][72]

FC-16 Go

The FC-16 Go is a portable Super NES

hardware clone 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
NES 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

The original cyan 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 except those that
require the Game Boy Advance slot. 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.

There are also other models including the

Nintendo 2DS and the New Nintendo 3DS,
the latter with a larger (XL/LL) variant, like
the original Nintendo 3DS, as well as the
New Nintendo 2DS XL.

Xperia Play

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), an 8-
megapixel camera, 512 MB RAM, 8 GB
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
 PlayStation Vita

The PlayStation Vita is the successor to

Sony's PlayStation Portable (PSP)
Handheld series. It was released in Japan
on December 17, 2011 and in Europe,
Australia, North, and South America on
February 22, 2012.

The handheld includes two analog sticks, a

5-inch (130 mm) OLED/LCD multi-touch
capacitive touchscreen, and supports
Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and optional 3G. Internally,
the PS 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, PSone
Classics and PS2 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.
On September 20, 2018, Sony announced
at Tokyo Game Show 2018 that the Vita
would be discontinued in 2019, ending its
hardware production.[73] Production of Vita
hardware officially ended on March 1,
2019.[74]

Razer Switchblade

The Razer Switchblade was a prototype

pocket-sized like a Nintendo DSi XL
designed to run Windows 7, featured a
multi-touch LCD screen and an adaptive
keyboard that changed keys depending on
the game the user would play. It also was
to feature 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. The device has likely been
suspended indefinitely.

Nvidia Shield

Nvidia Shield Portable

Project Shield is a handheld system

developed by Nvidia announced at CES
2013. It runs on Android 4.2 and uses
Nvidia Tegra 4 SoC. The hardware includes
a 5-inches multitouch screen with support
for HD graphics (720p). The console
allows for the streaming of games running
on a compatible desktop PC, or laptop.

Nvidia Shield Portable has received mixed

reception from critics. Generally, reviewers
praised the performance of the device, but
criticized the cost and lack of worthwhile
games. Engadget's review noted the
system's "extremely impressive PC
gaming", but also that due to its high price,
the device was "a hard sell as a portable
game console", especially when compared
to similar handhelds on the market.[75]
CNET's Eric Franklin states in his review of
the device that "The Nvidia Shield is an
extremely well made device, with
performance that pretty much obliterates
any mobile product before it; but like most
new console launches, there is currently a
lack of available games worth your
time."[76] Eurogamer's comprehensive
review of the device provides a detailed
account of the device and its features;
concluded by saying: "In the here and now,
the first-gen Shield Portable is a gloriously
niche, luxury product - the most powerful
Android system on the market by a clear
stretch and possessing a unique link to PC
gaming that's seriously impressive in beta
form, and can only get better."[77]

Nintendo Switch

The Nintendo Switch in portable

mode

The Nintendo Switch is a hybrid console

that can either be used in a handheld form,
or inserted into a docking station attached
to a television to play on a bigger screen.
The Switch features two detachable
wireless controllers, called Joy-Con, which
can be used individually or attached to a
grip to provide a traditional gamepad form.
A handheld-only revision named Nintendo
Switch Lite was released on September 20,
2019.

The Switch Lite had sold about 1.95 million

units worldwide by September 30, 2019,
only 10 days after its launch.[78]

2020s

Evercade

Evercade is a handheld game console

developed and manufactured by UK
company Blaze Entertainment. It focuses
on retrogaming with ROM cartridges that
each contain a number of emulated
games. Development began in 2018, and
the console was released in May 2020,
after a few delays. Upon its launch, the
console offered 10 game cartridges with a
combined total of 122 games.

Arc System Works, Atari, Data East,

Interplay Entertainment, Bandai Namco
Entertainment and Piko Interactive have
released emulated versions of their games
for the Evercade. Pre-existing homebrew
games have also been re-released for the
console by Mega Cat Studios. The
Evercade is capable of playing games
originally released for the Atari 2600, the
Atari 7800, the Atari Lynx, the NES, the
SNES, and the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive.

