With Nintendo increasingly becoming interested in mobile and the Sony all but abandoning the PS Vita, what are your thoughts on handheld consoles? Do you expect to buy another one in the future?
It’s something I’ve been thinking about. I love both my 3DS and my PS Vita for completely different reasons. Some Nintendo’s best games in the last five years have been on that console, but I haven’t touched it in over a year. The PS Vita, for me, is pretty much a place to play PC indie ports on a portable console.
Me? I expect that Nintendo will probably make another handheld. It’s always been profitable for them, so I fully expect to buy another handheld console. But Sony? I wonder if they might exit this game.
What are your thoughts?
Comments
81 responses to “The Big Question: Will You Buy Another Handheld Console?”
Yes, but only from Nintendo, and only when it is a shiny new handheld system that plays new games, and probably only after a game I actually want to play is released on it.
I’ll be getting a holder thingo to use a dual shock 4 with my xperia z3. The only reason I want a Vita is to play PSOne games but it’s just too much these days to carry around another sizable device around as well as my phone.
Control Mount GCM10
That’s the chap
I use mine on a daily
I have been looking for one of these myself – anyone know where you can get one without too many difficulties in Aus?
Telstra shop. I bought 5 of them from the Telstra shop
Pretty sure Sony has already exited this game. Which is a shame, because I use it much as you mentioned, as a portable PC for indies.
I wouldn’t be so sure. The Vita’s Japanese sales are proving to be decent if unexceptional. I can see Sony doing an upgraded Vita at some point, perhaps when the Nintendo NX comes out. I can’t see Sony sinking megabucks into R&D for a new handheld, or marketing it much in the West, or putting any first party studios on to AAA development for it though.
I bought a 3DS before they released the XL. There have been a handful of great games on it but I can’t think of any that I’ve played through. Which is a shame because Luigi’s Mansion 2 was rad and Super Mario 3D Land scratched my platforming itch.
Considering how little use I’ve gotten out of the damned thing, in spite of the great games, I just can’t see myself buying another handheld for a long while. A new Trauma Center game would do the trick but that’s about it. Fanboys gotta fan.
Until the mobile game market starts producing quality games I will continue to buy Nintendo handhelds.
depends on the games that come out for it
but I love my vita and the games on it, granted not as many great ones coming out
but its had a load of Amazing titles
I only got into portables with the Vita and then the New 3DS XL, and I would certainly go for another round. Playing on the go is just too good to pass up, and mobile phone gaming is, for me, too close to PC gaming in that the marketplace is too crowded and too fractured, what with new phones coming out every year or so. I like portable consoles for sticks, buttons, stability and for the most part quality software. I don’t care that the game prices are orders of magnitude above mobile prices – you get what you pay for.
I’ve never had a handheld before, but wouldn’t be opposed to jumping in with something new if it was good.
If you can find one cheap, I’d recommend grabbing a Vita, there’s quite a few good little games for it. Stuff like Uncharted: Golden Abyss, Gravity Rush & Batman: Arkham Origins: Blackgate: Colonapalooza are particular standouts
Is Blackgate that good? I’ve considered jumping on it when it’s been on sale on PSN a few times but the general reviews around the ‘net are not that glowing which kept putting me off it.
It’s definitely the weakest of the recent batman games but it’s still pretty fun. It’s a weird switch to a 2.5d style that feels the most odd. The biggest negative are that the boss fights are generally more annoying than fun (they tend to be a ‘spot the pattern for each phase then repeat the one thing that works’ kind of puzzle) but the whole exploration/investigation/beating the crap out of bad guys gameplay is good solid fun
Get a 3ds xl. You have a vast amount of ds and 3ds games to play. Endless games!
Yes, but only if there’s a compelling reason to do so. I’m loving the Vita for the ability to take PS1, indie and Vita games (yes they exist if you aren’t selectively blind) out and about while also being the main way my friends and I chat during games. Would I want another one? Only if it expanded the library to cover PS2 and PS3 games as well as having some killer apps. (Which it has now in other territories, but you know, Australia…)
I love the 3DS but I have no real inclination to buy a New 3DS. If the NX turns out to be a handheld that can dock with a base station and become a console experience though then I would be very tempted to buy one.
I suspect that’s exacTly what an NX will be
I have a 3Ds and I play it every now and then. But I am not excited by any next gen handheld systems. My phone is enough for me with mobile gaming.
