Handheld electronic game
Encyclopedia
----
Handheld electronic games are very small, portable devices for playing interactive electronic game
s, often miniaturized versions of video games. The controls, display and speakers are all part of a single unit. Rather than a general-purpose screen made up of a grid of small pixel
s, they usually have custom displays designed to play one game. This simplicity means they can be made as small as a digital watch, 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 were at their most popular from the late 1970s into the early 1990s. They are both the precursors to and inexpensive alternatives to the handheld game console
.
(1976) and Mattel Electronic Football (1977) which featured very simple red-LED
displays; gameplay involved the player pressing buttons to move his car or quarterback icon (represented by a bright dot) to avoid obstacles (represented by less bright dots). In 1978 the Milton Bradley Company
entered the handheld market with Simon
, a simple color-and-sound-matching game. Simon had no dedicated display, but featured four colored, lighted buttons; the original version was large enough to be used as a tabletop game or a handheld; later versions became increasingly smaller. The same year, Parker Brothers also released Merlin
, a more sophisticated handheld which could play six different games using an array of 11 buttons with integrated LEDs. Despite their relative simplicity, each of these early games was highly successful.
The initial success of Mattel and Parker Brothers' entries spawned a wave of similar handheld devices which were released through the early 1980s. Notable among these were a series of popular 2-player "head-to-head" games from Coleco
. Other games were miniaturized versions of popular arcade video games.
In 1979, Gunpei Yokoi, traveling on a bullet train
, saw a bored businessman playing with an LCD calculator
by pressing the buttons. Yokoi then thought of an idea for a watch that doubled as a miniature game machine for killing time. Starting in 1980, Nintendo
began to release a series of electronic games designed by Yokoi called the Game & Watch
games. Taking advantage of the technology used in the credit-card-sized calculators that had appeared on the market, Yokoi designed the series of LCD-based games to include a digital time display in the corner of the screen. For later, more complicated Game & Watch games, Yokoi invented a cross shaped directional pad or "D-pad" for control of on-screen characters. Yokoi also included his directional pad on the Famicom
game console's controllers, and the cross-shaped thumb controller soon became standard on game console controllers and ubiquitous across the video game industry as a replacement for the joystick.
During the 1980s, LCD displays became inexpensive and largely replaced LED displays in handheld games. The use of custom images in LCD and VFD games allows them to have greater detail and avoid the blocky, pixellated look of console screens, but not without drawbacks. All graphics are fixed in place, so every possible location and state of game objects has to be preset(and are usually visible when resetting a game), with no overlap. Illusion of movement is created by sequentially flashing objects between their possible states. Backgrounds for these games are static drawings, layered behind the "moving" graphics which are transparent when not in use. Partly due to these limitations, the gameplay of early LCD games was often even more crude than for their LED antecedents.
Some of the more well-known handheld games of the LCD display era are the Game & Watch
series by Nintendo and the games by Tiger Electronics
, and many titles from other companies were also popular, especially conversions of arcade game
s. New games are still being made, but most are based on relatively simple card and board game
s.
In 1982, the Bandai LCD Solarpower
series were the first solar-powered gaming devices. Some of its games, such as the horror-themed game Terror House, featured two LCD panels, one stacked on the other, for an early 3D effect
. In 1983, Takara Tomy
's Tomytronic 3D series simulated 3D
by having two LED
panels that were lit by external light through a window on top of the device, making it the first dedicated home video 3D hardware.
Other handheld games were built as flipcases and had two or even three LCD displays with different foreground and background scenes, offering some variety in the gameplay.
and PlayStation Portable
, dedicated handhelds continue to find a niche. Among technophilic
gamer subcultures like Akiba-kei
, unique control schemes like that of the 2008 Tuttuki Bako
have been proven salable due to novelty, however dedicated handhelds such as this are uncommon. Adult fads such as blackjack
, poker
, and Sudoku
also spawn dozens of original and knockoff handheld games. Tetris
, is also a prime target for knockoffs. Many Tetris clones also include other games using the block grid as a crude, low resolution dot matrix
screen. Such devices often have many variations of Tetris and sometimes even other kinds of games like racing
or even space shooters, such as Space Invaders
, where one box projects boxes at the enemy boxes. The most advanced of these designs can easily have more than 20 distinct games implemented and feature multi-channel sound, voice synthesis or digital sounds samples, and internal CMOS
memory which can save the current game progress and high scores when the system is turned off. Many of these handhelds with a dozen such games are marketed as having hundreds or even thousands of games, though the vast majority are just different speed and difficulty settings. The most basic can now be sold for less than the cost of a glossy magazine
.
