Do handheld games feel less ... significant?

[Dr. Morbis | 2,091]

3 minutes ago, RH said:

Man, as a GB lover all I feel is...

 

We all have different experiences going through our lives... some people like the Magnavox Odyssey, some people like the Phillips CDI, some people like playing game.com, and yes, some people out there even enjoy the black and white Game Boy...

[elprincipe | 142]

1 hour ago, Dr. Morbis said:

We all have different experiences going through our lives... some people like the Magnavox Odyssey, some people like the Phillips CDI, some people like playing game.com, and yes, some people out there even enjoy the black and white Game Boy...

All of those things are comprehendable...except, really, does anyone like the game.com? Seriously? And if so, why?

[drxandy | 3,236]

Growing up to me they did feel inferior, but I loved them just the same. I saved up my own cash to get the original Gameboy and would play it on car rides to visit family trying to get the last bit of light. I always enjoyed the depth of console games and there weren't as many experiences I had with handhelds that made them feel the same..  Certain games broke the inferior mindset for me, first gen pokemon specifically was a breaking point and during the gba era I fully embraced them as a quality gaming experience while playing fire emblem and lunar (even though it's not the best port it's still pretty dang impressive for that format) and many other RPGs to kill time at a boring job.

[AdamW | 713]

2 hours ago, RH said:

Man, as a GB lover all I feel is...

 

typical Albertan

[DarkTone | 988]

Took a while to pull the trigger on the switch. But I agree. 

Especially now where there's no signs of strictly handheld consoles. 

[T-Pac | 7,587]

I must not have been very clear in my original post. You guys are mostly discussing whether or not handheld games are as good as home-console games, but that's not what I'm talking about.

It has nothing to do with watered-down games or convenience factor - it's literally the act of playing on a handheld that diminishes my experience for some reason I can't understand.

If I play Super Mario Land [GB] on a TV with a Super Game Boy, it feels right and it feels significant. But if I play Super Mario World [SNES] on a handheld SupaBoy, the experience is somehow lesser. It loses the grandiosity for me. Not entirely, but enough to deter me from playing that way.

A lot of my favorite games are handheld games - I just prefer not to play them on handhelds I guess (which unfortunately pulls me away from stuff like the DS where that's the only way to play).

-CasualCart

[ThePhleo | 2,185]

When talking about handheld consoles you can only really talk about Nintendo. Everyone else is just a blip on the radar, a rounding error if you will.

Sega Game Gear, Atari Lynx, SNK NeoGeo Pocket, Bandai Wonderswan, and Nokia N-Gage I personally think are all the big players besides Nintendo and they have very little lasting impact.

Of course there’s only one other big name (easily the #2 name in the game actually) and that was Sony’s PSP and Vita and even they left the market without any major fanfare. They were always the “other” handheld and even then It was mostly just fantastic platforms for people to play j-RPGs; and we all know how popular those are in the west.

 

Nintendo for some reason just “gets it right”

Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, DS, 3DS, and now the Switch.

They never felt like “lesser” games to me but instead felt like their own unique experiences.

Nintendo Switch is the only handheld that feels like a full blown console experience and that’s because Nintendo was blatantly moving into that direction. They can no longer compete with Microsoft and Sony on a technical level, and put all their effort into what they do best.

 

There’s also a clear divide in “mobile” games. Clearly not the same caliber as handheld games, but clearly not trying to be either.

Edited May 21, 2021 by ThePhleo

[Sumez | 2,994]

The best thing about the Switch in my opinion is that it's finally buried the idea that a handheld game is a "less important" low-budget take on "the real console titles", something that's plagued a majority of their libraries since the Game Boy.

[Brickman | 4,013]

16 minutes ago, CasualCart said:

I must not have been very clear in my original post. You guys are mostly discussing whether or not handheld games are as good as home-console games, but that's not what I'm talking about.

It has nothing to do with watered-down games or convenience factor - it's literally the act of playing on a handheld that diminishes my experience for some reason I can't understand.

If I play Super Mario Land [GB] on a TV with a Super Game Boy, it feels right and it feels significant. But if I play Super Mario World [SNES] on a handheld SupaBoy, the experience is somehow lesser. It loses the grandiosity for me. Not entirely, but enough to deter me from playing that way.

A lot of my favorite games are handheld games - I just prefer not to play them on handhelds I guess (which unfortunately pulls me away from stuff like the DS where that's the only way to play).

-CasualCart

Ahhh gotcha. I still don’t agree haha. I can play OoT on the 3DS and enjoy it just as much or even more than the N64. Same goes with capcom/namco etc. classics on the DS etc. 
I just love the portability of it all. But each to their own.

