Editing Handheld game console (section)

=== Late 1990s ===
By this time, the lack of significant development in [[Nintendo]]'s product line began allowing more advanced systems such as the [[Neo Geo Pocket Color]] and the [[WonderSwan Color]] to be developed.{{clear}}

==== Sega Nomad ====
[[File:Sega-Nomad-Front.jpg|thumb|Sega Nomad|right]]
{{Main|Genesis Nomad}}
The Nomad was released in October 1995 in North America only.<ref name="gamepro">{{cite magazine |url=http://www.gamepro.com/gamepro/domestic/games/features/125748.shtml |title=The 10 Worst-Selling Handhelds of All Time |access-date=January 17, 2008 |author=Snow, Blake |magazine=[[GamePro]] |date=July 30, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012194600/http://gamepro.com/gamepro/domestic/games/features/125748.shtml|archive-date=October 12, 2007}}</ref><ref name="AllgameNomad">{{cite web |author=Marriott, Scott Alan |title=Sega Genesis Nomad - Overview |url=http://www.allgame.com/platform.php?id=17671 |access-date=October 18, 2013 |publisher=[[Allgame]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141114094423/http://www.allgame.com/platform.php?id=17671 |archive-date=November 14, 2014 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref> The release was six years into the market span of the Genesis, with an existing library of more than 500 Genesis games. According to former Sega of America research and development head Joe Miller, the Nomad was not intended to be the Game Gear's replacement; he believed that there was little planning from Sega of Japan for the new handheld.<ref name="interview">{{cite web|author=Horowitz, Ken|title=Interview: Joe Miller|url=http://www.sega-16.com/2013/02/interview-joe-miller/|date=February 7, 2013|access-date=November 17, 2013|publisher=Sega-16}}</ref> Sega was supporting five different consoles: [[Sega Saturn|Saturn]], Genesis, [[Game Gear]], [[Sega Pico|Pico]], and the [[Master System]], as well as the [[Sega CD]] and [[32X]] add-ons. In Japan, the Mega Drive had never been successful and the Saturn was more successful than Sony's [[PlayStation (console)|PlayStation]], so Sega Enterprises CEO [[Hayao Nakayama]] decided to focus on the Saturn.<ref name="KSL">{{cite book |last=Kent |first=Steven L. |author-link=Steven L. Kent |title=[[The Ultimate History of Video Games: The Story Behind the Craze that Touched our Lives and Changed the World]] |year=2001 |publisher=Prima Publishing |location=Roseville, California |isbn=0-7615-3643-4 |pages=508, 531}}</ref> By 1999, the Nomad was being sold at less than a third of its original price.<ref name="RetroNomad">{{cite journal|author=''[[Retro Gamer]]'' staff|title=Retroinspection: Sega Nomad|journal=[[Retro Gamer]]|publisher=Imagine Publishing|issue=69|pages=46–53}}</ref>{{clear}}

==== Game Boy Pocket ====
[[File:Game-Boy-Pocket-FL.jpg|thumb|The 1st release Game Boy Pocket|left]]
{{Main|Game Boy#Game Boy Pocket}}
The Game Boy Pocket is a redesigned version of the original Game Boy having the same features. It was released in 1996. Notably, this variation is smaller and lighter. It comes in seven different colors; red, yellow, green, black, clear, silver, blue, and pink. It has space for two [[AAA battery|AAA batteries]], which provide approximately 10 hours of game play.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=The Incredible Shrinking Game Boy Pocket |magazine=[[Electronic Gaming Monthly]] |issue=84|publisher=[[Ziff Davis]] |date=July 1996 |page=16}}</ref> The screen was changed to a true black-and-white display, rather than the "pea soup" monochromatic display of the original Game Boy.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Game Boy Relaunched|magazine=[[Next Generation (magazine)|Next Generation]]|issue=20 |publisher=[[Imagine Media]] |date=August 1996 |page=26}}</ref> Although, like its predecessor, the Game Boy Pocket has no backlight to allow play in a darkened area, it did notably improve visibility and pixel response-time (mostly eliminating [[Image persistence|ghosting]]).<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Pocket Cool |magazine=[[Electronic Gaming Monthly]]|issue=89 |publisher=[[Ziff Davis]]|date=December 1996|page=204}}</ref>

The first model of the Game Boy Pocket did not have an [[Light-emitting diode|LED]] to show battery levels, but the feature was added due to public demand. The Game Boy Pocket was not a new software platform and played the same software as the original Game Boy model.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Show Notes|magazine=[[GamePro]]|issue=95|publisher=[[International Data Group|IDG]]|date=August 1996|page=16}}</ref>{{clear}}

==== Game.com ====
[[File:Tiger-Game-Com-FL.jpg|thumb|Game.com]]
{{Main|Game.com}}
The Game.com is a handheld game console released by [[Tiger Electronics]] in September 1997. It featured many new ideas for handheld consoles and was aimed at an older target audience, sporting PDA-style features and functions such as a touch screen and stylus.{{citation needed|date=March 2025}}{{clear}}

==== Game Boy Color ====
[[File:Nintendo-Game-Boy-Color-FL.jpg|thumb|upright|left|The Game Boy Color was the first handheld by Nintendo featuring Colors.]]
{{Main|Game Boy Color}}
The Game Boy Color (also referred to as GBC or CGB) is Nintendo's successor to the Game Boy and was released on October 21, 1998, in Japan and in November of the same year in the United States. It features a color screen, and is slightly bigger than the [[Game Boy Pocket]]. The processor is twice as fast as a Game Boy's and has twice as much memory. It also had an [[infrared]] communications port for wireless linking which did not appear in later versions of the Game Boy, such as the Game Boy Advance.

