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Forums - Gaming - Is their room for mobile dedicated consoles (Handhelds) anymore?

Soundwave on 10 September 2015
archer9234 said:
Soundwave said:
Shadow1980 said:

Why does everyone insist on comparing this generation to last generation, as if last generation was anything remotely close to normal? The DS had abnormally huge sales. At its peak its baseline sales were well in excess of any other dedicated gaming platform, even the PS2, and it sold more in six years than the original Game Boy did in twelve. The PSP was the first non-Nintendo handheld to be a commercial success; the next best-selling non-Nintendo handheld was the Game Gear, which sold a paltry 11 million units worldwide, and every other runner up sold far, far less than that. Between the two of them the DS and PSP sold some 236 million units, more than all other preceding handhelds combined. Looking at the actual sales data I fail to see how someone can honestly say the last generation of handhelds should be held up as some kind of standard.


Game Boy Advance would've sold well in advance in 100 million units had it not been ended prematurely. 

Besides I mean regardless of reason where did all those 236 million DS + PSP owners go? Did they stop playing games or are a good portion of them content with their phones/tablets today? If that's the case then, it is very much at the heart of the issue. 

The heart of the issue is viable numbers. No matter how amazing our consoles and handhelds are. No matter how better they get. Or things they add. They still stay within a ceiling of sales. Since they primarly do what? Play games. A phone is virtually a requirement in life. That is why the "userbase" is massive. Communication, and internet are more important to daily life, than a game. But that also means the people there are all not gonna buy games, like we do on actual game systems. We buy games systems to play games. You buy a phone to do a million other things. If they were game loves. They wouldn't of left. A company has to gamble. If they can produce and survive on mobile only.

They can reduce the quality they throw into a game. But the company you're at, is the size it is now, because of the income you got from higher priced software before. That company would eventually have to shrink down in size. And keep making games. Not up to par in what you play on a 3DS/Vita. Or raise the price. But since app price mentailty has been set in. That will be difficult. If it wasn't. DLC we deal with wouldn't go out fo their way to get extra money. We'd be paying $100 for a game. But since our mindsets are locked to that $60. They gotta go around it. Again, gamble, gamgble, gamble.

I think the problem is it's not that people don't like games. More people are probably playing today than at any other time in video gaming history. 

The thing is like you said, the app price mentality has set in. Give people something for free, and they become accustomed to "free" very quickly. 

Beyond that, the truth may be that dedicated handhelds were always overblown in their functionality. How many people realistically have hours of free time away from the house to sit down and play a video game? Mobile games are fun and intuitive enough to burn the 15-20 minutes of downtime, but since they're free, a person can have 10-15 titles on their phone as well for a long train ride/plane trip, etc. 



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archer9234 on 10 September 2015
hunter_alien said:
Shadow1980 said:

Why does everyone insist on comparing this generation to last generation, as if last generation was anything remotely close to normal? The DS had abnormally huge sales. At its peak its baseline sales were well in excess of any other dedicated gaming platform, even the PS2, and it sold more in six years than the original Game Boy did in twelve. The PSP was the first non-Nintendo handheld to be a commercial success; the next best-selling non-Nintendo handheld was the Game Gear, which sold a paltry 11 million units worldwide, and every other runner up sold far, far less than that. Between the two of them the DS and PSP sold some 236 million units, more than all other preceding handhelds combined. Looking at the actual sales data I fail to see how someone can honestly say the last generation of handhelds should be held up as some kind of standard.


Exactly. PLus, IMO the maximum damage that could have been done from the mobile space it was done. Pretty much everyone who could be a potential handheld buyer probably own at least one smartphone and maybe even a tablet. It cannot get more overburdened the it is now. On the other hand, if a dedicated portable has plenty of AAA support from developers and it has a solid hardware foundation, people will flock to it.

And things level off. Why does it have to be one way or the other? Why can't both exsist. If enough of both sides work. They work. Their's no reason to murder one.



jason1637 on 10 September 2015

Ill give handhelds to more gens.



archer9234 on 10 September 2015
Soundwave said:
archer9234 said:
Soundwave said:
Shadow1980 said:

Why does everyone insist on comparing this generation to last generation, as if last generation was anything remotely close to normal? The DS had abnormally huge sales. At its peak its baseline sales were well in excess of any other dedicated gaming platform, even the PS2, and it sold more in six years than the original Game Boy did in twelve. The PSP was the first non-Nintendo handheld to be a commercial success; the next best-selling non-Nintendo handheld was the Game Gear, which sold a paltry 11 million units worldwide, and every other runner up sold far, far less than that. Between the two of them the DS and PSP sold some 236 million units, more than all other preceding handhelds combined. Looking at the actual sales data I fail to see how someone can honestly say the last generation of handhelds should be held up as some kind of standard.


Game Boy Advance would've sold well in advance in 100 million units had it not been ended prematurely. 

Besides I mean regardless of reason where did all those 236 million DS + PSP owners go? Did they stop playing games or are a good portion of them content with their phones/tablets today? If that's the case then, it is very much at the heart of the issue. 

