I think we’ve can all agree that 2013 has been a big year for handhelds. It’s a year in which I can totally foresee a handheld game winning a lot of Game of the Year awards whether its Zelda: A Link Between Worlds on 3DS or Tearaway on Vita. But I have a fairly big question to ask: which console do you prefer using, the Vita or the 3DS.
Since I’m pretty much in love with both handhelds, I’m going to refrain from choosing one over the other. I love my 3DS for the brilliant Nintendo exclusives and I love my Vita for all the indie games I have installed on the thing.
Okay, now vote! And, if you feel like it, leave your reasoning in the comments below.
Comments
29 responses to “The Big Question: Year Of The Handhelds”
I was thinking of getting a Vita, but then I looked at my two dusty PSPs and decided against it.
I was like you (2 psp that gather dust and have for MANY years)
But i got a vita in May and it gets on avg about 5-6 hours of gaming a week still
and now with PS4 remote play i use it even more (AC4 on the toilet for the WIN!)
But what does keep the vita strong is PS+
It’s better, I reckon it has DreamCast/Shaturn syndrome.
Vita for me. The leader in niche stuff from Japan. 3DS isn’t too far behind though. I just wish Ninty would get digital and sales to some comparable level vs Sony.
The 3DS is my most-used gaming device this year, by a very wide margin. It’s had a fantastic year.
I wanted to like the Vita, I really did. I even bought one on launch day. But I just haven’t gotten the same amount of entertainment from my Vita as I have from my 3DS, and these days my Vita’s just there so I can watch YouTube videos if someone’s using the computer.
I don’t have either, for this year though the 3DS is by far the better handheld, but I’m interested in how the Vita will be develop now with the PS4 out. If the connectivity for remote play is sorted out I can see myself wanting a Vita more than a 3DS in the coming year(s)
I’m not really a big handheld gamer. Don’t have a 3DS (although I do have a DSi). I got a Vita mainly because of the number of games I’ve got for it as a result of buying PS3 games with cross-buy Vita versions and freebies off PS+. I love the device, but just don’t really use it a lot except when I’m travelling, which isn’t regularly. I prefer to read on my commute and play games on the TV when I’m at home.
Yeah, I’m looking at buying a Vita for the same reasons. $200 seems pretty decent when I get at least $100 worth of games free thanks to my existing PS Plus and cross-buy games.
This is a horrible decision 😛
I love the Vita, it’s an amazing handheld. The quality of the screen, the feel of the analog sticks, even the bizarre touch-pad on the back are all great…. but it’s useless because there’s pretty much no games to play on it.
The 3DS on the other hand is crap IMO. the 3D looks fance for a for minutes but in reality it’s a pointless and annoying gimmick. Without it though the 3DS feels and looks like a very old piece of hardware. And just incase it didn’t feel old enough, Nintendo only deem it worthy to run NES and Gameboy game on the 3DS Virtual Console, leaving the (clearly much higher tech) SNES games for the Wii U.
That said, there are so many great games that the hardware becomes pretty irrelevant. Since Pokemon Y was released, I seem to have much less free-time.
I suppose the only fair way for me to answer this poll is 3DS, it’s sitting on my desk next to me…I have no idea where my Vita is, I don’t think I’ve used it since shortly after Gravity Rush came out.
I was playing my original DS the other day. You don’t think of the 3DS XL as being that different, but man has it changed. Software, hardware, it’s all so much better on the 3DS XL. For my money the 3DS is one of the best arguments against forced innovation. The only thing that really stands out is the 3D, which only exists because they needed something to differentiate it from the DSi. The boring, traditional features? They make the thing worth owning.
In the past 12-18 months I’ve bought two 3DS’s, and I’ve traded them both within 6 months of buying it, I have thought about buying a Vita, but I don’t think I will, I don’t know if it’s the small screen, or what it is, but I just can’t seem to get into handheld gaming.
Got both this year, but the 3DS came first and has had more play time. I see myself using the Vita more next year, but maybe more at home, while the 3DS is an automatic action to carry it with me when I’m out and about. I blame streetpass.
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I have both a Vita and 3DS, and while I play them in equal amounts, the Vita is my preferred system. It’s not just that I can play PSP and PSX/PSOne games on it, but it also has party chat that can run while you play games and concurrent task switching. I also have a PS3, so the cross-buy and cross-save/cross-play functionality is great. If the 3DS had the ability to switch applications without needing to shut the current one down as well as a selection of SNES games on the e-Store, it may actually nudge the Vita out as my preference.
3DS because I don’t have a Vita, but am considering buying one because of the PS4 functionality and all those free games readily available for me on PS+.
3DS. The Vita has never really caught my attention. I played my hand helds at home mostly, and back in the day it was a case of the DS bringing something to the table that consoles couldn’t where the PSP seemed to focus on trying to shrink console games to fit on a hand held. I always figured I’d rather just buy the ‘real’ version on a console.
