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Pixter
Pixter in green
ManufacturerRehco, LLC
Websitefisher-price.com at the Wayback Machine (archived 2006-02-26)

The Pixter is a discontinued handheld game console series designed by Rehco, LLC and marketed by Mattel and its subsidiary Fisher-Price. It was among the first manufactured portable handheld touchscreen drawing toys designed for children. Marketed from 2000 to 2007, the device combined digital drawing, educational activities, and simple gaming into a stylus-controlled handheld system.

Pixter came preloaded with built-in activities and also supported cartridge-based games and creative software. Early models featured a monochrome black-and-white LCD display, which helped make the product commercially successful during its initial release. Later versions, such as the Pixter Color, upgraded the hardware with color screens, improved graphics, and expanded multimedia capabilities.

The Pixter line included licensed content from major entertainment companies such as Disney, Nickelodeon, and Cartoon Network, featuring franchises like SpongeBob SquarePants and Dora the Explorer. The series remains notable as Fisher-Price’s only handheld gaming platform and one of the last console-style products released by Mattel.

Inspired by the Apple Newton, the Pixter line has become something of an obscurity, with little information left on the internet about the history of it, sales records, original pricing, release dates, etc. It also included licensed content from Nickelodeon, Disney, Cartoon Network, BBC, etc.

The Pixter remains, as of 2017, the second to last console Mattel has released, after the HyperScan, but the Pixter is Fisher Price's first and only handheld game system.

Gameplay

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The original Pixter had a 80x80 black and white LCD. Its touch-sensitive LCD was activated by a drawing stylus. It used 4 AA batteries and was based around a Sunplus SoC based on a 6502 core. [1]

Models

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Mattel Pixter - case opened
Model Years SoC Notes
Pixter 2000-2002 The original Pixter came in several colors, but otherwise they are the same unit.[2]
Pixter Plus 2002 Similar to the original Pixter, except with a "Plus" subcategory of 10 additional activities in the Pixter's main menu and 20 times more storage space than the original Pixter unit.[5] It also has a flexible screen light.[6]
Pixter 2.0 2003 Played the same cartridges as the original, but included digital drawing and quick-paint tools, as well as an infrared wireless link. The infrared link could be used to send messages and pictures between other Pixter 2.0s[7]. The protocol was proprietary and incompatible with any standard like IrDA. It used 4 AA batteries.[8]
Pixter Color 2003-2005 Sharp LH75411 Pixter Color is similar to the original Pixter, but with games using up to 256 colors and 160x160 screen resolution. The display is actually capable of 4096 colors[9], but only the Pixter Camera used this capability. Pixter Color used newer cartridges that could not be used with the original Pixter. With the use of an adapter, Pixter Color could play original Pixter titles. It used 4 AA batteries. The main menu of the system contains 2 unique music tracks, but outside of games or the home menu music is not implemented.[10]

It uses a 70MHz ARM7TDMI CPU, and 32 kilobytes of SRAM built-in. Pixter's motherboard also has 128 KB of additional SRAM working as Random Access Memory. On-board NOR flash is used to store one picture at a time across power cycles.[11]

Pocket Pixter 2004-2006 6502-based Sunplus SPL130A[12] The Pocket Pixters were key-chain sized dedicated consoles that included a drawing program centered around a theme and a built-in game. They used three Button Cell (LR44) batteries.[13] None of these had a touch screen, setting them apart from all other members of the Pixter family of devices.

Its edition were Pets[14], Fashion[13], Sports[15], Dino[16] and Hearts[17]

Pixter Multi-media system 2005 Sharp LH79524 The Pixter Multi-Media System reportedly had 100 creative tools, games, and activities-built in, including a touch screen with stylus and had streaming video capabilities. There were also exclusive cartridges available for the system. It used 4 AA batteries.[18]. The CPU is a sequel to the Pixter Color's LH75411[19]