Yes, once there’s enough that I want to play on it. There are still plenty of train trips in my future to make a handheld viable.
I haven’t owned a handheld since my gameboy colour maybe 15 years ago, but I’m tossing up buying the new 3DS XL. Mobile games just aren’t cutting it while travelling, particularly in the air when you turn off 4G
Exactly why I got a 3DS, mobile games just feel so lacklustre, but mostly a touch screen just isn’t the same as physical buttons for gaming.
You seriously wouldn’t regret getting a 3DS; I’d never owned a handheld or a nintendo console so it was amazing getting both worlds at once, but that might make my opinion a little jaded.
The StreetPass features of the 3DS are great too; I honestly didn’t even know about them when I bought my 3DS, and when it started talking about streetpassing to get stuff in games I dismissed it as a gimmick I wouldn’t use.
After having it for a while, I am utterly addicted to StreetPass Plaza (a game that comes with the 3DS that is basically a bunch of mini games driven purely by streetpasses), to the point it is the most played game on my 3DS.
The Streetpass features implemented in some games are great, and others are just an easily missable gimmick, but it never detracts from the game, and for the games that implement it well, it adds a whole new exciting dimension to games.
I love my Vita for use when travelling, but I don’t really travel that much. I was able to justify the purchase due to the number of games I already had for it thanks to PS+ and cross buy, although I have paid for a few others on top of that since buying it (I love you, Persona 4!).
If they released another one down the track then I’d consider it, assuming it had similar support from PS+ / cross-buy. I wouldn’t buy a handheld if I actually had to fork out full price for the games, though – I just wouldn’t use it enough to justify that, so unlikely to be upgrading the old DSi to a 3DS or any other Nintendo handheld any time soon.
No. my interest in handhelds and the games on them have steadily waned. I also feel like I’m not getting as much bang for my buck when I spend $70+ on a handhel 3DS game compared to an Xbox game.
If I’m playing at home I might as well play on a console or PC. If I’m mobile, I have my phone for a quick game of something. Toting around a 3DS or PSP is redundant in every conceivable scenario and I just don’t see the point in spending money on having a handheld anymore.
Think youre getting a bit ripped off wherever you’re buying $70+ 3ds games!
That’s just how much they were when I was still buyingthem like 2 years ago. Is that unusual?
Yeah, I’m quite sure every game I own was sub $50. There might have been a couple I got at launch for $55 or something, you just have to shop smart (which usually means Big W or Target, and not EB)
Yeah this. Even at EB we were never that expensive from memory, usually Big W would be selling new release games for $49.95 and we would be ~$10 more. But y’know why pay that when price matching is a thing and we happily did it, even encouraged it, cause sales are important yo.
Yeah current Target toy catalogue has all 3DS games at $44
wait, what? Who are you buying 3DS games from at $70+?
I agree with the bang for your buck argument though – we got my young boy Lego Batman 3 on the 3DS earlier in the year and it’s a pale imitation of the console game and the sad thing is kids can tell too because they see the full version on YouTube!
This is the biggest reason why 3rd party games don’t sell on 3DS – hopefully whatever NX is can rectify this situation.
I have rediscovered the DS lately, the games are so much more fulfilling than phone games, I am very keen to get a new handheld.
Hopefully the Nintendo NX or whatever it is called can be a console and a handheld!
I will always buy Nintendo handhelds. Unless they somehow make something incredibly bad, which they haven’t done in 25 + years. Been buying most of them since the original Gameboy, and they’ve never disappointed me.
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Honestly, it depends on the games. I bought the 3DS just for Phoenix Wright and Virtue’s Last Reward, and later on the Vita for Persona 4 and Danganronpa.
Give me the games, and I will throw my money at you.
It’s not really about competing with mobile, kinda odd people look at it that way. Free to play, or ($10 for the higher end) mobile games are a totally different thing to vita and 3ds games. The handhelds have their own exclusive games you cant play on PC/home consoles/whatever, so it essentially comes down to whether those exclusives make it worth it to you or not. For me they do, I cant see Nintendo shying away from delivering the same quality exclusives for the next iteration.
As long as Pokemon is still being made, no question.
You sound like my kinda guy (or gal, no presumptions, but you have a Caterpie display pic and no girl could EVER like a bug pokemon, right?)
Hmmm…I voted NO. I have the recent Vita and enjoyed it for a time. Now it just sits in a draw. I pretty much bought it for Hotline Miami….and Hotline Miami 2, but…so yes, hence why it sits in a draw.
