Retro Rewind: Then and Now: Portable Gaming

May 11, 2009 | By: Robert Workman

| More

From Game & Watch to PSP, handheld gaming evolved from a neat fad into a multi-million dollar monster.

Then: Tetris

Twenty years ago, Nintendo debuted its first handheld system in the U.S., the Game Boy, in. It was a tremendous hit for one primary reason – Alexei Pajitnov's puzzle classic Tetris. This game, bundled with the hardware, allowed users to set up lines using a variety of shapes. The system's black and white screen made it hard to see certain pieces, but overall, the million-plus selling game was a triumphant success.

Average Rating (click to rate)

Comments7 (Post Your Own)

Views167327

Reader Comments (7)

blqstarr at 11:42 am on May 18th 2009

Ah! The original Gameboy and tetris. I loved it and my Game Gear. Saved me from those Tiger handheld games where you just kept replaying the same game over and over. ^_^ If the iPhone is a gaming system - then so was my TI-83 calculator. I had tetris and Super Mario world on it and could program other games like centipede on it as well.

cstarrguitar at 1:28 am on May 12th 2009

an iphone should be considered a game system because of the variety of games offered to it. I think people that make the statement that its not a game system maybe simply jealous they do not own one. Its not called an igamesystem because it not logical. If thats your defense then why not call a psp a smalldiscreadinggamecompatiblesystemwithinternet. Sounds stupid but an iphone is like a mini computer. It has a lot of things to offer including game capability that far surpass GAME systems that have dominated in the past. In another defense why would people continuously be making new games for the iphone if they wernt selling? The thing is they are and games will continuously be made as updates come out. Just because these games cannot be bought at a store shouldnt mean iphone isnt a means of supplying games. Get used to the future