Handheld electronic game

<h2 id="history">History</h2>

Early handheld games used simple mechanisms to interact with players, often limited to illuminated buttons and sound effects. Early handheld games include <a href="/facts/Mattel_Auto_Race/j6s1bdsG">Mattel Auto Race</a> (1976) and Mattel Electronic Football (1977),<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:1" href="#fn:1">1</a> which have simple red-<a href="/facts/Light-emitting_diode/gE8x4MDb">LED</a> displays; gameplay involves pressing buttons to move a car or quarterback icon (represented by a bright dot) to avoid obstacles (represented by less bright dots).
In 1978 the <a href="/facts/Milton_Bradley_Company/ws51eMfQ">Milton Bradley Company</a> entered the handheld market with <a href="/facts/Simon_(game)/x3UphjPm">Simon</a>, 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 <a href="/facts/Merlin_(game)/1pqzA3rQ">Merlin</a>, 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 <a href="/facts/Coleco/e0PekMbB">Coleco</a>. Other games were miniaturized versions of popular arcade video games.
In 1979, <a href="/facts/Gunpei_Yokoi/FSk5T8rF">Gunpei Yokoi</a>, traveling on a <a href="/facts/Shinkansen/Q3lH3fMJ">bullet train</a>, saw a bored businessman playing with an <a href="/facts/LCD/8B6xGBEz">LCD</a> <a href="/facts/Calculator/eeLfRS8L">calculator</a> by pressing the buttons. Yokoi then thought of an idea for a <a href="/facts/Watch/PuFUMNTl">watch</a> that doubled as a miniature game machine for killing time, a game watch.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2">2</a> Starting in 1980, <a href="/facts/Nintendo/dMrLpaHu">Nintendo</a> began to release a series of electronic games designed by Yokoi called the <a href="/facts/Game_%2526_Watch/bI6ULCDw">Game & Watch</a> games.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3">3</a> 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.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4">4</a> For later, more complicated Game & Watch games, Yokoi invented a cross shaped directional pad or "D-pad" for control of on-screen characters.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5">5</a> Yokoi also included his directional pad on the <a href="/facts/Nintendo_Entertainment_System/YD59GCQQ">Famicom</a> 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, <a href="/facts/Liquid-crystal_display/8B6xGBEz">LCDs</a> became inexpensive and largely replaced LED displays in handheld games. The use of custom images in LCD and VFD games allows for greater detail and eliminates the blocky, pixelated look of console screens, but not without drawbacks. All graphics are fixed in place, requiring every possible location and state of game objects to be preset—often visible when resetting a game—with no overlap. The <a href="/facts/Beta_movement/a2G3oMQj">illusion of movement</a> 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. Due to these limitations, the gameplay of early LCD games was often even cruder than that of their LED predecessors. 
Some of the more well-known handheld games of the LCD era are the <a href="/facts/Game_%2526_Watch/bI6ULCDw">Game & Watch</a> series by Nintendo and the games by <a href="/facts/Tiger_Electronics/b6WWbfvs">Tiger Electronics</a>, and many titles from other companies were also popular, especially conversions of <a href="/facts/Arcade_game/oBYn85uk">arcade games</a>. New games are still being made, but most are based on relatively simple <a href="/facts/Card_games/KznKpTyD">card</a> and <a href="/facts/Board_game/ctkuzWJU">board games</a>.

