The Game Boy Color is an 8-bit handheld game console, manufactured by Nintendo, which was released in Japan on October 21, 1998, and to international markets that November. Compared to the original Game Boy, the Game Boy Color features a color TFT screen rather than monochrome, a processor that can operate twice as fast, and four times as much memory. It retains backward compatibility with games initially developed for its predecessor.
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 Microvision is the first handheld game console that used interchangeable cartridges and in that sense is reprogrammable. It was released by the Milton Bradley Company in November 1979 for a retail price of $49.99, equivalent to $212.00 in 2023.
The WonderSwan is a handheld game console released in Japan by Bandai. It was developed by Gunpei Yokoi's company Koto Laboratory and Bandai, and was the last piece of hardware Yokoi developed before his death in 1997. Released in 1999 in the sixth generation of video game consoles, the WonderSwan and its two later models, the WonderSwan Color and SwanCrystal were officially supported until being discontinued by Bandai in 2003. During its lifespan, no variation of the WonderSwan was released outside of Japan.
The Super Game Boy is a peripheral that allows Game Boy cartridges to be played on a Super Nintendo Entertainment System console. Released in June 1994, it retailed for US$59.99 in the United States and £49.99 in the United Kingdom. In South Korea, it is called the Super Mini Comboy and was distributed by Hyundai Electronics. A revised model, the Super Game Boy 2, was released in Japan in January 1998.
The Watara Supervision, also known as the QuickShot Supervision in the UK, is a monochrome handheld game console, originating from Asia, and introduced in 1992 as a cut-price competitor for Nintendo's Game Boy. It came packaged with a game called Crystball, which is similar to Breakout. One unique feature of the Supervision was that it could be linked up to a television via an official accessory. Games played in this way would display in four colors, much like Nintendo's Super Game Boy add-on for the SNES. A full color TV link was also in the works, but because of the Supervision's failure to make a major impression among gamers it was cancelled, along with the games which were in development for it.
Adventure Vision is a cartridge-based video game console released by Entex Industries in either August or October 1982. The launch price of the system was $79.95. The monitor, game controls, and computer hardware are all contained within a single portable unit. The LED monitor can only display red pixels. Four games were released, all of which are arcade ports. Approximately 10,000 were produced.
Handheld electronic games are interactive electronic games, often miniaturized versions of video games, that are played on portable handheld devices, known as handheld game consoles, whose controls, display and speakers are all part of a single unit. Rather than a general-purpose screen made up of a grid of small pixels, they usually have custom displays designed to play one game. This simplicity means they can be made as small as a smartwatch, and sometimes are. The visual output of these games can range from a few small light bulbs or LED lights to calculator-like alphanumerical screens; later these were mostly displaced by liquid crystal and vacuum fluorescent display screens with detailed images and in the case of VFD games, color. Handhelds' popularity was at its peak from the late 1970s into the early 1990s before declining. They are the precursors to the handheld game console.
GameKing is a brand of handheld game consoles, designed and developed by Timetop and manufactured by Guangzhou Panyu Gaoming Electronics Co., Ltd, in 2003, for the Hong Kong consumer market. The brand has three consoles, the GameKing I, the GameKing II and the GameKing III. A fourth console, the Handy Game, was produced by Timetop and shares some branding, but otherwise has little to do with the GameKing franchise.
Thin Chen Enterprise, also known as Sachen, was a Taiwanese company that developed several original games for the Nintendo Entertainment System, Mega Drive, Game Boy and other early cartridge-based handheld systems such as the Watara Supervision and Mega Duck. With the exception of the latter two handhelds, all of Thin Chen's games were produced without license from the console manufacturers. The company produced at least 70 unique games for the NES and Famicom and at least 32 for the Game Boy, making it the most prolific unlicensed developer and publisher for both consoles. The company also produced its own Nintendo Entertainment System hardware clones, such as the Q-Boy. Many of its games were released in an unfinished state, and received largely negative critical response.
A dedicated console is a video game console that is limited to one or more built-in video game or games, and is not equipped for additional games that are distributed via ROM cartridges, discs, downloads or other digital media. Dedicated consoles were popular in the first generation of video game consoles until they were gradually replaced by second-generation video game consoles that use ROM cartridges.
VG Pocket is a series of handheld dedicated game consoles built by JungleTac and sold by Performance Designed Products LLC. The VG Pocket model was the first console of its type to have a 2" backlit color LCD screen.
The Game Boy is a handheld game console developed by Nintendo, launched in the Japanese home market on April 21, 1989, followed by North America later that year and other territories from 1990 onwards. Following the success of the Game & Watch single-game handhelds, Nintendo developed the Game Boy to be more like a portable console, with interchangeable cartridges. The concept proved highly successful and the Game Boy became a cultural icon of the 1990s and early 2000s.
The Pocket Dream Console is a small handheld game console created by Conny in 2004. The system was released in Japan in 2006 by Takara Tomy. It is available in different colors.
The Gamate, known as 超級小子 in Taiwan and 超级神童 in China, is a handheld game console manufactured by Bit Corporation in the early 1990s, and released in Australia, some parts of Europe, Asia, Argentina, and the United States.
The R-Zone is a portable game console developed and manufactured by Tiger Electronics. The R-Zone was shown at the American International Toy Fair in February 1995, and was released later that year. The R-Zone was panned by critics, and was also a commercial disaster, with its lifespan lasting only two years before being discontinued in 1997. Although the R-Zone was not designed to compete directly with any other handhelds, it marked Tiger Electronics' first multi-game entry into the portable electronic game market.
The Mega Duck WG-108 is a handheld game console that was developed and manufactured by Hong Kong–based Welback Holdings through its Timlex International division, and released in 1993.
The Game & Watch is a line of handheld electronic games created by Nintendo. Released from 1980 to 1991, these devices were the brainchild of designer Gunpei Yokoi. Their name reflects their dual functionality: a single game paired with a digital clock on an LCD screen. Starting in 1981, models also included an alarm. In North America, the games were originally released through Mego Corporation as the Time-Out series; this line, consisting of Ball, Flagman, Vermin, and Fire, was discontinued later that year, with Nintendo of America subsequently distributing the series themselves under their original titles.
The Evercade is a handheld game console developed and manufactured by British company Blaze Entertainment. It focuses on retrogaming with ROM cartridges that each contain a number of emulated games. Evercade was released in May 2020 and upon its launch offered 10 game cartridges with a combined total of 122 games.
