Name
|
Image
|
Notes
|
Release year
|
Units Sold
|
Ref
|
Microvision (
Milton Bradley Company)
|
|
- The very first handheld game console that used interchangeable cartridges.
[1]
- Plays
monochrome games from
ROM cartridges.
[1]
- Cartridges also contained the individual processor and buttons required to play game.
[2]
- Roughly 10-12 games were released.
[2]
- Considered a commercial failure, but a creative success that paved the way for the
Game Boy's later success.
[2]
|
1979
[2]
|
|
[1]
|
Entex Select-A-Game
|
|
- Dual set of input buttons above and below screen allowed for two player play on same console.
[3]
- Plays
monochrome games from
ROM cartridges.
[3]
- Only 6 games released.
[3]
|
1981
[3]
|
|
[3]
|
Entex Adventure Vision
|
|
|
1982
[5]
|
50,000
[5]
|
[4]
|
Palmtex Portable Videogame System
|
|
- Only 3 games released.
[6]
- Plays cartridges containing a colored sprite overlay, using a
monochrome LCD on top of the overlay to cover/uncover each sprite during gameplay
[6]
|
1984
[6]
|
|
[6]
|
Digi Casse
|
|
- Game cartridges contained an LCD
|
1984
|
|
[7]
|
Epoch Game Pocket Computer
|
|
- Cartridge based handheld, with additional software built in.
- Monochrome display
- Battery life of approximately 60+ hours on 4 AA batteries.
|
1984
|
|
[8]
|
Game Boy (
Nintendo)
|
|
|
1989
[1]
|
118,690,000
[12]
|
[1]
|
Atari Lynx
|
|
- First handheld electronic game with a color LCD,
[3] 3.5 inch screen.
[1]
- Plays
ROM cartridges
[13]
- Hardware revision smaller Atari Lynx II released in 1991.
[3]
- Less than 100 games released.
[13]
- Considered a commercial failure.
[3]
|
1989
[1]
|
500,000
[14]
|
[1]
|
Game Gear
|
|
|
1990
[18]
|
11,000,000
[15]
|
[1]
|
TurboExpress (
NEC)
|
|
- Internally similar to
NEC's
TurboGrafx-16 home console, directly able to play its games.
[3]
- Plays
ROM cartridges
[1]
- Technologically advanced for its time, but high price and short battery life plagued its commercial appeal.
[1]
[3]
|
1990
[19]
|
1,500,000
[14]
|
[1]
|
Gamate (
Bit Corporation)
|
|
- Technologically similar to the original
Game Boy.
[20]
- Plays
monochrome games from
ROM cartridges on large,
credit card sized cartridges.
[20]
- Hardware revisions reported, but largely cosmetic and trivial changes.
[20]
- At least 71 games known to have been released.
[20]
- No exact sales figures known, but generally considered to be a commercial failure.
[20]
|
1990
[20]
|
|
[20]
|
Game Master (Hartung)
|
|
|
1990
[17]
|
|
[17]
|
Watara Supervision
|
|
- Technologically similar to the
Game Boy.
[17]
- Screen could be tilted relative to controls via flexible connection.
[21]
- Hardware revision/version that looked very similar to the
Game Boy.
[17]
- Plays
monochrome games from
ROM cartridges.
[21]
- Could link to a television via a link cable.
[21]
- Considered a commercial failure, often cited due to a lack of games.
[21]
[17]
|
1992
[17]
|
|
[17]
|
Mega Duck (Welback Holdings)
|
|
|
1993
[17]
|
|
[17]
|
Sega Nomad
|
|
-
Sega's second and last traditional handheld.
- Played entire
Sega Genesis library and its exact
ROM cartridges.
[1]
- No games specifically made for it, no compatibility for any other Sega platforms.
[3]
- Suffered from fast battery consumption and launching at a time when Sega trying to support many other platforms concurrently.
[17]
[3]
- Considered technical marvel but a commercial failure.
[17]
[1]
|
1995
[14]
|
1,000,000
[14]
|
[1]
|
Design Master Senshi Mangajukuu
|
|
- Bandai's touchscreen handheld game console
|
1995
|
|
[22]
|
Game.com (
Tiger Electronics)
|
|
- First handheld to feature a touchscreen and internet connection.
[3]
- Plays
monochrome games from
ROM cartridges.
[3]
- Hardware revision Game.com Pocket Pro released in 1998.
[3]
- Considered a commercial failure.