Analogue Pocket

The Analogue Pocket is a FPGA-based

handheld game console designed and
manufactured by Analogue, Inc.,[79] It is
designed to play games designed for
handhelds of the fourth, fifth and sixth
generation of video game consoles. The
console features a design reminiscent of
the Game Boy, with additional buttons for
the supported platforms. It features a 3.5"
1600x1440 LTPS LCD display, an SD card
port, and a link cable port compatible with
Game Boy link cables. The Analogue
Pocket uses an Altera Cyclone V
processor, and is compatible with the
original Game Boy, Game Boy Color and
Game Boy Advance cartridges out of the
box. With cartridge adapters (sold
separately) the Analogue Pocket can play
Game Gear, Neo Geo Pocket, Neo Geo
Pocket Color and Atari Lynx game
cartridges. The Analogue Pocket includes
an additional FPGA, allowing 3rd party
FPGA development. The Analogue Pocket
was released in December 2021.

Steam Deck
 Steam Deck

The Steam Deck is a handheld computer

device, developed by Valve, which runs
SteamOS 3.0, a tailored distro of Arch
Linux and includes support for Proton, a
compatibility layer that allows most
Microsoft Windows games to be played on
the Linux-based operating system. In
terms of hardware, the Deck includes a
custom AMD APU based on their Zen 2
and RDNA 2 architectures, with the CPU
running a four-core/eight-thread unit and
the GPU running on eight compute units
with a total estimated performance of 1.6
TFLOPS.[80] Both the CPU and GPU use
variable timing frequencies, with the CPU
running between 2.4 and 3.5 GHz and the
GPU between 1.0 and 1.6 GHz based on
current processor needs.[81][82] Valve
stated that the CPU has comparable
performance to Ryzen 3000 desktop
computer processors and the GPU
performance to the Radeon RX 6000
series.[83] The Deck includes 16 GB of
LPDDR5 RAM in a quad channel
configuration.[82][84]

Valve revealed the Steam Deck on July 15,

2021, with pre-orders being made option
the next day. The Deck was expected to
ship in December 2021 to the US, Canada,
the EU and the UK but was delayed to
February 2022, with other regions to follow
in 2022.[85] Pre-orders were limited to
those with Steam accounts opened before
June 2021 to prevent resellers from
controlling access to the device.[85] Pre-
orders reservations on July 16, 2021
through the Steam storefront briefly
crashed the servers due to the demand.
While initial shipments are still planned by
February 2022, Valve has reported to new
purchasers that wider availability will be
later, with the 64 GB model and 256 GB
NVMe model due in Q2 2022, and the 512
GB NVMe model by Q3 2022.[86] Steam
Deck was released on February 25,
2022.[87][88]

See also
Comparison of handheld game consoles

List of handheld game consoles

Video game console emulator

Handheld electronic game

Handheld television

Linux gaming

Cloud gaming

Mobile game

References
1. D 4.1 - Standards and technology
monitoring report [revised version] (http://
www.mg-bl.com/fileadmin/downloads/del
iverables/D4.1_Standards_and_technolog
y_monitoring_report_revised_version_V1.
7.pdf) Archived (https://web.archive.org/
web/20130630130213/http://www.mg-bl.
com/fileadmin/downloads/deliverables/D
4.1_Standards_and_technology_monitorin
g_report_revised_version_V1.7.pdf) June
30, 2013, at the Wayback Machine.
University of Maribor. Sixth Framework
Programme (European Community). April
24, 2007. p. 20.
2. Li, Frederick W. B. Computer Games (htt
p://www.dur.ac.uk/frederick.li/paper/gam
e.v2.pdf) . Archived (https://web.archive.o
rg/web/20100714083111/http://www.dur.
ac.uk/frederick.li/paper/game.v2.pdf)
July 14, 2010, at the Wayback Machine.
Durham University. Retrieved December
19, 2008. p. 4.

3. Steinbock, Dan; Johnny L. Wilson (January

28, 2007). The Mobile Revolution (https://
books.google.com/books?id=cUQ1y4iNrG
cC&q=popularizing+the+handheld+consol
e+concept+nintendo&pg=PA150) . Kogan
Page. p. 150. ISBN 978-0-7494-4850-9.
4. Loguidice, Bill; Matt Barton (August 15,
2008). "A History of Gaming Platforms:
Mattel Intellivision" (http://www.gamasutr
a.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=18
518) . Gamasutra. Retrieved
December 27, 2008.

