There’s more to handhelds than the Game Boy.
We take a look at how mobile gaming has changed over the decades…
This article comes fromDen of Geek UK.
It goes without saying that handheld games have come a long way over the past 35 or-so years.
Back in 1989, the world collectively shrieked with excitement at the thought of playingTetrison a bus.
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Pros:long battery life, pocket-sized design.
Cons:Inevitably, some of the games are simplistic in the extreme.
Hitting rats moles with hammers!
And so forth.)
Nintendo Game Boy (1989)
The handheld that got the whole pocket-console zeitgeist going, obviously.
The Lynx was also the first and possibly last handheld to feature a layout for left or right-handed players.
Bear this in mind its a theme well be returning to shortly.
Pros:for the time, the graphics and sound really were superb.
Cons:Wait, how much?
Pros:great library of PC Engine games, great little LCD screen.
Cons:the second mortgage required to actually buy one.
Best game:great coin-op conversions abound, but our choice goes to 2D shooterGalaga 88.Pure retro heaven.
Cons:Unless you stayed tethered to an AC adaptor, completingCastle of Illusionwould require a mountain of Duracells.
Best game:I dont know.Snake, or whatever.
Tiger Game.com (1997)
This time next year, Rodney, well be millionaires.
The sales, however, made for dismal reading: some 300,000 units were shifted in total.
Del Boy still has a pallet-load of these in a Peckham lock-up, we should think.
Possibly the most boring console ever conceived.
Best game:Ports ofResident Evil 2andSonic Jamsound exciting, right?
Yeah, wait until you play the games.
Obscure elsewhere, the diminutive WonderSwan was something of a hit in Japan.
Pros:small, neat design.
Perhaps the best console name in video game history.
Cons:unremarkable build quality, import-related expenses.
Best game:for simple fun on the go, the puzzlerGunpeyis pretty hard to beat.
The dinky port of NamcosMr.
Drilleris also surprisingly brilliant.
Pros:the Neo Geos clicky little thumbstick felt like an upgrade from the Game Boys old cross-shaped controller.
Nice low price point of about $70.
Best game:Metal Slug 1st Mission.A classic run-and-gunner writ small.
Gizmondo (2000)
Seriously.
What were they thinking?
Sting evensang at the launch party a sour omen if ever weve heard one.
Cons:just try playing the thing.
Best game:its biggest seller was an item calledSticky Balls.Well say no more.
Pros:smaller, more compact than the Game Boy; whizzier tech.
Cons:Still no backlit screen at least until the SP, which came out in 2003.
Nokia N-Gage (2003)
It was a phone!
And a handheld console!
How could it possibly fail?
The RRP was also a wallet-punishing $299.
Best game:Puzzle Bobble Vs.A decent port of the arcade action-puzzler.
The perfect time killer for bubble haters (and lovers of tiny dinosaurs) everywhere.
In practice, most companies just shoved a map or some pretty graphics on the second screen.
Pros:innovative layout, stunning library of games.
Cons:the hinges were a bit weak and the design a little ungainly on the first generation models.
Sony PSP (2004)
Sonys answer to its rivals?
Its PlayStation Store and other web-based capabilities were also streets ahead of Nintendos.
Pros:rock-solid design, superb graphics, wireless multiplayer.
Cons:hideously expensive memory sticks at launch, proprietary UMD cards are fiddly to get in and out.
Unless youre Vladimir Putin or someone like that.
Funny, its like 3D was just a passing fad or something.
Somehow, the Vita just didnt capture the broader publics imagination.
Pros:another beautifully crafted system.
Cons:those memory sticks were another financial kick in the nethers.
A console that also wants to be a handheld?
With tiny removable bits of plastic that double as miniature Wii remotes?
Oh, and the removable, dinky controllers?
Pros:a faintly batty idea that makes perfect sense in practice.
Great games so far.
Cons:Those tiny Joy-Cons are pricey as chuff.
If the bus hits a pothole, your $50 copy ofSuper Mario Odysseys gone forever.