Did you end up getting Hotline Miami 2 via region free?
EDIT: I mean US or other region PSN?
Ah no…Funnily enough this thought crossed my mind, but then it felt all too hard to do and I have been too lazy to Google it. Care to illuminate me, good ser? 🙂
1. Create a new PSN ID using a fake US address.
2. Factory reset your Vita and set it up anew using the US region ID (you can only have one account on a Vita at a time, unfortunately, although you can get a separate memory card if you want to swap between AU/US accounts, which is fiddly). http://manuals.playstation.net/document/en/psvita/settings/restore_system.html
3. Obtain a PSN card in US$ from http://www.maximuscards.com (I’ve used them half a dozen times so far without incident)
4. Purchase Hotline Miami 2 using your Vita, which will go to the US PS Store.
5. Enjoy (except that you won’t get any trophies on your Australian PSN profile).
EDIT: Doesn’t take that long to do. I think it would take you about 15 minutes all up.
Good intel. Thanks!
There will always be room for a handheld in my life. Always had one at some point since I got my first grey brick Game Boy for Christmas as a child. I’d hope they’ll be available to me as well. Both Ninty and Sony variants. I have several 3DSes and a Vita Slim, and love both machines for completely different reasons.
Probably not. I had a 3DS but gave it away last year as I realised I hadn’t touched it for a year, with my gaming taken up by my WiiU. I have a pre order on the NX just for the hell of it, but if it’s another handheld I probably won’t get it. I don’t expect it will be as the New 3DS recently came out.
Depends on the games and potential games. Vita has the exact sort of game lineup that appeals to me, whereas 3DS hasn’t at all. I think Nintendo are going to end up being the only player in the market next time around too, which sucks.
EDIT: I’d use my 3DS more often if Nintendo had a proper online infrastructure that made me feel confident about buying stuff digitally, and if they did away with the goddamn region locks.
As long as there are sexy RPGs that Nintendo won’t let on its systems I think there’ll be a market for Sony (unless otaku suddenly start preferring smart phone gaming).
There might continue to be a market for the Vita, but not necessarily for a new system to succeed it.
Very much depends on 2 things, the games & the machine size.
Obviously the games are and should be the driving force but with giant and increasingly arthritic hands, a large console is pretty much mandatory which is kind of the opposite of the way the tech usually moves. I had to buy a special grip attachment with controller style handles for the Vita just to let me use it
No. I’ve tried over the years to find a reason to justify owning one, and have always come up short. If I’m out and about, I’d much rather browse the web or read a book. If I’m at home, I’ll have access to my PC, PS4, X360, PS3, etc. A handheld is great if I’m going on a holiday for a week or more, when I won’t have access to my PC or consoles for extended periods, but I can’t justify owning a $3-400 device (and however many $70 games for it) for the two weeks a year I have a use for it.
You can snag a 3DS for $100 if you buy second hand, games are generally around $60, although often will go $10, $15 lower.
It’s not the price that specifically dissuades me, more the fact that I know I’d only use it once a year (if that).
Case point: I bought a 3DSXL in late 2013 for the new Pokemon and Zelda games, and picked up a few other cheap games along with those two (Phoenix Wright, Layton, and DQ IX; incidentally, total cost for the console and five games was around $350, iirc, but my figure was more pointing at the Vita that sits forlorn in my drawer). I finished Pokemon over my christmas break, got about halfway through Zelda by the end of the break, and never finished it or got around to the other 3 games I bought – it’s sat on a shelf gathering dust for the last 18 months, because I don’t have time in my life that I would spend playing Zelda when the likes of Witcher, Anno, Pillars of Eternity, GTA, or Dragon Age beckon.
I’m waiting for the rumoured nVIDIA Shield portable 2 to be released
Playstation Plus ‘free games’ activation process means that if I ever do get a Vita, I will already have a library of dozens and dozens of games on it.
And some of those actually look really good.
…But even knowing that? I really don’t see myself buying one ever.
Handheld gaming is not for me. If I’m at home with time and space to game, I do it on my wonderful, amazing gaming PC (*cough*or console*cough*). I’m not in the kind of environment where I have to share the TV or the PC, and need to do my gaming ‘somewhere else’. If I want to be involved in a grand, cinematic, immersive, involving gaming experience, I’m going to go do exactly that someplace where the hardware and screen size better supports that experience.
