Editing Handheld game console (section)

{{short description|Portable self-contained video game console}}
{{See also|List of handheld game consoles}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2016}}
[[File:Nintendo DS Lite side.jpg|thumb|A [[Nintendo DS Lite]], the [[List of best-selling game consoles|best-selling handheld console]] of all time and second overall]]
A '''handheld game console''', or simply '''handheld console''', is a small, portable self-contained [[video game console]] with a built-in screen, game controls and speakers.<ref>''{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20110714081415/http://www.mg-bl.com/fileadmin/downloads/deliverables/D4.1_Standards_and_technology_monitoring_report_revised_version_V1.7.pdf D 4.1 - Standards and technology monitoring report <nowiki>[revised version]}}</nowiki>]'' . [[University of Maribor]]. [[Sixth Framework Programme]] ([[European Community]]). April 24, 2007. p. 20.</ref> Handheld game consoles are smaller than [[home video game console]]s and contain the console, screen, speakers, and controls in one unit, allowing players to carry them and play them at any time or place.<ref name=li>Li, Frederick W. B. ''[http://www.dur.ac.uk/frederick.li/paper/game.v2.pdf Computer Games]''. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100714083111/http://www.dur.ac.uk/frederick.li/paper/game.v2.pdf |date=July 14, 2010 }}. [[Durham University]]. Retrieved December 19, 2008. p. 4.</ref><ref name="nintendo popular">{{cite book| last = Steinbock| first = Dan|author2=Johnny L. Wilson| title = The Mobile Revolution| publisher = Kogan Page| date =January 28, 2007 | page = 150| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=cUQ1y4iNrGcC&q=popularizing+the+handheld+console+concept+nintendo&pg=PA150| isbn = 978-0-7494-4850-9}}</ref>

In 1976, [[Mattel]] introduced the first [[handheld electronic game]] with the release of ''[[Mattel Auto Race|Auto Race]]''.<ref name="gamasutra">{{cite web| last = Loguidice| first = Bill|author2=Matt Barton| title = A History of Gaming Platforms: Mattel Intellivision| website = Gamasutra| date = August 15, 2008| url = https://www.gamedeveloper.com/game-platforms/a-history-of-gaming-platforms-mattel-intellivision| access-date = December 27, 2008}}</ref> Later, several companies—including [[Coleco]] and [[Milton Bradley Company|Milton Bradley]]—made their own single-game, lightweight table-top or handheld electronic game devices.<ref name="competitors">{{cite book| last = Demaria| first = Rusel|author2=Johnny L. Wilson| title = High Score! The Illustrated History of Video games| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=HJNvZLvpCEQC&q=High+Score!+The+Illustrated+History+of+Video+games| publisher = [[McGraw-Hill]]| year = 2002| pages = 31–32| isbn = 978-0-07-222428-3}}</ref> The first commercially successful handheld console was [[Merlin (console)|Merlin]] from 1978, which sold more than 5 million units.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Merlin, the Electronic Wizard - Game Console - Computing History|url=http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/16957/Merlin-the-Electronic-Wizard/|access-date=2020-07-07|website=www.computinghistory.org.uk}}</ref> The first handheld game console with interchangeable [[ROM cartridge|cartridges]] is the Milton Bradley [[Microvision]] in 1979.<ref name="Microvision ONM">{{cite web|last = East|first = Tom|title = History Of Nintendo: Game Boy|work = [[Official Nintendo Magazine]]|date = November 11, 2009|url = http://www.officialnintendomagazine.co.uk/13153/features/history-of-nintendo-game-boy/|access-date = December 29, 2013|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141110045319/http://www.officialnintendomagazine.co.uk/13153/features/history-of-nintendo-game-boy/|archive-date = November 10, 2014|url-status = dead}}</ref>

[[Nintendo]] is credited with popularizing the handheld console concept with the release of the [[Game Boy]] in 1989<ref name="nintendo popular"/> and continues to dominate the handheld console market.<ref name="Forbes">{{Cite journal| last = Patsuris| first = Penelope| title = Sony PSP Vs. Nintendo DS| journal = [[Forbes]]| date = June 7, 2004| url = https://www.forbes.com/2004/06/07/cx_pp_0607mondaymatchup.html}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last = Hutsko|first = Joe|title = 88 Million and Counting; Nintendo Remains King of the Handheld Game Players|work = [[The New York Times]]|date =March 25, 2000|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2000/03/25/business/88-million-and-counting-nintendo-remains-king-of-the-handheld-game-players.html?pagewanted=all|access-date = January 12, 2009}}</ref> The first [[internet]]-enabled handheld console and the first with a [[touchscreen]] was the [[Game.com]] released by [[Tiger Electronics]] in 1997.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2009-12-06|title=30 Years of Handheld Game Systems|url=https://www.pcworld.com/article/183679/evolution_of_portable_gaming.html|access-date=2020-07-07|website=PCWorld}}</ref> The [[Nintendo DS]], released in 2004, introduced touchscreen controls and [[wireless]] [[Online game|online gaming]] to a wider audience, becoming the [[List of best-selling game consoles|best-selling handheld console]] with over {{nowrap|150 million}} units sold worldwide.<ref>{{cite news |last1=McFerran |first1=Damien |title=Retrospective: The Awkward Birth of the DS, Nintendo's Most Successful System |url=https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2017/05/retrospective_the_awkward_birth_of_the_ds_nintendos_most_successful_system |access-date=14 August 2021 |work=[[Nintendo Life]] |date=19 May 2017}}</ref>