Handheld electronic games are very small, portable devices for playing interactive electronic games, 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 pixels, 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.
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Other articles related to "handheld electronic games, games, game, handheld, handhelds, electronic, electronic game, electronics, electronic games":
... 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 ... screen made up of a grid of small pixels, they usually have custom displays designed to play one game ...
... Despite the increasing sophistication of handheld consoles such as the Nintendo 3DS and PlayStation Vita, dedicated handhelds continue to find a niche ... proven salable due to novelty, however dedicated handhelds such as this are uncommon ... as blackjack, poker, and Sudoku also spawn dozens of original and knockoff handheld games ...
... Numerous stand-alone electronic handheld and tabletop games have been produced by manufacturers like Bandai, Coleco, Konami, and others ...
... The origins of handheld game consoles are found in handheld and tabletop electronic game devices of the 1970s and early 1980s ... These electronic devices are capable of playing only a single game, they fit in the palm of the hand or on a tabletop, and they may make use of a variety of video displays such as LED, VFD, or LCD ... In 1978, handheld electronic games were described by Popular Electronics magazine as "nonvideo electronic games" and "non-TV games" as distinct from devices that required use of a television screen ...
Famous quotes containing the words games and/or electronic:
“At the age of twelve I was finding the world too small: it appeared to me like a dull, trim back garden, in which only trivial games could be played.”
—Elizabeth Bowen (1899–1973)
“The new electronic interdependence recreates the world in the image of a global village.”
—Marshall McLuhan (1911–1980)