5. Demaria, Rusel; Johnny L. Wilson (2002).

High Score! The Illustrated History of
Video games (https://books.google.com/
books?id=HJNvZLvpCEQC&q=High+Scor
e!+The+Illustrated+History+of+Video+ga
mes) . McGraw-Hill. pp. 31–32. ISBN 978-
0-07-222428-3.
6. "Merlin, the Electronic Wizard - Game
Console - Computing History" (http://www.
computinghistory.org.uk/det/16957/Merli
n-the-Electronic-Wizard/) .
www.computinghistory.org.uk. Retrieved
July 7, 2020.

7. East, Tom (November 11, 2009). "History

Of Nintendo: Game Boy" (https://web.archi
ve.org/web/20141110045319/http://www.
officialnintendomagazine.co.uk/13153/fe
atures/history-of-nintendo-game-boy/) .
Official Nintendo Magazine. Archived from
the original (http://www.officialnintendom
agazine.co.uk/13153/features/history-of-
nintendo-game-boy/) on November 10,
2014. Retrieved December 29, 2013.
 8. Patsuris, Penelope (June 7, 2004). "Sony
PSP Vs. Nintendo DS" (https://www.forbe
s.com/2004/06/07/cx_pp_0607mondaym
atchup.html) . Forbes.

9. Hutsko, Joe (March 25, 2000). "88 Million

and Counting; Nintendo Remains King of
the Handheld Game Players" (https://ww
w.nytimes.com/2000/03/25/business/88-
million-and-counting-nintendo-remains-kin
g-of-the-handheld-game-players.html?pag
ewanted=all) . The New York Times.
Retrieved January 12, 2009.

10. "30 Years of Handheld Game Systems" (ht

tps://www.pcworld.com/article/183679/e
volution_of_portable_gaming.html) .
PCWorld. December 6, 2009. Retrieved
July 7, 2020.
11. McFerran, Damien (May 19, 2017).
"Retrospective: The Awkward Birth of the
DS, Nintendo's Most Successful System"
(https://www.nintendolife.com/news/201
7/05/retrospective_the_awkward_birth_of
_the_ds_nintendos_most_successful_sys
tem) . Nintendo Life. Retrieved August 14,
2021.

12. Demaria, Rusel; Johnny L. Wilson (2002).

High Score! The Illustrated History of
Video games (https://books.google.com/
books?id=HJNvZLvpCEQC&q=High+Scor
e!+The+Illustrated+History+of+Video+ga
mes) . McGraw-Hill. p. 30. ISBN 978-0-07-
222428-3.
13. Jensen, Kris (January 1978). "New 1978
Electronic Games" (https://web.archive.or
g/web/20110628172513/http://www.han
dheldmuseum.com/BooksMagazines/Ma
g-PE_0178/PE0178_2.htm) . Popular
Electronics: 33–43. Archived from the
original (http://www.handheldmuseum.co
m/BooksMagazines/Mag-PE_0178/PE017
8_2.htm) on June 28, 2011. Retrieved
July 17, 2016.

14. Morgan, Rik (August 5, 2008). "Cragstan

Periscope-Firing Range" (http://www.hand
heldmuseum.com/Misc/CragstanPerisco
pe.htm) . Handheld Museum. Retrieved
December 27, 2008.
15. "Optoelectronics Arrives" (https://web.arc
hive.org/web/20101022172145/http://ww
w.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,917
1,903443,00.html) . Time. Vol. 99, no. 14.
April 3, 1972. Archived from the original (h
ttp://www.time.com/time/magazine/articl
e/0,9171,903443,00.html) on October 22,
2010.

16. Morgan, Rik (August 5, 2008). "Interview

with Howard Cohen" (http://www.handheld
museum.com/Mattel/Trivia.htm) .
Handheld Museum. Retrieved October 1,
2009.
17. Kent, Steven (2001). The Ultimate History
of Video Games (https://books.google.co
m/books?id=C2MH05ogU9oC&q=%22The
+Ultimate+History+of+Video+Games%2
2) . Prima Publishing. p. 200. ISBN 978-0-
7615-3643-7.