My commute isn’t long enough to play any game that can’t be picked up and dropped in a space of 20-30min at best, and that’s in the best-case-scenario of getting a seat where you can actually focus uninterrupted. Handheld gaming while standing is difficult at best, irresponsible at worst. But the necessity there is a brevity of game in a type that I’m not a fan of.
Handhelds do not, can not serve a useful function in my life. Any space that they might possibly be able to find themselves ‘kinda’ useful (ten minutes of boredom sitting on the can?) is better served by my phone.
This is pretty much exactly the attitude I had a few years ago when my mate offered me one of his spare PSPs.
Now I am the proud owner of two launch Vitas, a Vita slim, a 2DS and a New 3DS XL. You’d be surprised at the opportunities that you can take to play a game that you can instantly suspend.
My commute is about as long as yours and I’ve already used it to complete Fire Emblem Awakening, Bravely Default, Rainbow Moon (PS+), Danganronpa and numerous other shorter games. Alternatively I can get in about four songs from Hatsune Miku Project Diva f / F 2nd.
Examples of other occasions I play:
1. Waiting for the wife when we have a lunch date;
2. During lunch at work if I’m not doing something else;
3. Waiting for my daughter to finish swimming or mandarin class;
4. *with* my daughter e.g. Spelunky on ad hoc;
5. On the train when I go up to Newcastle;
6. If I’m staying anywhere away from home for the weekend;
7. When I’m waiting to see the doctor / dentist;
8. When I’m waiting for my case to come up in court; and
8. Yes, on the toilet.
When I first started playing on the bus, I got a little queasy, but I got used to it. The better games are ones that don’t involve a lot of dense text, I find, so platforming, rhythm games or dungeon crawlers are great.
I’ve been thinking about this too actually, as I’ve been umming and ahing whether to get a PS Vita or not. I haven’t played any games on my 3DS XL in over a year now, I mainly turn that on and off for the StreetPass function, which I really love for some odd reason. PS Vita I want for the indie games and some of those JRPGs that are only on that console, but I know that I probably won’t play it much either.
I do think or predict that Sony might possibly merge the PS portable gaming console business with the Xperia phones and bring out a proper mobile gaming console. At least I think that would be smart move if they did this since they aren’t winning in the mobile market and looks like they pretty much given up on PS Vita… Sony PSXperia?
The big answer: NO!
I still want Vita
Vita means life.
Voted No, but really mean Yes
http://bit.ly/1dZ3MVr
🙂
If Nvidia shield counts then yea I will defiantly.
I haven’t even jumped into handheld consoles yet.
I am looking at getting a 3DSXL at some-point soon though.
I wanted a VIta when they first came out but it seems that I would get better value out of a 3DS since Nintendo seem to be doing a lot more in that space then Sony.
Depends if you like the Nintendo franchises (or staples). I’m not a massive fan of Mario, Pokemon, MonHun, Smash, Zelda or the like. I find that now that I’ve got a 3DS I’ve only bought a handful of RPGs (plus Project Mirai DX on the way) and I have no real desire to get any more games for it. Vita has the opposite problem. I have pretty much all of the Vita games (OK, maybe a slight exaggeration) but there aren’t that many on the horizon.
There’s something awesome about playing games on a small screen in your hands, so yes, definitely. I get a huge kick out of handheld games, be they made for short bursts on the train (3DS) or console-quality experiences (Vita).
I doubt it. I have a 3DS but don’t touch it anymore. It’s not that the games aren’t there, but the screens are too small. I know the bigger ones are much better, but I don’t want to outlay the money because I know it’ll just start collecting dust once again. If I need a portable fix, I just use my phone. Sure the games aren’t as good as a dedicated handheld, but it’s always with me.
I hate mobile phone games – no buttons and they’re usually crappy little simple games. The games for the 3DS are much richer and more interesting to play, plus you have proper hardware to play them on (ie actual buttons!). I’ll keep happily buying new handheld consoles as long as Nintendo keep making them, and keep making games for them that I want to play.
I’m a bit torn myself. I bought a 3dsXL and loved it, played so many great 3ds and ds games on it that I ended up buying a vita too. The vita I’ve used maybe 30 hours all up and found the only games I liked were re releases I’d already played. Now I don’t want to buy a “new” 3ds because I don’t want a slight yearly/2 yearly upgrade model to succeed so now I don’t know if I’ll buy another handheld again.