The heart of the issue is viable numbers. No matter how amazing our consoles and handhelds are. No matter how better they get. Or things they add. They still stay within a ceiling of sales. Since they primarly do what? Play games. A phone is virtually a requirement in life. That is why the "userbase" is massive. Communication, and internet are more important to daily life, than a game. But that also means the people there are all not gonna buy games, like we do on actual game systems. We buy games systems to play games. You buy a phone to do a million other things. If they were game loves. They wouldn't of left. A company has to gamble. If they can produce and survive on mobile only.

They can reduce the quality they throw into a game. But the company you're at, is the size it is now, because of the income you got from higher priced software before. That company would eventually have to shrink down in size. And keep making games. Not up to par in what you play on a 3DS/Vita. Or raise the price. But since app price mentailty has been set in. That will be difficult. If it wasn't. DLC we deal with wouldn't go out fo their way to get extra money. We'd be paying $100 for a game. But since our mindsets are locked to that $60. They gotta go around it. Again, gamble, gamgble, gamble.

I think the problem is it's not that people don't like games. More people are probably playing today than at any other time in video gaming history. 

The thing is like you said, the app price mentality has set in. Give people something for free, and they become accustomed to "free" very quickly. 

Beyond that, the truth may be that dedicated handhelds were always overblown in their functionality. How many people realistically have hours of free time away from the house to sit down and play a video game? Mobile games are fun and intuitive enough to burn the 15-20 minutes of downtime, but since they're free, a person can have 10-15 titles on their phone as well for a long train ride/plane trip, etc. 

If they were overblown. Then they wouldn't exsist. They do. So they do service. An example of overblown is Neo-Geo. That went down the drain fast.



Soundwave on 10 September 2015

I'm not sure if the smartphone effect has levelled off.

This year represents Nintendo's lowest handheld shipment since before the creation of Pokemon, almost 20 years ago now.

The other problem you have is you have a generation of kids that simply aren't getting a Nintendo handheld period, I see it in airports all the time, the amount of kids playing on their or their parents iPhone/iPad/Android tablet outnumbers the kids I see with dedicated handhelds like by 10 to 1 easily (and I'm honestly probably be generous to dedicated handhelds here). 

That's kind of worrying. Kids freaking loving tablets/smartphones too, I had a friend over with a very young child, and he already knows how to load up cartoons on his parents iPhone. It's insane.



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archer9234 on 10 September 2015
Soundwave said:

I'm not sure if the smartphone effect has levelled off.

This year represents Nintendo's lowest handheld shipment since before the creation of Pokemon, almost 20 years ago now.

The other problem you have is you have a generation of kids that simply aren't getting a Nintendo handheld period, I see it in airports all the time, the amount of kids playing on their or their parents iPhone/iPad/Android tablet outnumbers the kids I see with dedicated handhelds like by 10 to 1 easily (and I'm honestly probably be generous to dedicated handhelds here). 

That's kind of worrying. Kids freaking loving tablets/smartphones too, I had a friend over with a very young child, and he already knows how to load up cartoons on his parents iPhone. It's insane.

It's not insane. It's because parents see the phone as a better option. Because of the cheap games. And since they own the device for the other funtions. It's logical they use it. The kid could want a 3DS or a Vita. But the parents say no. Play this.



Soundwave on 10 September 2015
archer9234 said:
Soundwave said:

I'm not sure if the smartphone effect has levelled off.

This year represents Nintendo's lowest handheld shipment since before the creation of Pokemon, almost 20 years ago now.

The other problem you have is you have a generation of kids that simply aren't getting a Nintendo handheld period, I see it in airports all the time, the amount of kids playing on their or their parents iPhone/iPad/Android tablet outnumbers the kids I see with dedicated handhelds like by 10 to 1 easily (and I'm honestly probably be generous to dedicated handhelds here). 

That's kind of worrying. Kids freaking loving tablets/smartphones too, I had a friend over with a very young child, and he already knows how to load up cartoons on his parents iPhone. It's insane.

It's not insane. It's because parents see the phone as a better option. Because of the cheap games. And since they own the device for the other funtions. It's logical they use it. The kid could want a 3DS or a Vita. But the parents say no. Play this.


It's just insane how quickly kids take to the smartphone/tablet interface is what I meant. I had another friend's kid basically get into the iOS store and was about to purchase some movie, lol. Kids and the large touch screen for whatever reason just are a perfect fit. I guess its because one of the most natural instincts of a child from the moment of birth is to want to reach out and touch things directly. It's just inate in our human DNA. 

The odd thing too is that kids seem to prefer an iPad over a 3DS even when given a choice between the two. When I have my nephews over, they want the iPad first and foremost and then will settle for the 3DS as the second place option. That also kinda surprises me. 



Ganoncrotch on 10 September 2015

Yes. Good thread tho.



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LipeJJ on 10 September 2015

Of course there is. Despite being old, the 3DS sells better than the second best selling home console. It just loses against PS4. I think that's pretty good. A new handheld done right would do well again.



Bet with Teeqoz for 2 weeks of avatar and sig control that Super Mario Odyssey would ship more than 7m on its first 2 months. The game shipped 9.07m, so I won

Frogger on 10 September 2015

Yes. There will always be an audience for handhelds because buttons and higher production values. But handhelds will modernize and adapt with the times, including going all digital.