Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
This Atari Lynx Holiday Pack commercial is selling genuinely groundbreaking hardware that still lost the bigger war. Developed by Epyx and released by Atari Corporation in September 1989, the Lynx became the very first handheld game console with a full color LCD screen, built around a 16 bit custom graphics chip paired with an 8 bit processor, technically well ahead of Nintendo's monochrome Game Boy that launched the same year. It also let players flip the entire unit upside down to switch between right and left handed play, with the screen automatically reorienting, and a ComLynx cable could chain up to eight units together for multiplayer.
None of that technical edge translated into sales. The original Lynx launched at a steep 179.99 dollars compared to the Game Boy's roughly 90 to 109 dollar price tag, and shorter battery life combined with a much thinner third party game library meant Nintendo pulled far ahead almost immediately. Atari tried to fix things in July 1991 with the Lynx II, a redesigned model using the same core internal hardware but with better ergonomics, a clearer backlit screen, a power save mode and a proper stereo headphone jack, while dropping the standalone price down to 99 dollars. The Holiday Pack bundle shown in this exact ad, priced at 129.99 dollars, included the console alongside a carrying case, cartridge and accessories at a small premium over that base price.
Despite the improvements, it was already too late. Lifetime sales across both Lynx models landed somewhere around 2 to 3 million units combined, compared to roughly 16 million Game Boys sold in that same stretch of time. Atari kept selling Lynx stock through stores like Toys R Us, Babbage's and Electronic Boutique well into the mid 1990s, eventually shifting all its real attention toward the Atari Jaguar before formally discontinuing Lynx support in 1995.
Let me know in the comments if you ever owned an original Lynx or the redesigned Lynx II. Subscribe to Game Forest GF for retro gaming content every single day.
#atarilynx #atari #retrogaming #classicgaming #90scommercial #retrocommercials #handheldgaming #90sgaming #oldschoolgaming #vintagegaming #gaminghistory #90snostalgia #consolewars #retroconsole #gameboy #youtubeshorts #gaming
This Atari Lynx Holiday Pack commercial is selling genuinely groundbreaking hardware that still lost the bigger war. Developed by Epyx and released by Atari Corporation in September 1989, the Lynx became the very first handheld game console with a full color LCD screen, built around a 16 bit custom graphics chip paired with an 8 bit processor, technically well ahead of Nintendo's monochrome Game Boy that launched the same year. It also let players flip the entire unit upside down to switch between right and left handed play, with the screen automatically reorienting, and a ComLynx cable could chain up to eight units together for multiplayer.
None of that technical edge translated into sales. The original Lynx launched at a steep 179.99 dollars compared to the Game Boy's roughly 90 to 109 dollar price tag, and shorter battery life combined with a much thinner third party game library meant Nintendo pulled far ahead almost immediately. Atari tried to fix things in July 1991 with the Lynx II, a redesigned model using the same core internal hardware but with better ergonomics, a clearer backlit screen, a power save mode and a proper stereo headphone jack, while dropping the standalone price down to 99 dollars. The Holiday Pack bundle shown in this exact ad, priced at 129.99 dollars, included the console alongside a carrying case, cartridge and accessories at a small premium over that base price.
Despite the improvements, it was already too late. Lifetime sales across both Lynx models landed somewhere around 2 to 3 million units combined, compared to roughly 16 million Game Boys sold in that same stretch of time. Atari kept selling Lynx stock through stores like Toys R Us, Babbage's and Electronic Boutique well into the mid 1990s, eventually shifting all its real attention toward the Atari Jaguar before formally discontinuing Lynx support in 1995.
Let me know in the comments if you ever owned an original Lynx or the redesigned Lynx II. Subscribe to Game Forest GF for retro gaming content every single day.
#atarilynx #atari #retrogaming #classicgaming #90scommercial #retrocommercials #handheldgaming #90sgaming #oldschoolgaming #vintagegaming #gaminghistory #90snostalgia #consolewars #retroconsole #gameboy #youtubeshorts #gaming
