VTech launched V.Smile in 2004 as an educational console aimed at young children. It used cartridges called Smartridges and a large controller with a joystick and buttons adapted to children’s activities. The software combined licensed characters with reading, mathematics and other exercises, following VTech’s long history in educational electronics. The platform later received numerous revisions and handheld derivatives, but the original V.Smile was a home system connected to a television. Its purpose was not to compete technically with general-purpose consoles, but to use video game structures as a learning tool.