Handheld electronic games like the GameBoy came about in the late 1980s based on versions of the games played on video games.
Microprocessors provide the brains of the games, and batteries provide the power.
Software in the game cartridges tell the microprocessor what to do. Some cartridges use simulation software to put the player into a race car or a basketball game. This may make the next generation of adults more receptive to the newly-developing personal appliances that combine telephone, addressbook, calendar, notepad, Internet connection, ATM card, electronic money, and medical history into a handheld device. Whether these digital assistants become widely-accepted or not depends as much on whether people feel comfortable carrying around and using an electronic device as on the capability of the technology. Handheld electronic games like the GameBoy are compact computers run on batteries .