Atari Lynx
Atari Lynx I
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| Developer |
Epyx Atari Corporation |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Atari Corporation |
| Type | Handheld game console |
| Generation | Fourth generation |
| Release date | September 1, 1989 |
| Retail availability | 1989–1995 |
| Introductory price | US$179.99 |
| Units sold | Around 3 million |
| Media | ROM cartridge |
| CPU | WDC 65SC02 |
| Display | 160 × 102 standard resolution (16,320 addressable pixels) |
| Online services | Comlynx (18-player networking) |
The Atari Lynx is a 16-bit handheld game console that was released by Atari Corporation in September 1989 in North America, and in Europe and Japan in 1990. The Lynx holds the distinction of being the world's first handheld electronic game with a color LCD. The system is also notable for its forward-looking features, advanced graphics, and ambidextrous layout. The Lynx competed with the Game Boy (released just 2 months earlier), as well as the Game Gear and TurboExpress, both released the following year. It was discontinued when Atari was acquired by Hasbro Interactive in 1995.
The Atari Lynx's innovative features include being the first color handheld, with a backlit display, a switchable right-handed/left-handed (upside down) configuration, and the ability to network with up to 17 other units via its "Comlynx" system (though most games would network eight or fewer players). Comlynx was originally developed to run over infrared links (and was codenamed RedEye). This was changed to a cable-based networking system before the final release.
"The leading-edge display was the most expensive component, so the colour choice was one of economy. If the low-cost glass and drivers would have supported a million colours, I would have done it."
The Lynx was cited as the "first gaming console with hardware support for zooming and distortion of sprites". Featuring a 4096 color palette and integrated math and graphics co-processors (including a blitter unit), its pseudo-3D color graphics display was said to be the key defining feature in the system's competition against Nintendo's monochromatic Game Boy. The fast pseudo-3D graphics features were made possible on a minimal hardware system by codesigner Dave Needle having "invented the technique for planar expansion/shrinking capability" and using stretched, textured, triangles instead of full polygons. These particular features were achieved over a year prior to the launch of the Super NES, whose stock hardware features the comparable Mode 7 but which cannot scale sprites.
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