I never understood this.  I'm a handheld gamer.  I do most of my gaming on handheld systems.  But in my 20+ years of being a gamer and active member of the gaming community, I've noticed that haldhelds are almost universally regarded as significantly less important than home consoles.  Why is that?

It's a video game system, built from the ground up for gaming.  It has its own library of games that you buy, plug into the system, and play.  It has its own buttons, features, the whole nine yards.  The only difference is you hold it in your hands instead of plugging it into your TV.  So why are they seen as inferior?  If anything, they're better than home consoles because you can take them anywhere!

Am I wrong?  Am I crazy?  Did I miss something?  What are your thoughts on this?  Why are handhelds seen as inferior?  Why is it when the Vita failed, it's no big deal, but when the Wii U failed, it's the end of the world?  Do YOU feel handhelds are inferior?  If so, why?

Side note: Please understand that when i say "handheld," I'm talking about dedicated gaming systems such as the Vita and 3DS, not devices that can play games like smartphones or tablets.

Inferior in terms of power. Obviously.
Inferior in terms of users demographic. Kids toy (general assumption).
Inferior in terms of games value. Not AAA games like home consoles.

Consoles are not the direct competitors of handhelds but PCs, handhelds are getting whacked by smartphone gaming.

more advanced games can be played on a home console than on a handheld. plus with the ever growing smartphone market, its risky to come out with a new dedicated handheld these days.

Becauze of graphiczzz

Games from popular series that end up on handhelds are always side stories or not significant to series mythos.

because console games are vastly superior to handheld games.

Because they are inferior. Period. That doesn't mean you can't make decent games for them, but those have to be much simpler compared to PC or Console games.

It's because handheld games are less ambitious, less complex.

I don't live in Japan, basically.

If I'm at home, I want the superior experience. If I'm not at home then I'm almost certainly not playing a video-game. I tried it a few times but it's just not for me. If I have to wait somewhere then I'd rather take my Kindle.