jawa asks... What is your all-time favourite handheld games console?

What is your all-time favourite handheld games console?

Hot on the heels of the "best console" vote, we're now on the go with the opportunity to pick your favourite handheld console!

Please vote for up to three of the selections. Why three? We'll get a decent range of voting and discussion!

Please feel free to post your thoughts about the handheld console(s) you've chosen and perhaps a note or two about those that you didn't select as well.

Note: Switch has been included both here and in the "best console" thread. It's disruptive by nature!

Can't believe you forgot the Game Boy Pocket.

Knoyleo wrote:Can't believe you forgot the Game Boy Pocket.

Nor the Nintendo Virtual Boy . "Disgusting!" etc.

I went with the DS, 3DS and Switch. Love 'em all and particularly the DS; the DS Lite design transformed the system and, rather like the Wii, *everyone* seemed to have the system, leading to a huge variety of games.

A bit gutted not to have voted for the Game Boy or GBC but I just couldn't place it above those first three. These votes are taking an emotional toll.

Vita means life. What a console. Secondary choices are Switch (cos it's tremendous) and the GBA (for having Advance Wars). I'd have picked PSP but the Vita played all those games anyway.

More anti-Gizmondo bias.

The GBA SP and Vita are so far out ahead for me, I'm only voting for those two.

rinks wrote:More anti-Gizmondo bias.

Club Gizmondo .

I had forgotten about this one. A quick Google reveals it existed for less than a year and its best-selling game was Sticky Balls .

I've not really been as into handhelds as much as home consoles but Game Gear comes out tops for me followed closely by GBA SP

The PSP - I don't think there will ever be a greater jump between generations than going from a GBA (basically a handheld SNES) to a PSP (basically a handheld PS2). For all its flaws the PSP just had a hell of a load of character and I probably consider it the "coolest" gaming console. It played games of course (proper, 3D home console worth games!), it played music, it played movies, it even had a web browser! In 2005. The iphone came out in 2007!

Some of my best gaming memories are with the PSP. Some of my favourite games are on PSP. It's the PSP

Outrunner wrote:I've not really been as into handhelds as much as home consoles but Game Gear comes out tops for me followed closely by GBA SP

I briefly owned a Game Gear at one point in the early 90s but - and I can't really recall why - I quickly sold it on. Cool system, though; I enjoyed Super Kick-Off on it.

The GBA is an unknown quantity for me. I was never really keen on the horizontal design of that first edition and I just stuck with my GBC. Subsequently I know that the system saw many good titles!

Never really been in to handhelds. I did own a DS for a time and I still have a PSP which a friend is currently borrowing, (probably indefinitely as I'm not that fussed about it). So being as I still have a PSP I guess PSP comes out on top.

OrangeRKN wrote:...For all its flaws the PSP just had a hell of a load of character and I probably consider it the "coolest" gaming console. It played games of course (proper, 3D home console worth games!), it played music, it played movies, it even had a web browser! In 2005...

I enjoyed reading your recollections, Orange! I have never used a PSP and it seemed like a bit of an oddity; a powerful system but (and this is from an outsiders perspective!) with relatively few must-have games. It felt like they were trying to make slightly cut-down PS2 games run on the system when they perhaps should have made dedicated PSP games. Of course, the machine had a long life (thanks, Japanese fans!) and saw a huge range of games in the end.

I do wish their had been more promotion of the Vita; and a successor! It's strange how Sony couldn't quite crack the portable gaming market as it had with the home consoles.

jawaX wrote:

Outrunner wrote:I've not really been as into handhelds as much as home consoles but Game Gear comes out tops for me followed closely by GBA SP

I briefly owned a Game Gear at one point in the early 90s but - and I can't really recall why - I quickly sold it on. Cool system, though; I enjoyed Super Kick-Off on it.

The GBA is an unknown quantity for me. I was never really keen on the horizontal design of that first edition and I just stuck with my GBC. Subsequently I know that the system saw many good titles!

I liked that horizontal design (and actually owned one) but the lack of a backlight killed it for me, I much preferred the SP.

I have a modified Game Gear which has a backlight. I'm also assuming battery tech has come on in leaps and bounds because I definitely get more game time out of it than I used to when I first owned one

jawaX wrote:

OrangeRKN wrote:...For all its flaws the PSP just had a hell of a load of character and I probably consider it the "coolest" gaming console. It played games of course (proper, 3D home console worth games!), it played music, it played movies, it even had a web browser! In 2005...

