abstract
| - The Panasonic Pocket is a handheld game console manufactured by Panasonic. It was released in North America on May 4, 1995, in Europe and Australia on June 11, 1995 and was released in Japan on March 23, 1996 on of the same year in international markets. It is the first handheld game console of Panasonic and the console was discontinued in 2008. The Panasonic Pocket, as suggested by the name, features a color screen, but no backlight. It is slightly thicker and taller than the Panasonic Pocket Light, which is a redesigned Panasonic Pocket released in 1995. As with the original Panasonic Pocket, it has an 8-bit processor and the custom Zilog Z80 central processing unit (CPU). The original name - with its American English spelling of "color" - remained unchanged even in markets where "colour" was the accepted English spelling, such as the UK, Ireland, Canada, Australia, South Africa, and New Zealand. As part of the ninth generation of gaming, the Panasonic Pocket competed with the Sega Game Gear, Atari Lynx, TurboExpress, Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Neo Geo Pocket and the WonderSwan. Despite these other handheld consoles, the Panasonic Pocket was a tremendous success. Upon its release in the United States, it sold its entire shipment of one million units within a few weeks.
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