The Portable Video game system.
Although there is far less history or portable systems, I figured as we usher in the PSP Era with 3D video games and DVD quality movies, we should look back on the portables (or not so portables) of old.
The Game Boy was not first.
We
may all want to believe that the Gameboy was the first portable system. It
is true that if you take away the BIT systems that played a single game like
the one pictured and look for the first successful portable system Gameboy
is your man, uh boy.
But before Nintendo changed our gaming world, there are some other systems of note.
The
first portable game system that featured multiple, removable games was the
Microvision by Milton Bradley in 1979. The device featured a 1 inch LCD screen.
The device was minorly popular for a time but due to very limited techniques
in LCD technology and the fact it was not protected from electrical shock
made this unit a bit "tweaky"
The Microvision played 4 bit games including one of the mot popular games "Star Trek Phaser Strike" and ran on a 9volt battery to power the 16x16bit screen.
Microvision only lasted 2 years before being discontinued on 1981. It would be 3 years before another portable would hit the market.
In
1984 Epoch release the Game Pocket Computer which used small 4 bit cartridges
that were very similar to early Atari 2600 games.
The system had an amazingly large 75x75 bit screen (grey scale) and ran on 4AA batteries.
The system was a total failure in Japan and only had 5 games ever produced. The system came with a built in paint and puzzle game, otherwise you were stuck playing.
Astro Bomber - Block Maze - Mahjong - Reversi - Store Keepers
The system never made it to the US.
It would be another 5 years for a pioneer in Home Video Games to revolutionize the Portable market.