<h3>Bandai LCD Solarpower</h3>

In 1982, the <a href="/facts/Bandai_LCD_Solarpower/5XezCDvt">Bandai LCD Solarpower</a> series were the first <a href="/facts/Solar_energy/YBSajyN4">solar-powered</a> gaming devices. Some of its games, such as the <a href="/facts/Survival_horror/D2W9mT45">horror</a>-themed game Terror House, featured two <a href="/facts/LCD_panel/8B6xGBEz">LCD panels</a>, one stacked on the other, for an early <a href="/facts/Stereoscopy/jfHumNV8">3D effect</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6">6</a> In 1983, <a href="/facts/Takara_Tomy/rEtPJrcU">Takara Tomy</a>'s <a href="/facts/Tomytronic_3D/uqMjXUH0">Tomytronic 3D</a> series simulated <a href="/facts/3D_computer_graphics/zlWW6eaF">3D</a> by having two <a href="/facts/LED/gE8x4MDb">LED</a> panels that were lit by external light through a window on top of the device, making it the first dedicated home video 3D hardware.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7">7</a>
The LCD Solarpower series are handheld electronic games powered by <a href="/facts/Solar_energy/YBSajyN4">solar energy</a> made by <a href="/facts/Bandai/Muy3E7QK">Bandai</a> in 1982. The games in the Double Panel series feature two LCD panels<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8">8</a> stacked on top of each other. This allows these games to progress in 2 stages for more variation in game play.

<h4>Games</h4>
It comprises the following games:
First series:

Invaders of the Mummy's Tomb (謎のピラミッド, Nazo no Pyramid), ref. 16265 and 16813 for the re-release
Escape from the Devil's Doom (天国と地獄, Tengoku to Jigoku), ref. 16264
Sub Attack (激戦Ｕボート, Gekisen U-Boat) / (Sub Patrol in UK), ref. 16280
Break Out (大脱走, Daidassou), ref. 16282
Shark Island (恐怖の無人島, Kyofu no Mujintou), ref. 16281
Nazo No Chinbotsusen (謎の沈没船, Nazo no Chinbotsusen), ref. 16288, released in Japan only
Second series (Double Panel):

Amazone (秘境アマゾン, Hikyo Amazon), ref. 16815
Terror House (悪霊の館, Akuryo no Yakata), ref. 16814
Frankenstein (ミスターフランケン, Mr. Franken), ref. 16817
Airport Panic (エアポートパニック, Airport Panic), ref. 16818
Other handheld games were built as flipcases and had two or even three LCDs with different foreground and background scenes, offering some variety in the gameplay.

<h2 id="handhelds-today">Handhelds today</h2>

Despite the increasing sophistication of handheld consoles such as the <a href="/facts/Nintendo_Switch/UPy7Bcyu">Nintendo Switch</a>, dedicated handhelds continue to find a niche. Among <a href="/facts/Technophilia/oGSkmmRH">technophilic</a> gamer subcultures like <a href="/facts/Akiba-kei/RRfR53FH">Akiba-kei</a>, unique control schemes like that of the 2008 <a href="/facts/Tuttuki_Bako/y9SoxQUe">Tuttuki Bako</a> have been proven salable due to novelty, but dedicated handhelds such as this are uncommon. Adult fads such as <a href="/facts/Blackjack/g6rhk8j0">blackjack</a>, <a href="/facts/Poker/bYSg9eCS">poker</a>, and <a href="/facts/Sudoku/I5Savmhf">Sudoku</a> also spawn dozens of original and knockoff handheld games. 
The Chinese/Russian Brick Game, popular in the early 1990s, includes games using a 10 × 20 block grid as a crude, low resolution <a href="/facts/Dot_matrix/Bz3AbzYe">dot matrix</a> screen. Such devices often have many variations of <a href="/facts/Tetris/djLfTK0n">Tetris</a> and sometimes even other kinds of games like <a href="/facts/Racing_video_game/szkhmK4d">racing</a>, <a href="/facts/Breakout_(video_game)/4G7LJqCF">Breakout</a> or even <a href="/facts/Shoot_%2527em_up/dyAgF51H">shoot 'em up</a>, such as those resembling <a href="/facts/Galaga/dwSCS0TP">Galaga</a> or <a href="/facts/Battle_City/MS1zSvTx">Battle City</a>, where one block projects blocks at the "enemy" blocks. The most advanced of these designs usually have 26 distinct games sorted in <a href="/facts/Alphabet/vqfRpS3E">alphabetical letters</a> and feature multi-channel sound, voice synthesis or digital sounds samples, and internal <a href="/facts/CMOS/NJIWYgBl">CMOS</a> 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 (e.g. "9999 in 1"), though the vast majority are just different speed and difficulty settings. The most basic can now be sold as low as $1. 
At the lowest end of handheld game sophistication, there is also the "avoid/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.