At the lowest end of handheld game sophistication, there is also the "miss/catch the falling objects" game. These games are controlled with 2 movement buttons, and sport a screen with a column of player positions, and rows of projectiles to animate towards the player. The player and projectiles could be any picture, from tanks dodging missiles to a dog catching sausages.
Electronic game
An electronic game is a game that employs electronics to create an interactive system with which a player can play. The most common form of electronic game today is the video game, and for this reason the terms are often mistakenly used synonymously. Other common forms of electronic game include...
s, often miniaturized versions of video games. The controls, display and speakers are all part of a single unit. Rather than a general-purpose screen made up of a grid of small pixel
Pixel
In digital imaging, a pixel, or pel, is a single point in a raster image, or the smallest addressable screen element in a display device; it is the smallest unit of picture that can be represented or controlled....
s, they usually have custom displays designed to play one game. This simplicity means they can be made as small as a digital watch, and sometimes are. The visual output of these games can range from a few small light bulbs or LED
Light-emitting diode
A light-emitting diode is a semiconductor light source. LEDs are used as indicator lamps in many devices and are increasingly used for other lighting...
lights to calculator-like alphanumerical screens; later these were mostly displaced by liquid crystal
Liquid crystal display
A liquid crystal display is a flat panel display, electronic visual display, or video display that uses the light modulating properties of liquid crystals . LCs do not emit light directly....
and Vacuum fluorescent display
Vacuum fluorescent display
A vacuum fluorescent display is a display device used commonly on consumer-electronics equipment such as video cassette recorders, car radios, and microwave ovens. Invented in Japan in 1967, the displays became common on calculators and other consumer electronics devices...
screens with detailed images and in the case of VFD games, color. Handhelds were at their most popular from the late 1970s into the early 1990s. They are both the precursors to and inexpensive alternatives to the handheld game console
Handheld game console
A handheld game console is a lightweight, portable electronic device with a built-in screen, game controls and speakers. Handheld game consoles are run on machines of small size allowing people to carry them and play them at any time or place...
.
History
Early handheld games utilized very simple mechanisms to interact with players, often limited to illuminated buttons and sound effects. Notable early handheld games included the Mattel Auto RaceMattel Auto Race
Mattel Auto Race was the first in the line of many Mattel Electronics games, and is credited with being the first handheld game that was entirely digital, even predating the Milton Bradley Microvision, having no moving mechanisms except the controls and on/off switch...
(1976) and Mattel Electronic Football (1977) which featured very simple red-LED
Light-emitting diode
A light-emitting diode is a semiconductor light source. LEDs are used as indicator lamps in many devices and are increasingly used for other lighting...
displays; gameplay involved the player pressing buttons to move his car or quarterback icon (represented by a bright dot) to avoid obstacles (represented by less bright dots). In 1978 the Milton Bradley Company
Milton Bradley Company
The Milton Bradley Company is an American game company established by Milton Bradley in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1860. In 1920, it absorbed the game production of McLoughlin Brothers, formerly the largest game manufacturer in the United States, and in 1987, it purchased Selchow and Righter,...
entered the handheld market with Simon
Simon (game)
Simon is an electronic game of memory skill invented by Ralph H. Baer and Howard J. Morrison, with the software programming being done by Lenny Cope and manufactured and distributed by Milton Bradley. Simon was launched in 1978 at Studio 54 in New York City and became an immediate success. It...
, a simple color-and-sound-matching game. Simon had no dedicated display, but featured four colored, lighted buttons; the original version was large enough to be used as a tabletop game or a handheld; later versions became increasingly smaller. The same year, Parker Brothers also released Merlin
Merlin (game)
----Merlin was a handheld electronic game first made by Parker Brothers in 1978. Merlin is notable as one of the earliest and most popular handheld games, selling over 5 million units during its initial run, as well as one of the most long-lived, remaining popular throughout the 1980s...
, a more sophisticated handheld which could play six different games using an array of 11 buttons with integrated LEDs. Despite their relative simplicity, each of these early games was highly successful.
