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In the next generation of handhelds, game console designers were able to miniaturize components from their previous generation home game consoles into a handheld form. This allowed them to have a cartridge system allowing the handhelds to play more than one game. This advancement revolutionized the handheld game industry because gamers were motivated to buy more games for a nicer console. Because of this, more third party game companies popped up, creating game content for these new handheld devices.
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Nintendo Game Boy - 1989Nintendo's Game boy is the most popular first generation interchangeable game cartage handheld -It got a lot of its design elements from the Game & Watch, like the D-Pad and the AB buttons. Game Boy games cost around 20-40 bucks, depending on who it was made by. Nintendo updated the Game Boy in 1998 to add color, but it still didn't have a back-lit screen, which was a big complaint from Game Boy owners. All together, Nintendo sold 118 million Game boys, and Tetris was the best selling game. The original price of the Game Boy was $89.99.
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Game Boy - Nintendo's first multi-game device.
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Atari Lynx - This is proof that game selection is critical.
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Atari Lynx - 1989The Atari Lynx came out about the same time as the Game Boy. It had a beautiful Full color LCD display with a lot more memory, processing power, and better sound than the Game Boy. It was, however, extremely pricey for a handheld, at a whopping $189.99. The Game Boy did better because it was more affordable and it had more enjoyable games This device sold around 3 million units.
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Sega Game Gear - 1990The Sega Game Gear was the most successful competitor to the Game Boy. It had similar hardware to the Game Boy, it just had a colored, back-lit screen. The reason it was so popular is because the Sega Genesis was the current leading console and they ported a lot of games from the Genesis to the Game Gear. The retail price was $149.99, with 10.62 million units sold. The games were 25-30 bucks each, with the best selling game being "Land of Illusion Staring Mickey Mouse".
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Game Gear - The only real competitor to the Game Boy.
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