Lynx in Europe

[Leonard Smith]

I see that the Lynx has quite a following in Europe, at least according to all the homebrew development and eJagfest vids I'm seeing.
 

Was it popular from the beginning, or did it become a bigger deal after Atari stopped supporting it (presumably when prices dropped, etc)?  I always thought that the Lynx was quite pricey in the US especially in comparison to the competition so I'm curious how prices fared in European countries back in the day.  

 

I know that Atari computers and device were highly regarded by Europeans, so I'm assuming the Lynx was a natural fit considering the rabid European fanbase.  

[+karri]

You were able to buy them in Finland. I don't remember when I bought my Lynx. But it was right around the time the price dropped after Lynx 2 was released.

[Leonard Smith]

Interesting to hear.

The US gaming mags never really gave any indication as to how the Lynx was faring overseas back when it was still available.

I just knew that Atari platforms generally did better in Europe since the 8-bit and ST line was far more popular over there.  Wasn't sure how it translated to consoles like the 7800 and Lynx though.

 

[Ninjabba]

I bought mine for next to nothing back when Atari went bankrupt.. all of the games and consoles went straight to the bargain bin in the Netherlands.

Imagine Lemmings being sold for 5 euros a piece..

[Leonard Smith]

I see.

So these weren't readily available in 1989 / 1990 over there?

 

[pps]

On 4/11/2022 at 6:00 PM, Leonard Smith said:

I see.

So these weren't readily available in 1989 / 1990 over there?
 

At least my multi language Lynx II box has a copyright of 1991. Manual has the same and another "K. I. 4. 1991" print. I don't know when I bought it, but I am sure, that I played with the Lynx back in 1993 at least.

It is very likely that ATARI sold the Lynx in western Europe around same time, as they sold it in the US. Maybe some months later, but not that many.

[Darien]

The Lynx was here, in the UK, if you were bothered to get one. I bought my model 1 (mail order) as soon as they were available in the country in 1990. It was not cheap.. They started to appear in major stores soon after

GameBoy swiftly overshadowed it being around half the cost. The Game Gear came onto the market and with Lynx 2 Atari seemed to generally undercut the Sega machine a bit as time went by to be price middleground of the handhelds.

 

Atari Lynx was just kinda 'there'. Not mentioned a great deal in games magazines at the time as hey, there weren't many games to review. 

It never really caught much traction here to be honest. I mean, I never met anyone else who owned one. Sigh, so much for my dream of a Slimeworld comlynx deathmatch. Cut to not very many years later and all Lynx stuff was on clearance.

 

'rabid European fanbase.'

 

That's a cruel way to describe Karri..