[14]
[3]
|
1997
[3]
|
300,000
[14]
|
[3]
|
Neo Geo Pocket
|
|
|
1998
[24]
|
2,000,000
[14]
|
[1]
|
WonderSwan (
Bandai)
|
|
|
1999
[1]
|
3,500,000
[26]
[27]
|
[1]
|
Cybiko
|
|
- Combination
PDA and handheld game console.
[28]
- Plays
digital games via internet download from
PC.
[28]
- More than 430 games and applications produced, all free.
[29]
- Hardware revision
Cybiko Xtreme released in September 2001.
[28]
|
2000
[28]
|
500,000
[30]
|
[31]
|
Game Boy Advance (
Nintendo)
|
|
|
2001
[33]
|
81,500,000
[34]
|
[1]
|
GP32 (
Game Park)
|
|
|
2001
[3]
|
32,000
[35]
|
[1]
|
N-Gage (
Nokia)
|
|
|
2003
[37]
[3]
|
3,000,000
[14]
|
[1]
|
GameKing
|
|
- Series of low end handhelds
|
2003
|
|
[38]
|
Tapwave Zodiac
|
|
- Combination handheld game console and
PDA.
[1]
[3]
- Features a touchscreen with an included stylus and an
MP3 player.
[3]
- Plays
digital games via internal memory or
SD cards.
[3]
- Received critical acclaim for its concept, but was a commercial failure, especially after Sony's 2004 release of the
PlayStation Portable.
[1]
|
2003
[1]
|
200,000
[14]
|
[1]
|
Nintendo DS
|
|
|
2004
[1]
|
154,000,000
[41]
|
[1]
|
PlayStation Portable (
Sony)
|
|
-
Sony's first traditional entry into the handheld console market.
[3]
- Plays proprietary
Universal Media Discs and
digital download games via internet.
[42]
- Minor hardware revisions include PSP-2000 in 2007, PSP-3000 in 2008.
[3]
- Major hardware revisions include
UMD drive-less
PSP Go in 2009, wifi-connection-less PSP E1000 in 2011.
[3]
- Its legacy is mixed; its sales are far more than any other non-
Nintendo handheld, but its sales are just over half of its main competitor of the time, the
Nintendo DS.
[3]
|
2004
|
80,000,000
[43]
|
[1]
|
Gizmondo (
Tiger Telematics)
|
|
- Plays
SD cards.
[44]
- Features camera,
GPS, text messaging, and
Bluetooth wireless connectivity.
[45]
- Despite features, technologically well behind main competitors of the time of
PlayStation Portable and
Nintendo DS.
[44]
- Had an alternate "Smart Ads" model released concurrently which sold at almost half the price, but required daily streaming advertisements to be watched on the handheld, well before smartphone games popularized the concept.
[45]
- Considered a severe commercial failure, propelled by a juxtaposition low sales and particularly high promotional spending and investments.
[45]
[1]
|
2005
[1]
|
25,000
[14]
|
[1]
|
GP2X (
GamePark Holdings)
|
|
|
2005
[46]
|
>60,000
[47]
|
[48]
|
Dingoo A320 (Dingo Digital Technology)
|
|
|
2009
[49]
|
|
[49]
|
GP2X Wiz (
GamePark Holdings)
|
|
-
Open source hardware handheld game console.
[50]
- Successor to the
GP2X.
[50]
- Possesses upgrades in screen and button quality, but only minor upgrade in processing power.
[50]
- Plays
digital games via internet download, few retail games.
[50]
|
2009
[50]
|
|
[50]
|
Pandora (OpenPandora)
|
|
|
2010
[51]
|
|
[51]
|
CAANOO (
GamePark Holdings)
|
|
|
2010
[45]
|
|
[45]
|
Nintendo 3DS
|
|
|
2011
[56]
|
75,000,000
[54]
[57]
|
[1]
|
PlayStation Vita (
Sony)
|
|
- Sony's second handheld console, successor to the
PlayStation Portable.
[58]
- Two models launched; a regular one, and one with
3G internet capabilities that was quickly phased out.
[58]
- Minor hardware revisions model "PCH-2000" released in 2013
- Mixed legacy; was a commercial failure, but retained a cult following, and is cited as influential in the successful
PlayStation 4 home console released after it.
[58]
|
2011
[58]
|
16,000,000
[58]
|
[58]
|
Neo Geo X (
Tommo)
|
|
- Part of the
Neo Geo line, releases are adaptations of past
Neo Geo titles.
[59]
- Plays games loaded on
SD cards, no
digital distribution.
[59]
- Contains HDMI, A/V and control docking ports for connecting to a television.
