page_title: Handheld game console
section_title: Game King
hierarchical_section_title: Handheld game console / History / Mid 2000s / Game King
caption_attribution_description: A photo of the GameKing II console, with the selection menu active.
context_page_description: A handheld game console, or simply handheld console, is a small, portable self-contained video game console with a built-in screen, game controls and speakers. Handheld game consoles are smaller than home video game consoles and contain the console, screen, speakers, and controls in one unit, allowing people to carry them and play them at any time or place.
  In 1976, Mattel introduced the first handheld electronic game with the release of Auto Race. Later, several companies—including Coleco and Milton Bradley—made their own single-game, lightweight table-top or handheld electronic game devices. The first handheld game console with interchangeable cartridges is the Milton Bradley Microvision in 1979. The first commercial successful handheld console was Merlin from 1978 which sold more than 5 million units. The first internet-enabled handheld console and the first with a touchscreen was the Game.com released by Tiger Electronics in 1997.
  Nintendo is credited with popularizing the handheld console concept with the release of the Game Boy in 1989 and continues to dominate the handheld console market.
context_section_description: The GameKing is a handheld game console released by the Chinese company TimeTop in 2004. The first model while original in design owes a large debt to Nintendo's Game Boy Advance. The second model, the GameKing 2, is believed to be inspired by Sony's PSP. This model also was upgraded with a backlit screen, with a distracting background transparency (which can be removed by opening up the console). A color model, the GameKing 3 apparently exists, but was only made for a brief time and was difficult to purchase outside of Asia.  Whether intentionally or not, the GameKing has the most primitive graphics of any handheld released since the Game Boy of 1989.
  As many of the games have an "old school" simplicity, the device has developed a small cult following. The Gameking's speaker is quite loud and the cartridges' sophisticated looping soundtracks (sampled from other sources) are seemingly at odds with its primitive graphics.
  
  TimeTop made at least one additional device sometimes labeled as "GameKing", but while it seems to possess more advanced graphics, is essentially an emulator that plays a handful of multi-carts (like the GB Station Light II). Outside of Asia (especially China) however the Gameking remains relatively unheard of due to the enduring popularity of Japanese handhelds such as those manufactured by Nintendo and Sony.
caption: The GameKing 2.
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