Nintendo has from the Game Boy to todaysold over 118 million units. With the release of the console in 1989, the company was cemented in the minds of many as a handheld powerhouse.
However, there are many, many more handhelds than just the Game Boyand DS, some of which were technically quite superior to the two. We will introduce you to four of them in chronological order in this article.
Atari Lynx
Release date: 1989
Sold consoles: 3,000,000 (Those:retro video games)
When the video game crash of 1984 happened, the event claimed one major victim in particular: Atari, which previously dominated the video game market. Five years later, in collaboration with developer studio Epyx, they wanted to try something new: portable consoles.
Handhelds were nothing new per se, but most hardware was only capable of running a game, such as Nintendo's Game & Watch. Although not a first, the Atari Lynx was supposed to have replaceable cartridges, a 16-bit processor and, for the first time, a color screen that could display over 4,000 colors.
Atari also took a comparatively small risk: Epyx developed hardware and software, Atari took over marketing and sales. In principle, the field was clear, because the only thing on the market was the Game Boy with its annoying monochrome display. Pretty foolproof, right?
This is why the Atari Lynx flopped:Although the Lynx was clearly superior from a technical perspective on paper, it had no chance against the Game Boy. Too luxurious and out of the market. Looking back, this was due to several factors:
- The price was too expensive at $179.99 (in Germany the console cost 399 D-Markt, according toI would have died). For comparison: the Game Boy cost just $89.99 (or 149 D-Marks in Germany)
- The battery life was significantly less than that of the Game Boy.
- The Game Boy came bundled with Tetris.
Sega Game Gear
Release date: 1990
Sold consoles: 11,000,000 (Those:Vice)
To call the Sega Game Gear a flop would be presumptuous. You shouldn't turn your nose up at eleven million units sold.
Sega's Game Gear was not only a foray into the dominated handheld market, but also the company's first portable console - which makes it all the more impressive that the device was designed with the Sega Master System, i.e. a stationary console, in mind.
The message was absolutely clear: Fighting Nintendo with pure technological power. Just like the Atari Lynx, the Game Gear displayed 4,096 colors with a 32-bit system and even offered a backlit screen, something that only came to Nintendo's handhelds in 2005 (!) with the Game Advance SP.
This is why the Game Gear flopped:Although technically superior to the Game Boy and even cheaper than the Atari Lynx (introductory price in Germany: 299 D-Mark), the handheld is now known, if at all, for one fact: it guzzles endless batteries.
Six batteries lasted about 4 hours; the Game Boy only needed four and lasted 15 hours. Guess what kids preferred to take with them on long car rides.
However, another reason is rumored.By the mid-1990s, Sega was already on the decline when it came to hardware. The decline was only helped by the new Sony PlayStation. The Game Gear didn't sell badly, but it lagged miles behind the Game Boy - and Sega had to take the ax somewhere (SVG).
Nokia N-Gage
Release date: 2003
Sold consoles: 3,000,000 (Those:GamePro)
If you look at Nokia's first and only foray into the handheld gaming world, you'll immediately notice the similarity to Nintendo's Game Boy Advance. The N-Gage is so much more than just a daddy pill.
The device is a mixture of a gaming console and a cell phone.However, it wasn't the best of both worlds, because while you're talking on the phone in portrait format, you're playing in landscape format.
Well, in the smartphone age, our cell phones are real jack-of-all-trades, but in 2003 the idea of the phone as a console was much more avant-garde - but howSlash Gearwrites, Nokia believed in the project and even gave the N-Gage another revision in 2004.
This is why the Nokia N-Gage flopped:Many people could certainly have gotten over the fact that you looked a little strange while making a phone call, but there were two design aspects that players haven't forgiven Nokia for.
- The screen was narrow.The Game Advance relied on a wide screen, the Nokia N-Gage on an upright screen - and that made games much more difficult because you simply saw less.
- Switching games was awkward.Believe it or not: In order to exchange the games that were stored on SD card-like cassettes, you had to remove the back cover.
Recommended editorial content
At this point you will find external content from YouTube that complements the article.
You can display it and hide it again with one click.
I agree to content from YouTube being shown to me.
Personal data may be transmitted to third-party platforms. More about this in our.
Link toYouTube content
Of course, price was also a deciding factor.Yes, the N-Gage was, once again, technically superior to the Game Boy Advance, but at a price of 299 US dollars, many gamers preferred the Nintendo console, which cost around 130 euros at the time.
It should also be mentioned that Sony added a powerful handheld with the PSP in 2005 and put the final nail in the N-Gage coffin. If you want to read a detailed report, take a look.
Sony PSP Go
Release date: 2009
Sold consoles: -
Sony tried its best to imitate Nintendo's practices with the PSP Go, but unfortunately failed. Nintendo is a master at constantly releasing new iterations of handhelds that have already been released (and if anyone has any doubts: take a lookGame Boy Microan).
The PSP Go is a new variant of the PSPand with a total of 80 million units sold, you can't blame Sony for trying to squeeze even more out of the handheld.
In our fourth case, the hardware was also superior to Nintendo's. Incidentally, Sony was also very brave with the PSP Go: The handheld had no physical games, everything was done via downloads. So you always had your game library with you without having to lug around a suitcase full of games.
This is why the PSP Go flopped:In the history of Sony - and handhelds as such - the PSP Go occupies a strange place. Technically speaking, the console was already a bit outdated in 2009 and was replaced by the PSP Vita in 2011. That led loudlyTechradarThis led to some retailers not even including the console in their range.
Added to this was the fact that the PSP Go was not backwards compatible. So there was no reason for PSP owners to buy the console. For them the new console would be a downgrade.
This was contrasted with Nintendo, whose handhelds mostly contained a game slot from the previous version (with the exception of the DSi). Download-only was unthinkable at the time.
But Nintendo is not without fault either. There were enough flops and strange gadgets from the Japanese.
There are countless more unknown and forgotten handhelds that are worth writing about. For now, it remains to be seen whether Nintendo can continue its high flight with the Switch 2, which began again with the Switch.
Did you have one of the handhelds at home? Feel free to write it in the comments.
