Handheld electronic games are an example of a toy that adopted characteristics of arcade video games. These devices highly influenced the design of future handheld gaming devices. Developing a mobile game which is inspired by these pioneering devices is both an interesting challenge and a call-back to the origins of handheld computing devices.
Study Guide - Making a handheld electronic inspired game.
Handheld electronic games were a popular toy manufactured through the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s. Well known examples of these devices include: early Mattel electronic devices [1] (such as Mattel Football and Mattel Autorace), the Nintendo’s Game & Watch series [2] and the many handheld licensed games produced by Tiger Electronics.
What are handheld electronic games?
Limitations of the LCD technology at the time meant that games consisted of pre-set static images (sprites) that represented characters and objects. Sprites lit up individually in front of a more detailed background. Button inputs would interact with the internal game logic to control which sprites were active.
These devices repurposed standard calculator hardware to create handheld electronic games. Games made use of a 4-bit micro-processor driving a LCD screen, powered by external batteries. Simple round buttons or cross-shaped button pads were the common methods used to interact with these toys.