The Game Boy Color was a response to pressure from game developers for a new system, as they felt that the Game Boy, even in its latest incarnation, the Game Boy Pocket, was insufficient. The resulting product was backward compatible, a first for a handheld console system, and leveraged the large library of games and great installed base of the predecessor system. This became a major feature of the Game Boy line, since it allowed each new launch to begin with a significantly larger library than any of its competitors. As of March 31, 2005, the Game Boy and [[Game Boy Color]] combined to sell 118.69 million units worldwide.<ref name="nintendoannualreport2005"/><ref name="GBsales"/>

The console is capable of displaying up to 56 different colors simultaneously on screen from its palette of 32,768, and can add basic four-color shading to games that had been developed for the original Game Boy. It can also give the sprites and backgrounds separate colors, for a total of more than four colors.{{clear}}

==== Neo Geo Pocket Color ====
[[File:Neo-Geo-Pocket-Color-Blue-Left.jpg|thumb|Neo Geo Pocket Color]]
{{Main|Neo Geo Pocket Color}}
The Neo Geo Pocket Color (or NGPC) was released in 1999 in Japan, and later that year in the United States and Europe. It is a 16-bit color handheld game console designed by [[SNK Playmore|SNK]], the maker of the [[Neo Geo (console)|Neo Geo]] home console and arcade machine.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://uk.ign.com/articles/2001/11/03/a-sign-of-the-times-game-over-for-snk|title=A Sign Of The Times: Game Over For SNK|publisher=IGN UK|date=November 2, 2001}}</ref> It came after SNK's original [[Neo Geo Pocket]] monochrome handheld, which debuted in 1998 in Japan.

In 2000 following SNK's purchase by Japanese [[Pachinko]] manufacturer Aruze, the Neo Geo Pocket Color was dropped from both the US and European markets, purportedly due to commercial failure.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.usgamer.net/articles/neo-geo-pocket-color-the-portable-that-changed-everything|date=October 28, 2014|first=Jeremy|last=Parish|title=Neo Geo Pocket Color: The portable that changed everything.|website=usgamer.net|access-date=February 28, 2017|archive-date=February 9, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150209032237/http://www.usgamer.net/articles/neo-geo-pocket-color-the-portable-that-changed-everything|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The system seemed well on its way to being a success in the U.S. It was more successful than any Game Boy competitor since [[Sega]]'s [[Sega Game Gear|Game Gear]], but was hurt by several factors, such as SNK's infamous lack of communication with third-party developers, and anticipation of the Game Boy Advance.<ref name="racketboy">{{cite web |url=http://www.racketboy.com/retro/snkneo-geo/neogeo-pocket-color-101-beginners-guide|date= January 4, 2012|title=Neo Geo Pocket Color 101, A beginner's guide|website=racketboy.com}}</ref> The decision to ship U.S. games in cardboard boxes in a cost-cutting move rather than hard plastic cases that Japanese and European releases were shipped in may have also hurt US sales.<ref name="kontek">{{cite web |url=http://archive.kontek.net/sngp.classicgaming.gamespy.com/editorials/end_of_an_era_part2.htm|title=The end of an era: a cruel look at what we missed: Part 2|date=June 2000}}</ref>{{clear}}

==== Wonderswan Color ====
[[File:WonderSwan-Color-Blue-Left.jpg|left|thumb|The Wonderswan Color]]
{{Main|WonderSwan}}
The WonderSwan Color is a handheld game console designed by [[Bandai]]. It was released on December 9, 2000, in Japan,<ref name="swanLaunch">{{cite web |url=http://www.promoduck.com/PressRelease/html/press_con10a048.htm |title=Bandai announces release of WonderSwan color |access-date=April 28, 2011 |date=August 30, 2000 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140320215243/http://www.promoduck.com/PressRelease/html/press_con10a048.htm |archive-date=March 20, 2014 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref> Although the WonderSwan Color was slightly larger and heavier (7&nbsp;mm and 2&nbsp;g) compared to the original WonderSwan, the color version featured 512&nbsp;[[kilobyte|KB]]<ref name="swanSpec">{{cite web|url=http://gameboy.ign.com/articles/084/084272p1.html |title=WonderSwan Color Revealed |access-date=April 28, 2011  |date=August 30, 2000}}</ref> of [[Random-access memory|RAM]] and a larger color LCD screen. In addition, the WonderSwan Color is compatible with the original WonderSwan library of games.

Prior to WonderSwan's release, Nintendo had virtually a monopoly in the Japanese video game handheld market. After the release of the WonderSwan Color, Bandai took approximately 8% of the market share in Japan partly due to its low price of 6800 yen (approximately [[United States dollar|US$]]65).<ref name="swanSpec" /> Another reason for the WonderSwan's success in Japan was the fact that Bandai managed to get a deal with [[Square (video game company)|Square]] to port over the original [[Nintendo Entertainment System|Famicom]] ''[[Final Fantasy]]'' games with improved graphics and controls.<ref name="swanSpec" /> However, with the popularity of the Game Boy Advance and the reconciliation between Square and Nintendo, the WonderSwan Color and its successor, the [[SwanCrystal]] quickly lost its [[competitive advantage]].{{clear}}