Games/media released

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Pixter, 2.0, Plus

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  • Action Art
  • Arcade
  • Art Safari
  • Barbie: Fashion Show
  • Cool Wheels
  • Crazy Word Factory
  • Dino Draw
  • Discovery Kids' Dinosaur Adventure
  • Disney Fun
  • Enchanted Princess
  • Learning Fun
  • Learning Fun 2
  • Maze Mania
  • Monster Shop
  • Music Studio
  • Music Video
  • On the Go Games
  • Pirate's Treasure
  • Rescue Heroes: Mission Masters
  • Rocket Power
  • SpongeBob SquarePants: Aqua Adventure
  • Sports
  • Story Composer
  • The Powerpuff Girls
  • Toy Designer

Color

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Multimedia system

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Title Released
The Best of Dora with Cartoon Creator Software 2005[24]
The Best of Monster Jam World Finals 4 with Video Creator Software 2005[25]
The Best of SpongeBob SquarePants with Cartoon Creator Software 2005[26]
The Best of Winter X Games with Video Creator Software 2005[27]
Walking with Dinosaurs with Scene Creator Software 2005[28]
Winx Club with Scene Creator Software 2005[29]
The Best of Friday Night Nicktoons with Cartoon Creator Software June 12, 2006[30]
The Best of LazyTown with Video Creator Software Unreleased
The Best of Yu-Gi-Oh! Unreleased but later found and dumped [31]

References

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  1. ^ "Preserving Pixter". DmitryGR. Retrieved 14 May 2026.
  2. ^ a b "Green Pixter™". service.mattel.com. Mattel, Inc. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
  3. ^ "Purple Pixter™". service.mattel.com. Mattel, Inc. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
  4. ^ "Pixter". Mattel, Inc. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
  5. ^ "Pixter plus". 19 November 2009.
  6. ^ Liam (December 2017). "Pixter Plus 73678". electronictoy.pro. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
  7. ^ "Preserving Pixter". DmitryGR. Retrieved 14 May 2026.
  8. ^ "Pixter 2.0". service.mattel.com. Mattel, Inc. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
  9. ^ "Preserving Pixter". DmitryGR. Retrieved 14 May 2026.
  10. ^ "Pixter® Color". service.mattel.com. Mattel, Inc. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
  11. ^ "Preserving Pixter". DmitryGR. Retrieved 14 May 2026.
  12. ^ "Preserving Pixter". DmitryGR. Retrieved 14 May 2026.
  13. ^ a b "POCKET Pixter® Fashion". service.mattel.com. Mattel, Inc. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
  14. ^ "POCKET Pixter® Pets". service.mattel.com. Mattel, Inc. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
  15. ^ "POCKET Pixter® Sports". service.mattel.com. Mattel, Inc. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
  16. ^ "POCKET Pixter® Dino". service.mattel.com. Mattel, Inc. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
  17. ^ "POCKET Pixter® Hearts". service.mattel.com. Mattel, Inc. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
  18. ^ "Multi-Media Pixter (Silver)". service.mattel.com. Mattel, Inc. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
  19. ^ "Preserving Pixter". DmitryGR. Retrieved 14 May 2026.
  20. ^ "Amazon India".
  21. ^ "Mattel and Fisher-Price Customer Center".
  22. ^ "Color Pixter Scooby-Doo Software". m.service.mattel.com. Mattel, Inc. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
  23. ^ "Color Pixter® Software Mucha Lucha". m.service.mattel.com. Mattel, Inc. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
  24. ^ "Fisher Price - Video Pixter - Dora the Explorer Software". eBay. Retrieved 2019-01-26.
  25. ^ "Pixter video software 'Monster Jam World Finals 4' for Pixter Multi-Media System". eBay. Retrieved 2019-01-26.
  26. ^ "Pixter MultiMedia System The Best of SpongeBob SquarePants Video Software - New 27084279030". eBay. Retrieved 2019-01-26.
  27. ^ "NEW Video Pixter Winter X-Games H9817 Software Fisher Price 2005 FREE SHIPPING! 27084282948". eBay. Retrieved 2019-01-26.
  28. ^ "PIXTER Game Software BBC Walking with Dinosaurs Video Creator NEW". eBay. Retrieved 2019-01-26.
  29. ^ "PIXTER Game Software Winx Club Video Creator NEW". eBay. Retrieved 2019-01-26.
  30. ^ "Pixter Multi-Media Video ROM - Nick Toons". Amazon Singapore.
  31. ^ "Preserving Pixter". DmitryGR. Retrieved 14 May 2026.
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