The Atari Lynx was a
handheld game console released by Atari Corporation in 1989. The Lynx
holds the distinction of being the world's first handheld electronic
game with a color LCD display. The system is also notable for its
forward-looking features, advanced graphics, and ambidextrous
layout. The Lynx was released in 1989, the same year as Nintendo's (monochromatic) Game Boy.
However, the Lynx failed to achieve the sales numbers required to
attract quality third party developers, and was eventually abandonedThe Lynx was the second handheld game with the Atari name to actually be produced, the first was Atari Inc.'s handheld electronic game Touch Me. Atari Inc. had previously worked on several other handheld projects including the Breakout and Space Invaders, the Atari Cosmos
portable/tabletop console. However, those projects were shut down
during development - some just short of their intended commercial
release.
The Lynx system was originally developed by Epyx as the Handy Game. Planning and design of the console began in 1986 and completed in 1987. Epyx first showed the Handy system at the Winter Consumer Electronics Show
(CES) in January 1989. Facing financial difficulties, Epyx sought out
partners. Atari Corp. and Epyx eventually agreed that Atari Corp. would
handle production and marketing, while Epyx would handle software
development.
Atari Corp. changed the internal speaker and removed the thumb-stick
on the control pad before releasing it as the Lynx, initially retailing
in the US at US$189.95. Atari Corp. then showed the Lynx to the press
at the Summer 1989 CES as the "Portable Color Entertainment System",
which was changed to Lynx when actual consoles were distributed to
resellers.
However, Nintendo's new Game Boy
was also introduced at the 1989 CES. At $90, it was much less expensive
than the Lynx, without the color or custom chips. Nintendo had no
problems supplying retailers with the Game Boy for the Christmas season
while Atari Corp. only managed limited distribution of their Lynx by
year's end.
During 1990, the Lynx had moderate sales but Nintendo's Game Boy
continued to gain market share. In 1991, Atari Corp. relaunched the
Lynx with a new marketing campaign, new packaging, slightly improved
hardware, and a new sleek look. The new system (referred to within
Atari Corp. as the "Lynx II") featured rubber hand grips and a clearer
backlit color screen with a power save option (which turned off the LCD
panel's backlighting). It also replaced the monaural headphone jack of
the original Lynx with one wired for stereo. The new packaging made the
Lynx available without any accessories, dropping the price to $99.
Although sales improved, Nintendo still dominated the handheld market.
As with the actual console units, the game cartridges themselves
evolved over the first year of the console's release. The first
generation of cartridges were flat, and were designed to be stackable
for ease of storage. However, this design proved to be very difficult
to remove from the console and was replaced by a second design. This
style, called "tabbed" or "ridged", used the same basic design as the
original cartridges with the addition of two small tabs on the
cartridge's underside to aid in removal. The original flat style
cartridges could be stacked on top of the newer cartridges, but the
newer cartridges could not be easily stacked on each other, nor were
they stored easily. Thus a third style, the "curved lip" style was
produced, and all official and third-party cartridges during the
console's lifespan were released (or re-released) using this style.
In May 1991, Sega launched its Game Gear
portable gaming handheld. Also a color handheld, in comparison to the
Lynx it had a higher cost, smaller bulk, and better battery life.
However, the Game Gear was backed up by significantly more popular
titles and consequently the market became dominated by Nintendo
followed by Sega in a distant second and the Lynx in third.
In 1994, Atari Corp. shifted its focus away from the Lynx. As Nintendo's Super Nintendo and Sega's Mega Drive/Genesis filled retailers' shelves, Atari Corp. refocused its efforts on its Jaguar console. A handful of games were released during this time, including Battlezone 2000. In 1996, Atari shut down its internal game development.
Telegames released a number of games in the second half of the 1990s, including a port of Raiden, a platformer called Fat Bobby, and an action sports game called Hyperdrome.
At the end of the 1990s, Hasbro, the owners of the Atari properties at
the time, released the rights to develop for the system to the public
domain. Since then a number of independent developers released games
into the new decade, like Championship Rally, CyberVirus, and Alpine Games.
Some of the late 90s/early 2000s games were under development by other
companies at one time, but rights to the game programs and all of the
existing code was bought and finished by other developers.
In 2008 Atari was honored at the 59th Annual Technology & Engineering Emmy Awards for pioneering the development of handheld games with its Lynx game unit.