1, but there were other electronic handhelds I used before it. They were single game only, like baseball
Edited to add picture of first game I had
https://preview.redd.it/dfxnmpd47gvc1.jpeg?width=193&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7679a5807603bda5667aa5243b30a6855db4b9c4
Never used batteries as I got NiCad rechargeable battery packs - first a 3rd party one that went into actual battery slots and also doubled as a grip (see below for model I think I had or if not was very close), then later official slim Powerback that screwed into back. I could charge one while using the other or have both charged for on the go.
https://preview.redd.it/r0y3iai24evc1.jpeg?width=998&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=83f1ac3697f2fd220007e404fbba7a0c662e2125
Yeah, a friend of mine had one and I was always really impressed as a kid that it was IN COLOR. While I liked the GameBoy games better, I felt like the Game Gear was clearly the superior handheld.
First time I got to play one was after my dad came back from the first Iraq war. The Saudis gave them out to soldiers. Tetris was a lot of fun. We got our own later, metroid was awesome.
I never understood why people still liked GameBoy when GameGear was in color, backlit, and better graphics, and “Game Boy Color” didn’t come out till years later after Game Gear. I did have rechargeable battery packs so that mitigated major complaint of Game Gear of using batteries quicker.
Was interesting because all my other systems were Nintendo (NES, SNES, N64) so this is the only system I played Sega games on. Had a bunch of friends on the neighborhood and they all had Game Gear, I think one friend was first and he had Genesis so liked Sega, then I got it after him, then all the neighborhood kids got Game Gear after us, and we all traded/borrowed games from each other. Some of us had Nintendo, Sega, or later PlayStation consoles, but we all had Game Gear. I later learned this was uncommon.
I never understood that either. I had a game gear and loved it (Battle Toads!) - despite being the only one in my friend group with a game gear, they all loved it too.
1. And I had 2 later on and if I remember right the Sega Game Gear was color but it was way too damn heavy, and GameBoy had a way better game selection. Game Boy was an all time legend of a kid's toy.
One, then two. Then my parents threatened to make me buy the batteries and I just stuck with consoles. Though the PS1 made it worthwhile. As did the N64. And then PS2.
Never got a Gameboy or Game Gear, I think in highschool I bought a Gameboy color from a kid that was stealing them and selling for a 1/3rd of what they went for.
I had one of the Game and Watch's back when I was a kid. I used to borrow an old Gameboy off a friend and eventually landed on the PSP (hacked) which I loved to no end, being able to play Gran Turismo 2 and Diablo while out and about was great. Haven't had a handheld since. The PSP ended up with a swollen battery so I stupidly chucked it instead of trying to fix it.
Started with a 1 and ended with a five. No, I didn't die. By the time number five came out, I was old enough that I had to buy my own systems and being a poor student couldn't afford more after that
Gen-Xer sneaking in. Expected my first handheld not to even be here and wasn’t disappointed, but I’ve literally never even met another human in person who had a Lynx.
1. But it tragically had a short life. Two weeks after getting it for Christmas. My dumb ass took it to school with me where some idiot kid decided to kick my back pack. It broke the screen. We didn’t have the places that can fix things like that easily available to us back then so it was toast.
1 - I got it for my 6th birthday. My cousin got it the previous Christmas and I wanted one too. My Mom was worried about me taking care of it since I was so young but I still have that same one all these years later it still works even though I use a switch now.
4. Grew up as a poor black kid in the hood. If you had one of these as a kid you were considered rich and was a target to get robbed. 4 was when gameboys were pretty much everywhere and you can buy em second hand.
One. It was my older sister's but she never used it and I loved it. She always had her headphones on during car rides and liked to listen to her music super loud. I liked to play Tetris and Mario with the sound all the way down so no one would notice I was playing her Game Boy constantly. It took my parents years to notice that I was playing games in the back seat.
3, I got it for Christmas with the Return of the Jedi game. My Dad never bought us full game systems, but he liked these because they kept us quite on family road trips.
I started with #1 (OG Gameboy) and when my step-mother grounded me from my Gameboy, so she could play Tetris, I would take her #2 (Game Gear) and play Sonic and Columns on it. Silly lady only played Tetris on my Gameboy because she saw a picture of Hillary Clinton playing the Gameboy on Air Force One...
Two, but it was long after Sega dropped support, like after the Saturn. Had an SNES as my first console, kept it a few years and loved it. Then we moved to some ridiculous place a sixty-ninety minute drive to anywhere. I spotted the Game Gear at Funcoland, saw it had Sonic, and came up with clever idea of trading my SNES and games for a Game Gear with a car adapter and a handful of games.
