Editing Game.com (section)

===Original version===
[[File:Tiger-Game-Com-BR.jpg|thumb|right|The back of the original Game.com console]]
By February 1997, Tiger was planning to release a new game console as a direct competitor to Nintendo's [[Game Boy]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Beck|first=Rachel|title=New toys linked to movies|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/11700733/battle_creek_enquirer/|access-date=November 25, 2017|agency=Associated Press|work=Battle Creek Enquirer|date=February 10, 1997}}</ref> Prior to its release, Tiger Electronics stated that the Game.com would "change the gaming world as we know it," while a spokesperson stated that it would be "one of this summer's hits."<ref name=playthings>{{cite news|title=Playthings take their cues from movies, TV shows, auto racing|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/11700467/the_morning_call/|access-date=November 25, 2017|work=The Morning Call|date=March 6, 1997}}</ref> The Game.com, the only new game console of the year, was on display at the [[Electronic Entertainment Expo]] (E3) in May 1997, with sales expected to begin in July.<ref>{{cite news |last=Johnston |first=Chris |title=Game.com Enters Portable Market |url=http://headline.gamespot.com:80/news/97_06/23_gamecom/index.html |work=GameSpot |date=June 23, 1997 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19991012143311/http://headline.gamespot.com/news/97_06/23_gamecom/index.html |archive-date=October 12, 1999 |access-date=October 9, 2023 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Dennis Lynch of the ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'' considered the Game.com to be the "most interesting hand-held device" on display at E3, describing it as a "sort of Game Boy for adults".<ref>{{cite news|last=Lynch|first=Dennis|title=Future market|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/11700548/chicago_tribune/|access-date=November 25, 2017|work=Chicago Tribune|date=June 26, 1997}}</ref>

The Game.com was released in the United States on September 12, 1997, with a retail price of $69.95,<ref name=LA/><ref name=Plus>{{cite news|title=Game-player plus|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/11700580/philadelphia_daily_news/|access-date=November 25, 2017|work=Philadelphia Daily News|date=August 21, 1997}}</ref> while an Internet-access cartridge was scheduled for release in October.<ref name=sep25/><ref name=Tanner/> ''[[Lights Out (game)|Lights Out]]'' was included with the console as a [[pack-in game]] and [[Patience (game)|Solitaire]] was built into the handheld itself.<ref name=AG/><ref name=EGM94>{{cite magazine|date=May 1997|title=New Handheld Roars into Portable Market|url=https://retrocdn.net/images/2/27/EGM_US_094.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200131211446/https://retrocdn.net/images/2/27/EGM_US_094.pdf |archive-date=2020-01-31 |url-status=live|magazine=[[Electronic Gaming Monthly]]|publisher=[[Ziff Davis]]|issue=94|page=19}}</ref> The console's release marked Tiger's largest product launch ever. Tiger also launched a website for the system at the domain "game.com".<ref>{{cite news |last=Johnston |first=Chris |title=Tiger's Game.com Pounces |url=http://headline.gamespot.com:80/news/97_09/12_tiger/index.html |work=GameSpot |date=September 12, 1997 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19991013033504/http://headline.gamespot.com/news/97_09/12_tiger/index.html |archive-date=October 13, 1999 |access-date=October 9, 2023 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The Game.com was marketed with a television commercial in which a spokesperson insults [[gamer]]s who ask questions about the console, while stating that it "plays more games than you idiots have brain cells";<ref name=Rep/><ref name=mother/> [[GamesRadar]] stated that the advertisement "probably didn't help matters much".<ref name=Rep/> By the end of 1997, the console had been released in the [[United Kingdom]], at a retail price of £79.99.<ref name=Sega>{{cite news |title=Tiger Shining Bright For Sega Titles |url=https://archive.org/stream/Saturn_Power_Issue_07_1997-12_Future_Publishing_GB#page/n9/mode/1up |work=[[Saturn Power]] |date=December 1997 |access-date=September 8, 2018|page=10|location=United Kingdom}}</ref>

The Game.com came in a black-and-white color,<ref name=Roars/> and featured a design similar to Sega's [[Game Gear]] console.<ref name=playthings/><ref name=Plus/> The screen is larger than the Game Boy's and has higher resolution.<ref name=Plus/><ref>{{cite magazine|date=July 1997|title=First Hands-On Test of Game.com|url=https://retrocdn.net/images/0/01/EGM_US_096.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180828155033/https://retrocdn.net/images/0/01/EGM_US_096.pdf |archive-date=2018-08-28 |url-status=live|magazine=[[Electronic Gaming Monthly]]|publisher=[[Ziff Davis]]|issue=96 |page=20}}</ref> The Game.com included a phone directory, a calculator, and a calendar,<ref name=LA>{{cite news|last=Simross|first=Lynn|title=Play, Then Get Serious |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/11699807/the_los_angeles_times/|access-date=November 25, 2017|work=Los Angeles Times|date=August 12, 1997}}</ref><ref name=VG/> and had an older target audience with its [[Personal digital assistant|PDA]] features. Tiger designed the console's features to be simple and cheap.<ref name=Tanner>{{cite magazine |last=Tanner |first=Mike |title=Tiger Electronics Enters Handheld Killing Field |url=https://www.wired.com/1997/09/tiger-electronics-enters-handheld-killing-field/ |magazine=Wired |date=September 17, 1997 |access-date=September 18, 2018}}</ref> The device was powered by four [[AA battery|AA batteries]],<ref name=sep25/> and an optional AC adapter was also available.<ref name=VG/> One of the major peripherals that Tiger produced for the system was the compete.com [[serial cable]],<ref name=AG/> allowing players to connect their consoles to play multiplayer games.<ref>{{cite web |last=Schneider |first=Peer |title=Jeopardy (Game.com) |url=http://www.ign.com/articles/1999/07/20/jeopardy-4 |website=IGN |access-date=September 14, 2018 |date=July 19, 1999}}</ref> The console includes two [[ROM cartridge|game cartridge]] slots.<ref name=AG/> In addition to reducing the need to swap out cartridges, this enabled Game.com games to include online elements, since both a game cartridge and the modem cartridge could be inserted at the same time.<ref name=EGM94/>

The Game.com was the first video game console to feature a [[touchscreen]] and also the first handheld video game console to have Internet connectivity.<ref name=PC/> The Game.com's black-and-white<ref name=sep25/> [[monochrome monitor|monochrome]] touchscreen measures approximately one and a half inches by two inches, and is divided into square zones that are imprinted onto the screen itself, to aid players in determining where to apply the [[Stylus (computing)|stylus]].<ref name=VG/> The touchscreen lacks a [[backlight]].<ref name=EGM94/> The Game.com was also the first handheld gaming console to have internal memory, which is used to save information such as high scores and contact information.<ref name=EGM94/>

As 1998 opened, the Game.com was considered the only remaining viable competitor for the Game Boy, and Tiger planned to emphasize the Game.com's internet capabilities in marketing, as well as release new games based on major films and [[Giga Pets]].<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Power Play |magazine=[[Electronic Gaming Monthly]]|issue=106 |publisher=[[Ziff Davis]] |date=May 1998|pages=22–23}}</ref>