Plug and play games, also known as handheld TV games, are integrated video game systems that feature built-in games and typically have no cartridge slot. These game systems only require that the user supply it with power and plug in the audio and video outputs into a television set to play the games, hence the term "plug and play". While the concept is known to have existed as early as the 1970s, with various dedicated Pong systems released during this time being self-contained games that simply needed to be hooked up to a TV to play, plug and play games as their own distinct category of video game would not come into existence until much later. Plug and play games were generally sold at a lower price than dedicated video game consoles, and the original games that were made for these systems feature simplified gameplay or are light on content, likely due to the low-budget nature of the devices.
While many of the more well-known plug and play games that were released in Western countries and Japan feature wholly original or licensed content and use unique, purpose-built hardware (e.g., the Sunplus SPG and XaviX series of game platforms), the earliest incarnations of these systems were simply hardware clones of existing game consoles with the built-in game library consisting of pirated games, similar to most multicarts, and a number of plug and play systems from the 2000s and 2010s use some form of Famiclone (Famicom/NES clone) hardware.
Overview[]
Pre-2000s[]
Little is known about the history of plug and play games prior to the 2000s, but they are known to have been produced as early as the 1990s, which coincides with the lowering cost of system-on-a-chip (SoC) hardware manufacturing that also allowed single-chip Famiclone hardware (also known as "Nintendo-on-a-chip" or NOAC) to be produced for regular Famiclone consoles. The earliest known plug and play system that has been documented is the TV Boy series of consoles from the 1990s, which contain Atari 2600 clone hardware and a selection of pirated Atari 2600 games built into the system. These systems are known to have been released in North America, Europe, and Japan.
At some point in the 1990s, plug and plays would start using single-chip Famiclone hardware and in some cases, include entirely original software. Some of these Famiclone-based systems would use enhanced chipsets that upgrade the graphical and audio capabilities of the standard Famicom/NES hardware. The most prevalent of these from this era is the UM6578 chipset manufactured by UMC, which notably adds support for playback of PCM audio samples and a graphics mode that allows up to 16 colors to be used at once for sprites and background graphics. Notable plug and play systems from around this time include two from Bandai that were released for the Japanese market in 1997 and use the aforementioned UM6578 chipset: Gamepad (ゲームパッド) and Go! Go! Connie-chan! Asobou Mouse (ゴー！ゴー！コニーちゃん！あそぼうマウス).
2000s[]
By 2003, Nintendo's hardware patents on the NES and Famicom would expire. Around the same time, plug and play games were getting popular in the United States as companies like JAKKS Pacific were releasing ones containing classic games from the 1970s and 80s as well as ones based on media franchises that were popular at the time. These factors would result in numerous generic plug and plays with Famiclone hardware being released in Western territories, including the United States, through normal retail channels throughout the 2000s. Many of these systems were produced in China and would at least come with an assortment of pirated Famicom/NES titles and/or originally programmed games. Some would also be home to "legally distinct" hacks of existing Famicom/NES games passing themselves off as completely new games, which would be accomplished by changing the graphics and in some cases, the music to be indistinguishable from their original counterparts. The production of original games and hacks for these systems would allow the Famicom/NES development industry in China to persist long after traditional unlicensed development for those systems had stopped being lucrative in most parts of the world. Some of the companies in this industry would also start taking advantage of non-Famiclone hardware specifically designed to be used in TV game devices, such as the Sunplus SPG series and a series of TV game hardware platforms from Elan, for their plug and play games as plug and play games in general were getting popular. Notable examples of such companies doing this are Waixing, JungleTac (which housed developers that also worked for Waixing), and Hummer Software (the successor to Dragon Co., not to be confused with Hummer Team).
Starting in the mid-2000s, Taiwanese company V.R. Technology would start production of the VT03 in their VTxx line of enhanced Famiclone SoCs, which notably adds a graphics mode that allows for more colors to be displayed at once, similar to the UM6578, with the addition of an expanded color palette compared to the UM6578 and the advantage of the graphics mode simply being an extension of the standard Famicom/NES hardware (the UM6578's enhanced graphics mode was designed in a way that made it incompatible with standard hardware). This would allow Chinese developers already familiar with developing for Famicom/NES-based systems to easily produce plug and play games with higher graphical fidelity, either by writing original software or modifying existing Famicom/NES games to use the newer graphics mode in the VT03, and would allow the VT03 to gain traction in plug and play systems produced in Chinese-speaking countries. This design philosophy of extending Famiclone hardware with improved features would continue to be applied to further chipsets in the VTxx series and would also be applied in the creation of the VT3xx chipset series, which would also go on to be used in plug and play systems and as of 2025, continue to be used in modern Famiclone-based devices.
Many generic plug and play systems were released by companies that were otherwise unrelated to the video gaming industry. This was possible as Chinese companies that specialized in the production of these systems would create white-label plug and play systems intended to be sold to other companies, who could additionally request the design to be customized to include their own branding. Companies known to have sold these generic plug and play systems include RCA, Voxx International, Coca-Cola, and Polaroid.
Post-2000s[]
The general popularity of plug and play games would wane by the 2010s, and plug and play systems from Chinese companies would also stop being as ubiquitous around this time. It would only be in 2017, with the popularity of "Classic Edition" consoles such as the NES Classic Edition, that generic Chinese plug and plays would make a resurgence. These systems would appear in stands at malls. An example of this is the Mini Game Anniversary Edition.