That said my hand held usage has shifted. I now play it on the way to work and take it with me everywhere. I still don’t see much point in playing a console game on a hand held but I’d imagine the Vita has a solid library of proper hand held games.
I was the one who bought a Vita and then sold it a week later. It just wasn’t for me.
My 3DS on the other hand has seen much, much love. Despite the handheld’s network annoyances and account issues – the games are (mildly put) fantastic and they just keep on coming!
Just like the sales, the Vita will be demolished here.
Vita for me, it has been the biggest gaming device for me this year. As someone that doesn’t PC game, all the indie games plus the flexibility of CrossBuy and CrossSave for some PS3 and PS4 games moving forward, the device will continue to support my needs.
As much as I’ve been playing Pokemon y recently, I like the vita better. Sony did a much, much better job of tying it into its console ecosystem.
nintendo make good games, but their online infrastructure is awful.
For me Vita. But to be fair I don’t have a 3DS. But then that’s only because everything that I wanted to play I could still play on my old DS lite so I never had a reason to get a 3DS. It would only have taken 1 game that I really wanted to play, but it never happened. So I think it’s a fair vote.
I own both consoles, as time spent playing, I’ve spent more time on my 3DS than vita.
same!
In the last 12 months I’ve played more 3DS than I did DS in its lifetime, and I loved that machine.
I would very much doubt I would have racked up 50 hours on my PSP that I bought on launch day. After that I kinda gave up on Sony handhelds.
I get the feeling that Sony doesn’t understand that handheld and console markets require different styles of games. I don’t want blockbuster, HD, fast-moving action titles while I’m crammed on the train. I want something easily controllable with clear graphics but deep gameplay. Nintendo gets it which is why you don’t see them trying to put 3rd person 3D Zelda games on consoles or making Super Mario Galaxy 3DS.
Pokemon, Animal Crossing, Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, Super Mario 3D land, Fire Emblem…. These games are handheld games built for the handheld market. The idea that the golden goose of mobile gaming is producing a console quality Uncharted, FPS Killzone or Gran Turismo is a furphy. Sony should put more focus into the indie games market and continue to exploit the fact that Nintendo are f’ning retarded when it comes to making their back catalogue available.
I love my 3DS. The only downside is I bought a day 1 3DS, and I wish I waited and picked up a 3DSXL instead. 🙁
Like all sophisticated gamers, I prefer PS Vita. That OLED screen and those twin sticks! That capacitive touch screen and back touch screen, front and rear cameras, gyroscopic sensor…. Mmmmm, a true delicacy.
Adding a grip accessory just makes it all the sweeter for extended home use.
PS4 remote play? Icing on the cake.
Easily the 3DS.
I actually bought the Vita (in Japan) along with BlazBlue and Uncharted. Both were good but oh lawd.. Did anyone see that final boss battle coming? Sony turned that game into a goddamn touch based tech demo.. The only game I actually enjoyed on the Vita was Gravity Rush (YAY for the sequel!) P4G and Final Fantasy Type-0, neither of which were original titles. Killzone Mercenary was visually impressive but the gameplay was “Meh” at best.
After buying the 3DS it just started to collect dust on my table… That is until Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate. That sealed the deal for me, I brought it everywhere with my friends and started to appreciate it more. Theeeen Pokemon X/Y, then Phoenix Wright, then Zelda: Link Between Worlds and in a couple of days Bravely Default. These are all “AAA titles” by handheld standards and they’re coming out at an extremely fast pace. Compare this to the lackluster titles that the Vita is offering (Japan offers a much more awesome lineup though, but they’ll never localize) and you have yourselves a solid winner: The 3DS.
People will always say that the Vita will win because of superior hardware and a second analog stick but in the end, people go to where the games are. And there are more games worth buying the 3DS for than the Vita.
I’m going to say 3DS as its library is one of the best in gaming history. That said, the Vita’s is growing and remote play is freaking amazing. 3DS wins, but that doesn’t mean Vita loses!
since i got my vita I LOVE it cant get enough of it when FFX comes out im set for life
but in saying that I must say my biggest pev is that im always touching the back screen and its a pain when you have games that use the back screen (fifa looking at you)
First thing I do with PSone games is re-configure the touchscreen buttons. Front not back!
Hard choice, Vita’s a better all-round console but there are more 3DS originals.
I went with Vita cos I appreciate the back catalogue of PSP and PSone games and the PSN sales are sooooo much better than the random eShop sales.
That said, stick Super Metroid on the 3DS eShop and the choice would be harder.
C’mon Ninty, catch up!
i interpreted the question as which handheld is more enjoyable to use. not which has the better games.
i personally love my vita. its store is better than the 3ds. its screen is better, it is more comfortable, and in general just looks nicer.
the 3ds has better/more games i want to play but id rather be playing them on the vita