Portable Gaming Devices

Just before the turn of the millennium, portable gaming was booming. Most people that had a portable gaming device sported a Gameboy, and the really lucky ones had a Gameboy Color. There was always that one rich kid at Pizza Hut, too, with the Sega Gamegear that people couldn’t stop talking about, and Pokemon was taking the world by storm.

At night, you would fall asleep with images of the Atari Lynx swimming around in your head and hope that one day you could afford one. 10 years later, you’re glad that your parents never sprung for one of them.

Not long after that part of your life, the portable gaming world changed dramatically. With their staunch lead, Nintendo started to be more experimental and it paid off. The Gameboy Advance put quality graphics that were slightly above Super Nintendo, and sound in the palm of your hand, and further still the Nintendo DS (a few years later) managed to squeeze out post-N64 quality gaming with a touch-screen, and opened up a whole new world of gaming possibilities.

What’s more impressive is that, for once, Nintendo had some serious competition in the portable gaming racket. Sony took their powerful juggernaught, the Playstation 2, and compressed it into a comfortable, handheld console that demanded respect. Graphics and sound quality that Sony was notorious for could now be enjoyed, portably, on a beautiful 4.3″ screen.

If only you knew, back in your room 10 years ago, that things were about to change, and that one day you would forget all about the Atari Lynx… until you read about it in a Listverse article.

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