History of Portable Video Games

Microvision, 1979

Milton Bradley's Microvision wasn't that portable (about as long as your forearm and wide as your palm), but it was the first one to have games on cartridges. Unfortunately, most of the games required the use of a Pong-like dial at the bottom of the unit. There were only a tiny amount of games available and the actual hardware was full of bugs. For a first timer, it wasn't bad (but it wasn't good either).

Epoch Game Pocket Computer, 1984

Virtually unknown Stateside, the Epoch Game Pocket Computer will go down in the history of portable video games as the handheld that no one heard of. Only five games were released for the system and the system itself was only available in Japan. The biggest achievement was the large LCD screen... almost five times bigger than the Microvision.

Nintendo Game Boy, 1989

In 1989, Nintendo unleashed the Game Boy on the world, and bundled it with Tetris. The screen was just okay and the graphics in the games were just okay. The Game Boy (and following incarnations) has an impressive library of games that can keep any gamer satisfied from puzzles and action to RPGs and shooters. You can't deny the Game Boy's popularity since 1989. Why should you? You'd just get exhausted.

Atari Lynx, 1989

With better graphics, Atari and Epyx published the Lynx. The system was thick, clunky and never gained enough support to become the Game Boy killer. Atari changed up the looks a couple of years later, but discontinued the system due to poor sales performance.

NEC's Turbo Express, 1990

The Turbo Express looked like a handheld TV (and could be used as one) and had the first colored screen in the history of portable video games. The graphics rivaled the Sega Genesis and the Super Nintendo and could easily port over Turbo Graphx-16 games. The original price tag of $299.99 turned many gamers away however.

Sega Game Gear, 1990

The biggest challenger to the Game Boy was the Game Gear. It had a color screen, a lower launch price, and the benefit of a well-known company representing it. The game library was almost as impressive as the Game Boy's and had its popular core of characters like Sonic and Vectorman.

Sega Nomad, 1995

Sega still wanted to try to topple Nintendo's hold on the portable gaming market, so Sega released the Nomad, which was meant to be portable edition of the Genesis. Being just a little less bulky than the Lynx and having a short battery life was the ultimate demise of the system.

Tiger Electronics' game.com, 1997

The Game.com can be considered a good try. Tiger attempted to pack so much into the little device that the features overran themselves. The system could surf the internet and check e-mail (via text only) and operate as a PDA with a calendar, a calculator, and a memo function. The games were substandard, though a Resident Evil port ended up on the system.

Neo-Geo Pocket and Pocket Color, 1998

The Neo-Geo Pocket ported many great game from the arcade counterpart. The graphics were way ahead of any other portable system out there, but the innate cult following were the only gamers to really latch onto the capabilities. Who doesn't want to bring King of Fighters with them everywhere they go?

Game Boy Color, 1998

The redesign of the Game Boy took almost 10 years. It had a color screen to compete with other handheld video game systems and was backwards compatible with the original Game Boy.

The Wonderswan, 1999

Bandai's WonderSwan never made it to the United States, but it had a good following in Japan, thanks in part to having port exclusivity to the Final Fantasy series. That marriage didn’t last long because Squaresoft switched back to Nintendo.

Game Boy Advance, 2001

Nintendo released the Advance and it was a major improvement over previous Game Boys. The system was really a Super Nintendo in portable form and this continued to root Nintendo to the handheld industry. A couple years later, the SP, which was the Advance with a front-lit screen, was launched.

Nintendo DS and DS Lite, 2004

DS means Dual Screen and the handheld was an interesting concept when it was first revealed. On the top part of the flippable unit was the main screen, or where the game was played. The bottom screen allowed users to manipulate games that utilized the touch capabilities. For instance, racing games had the steering wheel on the touchscreen so the gamer can use the stylus to steer. The system had Wi-Fi and very unique games to its credit.

PlayStation Portable (PSP), 2004

The only system to break even a little of Nintendo's market share is Sony's PlayStation Portable. Graphics range from a little better than PS1 quality to near PS2 quality. There is built-in Wi-Fi, a media player, and a decent library of games. You can also watch UMD format movies or you can transfer MP4 formatted movies onto your PSP. Was it mentioned that you can also play MP3s?

What's Next in the History of Portable Video Games?

Handheld systems are getting more advanced and innovative at a quick pace. Games are looking even more fun and addicting on the handhelds than even the consoles. The only thing you should be waiting for now is an Xbox portable.