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. Handheld game consoles are smaller than home video game consoles and contain the console, screen, speakers, and controls in one unit, allowing players to carry them and play them at any time or place.
The Game Gear is an 8-bit fourth generation handheld game console released by Sega on October 6, 1990, in Japan, in April 1991 throughout North America and Europe, and during 1992 in Australia. The Game Gear primarily competed with Nintendo's Game Boy, the Atari Lynx, and NEC's TurboExpress. It shares much of its hardware with the Master System, and can play Master System games through the use of an adapter. Sega positioned the Game Gear, which had a full-color backlit screen with a landscape format, as a technologically superior handheld to the Game Boy.
A memory card is an electronic data storage device used for storing digital information, typically using flash memory. These are commonly used in digital portable electronic devices, such as Digital cameras as well as in many early games consoles such as the Nintendo Wii. They allow adding memory to such devices using a card in a socket instead of protruding USB flash drives.
The GP32 is a handheld game console developed by the South Korean company Game Park. It was released on November 23, 2001, in South Korea and distributed in some parts of Europe.
Game Park was a South Korean company that was founded in 1996 and went bankrupt in March 2007. It is responsible for creating the GP32 and the never-released XGP. GamePark Holdings was founded by former employees of Game Park in 2005.
The XGP was a concept portable video game system created by the Korean company GamePark as the follow-up to its GP32 handheld. Initially announced in 2005, the XGP was finally announced in March 2006 along with the release of the similar XGP Mini and the XGP Kids. The company went bankrupt before releasing any of the models.
The GP2X is a Linux-based handheld video game console and portable media player developed by South Korean company GamePark Holdings. It was released on November 10, 2005, in South Korea only.
Guru Logi Champ is a puzzle game by the Japanese developer Compile. The game was released in 2001 for the Game Boy Advance handheld game system. "Guru Logi" is an abbreviation of "Guruguru Logic", "guruguru" (ぐるぐる) being a Japanese onomatopoeia for a rotating motion.
GPH, formerly known as GamePark Holdings, was a South Korean company responsible for creating the GP2X. It was founded by former employees of the game maker GamePark in 2005.
The Leapster Learning Game System is an educational handheld game console aimed at 4- to 10–11-year-olds, made by LeapFrog Enterprises. Its games teach the alphabet, phonics, basic math, and art and animal facts to players. Along with a directional pad, the system features a touchscreen with a stylus pen that enables young users to interact directly with the screen. The Leapster was released in October 2003.
The seventh generation of home video game consoles began on November 22, 2005, with the release of Microsoft's Xbox 360 home console. This was followed by the release of Sony's PlayStation 3 on November 17, 2006, and Nintendo's Wii on November 19, 2006. Each new console introduced new technologies. The Xbox 360 offered games rendered natively at high-definition video (HD) resolutions, the PlayStation 3 offered HD movie playback via a built-in 3D Blu-ray Disc player, and the Wii focused on integrating controllers with movement sensors as well as joysticks. Some Wii controllers could be moved about to control in-game actions, which enabled players to simulate real-world actions through movement during gameplay. By this generation, video game consoles had become an important part of the global IT infrastructure; it is estimated that video game consoles represented 25% of the world's general-purpose computational power in 2007.
The Pandora is a handheld gaming computer originally released in 2010. It is designed to take advantage of existing free and open-source software and to be a target for homebrew development. It is developed and produced by OpenPandora, which is made up of former distributors and community members of the GP32 and GP2X handhelds. Until 2013, multiple batches of slightly updated Pandora variants were produced. In 2014 the development of a redesigned and upgraded successor, called DragonBox Pyra, was started.
GameCube accessories include first-party releases from Nintendo, and third-party devices, since the GameCube's launch in 2001.
A game backup device, informally called a copier, is a device for backing up ROM data from a video game cartridge to a computer file called a ROM image and playing them back on the official hardware. Recently flash cartridges, especially on the Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS platforms, only support the latter function; they cannot be used for backing up ROM data. Game backup devices also make it possible to develop homebrew software on video game systems. Game backup devices differ from modchips in that modchips are used in conjunction with systems that use generally available media such as CDs and DVDs, whereas game backup devices are used with systems that use cartridges.
The Dingoo is a handheld gaming console that supports music and video playback and open game development. The system features an on-board radio and recording program. It was sold to consumers in three colors: white, black, and pink. It was released in February 2009 and had sold over 1 million units.
The Nintendo DSi system software is a discontinued set of updatable firmware versions, and a software frontend on the Nintendo DSi video game console. Updates, which are downloaded via the system's Internet connection, allow Nintendo to add and remove features and software. All updates also include all changes from previous updates.
The GP2X Caanoo, more commonly known as Caanoo, stylized CAANOO, is an open source, Linux-based handheld video game console and portable media player developed by the South Korean company GamePark Holdings. It was released on August 16, 2010 in South Korea and was also sold throughout Europe. It is the successor to the GP2X Wiz, and was showcased at the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2010. The device's launch price was about US$150, which did not reach any retail stores in North America.
The Game Gadget is an open source gaming handheld that supports music and video playback, open game development, and some e-reader features.
The GCW Zero is a Linux-based open-source handheld video game console created by a start up, Game Consoles Worldwide. The GCW Zero was funded by a successful crowdfunding campaign on kickstarter.com on 29 January 2013 with US$238,499 collected, originally aiming for $130,000. The project was created by Justin Barwick. The device was eventually released that year.
