With virtually no advertising, most people didn't even know about the Lynx (while GameBoy ads saturated TV and print). With limited distribution, even people who wanted a Lynx had a hard time finding a store that sold them (while absolutely every toy, electronics and department store sold GameBoys). For the first couple of years the Lynx had very few games (while new GameBoy games hit the shelves every month). With little third-party support, the Lynx had a shortage of current, big-name arcade conversions (while seemingly every arcade game quickly appeared on the GameBoy).
The Lynx was a truly spectacular, superior piece of hardware --but that alone couldn't prevent it's slow, quiet death. If only Nintendo had marketed it... If only ANYBODY had marketed it!

Is there a ram based solution for play on lynx hardware some "rom images" found on the net??? What sort of memory do I use??? Can I self made somes rom card for my lynx hardware???

thanx

TURBOEXPRESS HAD A NICER SCREEN TV TUNER WAS ALSO 8 BIT WITH 16 BIT GRAPHIC CARD TURBODUO THOUGHCAN PLAY FULL SIZE TURBO GAMES SO YES ATARI WAS COOL BUT TURBOEXPRESS HAD THE NICER SCREEN AND LARGER LIBRARY CAUSE T PLAYS TURBO16 GAMES BUT THE LYNX WAS AWSOME AND ITS SAD IT FAILED IF I REMEMBER THEY MADE THE GAME DRACULA FOR THE LYNX AND IT WAS VERY COOL SURPASSING ANY OTHER DRCULA BUT SEGACDS BRAMSTOKER DRACULA QUITE A FEAT FOR A HANDHELD BUT AWAY WITH YE LOL

The 6502 custom CPU is indeed 8-bit in terms of addressable memory without bankswitching and buswidth.

However, the other components of the system and its architecture as a whole, were 16-bits. The Lynx looks like a 16-bit system because of the heavy use of its custom chips. Unlike PC's, most of the processing load is divided over multiple specialized custom chips.

This is the exact opposite of the Jaguar situation. Most games for the Jag look like 16-bit titles while the Jag is commonly accepted as a 64-bits _SYSTEM_. Most games for the Lynx look like 16-bit titles too (only the 6502C is 8-bits).

Early prototypes of Lynxes were meant to link-up through infrared in stead of link cables.

Another nice detail: The Atari Jaguar was meant to have games in which you could hook up your Lynx to the Jaguar as an advanced controller with its own personal display, so you could use it like a rear mirror in racing games or as a console display or a tracker thing for Alien vs Predator and so on. It fact, it could have been used in the exact same way as Nintendo plans to use it's Gameboy Advance as a controller for their GameCube.

And last but not least: there are quite a few Lynx games that allow multiplayer networking. Not 2 Lynxes, like with two Gameboys or Gamegears, but up to 8 Lynxes linked together are supported in several games (like Slimeworld and Xenophobe). The serial link system itself should be capable of linking 32 machines together without repeaters or line drivers.

An absolutely fabulous full colour system that was marred by a lack of marketing, third party development and the general sense of apathy by the the evolving (read bankrupt) Atari of the late eighties early nineties. This was the Gameboy killer, unfortunately like most Atari products of the era it was decimated by poor sales, support, marketing and a general malaise perpatrated primarily by Atari's lack of market presence. Robotron 2049 and California Games were my two favorites. If you see one of these it is a must have for the collecting ehthusiast and its' full colour screen has depth that has yet to be beaten in the world of hand held electronics. One major downside of this beheamoth was it's daunting size and it major battery consumption. This system made the Gamegear (SEGA) look like the Gameboy classic.