The Milton-Bradley Microvision Handheld

[burningdoom]

The Microvision

The world's first handheld gaming console. By Milton-Bradley. Released a full 10 years before the Game Boy in 1979. So the next time Nintendo tries to claim that they started "the handheld revolution", remember this guy.

The cartridges are actually the faceplates, which snap right on top of the unit. It has knob and button controls. And it has a black & white LCD screen. You may scoff, but this is pretty high-tech stuff for 1979. To put it into perspective, the Atari 2600 was the world's most popular game console.

I've got the original packaging included with it, even, which is pretty amazing considering I was even born yet (born in 1983). Unfortunately mine stopped working only weeks after purchasing it on eBay. These things are known to break-down easily being 30 years old and all. (Although they're usually known for screen-rot, with mine my buttons stopped responding). It's still a cool piece of history to have, especially since I have all the original packaging.

The only game I have is Block Buster, which is a Breakout clone (and was the original pack-in game). There were other games released for it like a Star Trek game, a bowling game, a pinball game, a space-ship shooter, and others.

[fazerco]

As a addition, the European version had only 8 games. The American version had i think 12 games. Its also special that almost every European country had its own language on the box. So there where English, Dutch, French, German, Italian boxes.

[evilnick]

To be fair, Nintendo did start the portable revolution, because if Milton Bradley did, these things would've taken off.  Which they did not. 

That said, I find the system fascinating, and I have most of the library for it--all of them and the system itself with their boxes. It was actually featured in one of the Friday the 13th films, with, I think, Corey Feldman playing it.  The cartridges also contain individual CPUs as the system itself is largely just a shell with a screen, control knob, and button pad. 

[spac316]

I have one of those. I have Block Buster and Star Trek Phaser Strike for it. To bad the screen is ruined so I can't play it anymore. Oh well...

[tpugmire]

You mentioned that the buttons stopped responding. Have you tried to open it up and see what's going on inside?  I would think it would be a fairly easy fix, as long as the screen is good and it still powers on.

[burningdoom]

You mentioned that the buttons stopped responding. Have you tried to open it up and see what's going on inside?  I would think it would be a fairly easy fix, as long as the screen is good and it still powers on.

Yeah, I did. And it's not normal inside that thing at all. Foil paper to make contact, soft-mushy buttons, and foam in-between. I couldn't make heads or tails of most of it. But I did at least clean everything and make sure all connections were still in place, then snapped it back together. Still a no go. I'm sure something shorted out or burned out being that old.

[tpugmire]

Well, I suppose the only way to narrow down the problem is to try another game. That SHOULD at least tell you if it's the game or the system itself. Did you check it with a continuity tester to look for broken traces? 

[burningdoom]

I could, but I wouldn't even spend the money on another game, anyways. It's a neat conversation piece, but it's really not the best when it comes to gameplay. I ran through the possibility that it might be the game, but just kind of said, "oh well." If I ever came across another game for a $1 or $2 at the thrift shop or yard sale or something, I might get one, but that's about it.