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What classifies it as a handheld?

 
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MrBland
Coleco Pac Man


Joined: 01 Oct 2012
Last Visit: 20 Mar 2013
Posts: 37
Location: Virginia

PostPosted: Tue Oct 02, 2012 7:03 pm    Post subject: What classifies it as a handheld? Reply with quote

So what sparked this question is when I was browsing the website I saw the Atari Touch Me but not the Lynx. Then there is the Nintendo Game and Watch but not the Gameboy. So I thought OK handhelds here do not include "consoles" or cartridge systems... but then the Microvision and Adventure Vision are listed.... so what is it that is classified as a "handheld" here?
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blanka
Atari Cosmos


Joined: 14 Dec 2010
Last Visit: 13 Oct 2022
Posts: 561
Location: Eindhoven, the Netherlands

PostPosted: Wed Oct 03, 2012 12:19 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Guess Rik explains it somewhere. The handheld era described here is from 1976-1985, and everything in that period is covered. In this period a handheld was a well made, mostly one-game portable device. There are some chinese made Tiger games and Watches from later years on this site, but that is minimal, and the later products moved from hipster/teen audience to the kid toy department with the transition to cheaper Chinese made stuff.
In 1982 you could play a handheld as adult very well, but playing the cheap tiger games as an adult in 1995 is a very different thing. The games in the 76-85 period were the iPhones of that time! Grab a Tomy Slimline and hold it to your ear in a big business meeting. It still looks cool!

So I guess it has more to do with the period, than with the "fixed game" thing. The Japanese really set the high production standards of todays portable electronics in that period.

The Gameboy and Lynx are both too new and real consoles (the microvision is more like an attempt with 8 games or so released).
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MrBland
Coleco Pac Man


Joined: 01 Oct 2012
Last Visit: 20 Mar 2013
Posts: 37
Location: Virginia

PostPosted: Wed Oct 03, 2012 4:15 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

OK, thanks for the explanation.
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Rik
Site Admin


Joined: 07 Oct 2005
Last Visit: 25 Mar 2024
Posts: 1932
Location: California

PostPosted: Wed Oct 03, 2012 2:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yeah, for me most of the Handheld Museum era is pre-NES.

Personally, I still collect handheld related stuff up to the PS Vita, but for the sake of the museum website, it stops around 1985...

And, for the most part, they are stand-alone games... Obviously there are still several cartridge based systems in the mix, but most games didn't fit that category. After NES (and Gameboy), that flipped. Stand-alone games became the exception, with the cartridge-based consoles being the main focus of the industry.

And that seemed to usher in a whole new era of collectors as well...

I could always make a section of the forum for newer stuff like Gameboy, Lynx, etc if there was interest... But there's already a lot of websites for systems of that era, so I'm not sure if it's necessary (you can always use the 'off topic' area too...)

Some of my more interesting post-NES era stuff is listed here:
http://devkits.handheldmuseum.com/
Mostly focused on development hardware for the various systems.

Rik
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MrBland
Coleco Pac Man


Joined: 01 Oct 2012
Last Visit: 20 Mar 2013
Posts: 37
Location: Virginia

PostPosted: Wed Oct 03, 2012 2:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Those are some nice Lynx items, if you ever want to part with Pinky you know where to find an eager Lynx collector Wink

I am into cartridge systems myself, mostly those I owned, played with, or wish I could have played with as a kid. Here is my small, but very fun collection: Mr. Bland's Handhelds Yessss!

I thought about posting them in your Brag section but I don't really have anything that fits here, yet.

I had a notice that a package was waiting for me a couple of days ago, got pretty excited thinking it was the Adventure Vision... I was wrong Crying or Very sad Well maybe soon I'll have a item that fits well here Very Happy
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