[jonebone | 1,307]

I thought this way until I owned my first handheld... which was a DS Lite (Mario Edition) that I purchased new around the time I started collecting 2008 / 2009?  

After that point I had a brand new appreciation for handheld games.  Something like 3DS A Link Between Worlds especially, play that on a 3DS XL and you'll be amazed.  I actually enjoyed that more than the SNES Link to the Past version, so that should tell you just how good that game is.

If there was one handheld exclusive "must play" that I've enjoyed, it would be that game.

[Brickman | 4,013]

6 minutes ago, jonebone said:

I thought this way until I owned my first handheld... which was a DS Lite (Mario Edition) that I purchased new around the time I started collecting 2008 / 2009?  

After that point I had a brand new appreciation for handheld games.  Something like 3DS A Link Between Worlds especially, play that on a 3DS XL and you'll be amazed.  I actually enjoyed that more than the SNES Link to the Past version, so that should tell you just how good that game is.

If there was one handheld exclusive "must play" that I've enjoyed, it would be that game.

Absolutely love that game too and is up there as one of my favourite Zeldas.

Although whenever anyone mentions A Link Between Worlds I can only think about Chris Carter’s Destructoid review and the shit storm that created. He still isn’t living that down to this day haha.

Reference for anyone that doesn’t know about it: https://www.destructoid.com/stories/review-the-legend-of-zelda-a-link-between-worlds-265374.phtml

[fox | 1,673]

2 hours ago, CasualCart said:

But if I play Super Mario World [SNES] on a handheld SupaBoy, the experience is somehow lesser. It loses the grandiosity for me.

They are not smaller screens, they are just more intimate screens

[WhyNotZoidberg | 586]

17 hours ago, AdamW said:

Nope. I'm glad some people think so, though. Helps keep the prices down...

Have you checked on DS prices recently?

16 hours ago, TDIRunner said:

You know what's funny about the PSP, is that it was SUPER CLOSE to being the Switch years before the Switch was a thing.  Most of us know that some models had video out.  There was also a dock that allowed you to charge the PSP and run the video out cable to a TV (it was meant for watching UMD movies).  It also could accept controls from a remote in this state.  I'm not sure why they didn't figure out a way to run a PS3 controller to it on the dock.  That was the only thing keeping it from being the first Switch.  

You are absolutely correct. And it's ironic that when Sony came out with the Playstation Move to follow in the Wii's steps they got heat for just copying Nintendo. While almost everything "revolutionary" the Switch does, the PSP already did. Go Nintendo!

 

3 hours ago, ThePhleo said:

Sega Game Gear, Atari Lynx, SNK NeoGeo Pocket, Bandai Wonderswan, and Nokia N-Gage I personally think are all the big players besides Nintendo and they have very little lasting impact.

They probably did better in other parts of the world (I know the Lynx was bigger in Europe and the NGPC and WonderSwan hit Asia harder than NA), but you are absolutely correct in that they didn't last.

It's that only Nintendo had the power to draw in the mainstream money with their 1st party titles. There were plenty of third party titles that became huge hits, but without the power of Mario/Zelda and Po-frigging-Kemon the other manufacturers didn't have a leg to stand on.

3 hours ago, CasualCart said:

I must not have been very clear in my original post. You guys are mostly discussing whether or not handheld games are as good as home-console games, but that's not what I'm talking about.

[...]

If I play Super Mario Land [GB] on a TV with a Super Game Boy, it feels right and it feels significant. But if I play Super Mario World [SNES] on a handheld SupaBoy, the experience is somehow lesser. It loses the grandiosity for me. Not entirely, but enough to deter me from playing that way.

Handheld gaming as a concept is definitely significant. 

Maybe home consoles made a bigger impact on you, so playing a handheld game on original Nintendo hardware with a SNES and Super GameBoy made it feel more legitimate than playing SMW on a portable SNES Clone? Is it the unofficial hardware that diminishes your experience? 

Would you say that if you play an original GBA title on a GBA it would feel significant since that's the true intended experience? Say you're playing the same game, like Golden Sun on a GBA SP vs GameCube w/ GBA adaptor?

 

As for myself I only got into handheld gaming with the 3DS after I had my first kid because I really appreciated the commodity of needing less room and time to play some games. And I did own an Atari Lynx as a kid so of course I got one now with some games as a collector and I very much enjoy playing it still.

I do not care much for compromised versions of established games so I could never play Mortal Kombat on GameBoy/GameGear but it feels like those days are long gone and even back then there were plenty of great original titles to choose from so that's beside the point.

