Cheap pocket handhelds are extremely abundant. 

If that was in reply to me: Sure, I even own a few of them and I'm always ready to grab a snack and drink to watch a Retro Game Corps video. But we haven't had a proper new "classic style" handheld (not hybrid) from Nintendo or Sony for a decade now (and that's counting the New 2DS XL). Official hardware with good (new) game support just hits different.

You and whereby. Technically the Switch Lite isn't a hybrid and probably counts too (although it is only barely pocketable.) 

I wonder though, what would be the niche this fills? Indie games release on essentially all platforms and are now playeable on the various cheap android handhelds through compatibility layers. Those are the sort of titles that would release on a dedicated platform like this.

I guess the one negative is the ease of use is not as seamless as a dedicated platform. 

Doubt we ever will, at least from Nintendo or Sony. Unless you count Playdate, that fits into classic handheld with 1st party support, mobile phones have effectively killed that type of traditional pocketable handhelds.

I'm not saying Nintendo is going to do this. I'm saying I'm missing cheap handhelds with "handheld" games on them - short, neat experiences. As for the games, obviously Nintendo first party titles would be the biggest draw.

As for market viability: As current consoles are overshooting a large portion of the market with their prices and features, it would actually be the perfect time to release such a handheld, as it would be disruptive to the established business model. However, it's unlikely for Sony or Nintendo to disrupt themselves (even though that's what companies should do).

But again, I'm not saying it#s going to happen. I'm just saying I miss these sort of handhelds (and if prices continue to go up there would be a market for it).

I'm thinking there is almost no chance any SKU of PS6 has a built-in disc drive. It will be an add-on like PS5 Pro and PS5 Slim Digital. 

I'm also dreading that almost every PS6 physical game will be similar to Nintendo Game Key Cards and require a download for everything. Or ramp up the physical PS5 discs that have a little but lacking a lot of the game on the disc. It's possible that Sony could revert back to normal Blu-rays for physical games since they can probably put some management in there that won't recognize the disc on PS3 and PS4 and little to none of the game will be on the disc. 

I think the biggest reason Nintendo won't do it is less about disrupting themselves and more that they had difficulties keeping first party output consistent in the Wii U/3DS era, because they had to divide their efforts between the platforms.

I think from a form factor perspective, Nintendo probably could make a SW2 lite that is even more pocketable than the SW lite (which wasn't too far from something like a Vita or 3DS XL in terms of portability), and I think there is a good chance they will do this to capture a larger market, but I don't think it would or should have a separate game library. We're better off for games being playeable on as many form factors as possible. 

Who knows, maybe we'll see a foldable SW3, as foldable screens get cheaper.

I doubt I'd buy one. Even when I had a PS5, I wouldn't buy games for it. My old PC would outperform my PS5 despite having a 12 year old CPU (i7 4790k) and a 6 year old GPU (RTX 3070)

I don't even think exclusives would get me to buy a console at this point. If the only way to play a game is to play it on a system that runs the game below my standards then I'd rather not get the game.

So far:
- More than 75% of voters would not go over $700
- More than 90% of voters would not go over $800

I think we all have access to so many games, and most either already own a PC, PS5, Xbox Series or even older tech such as PS4/One/Switch - I think not many of us actually need to spend over 600 dollars on a new console any time soon with plenty of gaming devices (even including our phones!) keeping us busy, but yeah sometimes we need a impulse buy but consoles are getting beyond that cost now 

So far:
- More than 75% of voters would not go over $700
- More than 90% of voters would not go over $800

this is interesting, plus we need to factor in that 90% of people will need to upgrade their TVs to enjoy a new console too which makes things worse. It makes so much sense to delay the next gen of gaming at the moment but they should make a PlayStation or Xbox handheld like Switch 2 for the time being or maybe release some retro stuff for fun like the SNES Mini or Mini PS1 did but maybe make a Mini Gamecube or PS2 for example lol.