History of portable game consoles. Part 1 (Until 2000)
Hi, Habr!
In continuation of posts about the history of game consoles, I decided to write about portable gaming systems. I tried to provide you with a moment of nostalgia this Sunday, so welcome to Habrakat.
')
What do you think about when you hear the concept of "portable gaming console"? Most likely - on the PlayStation Portable. Of course, we will get to it, but the start was made not even by Nintendo. One of the first in the 1970s was the company Milton-Bradley with its portable console Microvision, in which (O Gods!) Even had the opportunity to change the game. The resolution of the liquid crystal display was only 16x16 pixels, which at the moment seems unreal - how can you play when you have only 256 pixels on the display?
It seems rather unusual that the control buttons were located not on the console, but on the cartridge. The number of buttons is from two to twelve, it depended on the specific game. The console consisted only of the body, the chip for the screen and the buttons and steering wheel.
The range of games was extremely small - for three years of sales of the console, there were only 13 of them.
A total of 8 million copies of Microvision were sold.
Compare the size with the PSP.
One of the games released in the first year of sales is Star Trek: Phaser Strike.
In 1984, the Palmtex Home-Computer Software Super Micro Cartridge System. Most likely, you have not even heard of it - because in terms of sales, this portable gaming system was a failure.
And now, after this, Nintendo became the leader, having released the Game Boy in 1989. But the path to this began with the Game & Watch series. The Soviet Union had its own Game & Watch, with wolves and hares, it was called Electronics. I advise you to read more about the history of the company here: The history of Nintendo led by Hiroshi Yamauchi .
In the Game & Watch series, the D-Pad first appeared, which now seems to be an indispensable element of the joystick of almost any game console.
Talisman Series Games - Mr. Game & Watch.
Native Soviet version. Were you able to get to the cartoon at the end?
Then in 1989, Nintendo released the first Game Boy. After this, a mass of versions was released, including the color version in 1996. Display resolution - 160 × 144, the mass of games and low power consumption, as well as the release of other versions made the line of these consoles the most popular. Surely you, dear readers, you yourself have been or are still the happy owner of a Game Boy.
In addition to games, there were other bonuses. Among them - an external battery, the ability to combine several geymboy to play together, play games from the Game Boy on TV and even a sonar to search for fish under water.
And the printer ...
Right dream of a child from the 90s.
In this video, the robot stops destroying everything around, because it starts chopping with a guy in Tetris.
In 1989, Atari released the first color gaming console Lynx. An attempt to capture the market of portable game consoles failed. Despite the tremendous advantages in graphics over the Game Boy, which was then generally monochrome, the console was left behind.
One of the nails in her coffin is too high energy consumption. Six batteries were enough for four hours of play, while Game Boy needed only four batteries, and it was possible to play much longer.
Still nails are slow games, and also their release with big delay. And the case, by the way, was a little less than completely filled with air - the reason for this research, according to which a console with a large case can be sold at a higher price.
Their good:
- color display
- possibility of playing together up to 17 people
- the ability to rotate the screen 180 degrees, which was a bonus for left-handers.
Here's a funny movie - Toby Maguire, the famous Spiderman, starred in it.
In 1991, Atari released an updated console, making it a little more attractive. And slightly updating the chipset and display. In any case, by the mid-1990s, this console was very difficult to find on the shelves of stores.
One of the first color handheld game consoles was Turboexpress from NEC in 1990. It was a portable version of the TurboGrafx-16 console released a couple of years before.
It was the first portable gaming console with 16-bit graphics. The resolution of a 2.6 inch screen is 400x270 pixels. Very good.
A TV tuner, purchased separately, made from Turboexpress a real portable TV.
In the early 1990s, Sega went onto the warpath and presented its version of the portable console to the world. It was the Sega Game Gear, the hardware of which is made on the basis of the eight-bit game console Sega Master System. This simplified the transfer of games from home to portable. In addition, there were a number of undeniable advantages over the Game Boy:
- 3.2 inch color screen
- support for expansion modules (even TV tuner)
- the lens increasing the display to 5 inches
But such snacks were accompanied by one overlapping almost everything minus: too high energy out-of-costs. A set of batteries was enough for four hours of play. So if you wanted to take it on a hike or to the clinic, you would need a bag of batteries.
Console with Super Wide Gear lens.
Oh, this advertising of the 1990s! In the decay and hopelessness of being, the Nintendo Game Boy is clearly visible, which is then returned to the seller, because you see the color prefix someone brought. Awesome flight of fancy.
This video is more fun, but still nonsense.
The first color portable console Nintendo releases only in 1998. It was the Game Boy Color, the successor of the classic version. About seven hundred games were released for this console, among which there are even games in the genre Survival Horror.
The console is equipped with an 8-bit Z80 processor running at 8 MHz, 32 kilobytes of memory and 17 kilobytes of video memory. The display with a diagonal of 60 mm has a 169x144 pixels. There were several versions of the case in various colors, including transparent. To work we need two finger batteries.
The best-selling games were Pokemon Gold and Silver.
In the video - the gameplay Resident Evil: Gaiden.
This is a 1998 commercial. You also saw the guy from the clinic series driving the wheelbarrow?
In the next part we will talk about Nokia N-Gage, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS and PlayStation Portable.
It is interesting:
Nintendo story led by Hiroshi Yamauchi
The history of game consoles in advertising. Part 1: From Magnavox Odyssey to Super Nintendo
The history of game consoles in advertising. Part 2
The history of game consoles in advertising. Part 3
Alternative GDC Arcade: Home-Made Freak Controllers Gallery
Motion control in games
In continuation of posts about the history of game consoles, I decided to write about portable gaming systems. I tried to provide you with a moment of nostalgia this Sunday, so welcome to Habrakat.
