Handhelds are dead?

[TransformerRobot]

How can people say portable console gaming is dead when the 3DS is doing so well?

Sure, there's the Vita, but that's because Sony majorly screwed up there.

Now there are even idiots like Pachter who, in spite of Nintendo's success with the 3DS (Smash Bros. says hi) say that the company should move to mobile software.

You have any idea how much MORE money they would lose by going that direction?

The vast majority of people who play games on the app store only have a passive interest in gaming anyway, and wouldn't give enough of a damn to actually put time and effort into playing a FULL game. Instead they would rather play generic candy-themed puzzles or Flappy Bird clones.

I know what else you're thinking; "Nintendo isn't changing with the times like the market is.". Then how do you explain the amiibos? Nintendo clearly is NOT changing with the times by taking advantage of similar tech to Skylanders and Disney Infinity. /sarcasm

Nintendo will get more with the times because, unlike Sega during the Saturn years, they're willing to look at past mistakes.

 

[Captain Howdy]

The 3DS has been Nintendo's almost-the-worst selling handheld (except the 2DS and Game Boy Micro, which aren't big surprises) in recent years, and it's been going downhill since the original DS - so I think "success" might be too strong a term, but it's pretty clear that handheld is dying, definitely not dead yet though. People now in their's 20's and 30's will or already have kids, so they can pass on the nostalgia. I'm not too sure that's going to happen when that next generation has kids - Who grew up with smartphones and such, whereas the 20-30 year olds pretty much only had Nintendo.

Now if Nintendo made a smartphone (or licensed out their software, made adaptors and such), then we'd be talking a very interesting move, but eh - Whatever.

 

[CaptainCool]

The thing is that most people own a smartphone these days. You can buy a Motorola Moto G for just over 100 bucks and it is WAY more powerful than a 3DS.
Many people also don't have the time or the attention for bigger games. Shit like Candy Crush is more successful than ever...

Nintendo still has a market for portable dedicated gaming systems and I highly doubt that the 3DS will be the last handheld they make. But they definitely are on the decline. The Vita doesn't sell at all and the 3DS is not selling as well as other Nintendo handhelds.

 

[TransformerRobot]

The thing is that most people own a smartphone these days. You can buy a Motorola Moto G for just over 100 bucks and it is WAY more powerful than a 3DS.
Many people also don't have the time or the attention for bigger games. Shit like Candy Crush is more successful than ever...

So you're saying Nintendo should, come next generation, start making watered down, psudeo-free to play virtual cocaine to stay relevant? You know how many of Nintendo's core audience would forever leave them if they did that?

Hint: All of them.

Smartphones have mostly touch screen controls, which make it too fucking hard to see the game, you have to buy the controller separately instead of the controller coming WITH the system, there are advertisements everywhere getting in your way while you try to play, and 90% of games on the app store aren't even fun or engaging enough.

There is no way in hell Nintendo would survive making such games in such an environment.

 

[Shadow Jaeger]

How about we forget about handhelds and move on to more powerful platforms and let the chiptunists rule the hand held gaming console scene?

 

[Imperial Impact]

What the fuck you guys.

 

[Misomie]

If the good handhelds died out and only phones were left, let's say I'd be done with handheld gaming until a new dedicated system came out. Phones are over-priced pieces of garbage. You pay tons if you want the newest model every few months and they don't last long at all. They have data restrictions and a monthly fee to run. It's such a money sinkhole. Why would I pay $50-$70 a month just to do basic stuff that my 3DS does for free? Cell phones should stick to their awful awful wretched games and for communication. I'm just fine with my 3DS and the rest of my handhelds. If I wanted handheld gaming, I'd buy a new game for one of my systems. If I wanted texting I'd buy a cellphone, or rather just use Facebook through my 3DS (which I do and it works great) because it's free (or rather because the internet is for the computer and not the 3DS primarily).

Goodness. The day Sony and Nintendo abandon handheld gaming is the day my soul will die. I doubt it's going to happen though (because mobile phone games SUCK).

 

[Shadow Jaeger]

What the fuck you guys.

What....i just want a few more gameboys for my music is all >_<

edit- now that i think about it, if Nintendo were to re release the original gameboy and maybe colour and advance. Do you think they would make a little bit of money from nostalgia lovers and chiltunists? I mean i let my nephew play with my gameboy Pocket and he absolutely loves it. He said he would love to get one. Just wondering

 

[Misomie]

What....i just want a few more gameboys for my music is all >_<

edit- now that i think about it, if Nintendo were to re release the original gameboy and maybe colour and advance. Do you think they would make a little bit of money from nostalgia lovers and chiltunists? I mean i let my nephew play with my gameboy Pocket and he absolutely loves it. He said he would love to get one. Just wondering

Rereleasing a dead system is stupid. There are plenty floating around to buy if you really wanted one. New systems are supposed to be innovative. At most they will design newer system top look like older ones or share looks.

 

[Shadow Jaeger]

Meh just an idea in my head....still if they did it would be nice and cheap....which is nice in terms of getting spare parts

 

[PastryOfApathy]

So long as Pokemon is a thing that exists, handhelds will never die. /thread

 

[Kino-Fisk]

Nintendo has a firm hold of the handheld market. Have tablets and smartphones seriously cut in? Yes, but unlike Sony Nintendo wasn't willing to give up when their console didn't take the world by storm. They cut prices and raised the number of first party games to get the 3DS where it is and they'll continue to be competitive in that space (unlike Sony, who when the Vita fell flat just seems to have given up on the platform outside of Japan).