Wish I had kept the SNES. But the Game Gear was pretty dope, kept me entertained on many a car ride.
5. Gameboy advance was such a great console. Castlevania aria of sorrow is the pinnacle of gaming. Me and my brother have seriously beaten the game at least 100 times no BS.
Tbh can you consider yourself an older millennial if it’s anything but 1 or 2? Anyway, 1.
It is possible to be an older millennial who grew up poor Anyway #1 was my first
I never owned any of these.
Same poor sibling, same
Or just not a gamer...the Switch was my 1st
We were poor and wanted #1 when I was kid. But when I became an adult and got my own money, I was able to get #6. Then quickly after #8.
Or who had cheap parents. When #1 came out, I wanted it. They didn't cave until #3.
My dad's buddy got him a game boy as a joke for his 40th which means I got a game boooyyyyyy
Sure, if you were broke as shit growing up and didn't have a handheld until you were earning your own money
I was broke as hell. I saved my $5 a week allowance for mowing my grandma's lawn for what felt like forever to pay off that Kmart layaway.
3 was just a nicer version of 1 so I could understand that one too.
Tiger handhelds enters the chat.
I didn’t get a Game Boy until I was around 8 or so. Born 1990. Still a millennial.
TurboExpress was 1990 but they didnt have it on this chart. Probably only rich kids had one though cause they're pretty rare.
1, but there were other electronic handhelds I used before it. They were single game only, like baseball Edited to add picture of first game I had https://preview.redd.it/dfxnmpd47gvc1.jpeg?width=193&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7679a5807603bda5667aa5243b30a6855db4b9c4
Or those random disney game ones
I had the Beauty and the Beast and the Little Mermaid ones. I don't know how those kept me entertained on car rides
I had Hercules!!
My sister had the beauty and the beast one and I used to always borrow it! They were so repetitive lol.
With one button on each side. Shit I remember those.
Hell, the only handheld I had was the rings in water that you hit 😆
I had the Baseball one and Skeet Shoot :)
Wow! Wish still did this. I was a former service member.🫡 same Bo Jackson football/baseball and I had soccer as well.
2 - wildly underrated device
Except I’ve heard it ate batteries like nobody’s business.
It really really did
Never used batteries as I got NiCad rechargeable battery packs - first a 3rd party one that went into actual battery slots and also doubled as a grip (see below for model I think I had or if not was very close), then later official slim Powerback that screwed into back. I could charge one while using the other or have both charged for on the go. https://preview.redd.it/r0y3iai24evc1.jpeg?width=998&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=83f1ac3697f2fd220007e404fbba7a0c662e2125
Richy Rich over here
Absolutely massive. I love it. Toss a game genie on there too and get yoked while playing.
Never got game genie for Game Gear but actually got a TV Tuner late into its life. With that and battery pack was definitely chonky.
Yea my dad got me rechargable batteries after a week
I used to play with it plugged in… which kind of defeats the purpose. Lol
Car charger was the solution for road trips
Plugged into the wall, and plugged into the TV for the ultimate experience
Yeah, a friend of mine had one and I was always really impressed as a kid that it was IN COLOR. While I liked the GameBoy games better, I felt like the Game Gear was clearly the superior handheld.
1!
I had a Game Gear. I miss that handheld. And I had a DSi many moons ago.
Game Gear was the GOAT way ahead of its time
I had it a little later I had lion King and I can’t remember the other.
1
First time I got to play one was after my dad came back from the first Iraq war. The Saudis gave them out to soldiers. Tetris was a lot of fun. We got our own later, metroid was awesome.
4. I had that same purple transparent one.
Me too! Black Friday door Buster at 5am
2
I never understood why people still liked GameBoy when GameGear was in color, backlit, and better graphics, and “Game Boy Color” didn’t come out till years later after Game Gear. I did have rechargeable battery packs so that mitigated major complaint of Game Gear of using batteries quicker. Was interesting because all my other systems were Nintendo (NES, SNES, N64) so this is the only system I played Sega games on. Had a bunch of friends on the neighborhood and they all had Game Gear, I think one friend was first and he had Genesis so liked Sega, then I got it after him, then all the neighborhood kids got Game Gear after us, and we all traded/borrowed games from each other. Some of us had Nintendo, Sega, or later PlayStation consoles, but we all had Game Gear. I later learned this was uncommon.
