Well I would agree with you except for two things!

Motion controls

3DS is proving that Gyro's are not great for handhelds even in games for GBC/GBA that used gyro's it was more difficult to play a game with gyro's. So yah Gyro's would work if your playing the game on the TV but on the handheld device the game play would be drastically different and more difficult!

Camera controls, unlike with Kinect you could not use full body motion capture with a handheld device it would simply be imposable. Head tracking maybe but full motion controls with a camera would not be possible on a handheld gaming device. Thus making it necessary to still have the camera and such separate. Which would mean software made specifically for that camera that couldn't be played on the go.

Wiimote/Move , much like camera controls motion controllers like the Wiimote and Move could not be used very well on handheld devices. These require a sensor bar or camera or some sort of device to sense the controllers movements. At the close range it would have to be for handheld. It would be nearly impossible.

The only way I could see this working is if all the games built for the console were built in two formats one for home use and the other for handheld use! This brings me to reason 2!

Profits

Making a single device might benefit Microsoft for example because they lack a handheld gaming platform. However it would be a major blow to Nintendo and a smaller but still big blow to Sony.

Nintendo, Nintendo has used there handheld dominance to maintain high profits since the NES. They have rarely ever reported losses at any points due to their ability to make profit off of all their hardware. When you combine their handheld hardware sales with home hardware sales they sell more hardware in almost every generation then any of there competitors. The handheld division makes up a huge chunk of change that has been responsible for Nintendo being as successful as they are. Remove the handheld or home markets by merging the two and they will see far smaller profit margins on hardware. This would leave Nintendo to rely solely on software something Nintendo could do but won't because it would damage there ability to compete with their leading competitors.

Sony, Sony is pushing a lot of portable devices right now like Smart Phones and Tablets all which will carry PlayStation games and compatability. Creating a single console capable of doing everything their handhelds can and home consoles would be disasterous for them. Talk about tons of lost profits off of different hardware ventures, Sony is looking to provide more hardware not less because less would make them far more reliant on that single hardware product for financial support.

Microsoft, as mentioned Microsoft would stand to win most by doing this. However such a device would no doubt also come with an OS and provide a service similar to PC's. A laptop can already do this but a gaming platform like a tablet which is capable of doing this would pose a huge threat to Microsoft. It would definitely mean that a new type of computer would be born and Microsoft would have to deal with it however it would not be as beneficial to Microsoft as say Apple.

Apple, Apple already does this as far as I know. You can connect your I-Pad 2 to a TV can you not? It would make sense for Apple to take advantage of this as they could now cut Nintendo and Sony out of key hardware products. Microsoft would be forced to follow suit. Next Generation it may be possible to create a device like this capable of laying BattleField 3 but hopefully and most likely technology will have improved by then. This means Apple's console would be vastly more expensive then Nintendo, Sony or Microsoft's home platforms. People wanting a handheld experience could buy a dedicated handheld and still pay just a little more then buying Apple's say I-Pad 7!

Software publishers, just like the hardware publishers software publishers make a ton of profits selling the same game to consumers a second time on handhelds. They either port the game directly as they have on PSP/PSVita or they produce a unique version as they have with all of Nintendo's handhelds. The handheld version is almost always cheaper to develop then the home console version. Its instant profits for the third parties and merging the handheld and home industries could only harm their profitability and drive them further away from big budget games. It would be a very bad thing for publishers and developers who depend on either handheld or home consoles to make their money.

Retailers, much like the hardware and software manufacturer's retailers would be hit. They would be selling less copies of games and hardware thus reducing their profit margins. Its almost as bad as a fully digital distribution console. This would not benefit retailers at all!

Conclusion

In conclusion Nintendo and Sony have way to much to lose to voluntarily go down this path. If they ended up making such a device it would be because Apple left them no choice. Microsoft seeing Kinect as the future also wouldn't likely go down this path for at least another two generations. In the mean time Nintendo,Sony and Microsoft will do everything they can to keep the home experience unique and impossible to have a single device that plays both the latest home and handheld games! Then add in physical formats and you've got a big clunky device you won't want to bring everywhere with you.

Such a device would be very inconvenient for not only the consumer due to size and price but also to the hardware manufacturers and software manufacturers and even the retailers.

Well I would agree with you except for two things!

Motion controls

3DS is proving that Gyro's are not great for handhelds even in games for GBC/GBA that used gyro's it was more difficult to play a game with gyro's. So yah Gyro's would work if your playing the game on the TV but on the handheld device the game play would be drastically different and more difficult!

Camera controls, unlike with Kinect you could not use full body motion capture with a handheld device it would simply be imposable. Head tracking maybe but full motion controls with a camera would not be possible on a handheld gaming device. Thus making it necessary to still have the camera and such separate. Which would mean software made specifically for that camera that couldn't be played on the go.

Wiimote/Move , much like camera controls motion controllers like the Wiimote and Move could not be used very well on handheld devices. These require a sensor bar or camera or some sort of device to sense the controllers movements. At the close range it would have to be for handheld. It would be nearly impossible.

The only way I could see this working is if all the games built for the console were built in two formats one for home use and the other for handheld use! This brings me to reason 2!