The initial success of Mattel and Parker Brothers' entries spawned a wave of similar handheld devices which were released through the early 1980s. Notable among these were a series of popular 2-player "head-to-head" games from Coleco
Coleco
Coleco is an American company founded in 1932 by Maurice Greenberg as "Connecticut Leather Company". It became a highly successful toy company in the 1980s, known for its mass-produced version of Cabbage Patch Kids dolls and its video game consoles, the Coleco Telstar and...
. Other games were miniaturized versions of popular arcade video games.
In 1979, Gunpei Yokoi, traveling on a bullet train
Shinkansen
The , also known as THE BULLET TRAIN, is a network of high-speed railway lines in Japan operated by four Japan Railways Group companies. Starting with the Tōkaidō Shinkansen in 1964, the network has expanded to currently consist of of lines with maximum speeds of , of Mini-shinkansen with a...
, saw a bored businessman playing with an LCD calculator
Calculator
An electronic calculator is a small, portable, usually inexpensive electronic device used to perform the basic operations of arithmetic. Modern calculators are more portable than most computers, though most PDAs are comparable in size to handheld calculators.The first solid-state electronic...
by pressing the buttons. Yokoi then thought of an idea for a watch that doubled as a miniature game machine for killing time. Starting in 1980, Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
began to release a series of electronic games designed by Yokoi called the Game & Watch
Game & Watch
is a line of handheld electronic games produced by Nintendo from to . Created by game designer Gunpei Yokoi, each Game & Watch features a single game to be played on an LCD screen in addition to a clock and an alarm ....
games. Taking advantage of the technology used in the credit-card-sized calculators that had appeared on the market, Yokoi designed the series of LCD-based games to include a digital time display in the corner of the screen. For later, more complicated Game & Watch games, Yokoi invented a cross shaped directional pad or "D-pad" for control of on-screen characters. Yokoi also included his directional pad on the Famicom
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
game console's controllers, and the cross-shaped thumb controller soon became standard on game console controllers and ubiquitous across the video game industry as a replacement for the joystick.
During the 1980s, LCD displays became inexpensive and largely replaced LED displays in handheld games. The use of custom images in LCD and VFD games allows them to have greater detail and avoid the blocky, pixellated look of console screens, but not without drawbacks. All graphics are fixed in place, so every possible location and state of game objects has to be preset(and are usually visible when resetting a game), with no overlap. Illusion of movement is created by sequentially flashing objects between their possible states. Backgrounds for these games are static drawings, layered behind the "moving" graphics which are transparent when not in use. Partly due to these limitations, the gameplay of early LCD games was often even more crude than for their LED antecedents.
Some of the more well-known handheld games of the LCD display era are the Game & Watch
Game & Watch
is a line of handheld electronic games produced by Nintendo from to . Created by game designer Gunpei Yokoi, each Game & Watch features a single game to be played on an LCD screen in addition to a clock and an alarm ....
series by Nintendo and the games by Tiger Electronics
Tiger Electronics
Tiger Electronics is an American toy manufacturer, best known for its handheld LCD games, the Furby, and Giga Pets. When Tiger was an independent company, Tiger Electronics Inc., its headquarters were in Vernon Hills, Illinois....
, and many titles from other companies were also popular, especially conversions of arcade game
Arcade game
An arcade game is a coin-operated entertainment machine, usually installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars, and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, and merchandisers...
s. New games are still being made, but most are based on relatively simple card and board game
Board game
A board game is a game which involves counters or pieces being moved on a pre-marked surface or "board", according to a set of rules. Games may be based on pure strategy, chance or a mixture of the two, and usually have a goal which a player aims to achieve...
s.
In 1982, the Bandai LCD Solarpower
Bandai LCD Solarpower
The LCD Solarpower series were handheld electronic games powered by solar energy made by Bandai in 1982. Some of the games, such as Terror House, featured two LCD panels, one stacked on the other, for an early 3D effect. This was particularly prominent in the horror-themed game Terror...
series were the first solar-powered gaming devices. Some of its games, such as the horror-themed game Terror House, featured two LCD panels, one stacked on the other, for an early 3D effect
Stereoscopy
Stereoscopy refers to a technique for creating or enhancing the illusion of depth in an image by presenting two offset images separately to the left and right eye of the viewer. Both of these 2-D offset images are then combined in the brain to give the perception of 3-D depth...
. In 1983, Takara Tomy
Takara Tomy
is a Japanese toy, children's merchandise and entertainment company created from the March 2006 merger of two companies: Tomy and long-time rival, Takara...