18. Parish, Jeremy (March 28, 2005).

"PSPredecessors" (https://web.archive.or
g/web/20160721193503/http://www.1up.
com/features/pspredecessors) . 1up.
Archived from the original (http://www.1u
p.com/features/pspredecessors) on July
21, 2016. Retrieved January 10, 2008.
19. "Mattel's Football (I) (1977, LED, 9 Volt,
Model# 2024)" (http://www.handheldmus
eum.com/Mattel/FB.htm) .
handheldmuseum.com. Retrieved July 16,
2016.

20. "Mattel Electronics Football" (https://web.

archive.org/web/20200710014145/http://
www.retroland.com/mattel-electronics-fo
otball/) . Retroland. Archived from the
original (http://www.retroland.com/mattel-
electronics-football/) on July 10, 2020.
Retrieved July 16, 2016.
21. "Winners of 59th Technology &
Engineering Emmy Awards Announced by
National Television Academy at Consumer
Electronics Show" (https://web.archive.or
g/web/20160721193614/http://www.em
myonline.org/mediacenter/_pdf/tech_2k7
_winners.pdf) (PDF). National Television
Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
January 8, 2008. Archived from the
original (http://www.emmyonline.org/medi
acenter/_pdf/tech_2k7_winners.pdf)
(PDF) on July 21, 2016. Retrieved July 16,
2016.
22. Herman, Leonard (2001). Phoenix: The
Rise and Fall Of Video Games (https://boo
ks.google.com/books?id=JHOAAAAACAA
J&q=%22Phoenix%22+video+games) .
Rolenta Press. p. 42. ISBN 0-9643848-5-X.

23. Niko Silvester. "Sony's PlayStation

Portable and Milton Bradley's Microvision -
The PSP and the History of Handheld
Video Gaming, Part 2" (https://web.archiv
e.org/web/20200806162245/https://ww
w.lifewire.com/retro-collector-beginnings-
4040018) . about.com. Archived from the
original (http://psp.about.com/od/hardwa
refirmware/a/psphistorymicrovision.htm)
on August 6, 2020. Retrieved July 16,
2016.
24. Morgan, Rik (August 5, 2008).
"CosmiHunter" (https://web.archive.org/w
eb/20110628172547/http://www.handhel
dmuseum.com/MB/MVCosmicHunter.ht
m) . Handheld Museum. Archived from
the original (http://www.handheldmuseu
m.com/MB/MVCosmicHunter.htm) on
June 28, 2011. Retrieved June 25, 2009.
25. Crigger, Lara (March 3, 2007). "The
Escapist: Searching for Gunpei Yokoi" (htt
ps://web.archive.org/web/201402132137
25/http://www.escapistmagazine.com/art
icles/view/issues/issue_87/490-Searchin
g-for-Gunpei-Yokoi) .
Escapistmagazine.com. Archived from the
original (http://www.escapistmagazine.co
m/articles/view/issues/issue_87/490-Sea
rching-for-Gunpei-Yokoi) on February 13,
2014. Retrieved July 17, 2016.
26. Pollack, Andrew (October 9, 1997).
"Gunpei Yokoi, Chief Designer Of Game
Boy, Is Dead at 56" (https://www.nytimes.c
om/1997/10/09/business/gunpei-yokoi-c
hief-designer-of-game-boy-is-dead-at-56.ht
ml?n=Top%2FReference%2FTimes%20Top
ics%2FSubjects%2FD%2FDeaths%20(Obit
uaries)) . The New York Times.

27. Sheff, David (1999). Game Over: Press

Start to Continue (https://books.google.co
m/books?id=0dK2AAAAIAAJ&q=Game+O
ver:+Press+Start+to+Continue) .
GamePress. p. 28. ISBN 978-0-9669617-0-
6.
28. Buchanan, Levi (September 8, 2008).
"From Janitor to Superstar Gunpei Yokoi,
inventor of the Game Boy, would have
been 67 this week" (http://retro.ign.com/a
rticles/908/908569p1.html) . IGN.
Retrieved December 28, 2008.