I did buy a JXD s7800 emulation tablet though which I guess counts as a handheld (it has controllers, shaped like a bigger vita) and I must say if you just want games on the go that thing is amazing, full snes, nes, gb, gbc, sms and a bunch of ps one, dreamcast, n64 games too. I find a lot of the playstation era games work well as mobile games when you have a save state option too. The 7″ screen makes them look decent too.
I have got to get a JXD now that I’ve found you can play C64 and Amiga games on it!
I really love my 3DS, all the unique games you can get that you can’t get anywhere else. I’m really looking forward to seeing the new NX.
I like my Vita too; of course it would be better if it had a more substantial catalogue of games. I mostly just play Spyro and Crash Bandicoot on it.
My main gripe with the Vita is it;s rear touch screen; the front touch screen is fine, as long as I don’t have to use it too much for games. But that rear touch pad freaking sucks. I hate how many games ported from PS3, or using remote play, require me to use the corners of the rear touch pad in place of R2/L2. If they just put a second set of should buttons in line like the new 3DS did, it would be much easier to use.
Overall, even though I am relatively new to owning handhelds, I think I will continue to buy handhelds for the foreseeable future.
I just like to play games on the go. Android/iOS games just don’t cut it; not only because that market is saturated with half assed games, and micro transactions galore, but also touch screens simply don’t have that haptic that physical buttons do. And connecting a bluetooth remote to a phone is just another thing to carry around (I know a handheld is too, so it’s really break even on that point), and playing games on my phone means using up battery life that I need for other things, like checking my emails or making calls/texts.
They have a trigger grip out now that adds L2/R2 triggers that activate the touchscreen!
http://www.dualshockers.com/2015/04/12/much-needed-ps-vita-accessory-adding-l2r2-triggers-for-ps4-remote-play-gets-new-detailed-pictures/
:O This is perfect! This seems to only be compatible with the new model (LCD screen), is there something similar for the old model (OLED screen, rear touch panel is also larger).
I stopped with the DSi xl. The only thing I miss is Pokemon, which I use my phone to emulate anyway. I’d happily pay Ninty on the Google Play store for a legit port though.
Probably not.
Mainly due to being time-poor, and my preference for watching movies/TV shows on my daily commute.
I do play my 3DS XL occasionally, but I usually find other things to do when I have a spare 20 minutes.
Only if it’s nintendo. I have no interested in the Playshit Portable, or any other console for that matter.
Not, really, no. But saying that I want a Vita, but I don’t *need* a Vita.
I think I’m getting old. I like my games to have haptic controls. All this touchscreen malarkey is for the millennials. I scornfully look at children playing on their parent’s tablets as I whip out my 3DS. My phone doesn’t have the batteries for gaming and it’s too full of photos to fit any non essential apps on there anyway. Take your convergence and get out of my yard you pesky kids. *waves rake*
I own a PC on which I do most of my game related activities (not gaming, because “game” is a silly verb, real or not, and it applies to gambling as well), so all of my other game related activities are delegated to handhelds (not that I use them outside of the house, but I get access to Nintendo exclusive titles and can use it in bed/ anywhere else in the house). I really love the games on the 3ds and that it’s a more accessible option than most others.
As long as the games are there, I’ll be there too (just not at launch, ’cause buying anything at launch is always a bad idea). On top of that they, and their games, (first party Nintendo titles aside) seem to drop in price a lot faster than consoles; and I end up playing a lot of remastered classics that I missed first time around (MGS:3D SE was great).
I’ve got all the handhelds up to this point but I really have to stop.
Pretty much any time I play a handheld game I find myself thinking ‘Man I wish i were playing this on a console’.
I really don’t benefit from the portability of a handheld because I don’t really go anywhere and the few times I do I don’t have time to play games.
There’s a lot of handheld games I wanna play but I just can’t do with the tiny screen.
Playstation TV has rectified this on the VIta end for the most part.
Almost every game I wanna play is compatible.
It’d be cool if there were an equivalent device for the 3DS so I didn’t have to break my neck looking down at a tiny ass screen to play Pokemon or Fire Emblem.
But yeah – I won’t be getting another handheld.
At the very least not for a good long while.
lol i just recently picked up ds lite, and psp 3000 playing my huge backlog, going to take a while to play catchup, playing all the classics including the final fantasy, fire emblem, golden dawn, persona, 3ds and ps vita will have to wait, so yeah haha