Prediction: Nintendo and Sony are going to switch places this gen handheld wise.

[Immortal]

Soundwave said:

There is no dedicated handheld market in the West.

Go ahead and try to get an average 16 year old to pull out a game handheld and play in the vicinity of other girls, and see how long that lasts, lol.

With Wii U coming and 720/PS4 hype starting up next year, the Vita is going to end up no different than the PSP was without those initial solid years where it was supposed to the "next iPod".

The West is all about cell phones ... if some one wants to play Call of Duty, that's what their PS3/360 with a 50-inch screen is for.

For the 20-30 minutes the average 15-32 year old male has in free time on the road, texting friends, web browsing, email, Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, watching TV episodes, Twitter, (ahem porn), and playing affordable $1-$5 games gets the job more than done.

People who don't understand this dynamic are still stuck in 2004. Times have changed.

That's a really bold statement to make considering your logic really doesn't work in the most of the handheld market. 16-year-old males were never the target audience for handhelds, except maybe with the PSP. And it's always been embarrassing for them to play handhelds next to girls; that's really not a new factor.

While it's true that the Vita is going to get destroyed and there's no teenage male market for handhelds, there really never was (except for the PSP). Handhelds have basically always been for kids (5-12) and a-little-past-adults, starting at, like, 25 or 30. Both of these audiences are really just there for the games and the franchises they're used to (Mario, Pokemon and the like) and aren't likely to quit playing handhelds anytime soon.

Also, it's really funny that you mention being stuck in 2004. You realize that it was a little past 2004 that handhelds really hit their stride and started selling more than ever before?