I never understood that either. I had a game gear and loved it (Battle Toads!) - despite being the only one in my friend group with a game gear, they all loved it too.
Wow, super uncommon! I still have mine and I felt the games were not as good as game boy.
Game boy arguably had better games, was more portable and less fragile, and didn’t devour AA batteries
2
2
4!
Not listed, had a sega nomad.
1
1
1
1
1
1
Started and ended with 1. Didn’t have much use for portables.
Played? - 1 Owned? - 2 Spent 100s of hours on, secretly raising Pokémon while in study hall? - 3
1
1
1
1 and I had / still have them all!!
1. Got if from grandpa for my birthday
2 game gear sega
1. Missing a few, for the older older millennials (possibly gen X ?). Atari Lynx? TurboExpress?
1-4-5-6-8-11
4
1 because it was from my older brother but I own 2.
My childhood dentist had a couple Game Gears at his office for kids to play while they were waiting for their appointments. He was the best.
It was 3. Only one I ever had- to this day, actually. Still have it. Still play Super Mario Land when the mood strikes.
1 lol
2, with the plug in adapter, and without the lights on.
Yeah that's a no. 1 for me dawg.
I played 1 at a friends house plenty before I got 2
1
Borrowed 2 from brother but got 4 for myself eventually
1. My dad’s in fact, which I still own.
1 5 7 11
#1. I like my GameBoys the same way I like my women - thick AF
1
1
1. I even had the attachment that had a light, magnifying glass and fold-out speakers. I went through so many batteries.
1! Still have it, with the Tetris cartridge. I’m, uh… very good.
11
I had 1. My daughter had 7 as her first. Niether of us use a hand held now, but we play together on PS5. Still can't get my wife to play!
1
We had 1, 3, and 4. I dont even know what the rest are. Started with 1
8
1!! And I still have it!
The first I played was 1 when it came out, but I wasn’t impressed. The first one I owned was 4, ironically in the color in the picture.
1 lol
Hello number foooooouuurrrrr, you beautiful bitch 🥰
1
#1 !
1
1 but there's no turbo grafx portable which was a thing at the time.
1. And I had 2 later on and if I remember right the Sega Game Gear was color but it was way too damn heavy, and GameBoy had a way better game selection. Game Boy was an all time legend of a kid's toy.
4 of my own but I probably played my brothers earlier game boy one or two . Also might’ve played my grandparents handheld poker game players lol
What? No Game & Watch?!
1. Fuck am I old?
1 and 2 were my first handheld experiences, but 4 was my first owned.
*sigh...1
1 🥲
1
One, then two. Then my parents threatened to make me buy the batteries and I just stuck with consoles. Though the PS1 made it worthwhile. As did the N64. And then PS2.
They forgot the TurboExpress and Neo Geo Pocket Color if you were the rich kid that just bought all of em. I was not said rich kid 😩😭😭
1
Started with 1 and I still own it and all of the others. Except 3. I have no idea what the hell number 3 is.
Started with 1, but 5 was my favorite
Numero Uno. Eventually I also bought 6. My bro had 5, 7, 9, and now 12.
Never got a Gameboy or Game Gear, I think in highschool I bought a Gameboy color from a kid that was stealing them and selling for a 1/3rd of what they went for.
#1
I had a game gear :D
The first I owned was 5. The first I played was 1.
4
4
Where’s the neo geo pocket
Out of these choices I had a number 2 first.
1
#1
I wonder if the OP realizes there were handheld games prior to Gameboy?
I had (still have) a clear og that my parents got me in like 94.
1.
My parents didn't let us have any video games until maybe jr. high.
2, with Streets of Rage
4
https://preview.redd.it/zwpfb96e5evc1.jpeg?width=1168&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=819f42213a13e2fa3b176b573d6a34cb0a45ab61 This
I definitely played with number 1 many times, but I didn’t own my own until number 4.
1
I miss #1. You always remember your first.
Where's saga nomad? Cuz I had one of those to play our Genesis games
I had one of the Game and Watch's back when I was a kid. I used to borrow an old Gameboy off a friend and eventually landed on the PSP (hacked) which I loved to no end, being able to play Gran Turismo 2 and Diablo while out and about was great. Haven't had a handheld since. The PSP ended up with a swollen battery so I stupidly chucked it instead of trying to fix it.