29. Pfau, Jeffrey (2008). "The Game

Controller: From the Beginning" (https://w
ww.brown.edu/Departments/Joukowsky_I
nstitute/courses/13things/7643.html) .
13 Things. Joukowsky Institute for
Archaeology and the Ancient World.
Brown University. Retrieved July 16, 2016.
30. Natapov, D.; MacKenzie, I. S. (2010). "The
trackball controller: Improving the analog
stick" (http://www.yorku.ca/mack/FutureP
lay2010-1.pdf) (PDF). Proceedings of the
2010 Conference on FuturePlay. New
York: ACM: 175–182. Archived (https://we
b.archive.org/web/20160411142350/htt
p://www.yorku.ca/mack/FuturePlay2010-
1.pdf) (PDF) from the original on April 11,
2016.

31. Sheff, David (1999). Game Over: Press

Start to Continue (https://books.google.co
m/books?id=0dK2AAAAIAAJ&q=Game+O
ver:+Press+Start+to+Continue) .
GamePress. p. 294. ISBN 978-0-9669617-
0-6.
32. "The top ten retro gaming secrets" (http
s://web.archive.org/web/2012012322094
4/http://www.pcpro.co.uk/features/36159
1/the-top-ten-retro-gaming-secrets/3) . PC
Pro. Archived from the original (http://ww
w.pcpro.co.uk/features/361591/the-top-te
n-retro-gaming-secrets/3) on January 23,
2012. Retrieved January 26, 2011.

33. "The top ten retro gaming secrets" (http

s://web.archive.org/web/2012011512392
6/http://www.pcpro.co.uk/features/36159
1/the-top-ten-retro-gaming-secrets) . PC
Pro. Archived from the original (http://ww
w.pcpro.co.uk/features/361591/the-top-te
n-retro-gaming-secrets) on January 15,
2012. Retrieved January 26, 2011.
34. "Game Boy — Nintendo dominates the
portable market" (https://web.archive.org/
web/20110123202930/http://firstarkansa
snews.net/2011/01/game-boy-nintendo-d
ominates-the-portable-market/) . First
Arkansas News. January 22, 2011.
Archived from the original (http://firstarka
nsasnews.net/2011/01/game-boy-nintend
o-dominates-the-portable-market/) on
January 23, 2011. Retrieved April 28,
2011.
35. "05 Annual Report" (https://web.archive.or
g/web/20051215033905/https://www.nin
tendo.com/corp/report/NintendoAnnualR
eport2005.pdf) (PDF). Nintendo Co., Ltd.
March 31, 2006. p. 65. Archived from the
original (https://www.nintendo.com/corp/r
eport/NintendoAnnualReport2005.pdf)
(PDF) on December 15, 2005. Retrieved
March 22, 2008.

36. "Game Boy" (https://web.archive.org/web/

20070509094404/http://images.business
week.com/ss/06/10/game_consoles/sour
ce/7.htm) . A Brief History of Game
Console Warfare. BusinessWeek. Archived
from the original on May 9, 2007.
Retrieved March 22, 2008.
37. Travis Fahs (April 21, 2009). "IGN Presents
the History of SEGA" (http://retro.ign.com/
articles/974/974695p7.html) . IGN. p. 7.
Retrieved April 27, 2011.

38. Snow, Blake (July 30, 2007). "The 10

Worst-Selling Handhelds of All Time" (http
s://web.archive.org/web/2007101219460
0/http://gamepro.com/gamepro/domesti
c/games/features/125748.shtml) .
GamePro. Archived from the original (htt
p://www.gamepro.com/gamepro/domesti
c/games/features/125748.shtml) on
October 12, 2007. Retrieved January 17,
2008.
39. Marriott, Scott Alan. "Sega Genesis
Nomad - Overview" (https://web.archive.or
g/web/20141114094423/http://www.allga
me.com/platform.php?id=17671) .
Allgame. Archived from the original (htt
p://www.allgame.com/platform.php?id=1
7671) on November 14, 2014. Retrieved
October 18, 2013.

40. Horowitz, Ken (February 7, 2013).

"Interview: Joe Miller" (http://www.sega-1
6.com/2013/02/interview-joe-miller/) .
Sega-16. Retrieved November 17, 2013.
41. Kent, Steven L. (2001). The Ultimate
History of Video Games: The Story Behind
the Craze that Touched our Lives and
Changed the World. Roseville, California:
Prima Publishing. pp. 508, 531. ISBN 0-
7615-3643-4.

