In Pictures: 3 decades of hand-held game systems

Three decades after the debut of Milton Bradley's Microvision, here's a look at how handheld video game systems evolved, from early flops like the Atari Lynx to the gaming innovations of the iPhone.

Milton Bradley Microvision (1979)

The Microvision may have been a pioneer, but its capabilities were primitive. Its 16-by-16-pixel black-and-white LCD screen made the goal of producing truly involving games difficult for software engineers. The Microvision shipped ready to play ball-and-paddle games with an analog control knob. It also contained a 12-button rubber key matrix on which the cartridge inserted into the system could configure different "buttons." Overall, the Microvision sold poorly, and for the next decade few companies imitated its modular software design.

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