Electronic Game - Electronic Handhelds

Electronic Handhelds

The earliest form of dedicated console, handheld electronic games are characterized by their size and portability. Used to play interactive games, handheld electronic games are often miniaturized versions of video games. The controls, display and speakers are all part of a single unit, and rather than a general-purpose screen made up of a grid of small pixels, they usually have custom displays designed to play one game. This simplicity means they can be made as small as a digital watch, which they 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.

Examples of handheld electronic games include:

• Mattel Auto Race (1976)
• Simon (1978)
• Merlin (1978)
• Game & Watch (1979)
• Bandai LCD Solarpower (1982)
• Entex Adventure Vision (1982)
• Lights Out (1995)
• Bop It Blast (2007)