I enjoyed reading your recollections, Orange! I have never used a PSP and it seemed like a bit of an oddity; a powerful system but (and this is from an outsiders perspective!) with relatively few must-have games. It felt like they were trying to make slightly cut-down PS2 games run on the system when they perhaps should have made dedicated PSP games. Of course, the machine had a long life (thanks, Japanese fans!) and saw a huge range of games in the end.

I do wish their had been more promotion of the Vita; and a successor! It's strange how Sony couldn't quite crack the portable gaming market as it had with the home consoles.

I think the PSP should be considered a success - certainly moreso than the Vita. The PSP sold 80 million units, more than the 3DS and almost exactly the same as the GBA (according to wikipedia). Sony broke Nintendo's monopoly on the market, and while sales didn't match up to the DS you have to consider that the DS is still the second best selling console of all time and did phenomenal numbers! The PSP was in a significant second place, not just an also-ran. It was much closer to the DS in sales than the Xbox and Gamecube ever got to the PS2, and we don't consider those complete failures! Unfortunately Sony just didn't follow up on that with the Vita which only managed 10-15 million units, I think for a variety of reasons. Consider though that the PSP was Sony's attempt to break into the Nintendo dominated world of handhelds and I think its safe to say they managed to do so.

As for the games I think retrospectively the PSP comes out really strong. I got into Monster Hunter on the PSP but at the time it was seen as a niche title and a phenomenon unique to Japan. I remember reading middling to poor reviews of Monster Hunter Freedom from places like gamespot and thinking they just didn't get it. Now Monster Hunter is undoubtedly a global success with a huge following by western audiences, and one of the biggest franchises in gaming (it's up there for Capcom with Resident Evil!). A lot of that is thanks to the series becoming more accessible, of course, but I think partly it was just about it not catching on like it clearly did in Japan. In the west the PSP had Monster Hunter Freedom, Freedom 2 and Freedom Unite. Japan got even more.

Of all its games Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker is the PSP's fanciest feather in its cap. The earlier PSP titles like Metal Gear Acid and Portable Ops, while decent, could be brushed aside as handheld spin-offs to a flagship home console series, but Peace Walker is MGS5 in all but name - Kojima has even said as much. Not only is it a genuinely fantastic game, the actually-named MGSV wouldn't exist as it does if it weren't for Peace Walker. Its legacy is now plain to see. What could be a bigger title on a Sony console than a brand new Metal Gear Solid game?

The PSP was also home to some quirkier titles. Games-turned-series like Loco Roco and Patapon live long in the memory, both having being remastered relatively recently for the PS4. Lumines has asserted itself in the puzzle game genre, the original being remastered recently for Switch, PS4 and Xbox One. These are all breakout stars of the PSP.

There are plenty more great games on the PSP that I could start talking about, but I hope I've made a convincing argument for it not being a niche console with few worthwhile games in its library!

I've never owned them but I voted for PlayStation.

I went with the GBA, 3DS and Switch, all fantastic consoles, I went with 3DS as it also plays DS games so I'm counting that library in with it

Switch is close to becoming my favourite console of all time, just need some more legacy content from Nintendo to release on it.

OrangeRKN wrote:

jawaX wrote:

OrangeRKN wrote:...For all its flaws the PSP just had a hell of a load of character and I probably consider it the "coolest" gaming console. It played games of course (proper, 3D home console worth games!), it played music, it played movies, it even had a web browser! In 2005...

I enjoyed reading your recollections, Orange! I have never used a PSP and it seemed like a bit of an oddity; a powerful system but (and this is from an outsiders perspective!) with relatively few must-have games. It felt like they were trying to make slightly cut-down PS2 games run on the system when they perhaps should have made dedicated PSP games. Of course, the machine had a long life (thanks, Japanese fans!) and saw a huge range of games in the end.

I do wish their had been more promotion of the Vita; and a successor! It's strange how Sony couldn't quite crack the portable gaming market as it had with the home consoles.

