In 1972, Nolan Bushnell and a few friends founded Atari with only five-hundered dollars and a dream to affect the entertainment and technology worlds forever, introducing the most creative and cutting edge innovations. "Nolan always fancied himself as an entertainment guy, not a videogame guy." stated Larry Seigel, former head of Atari operations, in a recent television interview. The truth is, Nolan Bushnell wasn't in the business of creating new game titles or systems, he was in the business of creating exciting new ways to have fun through technology, "Innovative Leisure" as Nolan referred to it. Early on, during the development of the Atari 2600, Nolan had contemplated one day creating a "take it anywhere videogame system" which was initially ignored by the other corporate leaders within Atari. However Nolan had envisioned early on the potential of a portable videogame that could be treated like a record player, where you can purchase new games to play on the portable game system, unlike the monotony of the dedicated single-title portable games of the late 1970's and early 1980's. :: Atari 2200, the Portable Video Computer System :: In 1981, as Atari was enjoying the height of their success and popularity, Atari under Warner Communications began to contemplate an idea that originally crossed through the mind of Nolan Bushnell's a few years prior. Atari began work on the Atari 2200, which was to be a portable game system, fully compatible with the entire library of Atari 2600 software. The initial idea was very exciting, but it did not get very far within Atari. Problems surrounded the portable device, right down to the design criteria. The Atari 2200, against popular belief, was not a small handheld device, similar to the portable game systems we have become accustom to during the 1990's. However, the 2200 was to be a smaller, more portable version of the 2600, and lacking good direction in design criteria, 2200 concepts more often than not ended up being nothing more than a boxy 2600 with a handle on it. Concept sketches of the 2200, done by Reagan Chang, had many different variations in designs, some incorporating built-in joysticks, carrying handles, dials, paddles, and even the occasional detachable portable monitor, similar to that of the more recent PSone portable monitor device which attaches onto the back of the unit. Atari 7800's Jon Michael Dyer put the relationship most in perspective :"Probably the closest thing I've ever seen to the Atari 2200 concept would be the package Sony is now offering for under two-hundered dollars which includes the tiny PSone, monitor, and cigarette adapter. That's essentially all the 2200 was supposed to be, a smaller lighter more portable version of the most popular game system of its day which could play all the games. The main letdown though is that you cant pull it out of your pocket at an event and just play. You have to plug in to things." The Atari 2200 project ended up being canceled in 1982, as Atari had more pertinent projects to focus on. Recently, designer Reagan Chang donated his 2200 conceptual drawings to Curt Vendel at the Atari Historical Society. To view these concepts, please visit the AHS Atari 2200 page, at http://www.atari-history.com/videogames/2200/index.html.
Fast forward to 1986. There were a few engineers inside the Amiga computer company who had recently left Amiga to join Epyx, a small game company which has been known for its games on the Atari 2600 and 7800 during the mid to late 1980's, including Summer Games, Winter Games, and Impossible Mission. These engineers began working on a project they referred to as the "Handy." The Handy was a the first fully functional portable video game system, which was rich with features, including a flip feature for left handed players, 16mHz 6502 processor, excellent sound capabilities, and plenty of colors on the backlit screen. What's more, the Handy had a simple and efficient networking language, which would later be referred to as "com-lynx" and allowed up to eight Handy units to be connected into one network to allow for screaming competition and co-op action. By 1987 the Handy was ready to go, however Epyx, financially strapped for cash, was not.
As Atari Historical Society founder Curt Vendel put it, "Atari Corp. finally managed to do one of the first intelligent moves." Now under the control of tyrant Jack Tramiel, Atari had been making one bad move after another, ever since the Tramiel family started to pull Atari in their direction. However, being the shyster that he is, Jack Tramiel saw the opportunity to take advantage of a friendly financially strapped company with a new technology that Jack had his eye on. Jack Tramiel ended up securing the Handy technology from Epyx, who could not afford to produce the revolutionary system, and was eager for funding for their other projects. And so in 1987, the Handy became the sole property of Atari Corp, and recrissened the "Atari Lynx." What doesn't make sense is why the release of the Lynx was delayed until fall 1989. Purchased in 1987, the Lynx technology apparently sat on Jack Tramiel's shelf for over a year and a half, but the question is why? "I still have original boxes for the Lynx I systems that say "Copyright 1987 Atari Corp." on them, but the system was not released until 1989." says VIDEO61 owner and operator Lance Ringquist. "Jack had a real bad habit of sitting on technology, and shelving projects for no apparent reason. He did it with the 7800, he did it with the [2600] Junior, and he did it with the Lynx. But why?" The long wait could not have been due to technical problems or re-engineering from the original Amiga/Epyx design. It appears that the only noticeable changes Atari made to the first release of the Lynx, from the original Handy system, was to change the internal speaker and do away with the thumb-stick on the Lynx control pad. (This design was nearly identical to that of the European JoyPad for the Atari 7800 and other 8-Bit systems.)
