yes they are (prob it also depends on how you're use to call them, in Italian for example we call them "portable consoles") but of course their value (from a profit standpoint) is lower since they have lower prices :v

If you think I'm wrong let me ask you something ? what is a PS4 ?

Answer: a HOME Console, if you take away that home, that is the place were you play that particular type of console, you still have a console, so there isn't really much to debate on...

Yes, they are handheld consoles.

I've seen it argued a couple times by Nintendo fans trying to argue that Sony has to overtake the 3DS with the PS4 to become the market leader in Japan. Then arguing that in that case smartphones/tablets should be counted in as well results in a lot of spinning about why consoles and handhelds should be counted as one group in Japan while smartphones/tables are totally seperate and way too different to count.

Context dude. It's all about comparisons not categories. You can put things in similar categories but once you compare them on the same level despite having completely different attributes, you crossed the line.

That's also why we don't compare smartphone sales with home phones.

Handheld consoles.

Thats just desperate fans speaking...

One is a portable console, the other a home console. Yes, they are both consoles.

I am just gonna copy and paste my thoughts from the other thread that most likely spawned this one:

I am in the "handhelds are consoles" camp as they are dedicated video game devices that require a video display. The fact that the video display is built in shouldn't be held against the device since the underlying point of the device is to play video games.

People who use the "smart phones and ipads are the same thing" argument miss the fact that the phone and the ipad and even the computer were not created as a device to play video games. These are multifunctional devices that exist in their own categories as they should.

The handheld vs home console thing to me plays out the same way as nascar vs -insert sport here- plays out. Some say because nascar is usually called a "spectator sport" it isn't a "real" sport, just like a "handheld" console isn't a "real" console. If you need a prefix you aren't actually disqualifying the item from what it is, you are simply giving additional meaning to it.

All that said, a venn diagram will show some overlap between home and handheld console, but for the most part they exist to serve two different groups of people who are after the same thing via separate experiences.

Yes, I've always considered handhelds to be handheld consoles until I joined VGC and saw that they are classified as two separate things so for the sake to avoid confusion, I assume when people say consoles the are referring to the home consoles

The 3DS and the Vita are gaming consoles but portable

That said, you can't always compare them as the same 'thing' (like the iPod is different from the iPad or iPhone)

Yes imo they are a type of console just like the new microconsoles are a type of console.