Isn’t the whole concept of handhelds consoles fascinating?
They offer a chance to play home console-quality games on the go, as well as being compact enough to fit in your pocket… scratch that, not anymore, I guess.
With their recent booming popularity thanks to Steam Deck, Rog Ally, and Switch 2, now it would be a good time to reminisce about their legacy and how it all started.
Game Boy’s Legacy
It’s a fact that the Game Boy was a revolutionary console for its time, especially considering the fact that it was released only 3 years after the original NES came out.
It offered a chance to play the 8-bit games on the go with a single-color palette and a monochrome display.
It wasn’t the first handheld that could play monochrome games from ROM cartridges, of course, but it was what made the whole concept popular and paved the way for many others to come.
SEGA and Atari tried to get a piece of its success, but Lynx and Game Gear were commercial failures due to their battery lives and number of games, despite technically being way more advanced, such as offering colored screens.
However, despite their best efforts, Nintendo also failed to catch up to modern times, and one could easily say that they are still struggling with it.
They released Game Boy Color, no explanation needed here, Game Boy Advance, which fit SNES into your pockets, and the DS – a handheld with two screens.
DS was revolutionary in itself, offering two screens and all, but technically, it was outdone by the infamous PSP.
Sony’s move to bring PS2-quality games to a handheld was mind-blowing.
While Nintendo was pushed back by the technical limitations, Sony came out to take advantage of the gap.
PSP Good, PS Vita Bad(!)
PSP sold 80 million units worldwide, whereas DS sold roughly 154 million units despite having inferior technical specifications, but its gimmick and its clever usage were what made people turn their heads to its side.
However, for me, PSP was the real deal.
As a proud owner of a PS2, it was truly mind-blowing to see PS2 graphics on a handheld console.
Not only did they look good, but they also played wonderfully!
Not to mention that it brought way too many classics to gaming history.
DS was succeeded by the 3DS, but the PSP wasn’t very lucky since Sony looked down upon the PS Vita – a console that was supposed to bring PS3 into your palms, but eventually scrapped because of the costly memory cards.
But it’s still a great console if you know what to do with it *wink*.
Raspberry Pi and the Custom Handhelds
Ever heard of Raspberry Pi and RetroPie/Recalbox?
The wonderful projects you can do with a Pi are nearly limitless, and one of them is crafting a handheld emulation console to play your backups.
The Game Boy Zero project surfaced back in 2016, and it basically turns a Game Boy shell into an emulation machine powered by Pi.
With time, they improved greatly, and I’m looking forward to what they’re going to evolve into!
Of course, there are better alternatives out there, but if you’re into more retro stuff, I’d say a Game Boy Zero is the ultimate handheld for you to reminisce about the old times!
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