')
First attempts
Microvision
What do you think about when you hear the concept of "portable gaming console"? Most likely - on the PlayStation Portable. Of course, we will get to it, but the start was made not even by Nintendo. One of the first in the 1970s was the company Milton-Bradley with its portable console Microvision, in which (O Gods!) Even had the opportunity to change the game. The resolution of the liquid crystal display was only 16x16 pixels, which at the moment seems unreal - how can you play when you have only 256 pixels on the display?
It seems rather unusual that the control buttons were located not on the console, but on the cartridge. The number of buttons is from two to twelve, it depended on the specific game. The console consisted only of the body, the chip for the screen and the buttons and steering wheel.
The range of games was extremely small - for three years of sales of the console, there were only 13 of them.
A total of 8 million copies of Microvision were sold.
Compare the size with the PSP.
One of the games released in the first year of sales is Star Trek: Phaser Strike.
Palmtex Home-Computer Software Super Micro Cartridge System
In 1984, the Palmtex Home-Computer Software Super Micro Cartridge System. Most likely, you have not even heard of it - because in terms of sales, this portable gaming system was a failure.
Nintendo
And now, after this, Nintendo became the leader, having released the Game Boy in 1989. But the path to this began with the Game & Watch series. The Soviet Union had its own Game & Watch, with wolves and hares, it was called Electronics. I advise you to read more about the history of the company here: The history of Nintendo led by Hiroshi Yamauchi .
In the Game & Watch series, the D-Pad first appeared, which now seems to be an indispensable element of the joystick of almost any game console.
Talisman Series Games - Mr. Game & Watch.
Native Soviet version. Were you able to get to the cartoon at the end?
Then in 1989, Nintendo released the first Game Boy. After this, a mass of versions was released, including the color version in 1996. Display resolution - 160 × 144, the mass of games and low power consumption, as well as the release of other versions made the line of these consoles the most popular. Surely you, dear readers, you yourself have been or are still the happy owner of a Game Boy.
In addition to games, there were other bonuses. Among them - an external battery, the ability to combine several geymboy to play together, play games from the Game Boy on TV and even a sonar to search for fish under water.
And the printer ...
Right dream of a child from the 90s.
In this video, the robot stops destroying everything around, because it starts chopping with a guy in Tetris.
The first color console
Atari lynx
In 1989, Atari released the first color gaming console Lynx. An attempt to capture the market of portable game consoles failed. Despite the tremendous advantages in graphics over the Game Boy, which was then generally monochrome, the console was left behind.
One of the nails in her coffin is too high energy consumption. Six batteries were enough for four hours of play, while Game Boy needed only four batteries, and it was possible to play much longer.
Still nails are slow games, and also their release with big delay. And the case, by the way, was a little less than completely filled with air - the reason for this research, according to which a console with a large case can be sold at a higher price.
Their good:
- color display
- possibility of playing together up to 17 people
- the ability to rotate the screen 180 degrees, which was a bonus for left-handers.
Here's a funny movie - Toby Maguire, the famous Spiderman, starred in it.
In 1991, Atari released an updated console, making it a little more attractive. And slightly updating the chipset and display. In any case, by the mid-1990s, this console was very difficult to find on the shelves of stores.
Nec turboexpress
One of the first color handheld game consoles was Turboexpress from NEC in 1990. It was a portable version of the TurboGrafx-16 console released a couple of years before.
It was the first portable gaming console with 16-bit graphics. The resolution of a 2.6 inch screen is 400x270 pixels. Very good.
A TV tuner, purchased separately, made from Turboexpress a real portable TV.
Sega game gear
In the early 1990s, Sega went onto the warpath and presented its version of the portable console to the world. It was the Sega Game Gear, the hardware of which is made on the basis of the eight-bit game console Sega Master System. This simplified the transfer of games from home to portable. In addition, there were a number of undeniable advantages over the Game Boy:
- 3.2 inch color screen
- support for expansion modules (even TV tuner)
- the lens increasing the display to 5 inches
But such snacks were accompanied by one overlapping almost everything minus: too high energy out-of-costs. A set of batteries was enough for four hours of play. So if you wanted to take it on a hike or to the clinic, you would need a bag of batteries.
Console with Super Wide Gear lens.
Oh, this advertising of the 1990s! In the decay and hopelessness of being, the Nintendo Game Boy is clearly visible, which is then returned to the seller, because you see the color prefix someone brought. Awesome flight of fancy.
This video is more fun, but still nonsense.
Game boy color
The first color portable console Nintendo releases only in 1998. It was the Game Boy Color, the successor of the classic version. About seven hundred games were released for this console, among which there are even games in the genre Survival Horror.
The console is equipped with an 8-bit Z80 processor running at 8 MHz, 32 kilobytes of memory and 17 kilobytes of video memory. The display with a diagonal of 60 mm has a 169x144 pixels. There were several versions of the case in various colors, including transparent. To work we need two finger batteries.
The best-selling games were Pokemon Gold and Silver.
In the video - the gameplay Resident Evil: Gaiden.
This is a 1998 commercial. You also saw the guy from the clinic series driving the wheelbarrow?
In the next part we will talk about Nokia N-Gage, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS and PlayStation Portable.
It is interesting:
Nintendo story led by Hiroshi Yamauchi
The history of game consoles in advertising. Part 1: From Magnavox Odyssey to Super Nintendo
The history of game consoles in advertising. Part 2
The history of game consoles in advertising. Part 3
Alternative GDC Arcade: Home-Made Freak Controllers Gallery
Motion control in games
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/220103/
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