By the end of Summer 1989, the technology was ready, and so was the world. Feeling the heat from the looming Nintendo Gameboy release, Atari introduced the Atari Lynx in early Fall 1989 around the "back to school" time. The $189.95 Lynx came packed with everything you needed to get started, including an a/c adapter, com-lynx cable, and the California Games game card, which was a small wafer about half the size of a credit card, on which the game was stored on a ROM. The Lynx held its own against the Nintendo Gameboy, although twice as much, the Lynx featured 16-Bit graphics and stereo sound, along with a large full-color display, something the Gameboy desperately lacked. However the Lynx suffered from a few problems. For one it was large and expensive for Atari to produce, and with Jack "cut corners at any chance" Tramiel at Atari's helm, that was a problem which needed to be solved. Another problem was the finish of the Lynx its self. Again, Jack Tramiel had skimped-out on production costs, and instead of having the Lynx molded out of grey plastic, he had it produced from much cheaper clear white plastic, and then the systems were literally painted a soft grey color. However after long game play, the paint was prone to rub off, leaving huge white marks exposed on the nearly two-hundered dollar unit.
As Atari set out to fix the minor problems with the Lynx, they ended up completely redesigning the unit. In 1991, Atari relaunched the Lynx, with new packaging, new game card designs, and a whole new sleek black "stealth" look to the Lynx. The new system, still named the Atari Lynx, but referred within Atari and by dedicated gamers as the "Lynx II" featured rubber hand grips on the back of the unit, a clearer recessed backlit color screen with a power save option, and a new compact design. There were drawbacks however. Jack Tramiel took cost-cutting measures in the redesign that were to the extreme. The system shells and buttons were actually very nice, however internally the Lynx II "guts" had some problems, including power plugs which would loosen fairly easily, and a disappointingly weak speaker that did not do the Lynx custom sound architecture justice. However the Lynx II was still a nicer system than its main competition, the Nintendo Gameboy, and Sega GameGear, yet the Lynx still felt the heat from the four-hundered dollar NEC TurboExpress. However Atari had a nice line of quality accessories for the Lynx, by many accounts, are yet to be matched by other game companies. Lynx accessories included high quality plush system pouches and carrying cases, bulked up power adapters, and even a nifty sunshade & screenguard which would keep the glare out of the display, and when closed keep dust off of the screen.
As Atari pressed the Lynx forward during its 1991 relaunch, world issues for the first time had a profound affect on the gaming industry, especially the Atari Lynx. The Atari set the Lynx II loose just as conflict was heating up in the Persian Gulf. Games such as Steel Talons and especially Blue Lightening (which is by our counts, the best selling Atari Lynx game next to California Games) were staples of the Lynx game library, and gamers took note of the sleek new "stealth-like" design of the new Lynx system. The Lynx's target audience was feeling the patriotic effects of war, and in turn, that gave sales for the Lynx a big push. For the first time, gamers could storm into Iraq and take out Saddam Hussein and his empire of evil, all while riding home on the bus, or going out to dinner. Needless to say, 1991 and 1992 were the best years in sales for the Atari Lynx.
As the years grew farther and farther away from the days of the 7800, and nearer and nearer to the days of the Jaguar, the Lynx was caught right in the middle. When Atari wasn't focused on the 7800, it was focused on the Panther or Jaguar. The Lynx just got lost in there somewhere. Atari almost never advertised the Lynx after 1991, leaving Toys R Us, Kay-Bee, and Sears sweating once again. However this time the stores had had enough with Atari. One by one, starting with Toys R Us in 1994, toy stores, electronics stores, and other retailers began clearing away the Lynx and its state-of-the-art games to clear out shelf space for Turbo Grafx-16 and the ever-growing Super Nintendo. Atari aficionado held hope that the Lynx still had life in it, going on rumors of Lynx/Jaguar Compatibility. One of the early design credentials for the 16-Bit Atari Panther, was to be that it could play Atari Lynx games on the television set. Once the Panther grew into the Jaguar, Atari was still considering a cartridge adapter which would allow for Lynx games to be played through the Jaguar, as well as a special com-lynx cable which would allow the Jaguar to utilize the Lynx as a high-end game controller. However none of these hopes ever materialized, yet again due to the dismal corporate policies of the Tramiel family. In 1995, we saw the end of the
retail shelf life of the Atari Lynx, sadly during the holiday season.
The Lynx held its own against fierce competition, and to this day
stands alongside the NEC TurboExpress as the "Greatest Classic
Color Portable Game System of all time." Today, the Atari Lynx
still has a very strong following of dedicated Lynx gamers, the most
famous of who is ex-Atari programmer Harry Dodgson who has created
such new games for the Lynx as Othello. Atari 7800.com is dedicated
to the survival and legacy of the Atari Lynx, as we continue to offer
sales and support for the greatest hand held system of all time.
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