42. Retro Gamer staff. "Retroinspection: Sega

Nomad". Retro Gamer. Imagine Publishing
(69): 46–53.

43. "The Incredible Shrinking Game Boy

Pocket". Electronic Gaming Monthly.
No. 84. Ziff Davis. July 1996. p. 16.

44. "Game Boy Relaunched". Next Generation.

No. 20. Imagine Media. August 1996.
p. 26.

45. "Pocket Cool". Electronic Gaming Monthly.

No. 89. Ziff Davis. December 1996. p. 204.
46. "Show Notes". GamePro. No. 95. IDG.
August 1996. p. 16.

47. "A Sign Of The Times: Game Over For

SNK" (https://uk.ign.com/articles/2001/1
1/03/a-sign-of-the-times-game-over-for-s
nk) . IGN UK. November 2, 2001.

48. Parish, Jeremy (October 28, 2014). "Neo

Geo Pocket Color: The portable that
changed everything" (http://www.usgame
r.net/articles/neo-geo-pocket-color-the-po
rtable-that-changed-everything) .
usgamer.net.

49. "Neo Geo Pocket Color 101, A beginner's

guide" (http://www.racketboy.com/retro/s
nkneo-geo/neogeo-pocket-color-101-begi
nners-guide) . racketboy.com. January 4,
2012.
50. "The end of an era: a cruel look at what we
missed: Part 2" (http://archive.kontek.net/
sngp.classicgaming.gamespy.com/editori
als/end_of_an_era_part2.htm) . June
2000.

51. "Bandai announces release of

WonderSwan color" (https://web.archive.o
rg/web/20140320215243/http://www.pro
moduck.com/PressRelease/html/press_c
on10a048.htm) . August 30, 2000.
Archived from the original (http://www.pro
moduck.com/PressRelease/html/press_c
on10a048.htm) on March 20, 2014.
Retrieved April 28, 2011.
52. "WonderSwan Color Revealed" (http://gam
eboy.ign.com/articles/084/084272p1.ht
ml) . August 30, 2000. Retrieved April 28,
2011.

53. "Consolidated Financial Highlights" (http

s://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/pdf/2008/0801
24e.pdf#page=8) (PDF). Nintendo.
January 24, 2008. p. 8. Archived (https://w
eb.archive.org/web/20080216091256/htt
ps://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/pdf/2008/080
124e.pdf) (PDF) from the original on
February 16, 2008. Retrieved March 22,
2008.

54. GP2X Q&A, With Craig Rothwell (http://ww

w.gamespot.com/news/6159783.html) .
Clockerz. Retrieved March 24, 2008.
55. "A New Day for N-Gage" (https://web.archi
ve.org/web/20090412015450/http://www.
n-gage.com/ngi/ngage/web/g0/en/comm
unity/articles.Detail.general-anewdayforng
age.1.html) . Nokia. Archived from the
original (http://www.n-gage.com/ngi/ngag
e/web/g0/en/community/articles.Detail.g
eneral-anewdayforngage.1.html) on April
12, 2009. Retrieved April 3, 2008.

56. "Consolidated Financial Highlights" (http

s://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/pdf/2009/0905
07e.pdf#page=22) (PDF). Nintendo. May
7, 2009. p. 22. Archived (https://web.archi
ve.org/web/20110629122850/https://ww
w.nintendo.co.jp/ir/pdf/2009/090507e.p
df) (PDF) from the original on June 29,
2011. Retrieved May 7, 2009.
57. Gameking 2 Portable Game Machine (http
s://gizmodo.com/101781/gameking-2-por
table-game-machine) . Gizmodo.com
(April 30, 2005). Retrieved on 2013-08-23.

58. "PSP - About" (https://web.archive.org/we

b/20080213151309/http://www.us.playst
ation.com/psp/about/) . Sony Computer
Entertainment. Archived from the original
(http://www.us.playstation.com/PSP/Fea
tures) on February 13, 2008. Retrieved
March 12, 2008.
59. "PSP Technical Specifications" (https://we
b.archive.org/web/20080213151309/htt
p://www.us.playstation.com/psp/about/s
pecs) . "Sony Computer Entertainment.
Archived from the original (http://www.us.
playstation.com/psp/about/specs) on
February 13, 2008. Retrieved March 12,
2008.