As of 2025, most plug and play systems seen on e-commerce sites (such as Amazon) are "Game Sticks". These systems primarily use emulation and advertise a large amount of games being built-in. The name comes from the fact that most of the hardware is in a HDMI stick. An example of this is the Game Stick 4K Lite. Many of the Chinese companies that were prolific in the plug and play business in the 2000s have either went defunct or left the video game industry entirely.
Notable plug and play developers[]
- Nice Code Software - Founded in Xi'an, China in 1999 by an artist and housing staff from Dragon Co. during its early years, the company would become infamous for a series of simplistic games for Famicom/NES hardware made in the mid-2000s for the express purpose of being included on multi-games, including plug and plays, with a number of them seemingly being made for the Power Joy line of Famiclone plug and play systems initially. These games would eventually be included on many Famiclone-based multi-game consoles and multicarts by various companies, with some companies such as Qi Sheng Long and Waixing releasing variants of these games exclusive to them, presumably licensed from Nice Code, for their own multi-games. Nice Code would later develop plug and play games for 16-bit and 32-bit hardware platforms, which are either much more uncommon in comparison to most of their 8-bit games or sometimes not even confirmed to have been released. Nice Code's 8-bit plug and play games continue to be included on many modern multi-game consoles, even after Nice Code stopped developing new games some time in the 2010s.
- Hummer Team - As early as the 2000s, Hummer Team, at the time operating as a formal company under the English name Simmer Technology, would begin doing work on plug and play games after unlicensed development of standard Famicom games was no longer viable. This includes contract work on programming XaviX plug and play games for the Japanese company SSD Company (e.g., Radica's Play TV Ping Pong/ConnecTV Table Tennis) and productions made in-house, such as King Fishing and the ZDog and Samuri multi-game systems, the latter two being made in collaboration with Zechess. All of Hummer Team's in-house plug and play projects use some form of Famiclone hardware, with the ZDog and Samuri systems using the enhanced VT03 system and taking advantage of its graphical and audio enhancements.
- JungleTac - A company that was prolific for producing many plug and play systems and handhelds with sets of originally-programmed, generic games, primarily using VTxx and 16-bit Sunplus SPG hardware. These systems would be re-branded and distributed by various companies in many parts of the world, including the United States, Europe, and Asia. In addition to their generic systems, they would also produce more experimental systems, such as the Sport Vii plug and play console, which is a Wii clone with Wiimote-like controllers capable of accelerometer controls, and the vertically-oriented Classic Max Pocket handhelds. Both are capable of 16-bit graphics, with the latter in particular using V.R. Technology's VT168 system-on-a-chip (which is not compatible with the Famicom/NES architecture) and including unique built-in games developed by both JungleTac and Nice Code.
- Waixing - Founded in 1993 and originally getting into the video game business as a publisher of Famicom multicarts and a developer of unlicensed Famicom games in mainland China, Waixing would get into the plug and play business by the 2000s. While they would release a handful of 8-bit systems using VTxx hardware, typically containing a mixture of games produced in-house and versions of games from other companies, they would also produce a prolific series of 16-bit and 32-bit plug and play Wii clones containing games developed in-house and sold worldwide by various distributors. The Zone 40 and the JG742x consoles in the Lexibook TV Game Console line are notable examples of each respectively.
- Inventor - An infamous developer of many "legally distinct" and infringing hacks of Famicom and NES games that would be included on many plug and plays and Famicom multicarts. Many of these hacks change the in-game graphics and palettes to some extent, alter the music to varying degrees (ranging from corrupting the music notes, to swapping music cues, to outright replacing the music entirely), and if applicable, change the in-game text, to make them look like original games on the surface.
- Cube Technology - Produced original games and hacks of Famicom/NES games for plug and play systems and handhelds with V.R. Technology's VT systems, with both types of games taking advantage of any applicable enhancements in systems using the VT03 and later chipsets.
Plug and plays and the BootlegGames Wiki[]
Plug and play systems and games are allowed to be given articles on the BootlegGames Wiki under any of the following conditions:
- The system/game prominently features unauthorized content
- A given plug and play system or game uses clone hardware. This includes licensed plug and play games running on clone hardware. With few exceptions, the clone hardware used to run these games are unauthorized and their production is connected to the home video game industries in Taiwan and China, which were largely built on clone consoles and piracy. Even in cases where the production of a hardware clone is sanctioned by the original makers of the hardware, some would end up being used in an unauthorized manner.
- For plug and play systems, they majorly appropriate the likeness of other game systems, regardless of what hardware they use. For example, plug and play systems that directly take distinct design aspects of a game console (e.g., the Sport Vii mimicking the shape and color scheme of the Nintendo Wii and its Wiimote controllers) or attempt to invoke the name of said game console by copying the logo design and/or using sound-alike names (e.g., MiWi, WiWi, Wiii3) are allowed to be given articles.
Non clone-based systems or games which feature little to no stolen material should not have articles on the BootlegGames Wiki, regardless of if they are produced by a bootleg-adjacent company or not. At the very least, if they were developed a bootleg-adjacent company already covered on the wiki, they can be given brief mentions on their page.