Is the dedicated handheld market really dying or simply returning to normal?

[KBG29]

Again, I will repeat. The only thing Sony and Nintendo need to do to gain back a major share of the market they lost, is make these devices work on mobile networks.

Why would anyone ever buy a 3DS or Vita right now when they are completly usless outside of the house, and just one extra things to lug around. With a 4G 3DS or Vita, the device could replace your cell phone or tablet. This is the only thing missing from the actual hardware, and the only thing stopping these devices from reaching or surpassing their predicessors.

The reason Android and iOS got so big is because they are always connected devices, and they are always with the consumer. This means more chances to make purchases on the devices. This means more times connecting to the web, this means money in developing for these platforms.

Sony and Nintendo need to give their consumers the opertunity to have these devices on them every day, and everywhere they go. That is the winning formula. If people are using these devices to make phone calls, text, social network, bank, pay bills, navigate, watch netflix, etc., etc., etc., then the developers will flock to them.

With network connected handhelds, Sony and Nintendo would draw the userbases required to support AAA development. They would have an active enough usersbase that big buisness could not ignore them, and iOS/Android apps would have to make their way to the devices. This is a really simiple turn key issue, and it blows my mind that two Japanese companies from the home of mobile devices have failed to figure this out. Why the 3G Vita was not replaced with a 4G model goes down as the biggest failure the PlayStation brand has ever suffered.