's Tomytronic 3D series simulated 3D
3D computer graphics
3D computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data that is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering 2D images...
by having two LED
LEd
LEd is a TeX/LaTeX editing software working under Microsoft Windows. It is a freeware product....
panels that were lit by external light through a window on top of the device, making it the first dedicated home video 3D hardware.
Other handheld games were built as flipcases and had two or even three LCD displays with different foreground and background scenes, offering some variety in the gameplay.
Handhelds today
Despite the increasing sophistication of handheld consoles such as the Nintendo 3DSNintendo 3DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo. The autostereoscopic device is able to project stereoscopic 3D effects without the use of 3D glasses or any additional accessories. The Nintendo 3DS features backward compatibility with Nintendo DS series software, including Nintendo DSi software...
and PlayStation Portable
PlayStation Portable
The is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004...
, dedicated handhelds continue to find a niche. Among technophilic
Technophilia
Technophilia refers generally to a strong enthusiasm for technology, especially new technologies such as personal computers, the Internet, mobile phones and home cinema...
gamer subcultures like Akiba-kei
Akiba-kei
or is a Japanese slang term similar in meaning to otaku.-Definition:Akiba-kei is a Japanese slang term meaning "Akihabara style". It dates back to the early 80s and refers to a subset of otaku, now largely older males, who spend much of their time in and around the Akihabara area of Tokyo and are...
, unique control schemes like that of the 2008 Tuttuki Bako
Tuttuki Bako
is a roughly cubic hand-held electronic game created by Bandai in 2008. The game comprises five mini-games , and a resettable alarm clock...
have been proven salable due to novelty, however dedicated handhelds such as this are uncommon. Adult fads such as blackjack
Blackjack
Blackjack, also known as Twenty-one or Vingt-et-un , is the most widely played casino banking game in the world...
, poker
Poker
Poker is a family of card games that share betting rules and usually hand rankings. Poker games differ in how the cards are dealt, how hands may be formed, whether the high or low hand wins the pot in a showdown , limits on bet sizes, and how many rounds of betting are allowed.In most modern poker...
, and Sudoku
Sudoku
is a logic-based, combinatorial number-placement puzzle. The objective is to fill a 9×9 grid with digits so that each column, each row, and each of the nine 3×3 sub-grids that compose the grid contains all of the digits from 1 to 9...
also spawn dozens of original and knockoff handheld games. Tetris
Tetris
Tetris is a puzzle video game originally designed and programmed by Alexey Pajitnov in the Soviet Union. It was released on June 6, 1984, while he was working for the Dorodnicyn Computing Centre of the Academy of Science of the USSR in Moscow, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic...
, is also a prime target for knockoffs. Many Tetris clones also include other games using the block grid as a crude, low resolution dot matrix
Dot matrix
A dot matrix is a 2-dimensional array of LED used to represent characters, symbols and images.Typically the dot matrix is used in older computer printers and many digital display devices. In printers, the dots are usually the darkened areas of the paper...
screen. Such devices often have many variations of Tetris and sometimes even other kinds of games like racing
Racing
A sport race is a competition of speed, against an objective criterion, usually a clock or to a specific point. The competitors in a race try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time...
or even space shooters, such as Space Invaders
Space Invaders
is an arcade video game designed by Tomohiro Nishikado, and released in 1978. It was originally manufactured and sold by Taito in Japan, and was later licensed for production in the United States by the Midway division of Bally. Space Invaders is one of the earliest shooting games and the aim is to...
, where one box projects boxes at the enemy boxes. The most advanced of these designs can easily have more than 20 distinct games implemented and feature multi-channel sound, voice synthesis or digital sounds samples, and internal CMOS
CMOS
Complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor is a technology for constructing integrated circuits. CMOS technology is used in microprocessors, microcontrollers, static RAM, and other digital logic circuits...
memory which can save the current game progress and high scores when the system is turned off. Many of these handhelds with a dozen such games are marketed as having hundreds or even thousands of games, though the vast majority are just different speed and difficulty settings. The most basic can now be sold for less than the cost of a glossy magazine
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
.
At the lowest end of handheld game sophistication, there is also the "miss/catch the falling objects" game. These games are controlled with 2 movement buttons, and sport a screen with a column of player positions, and rows of projectiles to animate towards the player. The player and projectiles could be any picture, from tanks dodging missiles to a dog catching sausages.
External links
- Electronic Handheld Game Museum - the largest handheld museum on the web