Handheld Electronic Games

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.

2 Comments to Handheld Electronic Games

1. 

   I remember these things! I used to have the Shinobi one and I think this Double Dragon one as well.
Mike Hawk on April 7th, 2011
2. 

   Oh wow, these sure bring back memories. The old Tiger electronics games…wow. We had a whole bunch of those, mostly Disney but a few others like Home Alone and Anastasia. I’d play those for hours. We might even still have them…now I want to play them!
Kendall on April 25th, 2011

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