Profits

Making a single device might benefit Microsoft for example because they lack a handheld gaming platform. However it would be a major blow to Nintendo and a smaller but still big blow to Sony.

Nintendo, Nintendo has used there handheld dominance to maintain high profits since the NES. They have rarely ever reported losses at any points due to their ability to make profit off of all their hardware. When you combine their handheld hardware sales with home hardware sales they sell more hardware in almost every generation then any of there competitors. The handheld division makes up a huge chunk of change that has been responsible for Nintendo being as successful as they are. Remove the handheld or home markets by merging the two and they will see far smaller profit margins on hardware. This would leave Nintendo to rely solely on software something Nintendo could do but won't because it would damage there ability to compete with their leading competitors.

Sony, Sony is pushing a lot of portable devices right now like Smart Phones and Tablets all which will carry PlayStation games and compatability. Creating a single console capable of doing everything their handhelds can and home consoles would be disasterous for them. Talk about tons of lost profits off of different hardware ventures, Sony is looking to provide more hardware not less because less would make them far more reliant on that single hardware product for financial support.

Microsoft, as mentioned Microsoft would stand to win most by doing this. However such a device would no doubt also come with an OS and provide a service similar to PC's. A laptop can already do this but a gaming platform like a tablet which is capable of doing this would pose a huge threat to Microsoft. It would definitely mean that a new type of computer would be born and Microsoft would have to deal with it however it would not be as beneficial to Microsoft as say Apple.

Apple, Apple already does this as far as I know. You can connect your I-Pad 2 to a TV can you not? It would make sense for Apple to take advantage of this as they could now cut Nintendo and Sony out of key hardware products. Microsoft would be forced to follow suit. Next Generation it may be possible to create a device like this capable of laying BattleField 3 but hopefully and most likely technology will have improved by then. This means Apple's console would be vastly more expensive then Nintendo, Sony or Microsoft's home platforms. People wanting a handheld experience could buy a dedicated handheld and still pay just a little more then buying Apple's say I-Pad 7!

Software publishers, just like the hardware publishers software publishers make a ton of profits selling the same game to consumers a second time on handhelds. They either port the game directly as they have on PSP/PSVita or they produce a unique version as they have with all of Nintendo's handhelds. The handheld version is almost always cheaper to develop then the home console version. Its instant profits for the third parties and merging the handheld and home industries could only harm their profitability and drive them further away from big budget games. It would be a very bad thing for publishers and developers who depend on either handheld or home consoles to make their money.

Retailers, much like the hardware and software manufacturer's retailers would be hit. They would be selling less copies of games and hardware thus reducing their profit margins. Its almost as bad as a fully digital distribution console. This would not benefit retailers at all!

Conclusion

In conclusion Nintendo and Sony have way to much to lose to voluntarily go down this path. If they ended up making such a device it would be because Apple left them no choice. Microsoft seeing Kinect as the future also wouldn't likely go down this path for at least another two generations. In the mean time Nintendo,Sony and Microsoft will do everything they can to keep the home experience unique and impossible to have a single device that plays both the latest home and handheld games! Then add in physical formats and you've got a big clunky device you won't want to bring everywhere with you.

Such a device would be very inconvenient for not only the consumer due to size and price but also to the hardware manufacturers and software manufacturers and even the retailers.

Well I would agree with you except for two things!

Motion controls

3DS is proving that Gyro's are not great for handhelds even in games for GBC/GBA that used gyro's it was more difficult to play a game with gyro's. So yah Gyro's would work if your playing the game on the TV but on the handheld device the game play would be drastically different and more difficult!

Camera controls, unlike with Kinect you could not use full body motion capture with a handheld device it would simply be imposable. Head tracking maybe but full motion controls with a camera would not be possible on a handheld gaming device. Thus making it necessary to still have the camera and such separate. Which would mean software made specifically for that camera that couldn't be played on the go.

Wiimote/Move , much like camera controls motion controllers like the Wiimote and Move could not be used very well on handheld devices. These require a sensor bar or camera or some sort of device to sense the controllers movements. At the close range it would have to be for handheld. It would be nearly impossible.

The only way I could see this working is if all the games built for the console were built in two formats one for home use and the other for handheld use! This brings me to reason 2!

Profits

Making a single device might benefit Microsoft for example because they lack a handheld gaming platform. However it would be a major blow to Nintendo and a smaller but still big blow to Sony.

Nintendo, Nintendo has used there handheld dominance to maintain high profits since the NES. They have rarely ever reported losses at any points due to their ability to make profit off of all their hardware. When you combine their handheld hardware sales with home hardware sales they sell more hardware in almost every generation then any of there competitors. The handheld division makes up a huge chunk of change that has been responsible for Nintendo being as successful as they are. Remove the handheld or home markets by merging the two and they will see far smaller profit margins on hardware. This would leave Nintendo to rely solely on software something Nintendo could do but won't because it would damage there ability to compete with their leading competitors.