60. "E3 2003: Sony Goes Handheld!" (http://ps

2.ign.com/articles/402/402220p1.html) .
IGN. May 13, 2003. Retrieved March 12,
2008.
61. Miller II, Stanley A. (May 11, 2004). "Sony
aims to take on rivals" (https://web.archiv
e.org/web/20211028234432/https://new
s.google.com/newspapers?id=BTcqAAAAI
BAJ&pg=2031,1889081&dq=sony+aims+t
o+take+on+rivals&hl=en) . Milwaukee
Journal Sentinel. Archived from the
original (https://news.google.com/newsp
apers?id=BTcqAAAAIBAJ&pg=2031,18890
81&dq=sony+aims+to+take+on+rivals&hl
=en) on October 28, 2021. Retrieved
March 12, 2008.
62. "PSP Japanese launch impressions" (http
s://web.archive.org/web/2016072119350
5/http://www.1up.com/news/psp-japanes
e-launch-impressions) . 1UP. December
11, 2004. Archived from the original (htt
p://www.1up.com/news/psp-japanese-lau
nch-impressions) on July 21, 2016.
Retrieved March 12, 2008.

63. Thorsen, Tor (March 24, 2005). "The US

PSP Launch" (http://www.gamespot.com/
news/6121009/spot-on-the-us-psp-launc
h) . GameSpot. Retrieved March 12, 2008.

64. "Sony PSP launches across Europe" (htt

p://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_
4200000/newsid_4202900/4202934.st
m) . The BBC. September 1, 2005.
Retrieved March 12, 2008.
65. "E3 2003: PSP Press Release" (https://we
b.archive.org/web/20080323190851/htt
p://www.gamedaily.com/games/playstati
on-portable/psp/game-news/e3-2003-psp
-press-release/4356/3143/) .
gamedaily.com. December 31, 2003.
Archived from the original (http://www.ga
medaily.com/games/playstation-portable/
psp/game-news/e3-2003-psp-press-releas
e/4356/3143/) on March 23, 2008.
Retrieved March 12, 2008.
66. "Support - PSP - Movies" (https://web.arch
ive.org/web/20080315222243/http://ww
w.us.playstation.com/Support/PSP/Movie
s/default.html) . "Sony Computer
Entertainment. Archived from the original
(http://www.us.playstation.com/Support/
PSP/Movies/default.html) on March 15,
2008. Retrieved March 12, 2008.

67. Roper, Chris (March 28, 2005). "Sony PSP

vs. Nintendo DS" (http://gear.ign.com/arti
cles/599/599454p1.html) . IGN. Retrieved
March 12, 2008.
68. "PSP - About - Multimedia" (https://web.ar
chive.org/web/20080214222111/http://w
ww.us.playstation.com/PSP/About/Multi
media) . Sony Computer Entertainment.
Archived from the original (http://www.us.
playstation.com/PSP/About/Multimedia)
on February 14, 2008. Retrieved March 12,
2008.

69. "User's Guide - Remote Play" (http://manu

als.playstation.net/document/en/ps3/curr
ent/remoteplay/remoteplay.html) . Sony
Computer Entertainment. Retrieved
March 12, 2008.
70. "Support - PSP - Connecting to the
Internet" (https://web.archive.org/web/20
080315144612/http://www.us.playstation.
com/Support/PSP/ConnectingToInternet/
default.html) . Sony Computer
Entertainment. Archived from the original
(http://www.us.playstation.com/Support/
PSP/ConnectingToInternet/default.html)
on March 15, 2008. Retrieved March 12,
2008.

71. "Official Blog: It finally happened!" (https://

web.archive.org/web/20120301134532/ht
tp://www.open-pandora.org/index.php?opt
ion=com_content&view=article&id=177) .
OpenPandora. May 22, 2010. Archived
from the original on March 1, 2012.
Retrieved May 22, 2010.
72. First shipping emails hit inboxes (https://
web.archive.org/web/20120307234935/ht
tp://pandorapress.net/2010/05/21/first-sh
ipping-emails-hit-inboxes/) . Pandora
Press. May 21, 2010.