Edited May 21, 2021 by WhyNotZoidberg

[RH | 4,967]

8 hours ago, AdamW said:

typical Albertan

The woman or me?!  Cause I'm 100%, gun totin, firework shootin', good old boy Sothern-by-the-grace-of-God, Murican!

[RH | 4,967]

4 hours ago, CasualCart said:

I must not have been very clear in my original post. You guys are mostly discussing whether or not handheld games are as good as home-console games, but that's not what I'm talking about.

It has nothing to do with watered-down games or convenience factor - it's literally the act of playing on a handheld that diminishes my experience for some reason I can't understand.

If I play Super Mario Land [GB] on a TV with a Super Game Boy, it feels right and it feels significant. But if I play Super Mario World [SNES] on a handheld SupaBoy, the experience is somehow lesser. It loses the grandiosity for me. Not entirely, but enough to deter me from playing that way.

A lot of my favorite games are handheld games - I just prefer not to play them on handhelds I guess (which unfortunately pulls me away from stuff like the DS where that's the only way to play).

-CasualCart

I understand what you're saying but I also think my experience is generally different.  Going back to my childhood, I had a bunk bed and I had the bottom bunk.  I remember putting blankets around it to I had a bit of a "tent".  I also had a Handy Boy (yes, I was an OG owner of one of those monstrosities) so I could play my games "in the dark".  For me, on the GB and the GG, I could get more absorbed into the game because though the screens had a 2" diagonal, they were close to my face and all visual white noise was drowned out in the darkness.  I think part of why fell in love with Final Fantasy Adventure was because it was the first story that actually drew me into a game (first RPG I ever played) and having that environment helped pull me into the story.  I've never changed from appreciating that type of experience.

But, playing those same games on a Super Game Boy, although cool as a kid, was a bit distracting.  It felt more like a novelty that something akin to a better experience.

Of course, your experience any your opinion are 100% cool and we are all different.  I can see where you're coming from because BIG TVs help the game play feel more epic but, in my case, I got that from small screens in dark rooms.

Edited May 21, 2021 by RH

[TDIRunner | 2,771]

4 hours ago, CasualCart said:

I must not have been very clear in my original post. You guys are mostly discussing whether or not handheld games are as good as home-console games, but that's not what I'm talking about.

It has nothing to do with watered-down games or convenience factor - it's literally the act of playing on a handheld that diminishes my experience for some reason I can't understand.

If I play Super Mario Land [GB] on a TV with a Super Game Boy, it feels right and it feels significant. But if I play Super Mario World [SNES] on a handheld SupaBoy, the experience is somehow lesser. It loses the grandiosity for me. Not entirely, but enough to deter me from playing that way.

A lot of my favorite games are handheld games - I just prefer not to play them on handhelds I guess (which unfortunately pulls me away from stuff like the DS where that's the only way to play).

-CasualCart

Looking back on my post, I guess I didn't really answer the original question presented for this thread.  

Personally, I don't consider portable games to be less significant.  However, I do consider the portable systems to be less significant because I would only play one in a compromised situation where a home console isn't possible (like in the car or in a hotel room).  Because of this I play portable only games much less often and I've probably missed out on great games because of this (I never played Link's Awakening until it hit the Switch).  The Switch solves this issue because going forward, there are no more portable only games.   

[fcgamer | 4,753]

Handhelds kick ass. My brother and I were in the Tiger Electronics camp growing up, when we finally did get Game Boys for Christmas it was amazing. Basically NES games in the go, which we could enjoy while on a boring ride someplace, in a hotel, at the relatives, etc.

We later saved up and purchased a Game Axe and adaptor to play NES games on a Famicom, for some odd reason it never gained as much traction.

The earlier handhelds were great, designers worked to capture and recreate the magic of the NES or other machines of the time, despite the limitations.

Oh, and for the record, SNES sucks.

 

 

[dr.robbie | 78]

3 hours ago, jonebone said:

I thought this way until I owned my first handheld... which was a DS Lite (Mario Edition) that I purchased new around the time I started collecting 2008 / 2009?  

After that point I had a brand new appreciation for handheld games.  Something like 3DS A Link Between Worlds especially, play that on a 3DS XL and you'll be amazed.  I actually enjoyed that more than the SNES Link to the Past version, so that should tell you just how good that game is.

If there was one handheld exclusive "must play" that I've enjoyed, it would be that game.

I completely agree that there are some high quality handheld games. Zelda LBW is definitely one of them - maybe the best. And then there are the other top notch games like the Marios, Pokemon, other Zeldas, Mario Karts, Castlevania, etc..