[59]
- The publishing and distribution was licensed to
Tommo from
SNK Playmore.
[59]
- Considered a commercial failure for both parties; SNK ordered a halt on production after consumer complaints on quality, which in turn hurt Tommo financially. Both parties threatened legal action.
[60]
|
2012
[61]
|
|
[60]
|
Game Gadget
|
|
- Plays a number of licensed Sega games
- Linux based handheld
|
2012
|
~20,000
[62]
|
|
GCW Zero (Game Consoles Worldwide)
|
|
|
2013
[64]
|
|
[64]
|
Nvidia Shield Portable
|
|
- Has a physical appearance of an
Xbox 360 controller with a 5-inch screen grafted on top of it.
[65]
- Based on
Android operating system.
[66]
- Supports
HDMI connection to television or wireless game streaming from
PC.
[66]
- Launched at a high price point in a time where handheld gaming market was on the decline.
[67]
|
2012
[67]
|
|
[65]
|
GPD XD (GamePad Digital)
|
|
|
2015
|
|
[68]
|
Arduboy
|
|
- Open source hardware based on the Arduino hardware platform
- The original version was 1.6mm thick, with the height and width of a credit card
- Games published on Arduboy Arcade are free, open source and available to be edited
- 'Arduboy FX', an upgraded version, includes a flash memory chip that stores over 250 games on the device itself
|
2016
|
|
[69]
|
GPD Win (GamePad Digital)
|
|
|
2016
[71]
|
|
[71]
|
Nintendo Switch
|
|
- Can be played as a handheld or on a television when put into docking station.
[1]
- The individual
Joy-Con controllers can attach to the main unit or be used separately.
[72]
- Touchscreen display with 720p resolution, up to 1080p when docked via HDMI port.
[73]
- Hardware revision in the handheld-only
Nintendo Switch Lite in 2019, larger
OLED screen model in 2021.
[74]
- Considered a commercial success; passing 125 million sold by 2023.
[75]
|
Evercade (Blaze Entertainment)
|
|
- Plays officially licensed collections of emulated retro video games.
[76]
- Design similar to original
Game Boy Advance, has ability to connect to television with additional HDMI accessory.
[77]
- Games released through curated collections of games compiled onto a game cartridge.
[76]
- Supported by companies such as
Atari,
Namco, and
Interplay.
[76]
[77]
|
2020
[78]
|
|
[76]
|
Analogue Pocket (
Analogue)
|
|
- Plays original game cartridge for Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, Game Gear, Neo Geo Pocket, Neo Geo Pocket Color and Atari Lynx games.
- Has a 3.5" 1600x1440, 615ppi Display.
- Designed with Analogue OS, an database based operating system
- Features Save States with original game cartridges.
|
2021
|
|
[79]
|
Ayaneo
|
|
- Handheld Windows gaming PC using
AMD Ryzen processors
- Various models include Aya Neo (2021), Ayaneo Next (2022) and Ayaneo Air/Ayaneo Air Pro (2022).
|
2021
|
|
[80]
[81]
[82]
|
Steam Deck (
Valve Corporation)
|
|
- A handheld console that plays most games in the
Steam library.
[83]
- Ability to run games from other game stores as well - (
Epic Games Store,
uPlay, etc.)
[83]
- Comes in 3 models; one LCD and two OLED models, all with different storage capacities.
[84]
- Has 7 inch, 800p touchscreen.
[83]
- Ability to hook up to PC monitor or television.
[83]
|
2022
[85]
|
≈3,000,000 as of 2023
[86]
|
[87]
[88]
|
Thumby (TinyCircuits)
|
|
- Very small formfactor handheld measuring 1.2 by 0.7 by 0.3 inches (30.5 mm × 17.8 mm × 7.6 mm).
- Has a 0.38 by 0.27 inches (9.7 mm × 6.9 mm) black and white OLED display.
- Can be mounted on a keychain.
- Can play multiplayer games with a link cable.
|
2022
|
|
[89]
|
Playdate (
Panic)
|
|
- Has physical appearance of the original
Game Boy with a
crank (used as controller input) attached to right side.
[90]
- Has a 2.7 inch black and white display.
[90]
- New games released once per week.
[91]
- Initial purchase of unit give user access to the first "season" of games (24 total.)
[91]
|
2022
|
|
[90]
|
Ayaneo 2
(
Ayaneo)
|
|
|
2022
|
|
[92]
[93]
|
ROG Ally (
Asus)
|
|
|
2023
[94]
|
|
[94]
|