How Successful was the Lynx?

[Video]

How many? No idea. I'd say it was third of the four handhelds available at the time. Gameboy>gamegear>lynx>turbo express. Though if people knew about the express, or lynx for that matter, they would have done better. Most stores had gameboy and gamegear, but it wasn't till the end of its lifespan that I found out about lynx, and post 2k for the express.

 

I didn't count nomad as it released like 95? I think.

[7800fan]

You forgot Microvision. Just a few games, didn't stay in market long, and suffered from LCD problem as they aged. Out of all pre-1990 handhelds, Microvision probably did the worst in market sales.

 

Nomad wasn't the only portable of 1990s, there's also Virtualboy. Lasted 9 months on the market, a little over a dozen games, and also broke easily.

[high voltage]

Palmtex Super Micro (1983), 3 games?

Epoch Game Pocket Computer (1984), 5 games

[DracIsBack]

Flojomojo you can't call something a commercial failure if almost everything points to other wise. The Atari breifings talked about lynx profits multiple times, no real drops until the jaguar released. While that's only vague implication it was a profitable investment we have zero that it was a commercial failure.

 

 

I remember at the time (before Jaguar came out), Lynx releases dried up as well. I remember Don Thomas making a remark saying "I wouldn't invest my own money under these conditions to release Lynx games"

 

Atari's sales literally evaporated in a two year period when the ST line basically died and the Lynx was also dying 1992 was pretty awful.

[+madman]

I always figured it was a complete commercial flop. I remember seeing the ads for it in the game mags back then and really wanting one, but I only recall seeing it available via mail order. I didn't get one until the Venture chain (RIP) was selling that system bundle for $99. Back then the only times I saw games in the wild was at an independent video game store. I don't recall ever seeing any Lynx stuff at the big stores. I imagine most people that weren't huge game nerds didn't even know about it.

[SoulBlazer]

Do we know how many Game Gear's and TurboExpresss's sold during their lifespan? Was the Lynx number two in handheld sales during the early 90's? Of course everyone was far behind Nintendo, but having played all three systems a number of years ago, the Lynx seems like it was the best of the three from a hardware and power perspective. No idea about the quality of the games, of course -- which is the reason I loved my GameBoy despite it being black and white. Games always make the system.

[Turbo-Torch]

You forgot Microvision. Just a few games, didn't stay in market long, and suffered from LCD problem as they aged. Out of all pre-1990 handhelds, Microvision probably did the worst in market sales.

 

That seems to be apples and oranges as it was meant to compete with endless amounts of handhelds like Entex Space Invader or Merlin. Microvision was fairly popular when I was in grade school and I'm guessing it did well for Milton Bradley.

Also, LCD issues started happening about 3 decades later....not during or even long after its viable life.

[Greg2600]

The system initially was VERY expensive. Also did not have the popular IP's that the Gameboy did. By the time they came out with the Lynx II and slashed the price in '91, the Gameboy was already the standard. Game Gear briefly rode Sega's 16-bit consumer advantage, but not for long. One of our friends had the Lynx I, maybe in 1990? We were in awe of it, color! However, us kids couldn't afford tons of batteries, and the system simply had no practical use for us.

[DracIsBack]

The system initially was VERY expensive. Also did not have the popular IP's that the Gameboy did. By the time they came out with the Lynx II and slashed the price in '91, the Gameboy was already the standard. Game Gear briefly rode Sega's 16-bit consumer advantage, but not for long. One of our friends had the Lynx I, maybe in 1990? We were in awe of it, color! However, us kids couldn't afford tons of batteries, and the system simply had no practical use for us.

 

Didn't it also come in that transitionary time where Nintendo was starting to face backlash over locking up the third party software vendors? It changed partway into the Lynx's life, but initially it was still in play.

[atarian63]

We sold alot in my store but we were Atari oriented,not much on Nintendo,did alot of sega and TG16 as well,neo geo etc, nintendo was our skip it brand.

[+cvga]

We sold alot in my store but we were Atari oriented,not much on Nintendo,did alot of sega and TG16 as well,neo geo etc, nintendo was our skip it brand.

 

In Columbus? What was the name of the store?

[Good_Times]

It didn't seem to do all that well, based on memories alone. I used to ask around among friends and family (couldn't wait to use that link!), and NO one had one. In stores, it seems like the Lynx section was always the tiniest, and usually dust-covered. I'd show my systems to college friends, and always the reaction would be nearly identical: "Whoa, what's THAT thing?!"

The system got some magazine coverage, even if only a game or two every few months or so, but it certainly never reached anywhere near the popularity of the GameBoy, or even the Game Gear.

 

If memory serves, it was sort of a minor 'contender' for maybe a couple years before the clearance bundles and deep price slashes began showing up at nearly every major retailer.

[leech]

Wasn't a big part of the failure of the Lynx and the Jaguar due to Atari having annoyed a lot of retailers during the 7800/xegs days? I seem to recall reading about that somewhere. Between treating third party developers like crap, and pissing off retail chains, their products just weren't available in all that many places. Pre-internet, there was nowhere for people to get them even if they wanted to.... granted, now everything is going digital anyhow....

 

I still got two Lynxes, each with SD cards!

[Lost Dragon]

Funny old world at times.

 

After being slagged off on Wikipedia for daring to question RetroGamer for allowing the 3 Million Lynx units sold,to be passed off as fact, purely on the suggested figure put to Darryl Still in the RVG community interview..which he goes along with..

 

I noticed 2 entries made on March 16 2016, made from same I.P within minutes of each other..that same I.P traces back to a certain Gift Card company the RG 'writer' worked at until April 2016...

 

:-)) Probably pure coincidence.. Couldn't be same person using works computers and no user name in a vain attempt to gain credibility for his claims, as that would just be plain stupid..

 

Right...