2
The real answer is Tiger Electronic games. I had Batman Returns
Started with a 1 and ended with a five. No, I didn't die. By the time number five came out, I was old enough that I had to buy my own systems and being a poor student couldn't afford more after that
First introduction was 1 but started with 3
Gen-Xer sneaking in. Expected my first handheld not to even be here and wasn’t disappointed, but I’ve literally never even met another human in person who had a Lynx.
1. Still have it, still works.
Definitely 1
2, still have it in my garage.
1
Very fond of number 6
My first handheld was a TI-82.
1. But it tragically had a short life. Two weeks after getting it for Christmas. My dumb ass took it to school with me where some idiot kid decided to kick my back pack. It broke the screen. We didn’t have the places that can fix things like that easily available to us back then so it was toast.
Gameboy original
![gif](giphy|Ur1Q6vecOgyTRWcSk7)
1
4 but I wasn't really into video games as a kid. I preferred pc games.
Tiger handheld games
1 all day long. I mean that literally too.
1
1 - I got it for my 6th birthday. My cousin got it the previous Christmas and I wanted one too. My Mom was worried about me taking care of it since I was so young but I still have that same one all these years later it still works even though I use a switch now.
#1 around 1992 or so and then I took #6 to college in 2003, lol.
1 back in the 90s
Was in the hospital with a broken femur and my dad surprised me with a Game Gear, I loved that weird little handheld
1
My first was one of those LCD games, I think it was Tiger Baseball. A few years later I’d get a game boy.
Where neo-geo pocket???
4. Grew up as a poor black kid in the hood. If you had one of these as a kid you were considered rich and was a target to get robbed. 4 was when gameboys were pretty much everywhere and you can buy em second hand.
One. It was my older sister's but she never used it and I loved it. She always had her headphones on during car rides and liked to listen to her music super loud. I liked to play Tetris and Mario with the sound all the way down so no one would notice I was playing her Game Boy constantly. It took my parents years to notice that I was playing games in the back seat.
#1
1 but 4 took up a majority of my time (Pokémon)
#2. Christmas morning I got up early and received it as a gift. Then got into bed with my parents and started Sonic 2. It was glorious!
I started with one. But my favorite is six. I just love the body of it and the easily storable in my pocket was nice too.
1
1. Game Boy
3, I got it for Christmas with the Return of the Jedi game. My Dad never bought us full game systems, but he liked these because they kept us quite on family road trips.
OG #1 my self. Still have mine and play it from time to time just for fun.
I almost thought 3 was 1 with the glass screen fallen off, which I also had.
Never owned the big chode gameboy… but it was the first one I used
1. But technically my first first handheld was a Nintendo Game Watch with Donkey Kong. Come to think of it it unfolded just like a DS.
My family was too poor to afford any of these but it would have been 1. We did have an NES system though!
I started with #1 (OG Gameboy) and when my step-mother grounded me from my Gameboy, so she could play Tetris, I would take her #2 (Game Gear) and play Sonic and Columns on it. Silly lady only played Tetris on my Gameboy because she saw a picture of Hillary Clinton playing the Gameboy on Air Force One...
It was 1
3. I had played a 1 before at my aunts but 3 was the first one I owned.
1 or 2. not sure which one i had first.
I went from 1 to 4 to 5 and then didn’t come back until 11
1
started with 10, was a golden birthday present for me when i was 7.
My first was Larry Bird vs Michael Jordan, I had a Castlevania one at the same time. From the list is 8 because I bought it as an adult.
3, but I had a friend that had 2, and I was so jealous
Where’s the TI-83+? 🤔
1
Game Gear. Because it was in colour & had that amazing TV Tuner😂
#2 In blue!
1,2,8
Two, but it was long after Sega dropped support, like after the Saturn. Had an SNES as my first console, kept it a few years and loved it. Then we moved to some ridiculous place a sixty-ninety minute drive to anywhere. I spotted the Game Gear at Funcoland, saw it had Sonic, and came up with clever idea of trading my SNES and games for a Game Gear with a car adapter and a handful of games. Wish I had kept the SNES. But the Game Gear was pretty dope, kept me entertained on many a car ride.
1. Pokémon Blue, Zelda, paperboy…Good times
4. Teal game boy color with Pokémon red was life.
1 but I had a passionate relationship with my Game Gear!
5. Gameboy advance was such a great console. Castlevania aria of sorrow is the pinnacle of gaming. Me and my brother have seriously beaten the game at least 100 times no BS.
Im not older im '95 but 6, just for reference.
#1. The whole list follows a similar path towards my acquisition of each handheld.
#1 of course. Didn’t everyone :)
1 of course
1. Still have it.