<h2 id="see-also">See also</h2>

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Handheld electronic games.

<ul><li><a href="/facts/Calculator_gaming/H3e7p0K7">Calculator gaming</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Dedicated_console/V3SbhGM0">Dedicated console</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Handheld_game_console/l1hmKVPx">Handheld game console</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Mobile_game/H3e7p0K7">Mobile game</a></li></ul>

<h2 id="external-links">External links</h2>
<ul><li><a href="http://www.handheldmuseum.com/">Electronic Handheld Game Museum</a> - the largest handheld museum on the web</li>
<li><a href="http://handheldempire.com">Handheld Empire</a> - collectors site cataloguing 70s' and 80s' handheld games</li>
<li><a href="https://archive.org/details/handheldhistory">Handheld History</a> - collection of 74 emulations of electronic handheld games</li></ul>

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1">DP Interviews. Digitpress.com. Retrieved on 2013-09-27. <a href="http://www.digitpress.com/library/interviews/interview_mark_lesser.html" target="_blank">http://www.digitpress.com/library/interviews/interview_mark_lesser.html</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:2">"The Escapist: Searching for Gunpei Yokoi". Archived from the original on 2014-02-13. Retrieved 2011-01-26. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140213213725/http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/issues/issue_87/490-Searching-for-Gunpei-Yokoi" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20140213213725/http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/issues/issue_87/490-Searching-for-Gunpei-Yokoi</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:3">Pollack, Andrew (1997-10-09). "Gunpei Yokoi, Chief Designer Of Game Boy, Is Dead at 56". The New York Times. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1997/10/09/business/gunpei-yokoi-chief-designer-of-game-boy-is-dead-at-56.html?n=Top%2FReference%2FTimes%20Topics%2FSubjects%2FD%2FDeaths%20(Obituaries)" target="_blank">https://www.nytimes.com/1997/10/09/business/gunpei-yokoi-chief-designer-of-game-boy-is-dead-at-56.html?n=Top%2FReference%2FTimes%20Topics%2FSubjects%2FD%2FDeaths%20(Obituaries)</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:4">Sheff, David (1999). Game Over: Press Start to Continue. GamePress. p. 28. ISBN 978-0-9669617-0-6. <a href="978-0-9669617-0-6" target="_blank">978-0-9669617-0-6</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:5">Buchanan, Levi (2008-09-08). "From Janitor to Superstar Gunpei Yokoi, inventor of the Game Boy, would have been 67 this week". IGN. Retrieved 2008-12-28. <a href="http://retro.ign.com/articles/908/908569p1.html" target="_blank">http://retro.ign.com/articles/908/908569p1.html</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:6">The top ten retro gaming secrets (page 3) Archived 2012-01-23 at the Wayback Machine, PC Pro <a href="http://www.pcpro.co.uk/features/361591/the-top-ten-retro-gaming-secrets/3" target="_blank">http://www.pcpro.co.uk/features/361591/the-top-ten-retro-gaming-secrets/3</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:7">The top ten retro gaming secrets (page 1) Archived 2012-01-15 at the Wayback Machine, PC Pro <a href="http://www.pcpro.co.uk/features/361591/the-top-ten-retro-gaming-secrets" target="_blank">http://www.pcpro.co.uk/features/361591/the-top-ten-retro-gaming-secrets</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:8">two LCD panels <a href="http://www.handheldempire.com/game_instance.jsp?instance=3534" target="_blank">http://www.handheldempire.com/game_instance.jsp?instance=3534</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
</ol>

Handheld electronic game open-in-new

Handheld electronic game