Lyra, New Dedicated Handheld for Classic Games

This article is over 5 years old and may contain outdated information.

Calling all handheld gamers!

Nowadays it’s hard to come by dedicated handheld gamers who haven’t already switched to smartphones or … the Nintendo Switch. There is just something about playing games with real buttons and on a dedicated system that makes mobile gaming actually feel like mobile gaming.

No ads. No distractions. Just Games.

A company called Creoqode has opened a Kickstarter for their new personal portable gaming system, the Lyra.

Lyra’s goal, as Creoqode says, is to bring “… all the history of video gaming in the palm of your hands. Play your all-time favorite video games whenever you want, wherever you want.”

Its specs are pretty impressive as Raspberry Pi CM3L powers Lyra, which allows for Linux to work straight out of the box, and it’s said that it can also be a portable PC – send emails, watch videos, and browse the web (similar to a smartphone).

Technical specifications:

SOC: Broadcom BCM2837B0, Cortex-A53 (ARMv8) 64-bit SoC
CPU: 1.4GHz 64-bit quad-core ARM Cortex-A53 CPU
RAM: 1GB LPDDR2 SDRAM
Display: 5″ TFT LCD 800 x 480 Resolution
Video: DPI Interface & HDMI
Audio: Integrated Speaker, 3.5 mm Audio Output & HDMI
USB: Micro USB 2.0
Memory: 16 GB Micro SD Card. Upgradable to any size.
Battery: 3000 mAh LiPo

The downside is that it doesn’t have analog sticks; however, it’s made for classic videogames – going back to the Gameboy handheld era, even though it looks like PSP/PS Vita (which both had a type of “stick” for gaming).

Two versions of Lyra will be released according to Creoqode:

RTG (Ready-To-Go): [£179 or USD 221.62 on Kickstarter] Lyra comes out of the box completely assembled and tested. You can dive straight into video gaming within minutes!

DIY (Do-It-Yourself): [£149 or USD 184.48 on Kickstarter] Lyra comes out of the box as an all-inclusive DIY kit [no soldering required]. You will receive all the necessary components to build your own game console.

Lyra has currently surpassed its Kickstarter which lasts until Aug. 26 and hopes to release sometime in December.