The Video Game Critic

Having recently come into possession of both a 3DS and Vita (I'm not normally into handhelds, but figured I'd give it a notable go), it sort of got me wondering whether people prefer their handhelds to have the screen above the controls, such as the Gameboy, 3DS etc or between the controls like the Lynx or PSP etc?

My preference at the moment is to have the screen between the controls because I can then see both the controls and screen; but as I grow more use to the button layouts of both handhelds (i.e. touch press, so to speak), that may change.

I think screen on top for me. My favorites seem to be the GBA SP and the DS Lite, both with clamshell screens on top design. However, I do have an enjoy handhelds with screens in the middle as well.

Other things matter more than screen position to me, such as weight. The 2DS seems heavier than the DS Lite, the 3DS XL is definitely chunky, and the Switch with joycons weigh in as heavier still than a 3DS XL. I have not played a Switch yet, but weight for a portable is important.

I don't particularly care myself either way. However, if I were designing handhelds, I would take into consideration that no system has ever won the handheld war with screen between buttons (Lynx, N-Gage, Gamegear, PSP, Vita, etc.) and the winner has always had buttons below (GB, GBC, DS, 3DS, etc.). The one example of a "winning" handheld with screen between is the GBA, but the original model reviewed horribly, was quickly revised, and more than half the units sold for the entire line were for the GBA SP, so the "buttons below sells more argument" holds even when comparing versions of a Nintendo handheld to itself.

Atarifever wrote:I don't particularly care myself either way. However, if I were designing handhelds, I would take into consideration that no system has ever won the handheld war with screen between buttons (Lynx, N-Gage, Gamegear, PSP, Vita, etc.) and the winner has always had buttons below (GB, GBC, DS, 3DS, etc.). The one example of a "winning" handheld with screen between is the GBA, but the original model reviewed horribly, was quickly revised, and more than half the units sold for the entire line were for the GBA SP, so the "buttons below sells more argument" holds even when comparing versions of a Nintendo handheld to itself.

That has less to do what the buttons were on the side, and probably more to do with the fact you needed to stand 10 feet from an arching substation transformer just to see 10% of the screen just to see anything.

I really like the form factor of the original GBA. The screen is decent enough with an aftermarket front-light installed.

Buttons to the sides feel more natural to hold.