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Forums - Gaming Discussion - Are Handhelds = Consoles?

 

Are Handhelds = Consoles?

Yes 184 50.14%
 
No 126 34.33%
 
Its more complicated than that 37 10.08%
 
Who gives a shit! 20 5.45%
 
Total:367
Saeko on 24 September 2015
Intrinsic said:
I went with "its more complicated than that"

Handhelds are consoles by definition. However home consoles and handheld consoles (aka portables) should not be grouped together. The only thing they have in common is that they both play games.

A handheld has more in common with a smartphone than it does with a home console.


This !



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Frogger on 24 September 2015
Boutros said:

No one calls them home consoles.


Everyone calls them home consoles.



Dr.Henry_Killinger on 24 September 2015
Saeko said:
Intrinsic said:
I went with "its more complicated than that"

Handhelds are consoles by definition. However home consoles and handheld consoles (aka portables) should not be grouped together. The only thing they have in common is that they both play games.

A handheld has more in common with a smartphone than it does with a home console.


This !

Squares have more in common with Triangles than rectangles. BUT all squares are rectangles, not all rectangles are squares.



In this day and age, with the Internet, ignorance is a choice! And they're still choosing Ignorance! - Dr. Filthy Frank

Neodegenerate on 24 September 2015
spemanig said:
Boutros said:

No one calls them home consoles.


Everyone calls them home consoles.


I'm old school, I call home consoles "systems" and portable consoles "handhelds"



KLXVER on 24 September 2015
spemanig said:
KLXVER said:
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/games+console


/Thread


Right. That proves that handhelds are, in irrefutable fact, consoles.


No it doesnt.



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Wonktonodi on 24 September 2015

Context is king. While handhelds "handheld video game consoles" compared to "home video game consoles"

On this site consoles generally means the home versions only. Some people want to argue that and bring up handhelds to discussions that they obviously weren't in.
If someone asks me what consoles I own I tend to reply with my home consoles only. When someone asks what systems I own I included handhelds.



Puppyroach on 24 September 2015

As I said in another thread: If you call it "handheld", what are you referring to? What are you holding in your hands? A handheld pen? A handheld shoe? Or a handheld console?



bigtakilla on 24 September 2015

easiest question on VG Chartz ever. Yes, by definition handhelds are consoles.



Frogger on 24 September 2015
Intrinsic said:
I went with "its more complicated than that"

Handhelds are consoles by definition. However home consoles and handheld consoles (aka portables) should not be grouped together. The only thing they have in common is that they both play games.

A handheld has more in common with a smartphone than it does with a home console.


Lol, what? No they don't smart phones are multimedia devices who's primary feature is making phone calls. A handheld is a gaming console who's primary feature is, you guessed it, playing games. Handhelds aren't designed to steam video, browse the internet, communitate across multiple platforms, or play music the way smartphones are. Smart phones aren't designed to play games the way consoles are, lacking nearly all of the nessecary inputs for most games to function optimally.

The only similarity is that they both are portable and they both play games. Handhelds have far more in common with home consoles. They are merely generations behind consoles. When you have a 3DS playing XBC, a home console originating game, with all the nessecary inputs still intact, with arguably more in the form of the added bottom screen, it becomes absurd to not consider these playforms nearly identical. Saying that a 3DS is more similar to smartphones than home consoles is effectively relegating the Wii, GCN, PS2, and OG Xbox to the same comparison, since they are all within the same power gap. Only the N3DS has more inputs in the form of the bottom screen.

Silly.



Luke888 on 24 September 2015
DerNebel said:
Luke888 said:
DerNebel said:
KLXVER said:
Who is saying that handhelds are 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.


As a Nintendo Fan: Yes, Sony is leading in Japan because they are earning more money. you have to think as I said previously that the revenue taken from an Handheld is like 75% of a Home Console if not even less, but this doesn't mean Handhelds aren't consoles

I can say that there's always been a distinction that's been made between consoles and handhelds and that suddenly disregarding that distinction (while at the same time still insisting on the distinction between consoles/handhelds and smartphones/handhelds) to win a sales arguement in one market is just desperate.

In the sense of the thread that this thread here is referencing it's pretty irrelevant, the user was clearly talking about Sony/Nintendo gaming hardware and just chose to use the term "consoles".


As I said before that is not the case everywhere around the world and just looking at the word "Home Console" you get that there are other forms of Consoles.

For the fanboys you've been talking too just ignore them or link them this thread, when we'll come up to an answer (and I believe to have given a pretty good one). Even if we agree that Handhelds are consoles and tecnically Nintnedo sold more consoles in Japan than Sony, you'll be still right saying Sony is dominating due to their larger revenue