I doubt we'll ever see a handheld system (or even home console, for that matter) pass 100 million units sold world wide, but a company like Nintendo doesn't necessarily need that many units to remain profitable in the handheld space. I'm sure the 3DS (and its variants) will continue to expand their market base and probably end up between 60 and 80 million units sold...

And yeah, as someone already stated: so long as Ninendo has Pokemon they're going to have handhelds. lol

 

[JaskaTheFennec]

I definitely don't think handhelds are dead?
The 3DS has actually been a fairly good seller, and I think it's just going to keep increasing - what with all of the LoZ games being released on it, new Pokemon games specifically for the 3DS, Fire Emblem, etc!
All pretty big titles that are going to keep it afloat! c:

Would you consider the WII-U a handheld? Because that is a HEAVY seller, especially now with Super Smash BROS comings out, and Hyrule Warriors having been recently released?
Handhelds are always going to have a special place in my heart.

 

[Captain Howdy]

I doubt we'll ever see a handheld system (or even home console, for that matter) pass 100 million units sold world wide

The original Game Boy, Game Boy Color, original DS, Wii, Playstation 1 and 2, are all over 100 million, and the DS Lite is nearly 100 million, but this was all before cellphones were capable of being interesting :v

Because that is a HEAVY seller.

7 million units is a heavy seller? (The Wii is over 100million, PS4 is at 10mil)

 

[Kino-Fisk]

The original Game Boy, Game Boy Color, original DS, Wii, Playstation 1 and 2, are all over 100 million, and the DS Lite is nearly 100 million, but this was all before cellphones were capable of being interesting :v

My point was that the Gameboy DS, and first two PlayStations were before tablets and smartphones were a factor. Clearly that's impacted console sales -- especially handheld sales.

 

[Nekokami]

Pachter is a prick; nobody should listen to him.

 

[Kangamutt]

Are you seriously still going on about this? No, really. Are you seriously still under the impression that King and Zynga are plotting to kill portable consoles while hiding on a skull-shaped island fortress like they're some Saturday morning cartoon villains?

People who want to play an in-depth game on the go will play on a portable console. There are tons of people that do so. People that just want to kill some time with screen-tapping little puzzles will have those on their phones. There's always going to be a market for either one. Dedicated games aren't going to devolve into Paywall Adventure either, because most people are smart enough to know that paying to progress is a crock of shit. Hell, my mom is nuts for Candy Crush, and even she knows microtransactions for lives is bullshit.

For crying out loud, you're like the guy that stands on a street corner holding a big sign that says "THE END IS NEAR" whenever some speculative article comes out.

 

[Fernin]

Eh, portables aren't as super prevalent as they used to be, but they're far from dying. As "strong" as phone gaming has become, there will always be people who want the vastly better interface of handheld with sticks and buttons to touch screens. Not to mention the better sound, and much larger games. To date you still won't find anything like Fire Emblem, Pokemon, God of War, Resistance or Killzone on a phone.

 

[TransformerRobot]

Eh, portables aren't as super prevalent as they used to be, but they're far from dying. As "strong" as phone gaming has become, there will always be people who want the vastly better interface of handheld with sticks and buttons to touch screens. Not to mention the better sound, and much larger games. To date you still won't find anything like Fire Emblem, Pokemon, God of War, Resistance or Killzone on a phone.

There's no way in hell games of that size would make it to phones.

 

[Kino-Fisk]

There's no way in hell games of that size would make it to phones.

Phones are fast evolving and, honestly, I expect will be seeing PS3/360 or higher performances on some mobile devices within the decade.

Do I want to play on touch screens? No, but I'm just being realistic here. There is soon going to come a time when smartphones and tablets really step it up and handheld systems will have to work even harder to compete.

 

[Duality Jack]

There's no way in hell games of that size would make it to phones.

We already have phones and tablets with the power of a slow PC, and phones that surpass PS2 and XBox Classic levels of performance, with with the PSVita approaching Ps3's performance, I don't think that is a safe assumption anymore.

 

[Schwimmwagen]

vita a shit

3DS is doing hella well

smartphones are shittier than the vita, but are doing tremendously well

 

[TransformerRobot]

Phones are fast evolving and, honestly, I expect will be seeing PS3/360 or higher performances on some mobile devices within the decade.

Do I want to play on touch screens? No, but I'm just being realistic here. There is soon going to come a time when smartphones and tablets really step it up and handheld systems will have to work even harder to compete.

It's not like we can just see Nintendo, 20 years from now, teaming up with a major mobile device manufacturer to help them make their next gaming system. I'm already clear that a Nintendo X Apple system wouldn't happen because both companies are such control freaks.

 

[Kangamutt]

Phones are fast evolving and, honestly, I expect will be seeing PS3/360 or higher performances on some mobile devices within the decade.

Do I want to play on touch screens? No, but I'm just being realistic here. There is soon going to come a time when smartphones and tablets really step it up and handheld systems will have to work even harder to compete.

There are already controllers for Android phones, and I'm sure if you look hard enough, someone surely has made an app to use any bluetooth-based controller (pretty much all of them now) for the iPhone. And when this does become a common thing, then the game quality will ramp up from the finger-peckers we have now.

As far as advancement, it's getting damn close. Nvidia has an Android-based gaming tablet that can stream your PC games to it (If not a tablet, then they also have a fully portable version too). It really is going to be only a matter of time before portables/handhelds will match their tethered-to-the-wall cousins almost pound-for-pound.

 

[TransformerRobot]

Okay, but for Nintendo to put it's games on mobile devices they would clearly not work with touch screen controls (at least not on smartphones). They'd have to be given an additional code that prevents the games from working without an Android controller.