However, I also feel like handheld games are less significant like the OP said. Aside from the premium games, the replayability/enjoyability of handheld games is far less so than console games. It's hard to explain from my perspective, but there's not much enjoyment in searching for 4 AA batteries, finding a well-lite area, and firing up a low quality, difficult to see GB game on a mini screen. Part of the fun of the hobby is playing with others and that is also almost completely removed with handheld games. And if you don't collect CIB, they display horribly, which gives them another knock down from my collecting perspective. 

I guess I just see them as this "watered down" version in both collecting and playing like the OP was stating. Handhelds are the only part of my collection that I've seriously considered trimming from my collection and, if I had more free-time, they'd already be gone. 

On a completely different tangent - handheld games are also easy to get stolen. I've only had someone steal from my collection one time and it was all of my pokemon games. Sucks because it had to be family or friends, but obviously extremely easy to throw 8 cartridges in your pockets before walking out of someone's house. So, I guess easy theft can be added to my list of why I think lesser of handhelds

[AdamW | 713]

1 hour ago, RH said:

The woman or me?!  Cause I'm 100%, gun totin, firework shootin', good old boy Sothern-by-the-grace-of-God, Murican!

I meant @Dr. Morbis

[AdamW | 713]

5 hours ago, CasualCart said:

I must not have been very clear in my original post. You guys are mostly discussing whether or not handheld games are as good as home-console games, but that's not what I'm talking about.

I was actually answering the question as asked, even if no-one else did I understand the theory, but no, it just rarely feels that way to me. I can only think of some very specific cases, like Sayonara Wild Hearts, which I'd definitely always want to play on a TV because it's kind of an AudioVisualExperience (TM). But aside from that, no. It may be because I don't really look for Significance in games in the first place, I guess? I just want to have fun. I can't actually think of a game where the word I'd go to for why I remember it or why I liked it or something is "significant".

[Tanooki | 4,952]

6 hours ago, CasualCart said:

I must not have been very clear in my original post. You guys are mostly discussing whether or not handheld games are as good as home-console games, but that's not what I'm talking about.

It has nothing to do with watered-down games or convenience factor - it's literally the act of playing on a handheld that diminishes my experience for some reason I can't understand.

If I play Super Mario Land [GB] on a TV with a Super Game Boy, it feels right and it feels significant. But if I play Super Mario World [SNES] on a handheld SupaBoy, the experience is somehow lesser. It loses the grandiosity for me. Not entirely, but enough to deter me from playing that way.

A lot of my favorite games are handheld games - I just prefer not to play them on handhelds I guess (which unfortunately pulls me away from stuff like the DS where that's the only way to play).

-CasualCart

Sounds like a psychological problem, not a handheld one.  If the act of not playing an identical game with identical mechanics involved where the change is entirely doing it on a TV vs a small screen makes the games somehow suck, that's not the handhelds fault, it's yours.  You're not alone though I've seen others who will just refuse to play the Gameboy brand, dump on it for years as being a lesser thing, yet then they'll admit after using some of the games on a full screen TV setup (emulated, super gb, gb player, eshop/wiiware) suddenly they're nice.  Some people just can't seem to wrap themselves around having a smaller personal more intimate playing experience close to their face as it's like disturbing or something.  I don't get it, but whatever.

[fcgamer | 4,753]

1 hour ago, AdamW said:

I meant @Dr. Morbis

Glad to know Dr. Morbis isn't a woman.

[spacepup | 2,412]

@CasualCart I feel ya.  It's not that you think handheld games are "bad" or "less-than" (something I think many here are sort of misinterpreting from you).

Compare the entire experience of say, watching a movie in a movie theater, fully immersed in the experience, versus watching movie at home on a TV (even a nice one).  

I sort of feel the same way about gaming.  There's something about relaxing on the couch, using a controller, and playing a game on 'the big screen' that just feels a bit more immersive and enjoyable to me.  

It's not that I think handheld games are bad or anything - heck, there are tons that I love.  I have a Switch and while I play in portable mode sometimes for convenience, I certainly prefer the more immersive experience of playing on a larger TV, with better visuals, better sound, and an overall more enthralling experience.

[MiamiSlice | 3,100]

I have a lot of nostalgia with portable gaming, I like it more (since I don’t have to be tethered to a TV or monitor) and I even had a career in portable game design for a while (on iPhone and Android). But I know not everyone likes playing portable games. Some people can’t even stand it. 

[ApebitMusic | 130]

I've always been equally nostalgic for handhelds. In some ways I like it more. Having your own little screen feels more personal. I guess in a way it was safe little personal world for me as a kid.