Sony, Sony is pushing a lot of portable devices right now like Smart Phones and Tablets all which will carry PlayStation games and compatability. Creating a single console capable of doing everything their handhelds can and home consoles would be disasterous for them. Talk about tons of lost profits off of different hardware ventures, Sony is looking to provide more hardware not less because less would make them far more reliant on that single hardware product for financial support.

Microsoft, as mentioned Microsoft would stand to win most by doing this. However such a device would no doubt also come with an OS and provide a service similar to PC's. A laptop can already do this but a gaming platform like a tablet which is capable of doing this would pose a huge threat to Microsoft. It would definitely mean that a new type of computer would be born and Microsoft would have to deal with it however it would not be as beneficial to Microsoft as say Apple.

Apple, Apple already does this as far as I know. You can connect your I-Pad 2 to a TV can you not? It would make sense for Apple to take advantage of this as they could now cut Nintendo and Sony out of key hardware products. Microsoft would be forced to follow suit. Next Generation it may be possible to create a device like this capable of laying BattleField 3 but hopefully and most likely technology will have improved by then. This means Apple's console would be vastly more expensive then Nintendo, Sony or Microsoft's home platforms. People wanting a handheld experience could buy a dedicated handheld and still pay just a little more then buying Apple's say I-Pad 7!

Software publishers, just like the hardware publishers software publishers make a ton of profits selling the same game to consumers a second time on handhelds. They either port the game directly as they have on PSP/PSVita or they produce a unique version as they have with all of Nintendo's handhelds. The handheld version is almost always cheaper to develop then the home console version. Its instant profits for the third parties and merging the handheld and home industries could only harm their profitability and drive them further away from big budget games. It would be a very bad thing for publishers and developers who depend on either handheld or home consoles to make their money.

Retailers, much like the hardware and software manufacturer's retailers would be hit. They would be selling less copies of games and hardware thus reducing their profit margins. Its almost as bad as a fully digital distribution console. This would not benefit retailers at all!

Conclusion

In conclusion Nintendo and Sony have way to much to lose to voluntarily go down this path. If they ended up making such a device it would be because Apple left them no choice. Microsoft seeing Kinect as the future also wouldn't likely go down this path for at least another two generations. In the mean time Nintendo,Sony and Microsoft will do everything they can to keep the home experience unique and impossible to have a single device that plays both the latest home and handheld games! Then add in physical formats and you've got a big clunky device you won't want to bring everywhere with you.

Such a device would be very inconvenient for not only the consumer due to size and price but also to the hardware manufacturers and software manufacturers and even the retailers.

Woah, woah, woah, woah, woah! Every point you made only makes this deal sound sweeter to gamers!!!

No more Wii motion+, PS Move, Kinect tacked on to games?! Only having to buy one console for just $249?! $30-$40 Price range on new retail games that provide both a home console and handheld console experience?! Having the option to digitally download any game in the system's library?! This is sounding like a gamers dream!!!

If Sony offers a deal that cannot be beat at a time their competitors cannot, then they would cannibalize all handheld and home console markets; leaving them with a larger market share in absolute terms, but also a smaller market share for their competitors in absolute terms. This would also consolidate consumer costs significantally.

Being the first mover here is key (to preempt any advantage MS, Apple, or Nintendo could gain) and the Vita is practally there (with just a larger battery and software update).

Well chances are the console would likely cost at least 500$ if it was a handheld/home console in anywhere similar to what we see today from home consoles. Games would likely cost around 90-100$ or higher due to no handheld version's being sold and many games needing handheld specific controls. I specifically said that downloading every game would be impossible for Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft consoles the games are simply too big and would require a physical version meaning a drive of some sort which would make the console more bulky and add to the price tag.

Yes what you describe is a gamers dream but it is a publisher/manufacturer's nightmare. If publishers and manufacturers turn a smaller profit they could only make cuts. This means fewer games, lower quality games, higher retail prices among many other things. Fact is a lot of developers who make handheld software wouldn't be able to survive either they would be forced to make cheaper independent games. Big budget software would be cut by at least 25% within the first generation for such a console existing.

Also say Sony did do this, they would be sacrificing profits in other products. They would have to be dang sure that those consumers would pick this up rather then a tablet or laptop or competitors game console. Say they did find huge success and totally devoured market share the best case scenario they would drive Microsoft and Nintendo to 6th generation profit margins. But rest assured by the next generation Nintendo and Microsoft would come out fighting and they would come at Sony harder then ever before.

Fact is inevitably a console will exist that is both handheld and home based. No I'm not talking a handheld that can be played on a TV I am talking a console actually built for the purpose of being a home and handheld console at its core. Apple will likely produce such a console in the next 10 years. Judging by all the analysts and industry insiders who predict Apple will own the industry in the next ten years I am guessing this is likely the route they will go.

After Apple enters , Microsoft and Sony will likely follow immediately afterwards if Apple actually starts stealing market share and is successful. Nintendo will hold out the longest as they have the most to lose with such a transition. In the end I don't see all three console manufacturers fully embracing this concept for another three generations.

Nintendo has the most to lose, Sony has the second most and Microsoft has been considering merging their X-Box and Windows together for a while and creating a single device that does everything. But a handheld/home console isn't likely what they had in mind.