I think the PSP should be considered a success - certainly moreso than the Vita. The PSP sold 80 million units, more than the 3DS and almost exactly the same as the GBA (according to wikipedia). Sony broke Nintendo's monopoly on the market, and while sales didn't match up to the DS you have to consider that the DS is still the second best selling console of all time and did phenomenal numbers! The PSP was in a significant second place, not just an also-ran. It was much closer to the DS in sales than the Xbox and Gamecube ever got to the PS2, and we don't consider those complete failures! Unfortunately Sony just didn't follow up on that with the Vita which only managed 10-15 million units, I think for a variety of reasons. Consider though that the PSP was Sony's attempt to break into the Nintendo dominated world of handhelds and I think its safe to say they managed to do so.

As for the games I think retrospectively the PSP comes out really strong. I got into Monster Hunter on the PSP but at the time it was seen as a niche title and a phenomenon unique to Japan. I remember reading middling to poor reviews of Monster Hunter Freedom from places like gamespot and thinking they just didn't get it. Now Monster Hunter is undoubtedly a global success with a huge following by western audiences, and one of the biggest franchises in gaming (it's up there for Capcom with Resident Evil!). A lot of that is thanks to the series becoming more accessible, of course, but I think partly it was just about it not catching on like it clearly did in Japan. In the west the PSP had Monster Hunter Freedom, Freedom 2 and Freedom Unite. Japan got even more.

Of all its games Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker is the PSP's fanciest feather in its cap. The earlier PSP titles like Metal Gear Acid and Portable Ops, while decent, could be brushed aside as handheld spin-offs to a flagship home console series, but Peace Walker is MGS5 in all but name - Kojima has even said as much. Not only is it a genuinely fantastic game, the actually-named MGSV wouldn't exist as it does if it weren't for Peace Walker. Its legacy is now plain to see. What could be a bigger title on a Sony console than a brand new Metal Gear Solid game?

The PSP was also home to some quirkier titles. Games-turned-series like Loco Roco and Patapon live long in the memory, both having being remastered relatively recently for the PS4. Lumines has asserted itself in the puzzle game genre, the original being remastered recently for Switch, PS4 and Xbox One. These are all breakout stars of the PSP.

There are plenty more great games on the PSP that I could start talking about, but I hope I've made a convincing argument for it not being a niche console with few worthwhile games in its library!

I echo all of the above and the only reason I picked Vita is that I can play all those great PSP games (or at least most of them, Jeanne d'Arc ) on there alongside some cracking Vita titles.

Favourite of all time has to be the 3DS. It's a stunning console! You have a MASSIVE library plus you can play all DS games, PLUS virtual console! Also the special editions are just amazing as well!

EDIT: I didn't realise I could pick three!

So I also voted for the GBA and the Colour. Both also had fantastic library of games, plus the GBA link up with the Cube I thought was insane at the time!

The colour was my first ever handheld, so it's always close to my heart.

It's the DS. It's the DS by a county mile. The Switch is entertainingly close so I've voted for it too, and if OR's going to use generational jumps as a condition then 3DS to Switch is immense... but it's the DS.

The DS felt like the point when Nontendo developers were not only getting on board, but also creating a variety of really interesting games. Not shovelware, like a lot of Wii releases, but really interesting and good ones. Think of Squeenix with The World Ends With You, Capcom with Ghost Trick, Platinum with Infinite Space, EA (of all teams) with Henry Hatsworth and the Puzzling Adventure. I would say that Nintendo's output wasn't all that on the DS (iffy Zeldas, unimaginative Mario, worst Pokémon), but it absolutely didn't matter. The dual screens and touch screen, combined with production costs clearly not being that high, seemed to energise other companies.

And if we're going to talk about generational leaps, the fact that the DS was still pretty underpowered probably added to that. I think they'll age better than 3DS games too, for the most part, in the same way that the SNES has arguably aged better than the N64 - sprites vs. relatively underpowered polygons. Lack of power's a good thing!

There are two Nontendo games in my top ten of all time. There are two 'pure' handheld titles too. They're both DS games. It's the DS.

Balladeer wrote:...and if OR's going to use generational jumps as a condition then 3DS to Switch is immense...

It's favourite, not best right? So I'm reflecting on my experience of the console and its lifetime, not comparing them all now and picking one. And as an aside, while the 3DS to Switch is a big leap, the 3DS existed alongside the Vita, so my experience of the Switch as a generational leap was in comparison to the Vita - with less, I think, of a distance between them.

I liked my DS and 3DS, but I came to both late (in my favour as I got the DS Lite and New 3DS) and both sat secondary to my preferred Sony handhelds in both generations. If it weren't for Zelda I might have skipped Nintendo entirely - I'm glad I didn't!