A Handheld History

by Bob Wulff, Janet Gracia, Jason Bradburv

Businessmen fiddling with calculators inspired Gunpei Yokoi to conceptualise the Game & Watch. A Handheld History is inspired by the forty-year portable gaming empire that spawned from those LCD screens.

Brought to you in partnership with Retro Dodo—the internet’s leading retro gaming site—A Handheld History is an explorative jaunt through the systems and games that defined the legacy of portable systems. Less of a historical account and more of a poignant, introspective adventure across decades of gaming memories, this book will reconnect you to that long car trip full of Tetriminos, Mewtwos, and discarded AA batteries before speeding ahead to our contemporary days of OLED screens and blockbusters in your backpack.

Handheld gaming is a cornerstone tenet of the industry, one that has spawned communities who exchange Miis on the subway and Pokemon on the playground. Friendships were made in this pocket of the medium, and it ought to be celebrated loudly, proudly, and across hundreds of beautifully-assembled pages of art and essays. Featuring words from Jason Bradbury, Janet Garcia, Jeff Grubb, Mike Diver, Larry Bundy Jr., Ashens and many more incredible voices, this is an unmissable ode to the gaming device that you keep close to your heart—right in your jacket pocket.

Genres: Video Games, Nonfiction, Gaming, History

272 pages, Hardcover

First published October 17, 2023

Reviews

[Matthijs · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5! Great overview, lot of nostalgia, perhaps a bit bloated with bespoke handhelds and personal stories (which I personally couldn't relate to too much as a more mainstream handheld owner)

[Pearson Bolt · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely collection of curated essays and painstaking photographs document the history of handheld video game consoles. This eye-catching text with refined visual design features deeply personal stories and fascinating insight into the video game industry’s early years and ongoing development. More than just a pleasing coffee table book, “A Handheld History” is a love letter to all the wonderful handhelds out there.

[Dave Wheeler · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book however I do have a few minor criticisms. I wish there were more pictures of the actual handheld consoles included within, I was surprised at how little they were shown. The release date of the handhelds should have also been listed (when possible) with the little snippets of information. I was surprised by the personal essays included in this, while not histories of the handhelds per se it was a nice inclusion to see how other people feel about the devices.

[Michelle Leung · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of pictures and history and tidbits about handhelds , which doesn’t just cover Nintendo. I learned a lot of lesser known handhelds and special Japanese only releases. The included essays are hit/ miss in terms of quality but the passion is there! A nice gift or coffee table book for the nerds in your life.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great gaming nostalgia read reminding me of some golden gaming times from my life.
M experience was predominantly Nintendo driven as is obviously the case for the bulk of the population based on their epic sales figures.
I'll probably dig out my old units for a bit of Bomberman which is an all-time favourite!

[Ellie · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyable read, but perhaps a bit bloated with a lot of personal stories that weren't as interesting to read as the rest of it. Beautifully designed and illustrated throughout, but in my opinion it could have been a hundred pages shorter and I would have enjoyed it even more.

[Joshua · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a very good history book for gamers like me. I enjoy reading books like this and it was one of 2 game history books I got for Christmas. Retro Gaming: A Byte-sized History of Video Games. This book is HUGE and practically goes through all handhelds including: N-Gage Gizmondo and even the FunKey s. Now I want an Analogue Pocket because of this book. this is an enjoyable book and you learn a TON about legends such as the Sega Game Gear, the Game Boy and the Sony PSP.

[Efrén Ayón · Rating 3 out of 5]

El típico libro de la mesita de café, en una edición muy bonita con ilustraciones incluso mejores. Aunque sea como producto de decoración, es aceptable. Lo que viene escrito no es muy interesante; casi todo comisiones con límites bien establecidos de duración, tema y estructura, en donde el estilo apenas y alcanza a desarrollarse, aunque recalco que tampoco importa demasiado. Afortunadamente mejora al final, y deja las descripciones breves e inocuas de juegos ultra conocidos por temas más personales y le presenta al lector varias consolas a las que llamarles nicho sería hasta innecesario por lo obvio.

[César Suárez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un libro preciosamente editado sobre consolas portátiles, que va alternando fotos de caratulas y distintos modelos con artículos de corte más autobiográfico/nostálgico que no son la bomba, pero tienen un nivel medio muy aceptable (menos uno de usar la Switch en la educación que sólo ha podido concebir una cabeza llena de Monster y Doritos). Al final desbarra un poco con la selección de portátiles menos famosas (osea, todo lo que no es Nintendo, Sony y Sega), sobretodo por el orden en el que aparecen que descontextualiza un poco todo (sale antes la Playdate que la Wonderswan por decir un ejemplo). Aún así muy buen libro si te va el rollo.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great look at the history of handheld game systems. I was so pumped to read this because my favorite gift that I was lucky enough to receive as a kid was the original Nintendo Game Boy. I was not disappointed! Even though there are omissions that were a bit of a let down (no game screenshots, no actual photos of some of the consoles), the book comes from a place of love and most of the articles are top notch.

A must own addition to any video game enthusiasts bookshelf!

[Tyler Baxandall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite the enjoyable trip through the history of handheld gaming.

Especially enjoyed the context provided around their times of release and the various essays on peoples experiences with each system and the games they enjoyed. Made for quite a fun read and reminded me of what makes gaming such a fun hobby.

[Marco Giannini · Rating 5 out of 5]

Halcyon days of gaming

This is a fantastic read for any lovers of handheld video game consoles, with a great run through their history and evolution.

[Dylan Holmes · Rating 5 out of 5]

i lone handheld consoles so much this book went into so much detail about them all i was so happy

[Jess's Library · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars
A really good book about the history of handheld game systems. I learned loads from reading this book and I'm starting to quote some of the information to my partner when we are playing games together.
My favourite parts were about the Game Boy (I started in the Nintendo DS era so I had missed this), Nintendo DS, Nintendo Switch, Neo Geo Pocket and Game and Watch (look up the 'Donkey Kong' version-they basically had the foundation ideas for the DS back in 1982!!!!)

I really liked how the contents page of this book was set up. It was very user friendly and I really liked how the different sections were colour coordinated (e.g. Game Boy era being purple). Its a small thing, but a clear contents page that is very easy to follow, colourful and not in one big list can make a massive difference to your initial impression of a book.

I do have a few criticisms of the book. Firstly, although lot of the text provided really insightful information, I felt like the anecdotes went on too long and could have been edited down more. That being said, it was nice for the book to have included other people's perspectives and being able to relate to some of the stories.

I was a bit disappointed in the lack of pictures to aid the text alongside it. I gave up on the last section 'pink section' of the book because the format was the same for each system (grey/green and black drawings of the handhelds and text heavy) and it was not stimulating. It didn't help the structure was the same for each system, and this section covered 17 of them. I gave up halfway through (roughly), because I realised I couldn't really recall a lot of the information.
I do want to note though, that the parts I really wanted to read were covered in the earlier sections. This also impacted my motivation to finish this last section.

Overall, the book was really good and you can tell the writers are very passionate about gaming. I will likely read this again in the future and would recommend this to others.

[Ryan Stevens · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have an essay in here, so yes I’m biased, but it’s a great book! They’re all good essays, not just me!