73. "PS Vita production to end in 2019 in

Japan - Gematsu" (https://gematsu.com/2
018/09/ps-vita-production-to-end-in-2019-i
n-japan) . Gematsu. September 20, 2018.
Retrieved March 10, 2019.

74. "PS Vita production ended in Japan" (http

s://gematsu.com/2019/03/ps-vita-produc
tion-ended-in-japan) . March 2019.

75. Gilbert, Ben (July 31, 2013). "NVIDIA

Shield review" (https://www.engadget.co
m/2013/07/31/nvidia-shield-review/) .
Engadget. Retrieved July 31, 2013.
76. Franklin, Eric. "Nvidia Shield Review" (htt
p://reviews.cnet.com/consoles/nvidia-shi
eld/4505-10109_7-35566996.html) .
Reviews.cnet.com. Retrieved August 2,
2013.

77. Leadbetter, Richard (August 11, 2013).

"Nvidia Shield review" (http://www.euroga
mer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-nvidia-shie
ld-review) . Eurogamer.net. Retrieved
August 12, 2013.
78. "Consolidated Financial Highlights - Q2
FY2020" (https://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/pd
f/2019/191031e.pdf) (PDF). Nintendo.
October 31, 2019. Archived (https://web.ar
chive.org/web/20191031072855/https://
www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/pdf/2019/191031
e.pdf) (PDF) from the original on October
31, 2019. Retrieved October 31, 2019.

79. "Analogue homepage" (https://www.analo

gue.co) . Analogue, Inc.

80. "Steam Deck :: Tech Specs" (https://www.

steamdeck.com/en/tech) . Steam Deck.
81. Moore, Bo (July 15, 2021). "Steam Deck:
The First Hands-On With Valve's Handheld
Gaming PC" (https://www.ign.com/article
s/steam-deck-hands-on-impressions-detai
ls-valve-handheld-gaming-pc) . IGN.
Retrieved July 15, 2021.

82. Phillips, Tom (July 15, 2021). "Valve

announces Steam Deck, a £349 handheld
PC" (https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/
2021-07-15-valve-announces-steam-deck-
a-gbp349-handheld-pc) . Eurogamer.
Retrieved July 15, 2021.
83. Weatherbed, Jess (July 23, 2021). "Valve
claims the Steam Deck can handle any
game you throw at it, including AAAs" (htt
ps://www.techradar.com/news/valve-clai
ms-the-steam-deck-can-handle-any-game-
you-throw-at-it-including-aaas) .
TechRadar. Retrieved July 23, 2021.

84. Loeffler, John (July 21, 2021). "Steam

Deck gets a spec update, and it's good
news for gamers" (https://www.techradar.
com/news/steam-deck-gets-a-spec-updat
e-and-its-good-news-for-gamers) .
TechRadar. Retrieved July 22, 2021.
85. Peters, Jay (July 15, 2021). "Valve's
gaming handheld is called the Steam Deck
and it's shipping in December" (https://ww
w.theverge.com/2021/7/15/22578783/val
ve-steam-deck-gaming-handheld-pc) . The
Verge. Retrieved July 15, 2021.

86. Yin-Poole, Wesley (July 17, 2021). "Steam

Deck expected order availability now Q1
2022 (64GB) and Q2 2022
(256GB/512GB)" (https://www.eurogamer.
net/articles/2021-07-17-steam-deck-expe
cted-order-availability-now-q1-2022-64gb-
or-q2-2022-256gb-512gb) . Eurogamer.
Retrieved July 17, 2021.
 87. Dawe, Liam (February 25, 2022). "The
Steam Deck has released, here's my initial
review" (https://www.gamingonlinux.com/
2022/02/steam-deck-initial-review/) .
GamingOnLinux. Retrieved February 27,
2022.

88. Larabel, Michael (February 25, 2022). "For

Linux Enthusiasts Especially, The Steam
Deck Is An Incredible & Fun Device" (http
s://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=ar
ticle&item=steam-deck-steamos-linux) .
Phoronix. Retrieved February 27, 2022.

Wikimedia Commons has media related

to Handheld game consoles.

Retrieved from
"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=Handheld_game_console&oldid=1176890530
"

This page was last edited on 24 September 2023,

at 17:01 (UTC). •
Content is available under CC BY-SA 4.0 unless
otherwise noted.