First handheld game console: Milton Bradley Microvision

Last Updated on January 19, 2025 by Dave Farquhar

The Milton Bradley Microvision was the first handheld game console, first released in November 1979. It was the direct inspiration for the Nintendo Game Boy.

Milton Bradley Microvision

Designed by the same people who would later create the Vectrex, the Microvision was a very simple device by modern standards. It had an LCD screen, a paddle, and a keypad. The LCD had a resolution of only 16 pixels by 16 pixels and the CPU only ran at 100 kHz, meaning it could only play a very simple games. I’m not sure I’d classify it as a second generation game console. But in 1979, it was new and novel. Electronic handheld games existed, but prior to the Microvision, they only played one game.

The Microvision console itself is very simple, and it is not a computer on its own. It has no CPU, no ram, and no input/output. The console only contains the keypad, the paddle controller, and the LCD screen and driver. All of the computing logic exists in the cartridges themselves. This means the cartridges don’t necessarily have to run on the same architecture, and not all of them do. Initially, Milton Bradley used an Intel microcontroller, but later switched to another microcontroller made by Texas Instruments due to supply issues. The TI chips had the added benefit of running at lower power.

The cartridges plug into the front of the unit, becoming the front panel of the console. Later handheld consoles didn’t copy this.

I’ve heard some people say the CPU exists on the cartridge. So why is it that when you open a Microvision cartridge, there is only a single chip inside? The Microvision used microcontrollers, a system on a chip that combined the CPU, input, output, ram, and even the ROM on a single chip.

The chips were programmed at the factory, so Milton Bradley had to finalize the game, then send the code to the chip manufacturer, and they placed the code in the chip as it was being manufactured. This seems wasteful today, but in the 1970s and early 1980s, it was a cost-effective approach. In large quantities, the programmed chips cost around $2 apiece.

A total of 12 cartridges exist, all of them published by Milton Bradley. Lack of third-party development was one of the reasons Milton Bradley discontinued the Microvision in 1981.

Points of failure

The most common failure in the Milton Bradley Microvision is the LCD screen. The manufacturing process was not as robust as we have today, so the original LCDs frequently don’t work. Modern replacements are available, and are much more reliable.

The cartridges themselves are also a failure point. When plugging or unplugging a cartridge, it is possible for your hand to brush against the contacts in the connector, and give it an electrostatic shock. Even if you don’t feel the shock, it can be enough to damage the chip. Milton Bradley revised the design to make this less of a problem, but the early Intel-based cartridges are especially prone to electrostatic damage. The only source for these chips is other cartridges. Theoretically, it would be possible to make modern replacements, but it may not be cost effective.

I don’t recommend buying untested Microvision cartridges, or if you do, don’t pay a premium price for them.

Pricing

The Microvision retailed for $50, with games retailing for $20. Both Montgomery Ward and JCPenney carried the Microvision from 1980 into 1982. Wards even had it in its 1979 catalog. Who charged less varied from year to year but Wards usually offered a larger selection of cartrtidges, typically 8 as opposed to 5 or 6.

Milton Bradley discontinued the Microvision in 1981, and neither store had it in their 1982 Christmas catalog, but the unsold inventory lasted into the spring/summer caatalog in 1982. One interesting thing is both retailers increased the price of the console and the games each year. Maybe this was due to inflation.

Legacy

The Milton Bradley Microvision didn’t really catch on, at least not the way the Game Boy or even less successful consoles like the Game Gear or the Atari Lynx did. It was an interesting idea, but in 1979, it was hard to do much at the $50 price point. The 16×16 screen made it very difficult to program games with any more complexity than Breakout or Connect Four.

But the idea was perfectly sound. By mid-decade, higher resolution LCD screens were available, allowing portable versions of a wider variety of familiar video games. Tetris didn’t look as good on a Game Boy as it did on a computer or a home game console, but it was completely playable. The price of discreet microprocessors and mask ROMs had also fallen to the point where it was possible to produce a better handheld game console at a consumer friendly price point.

The success of the Game Boy proved the Microvision was a good idea. It just appeared at the wrong time.

Dave Farquhar

David Farquhar is a computer security professional, entrepreneur, and author. He has written professionally about computers since 1991, so he was writing about retro computers when they were still new. He has been working in IT professionally since 1994 and has specialized in vulnerability management since 2013. He holds Security+ and CISSP certifications. Today he blogs five times a week, mostly about retro computers and retro gaming covering the time period from 1975 to 2000.