The Video Game Critic

matmico399 wrote:The main reason I come here is for the reviews of console games and the forums. Portable systems and games just don't interest me.

What is everyone's opinions on portables?

Except for old skool dedicated handhelds, I was not into ROM portables until I got a backlit GBA SP about a decade ago. That handheld, and a DS Lite have gotten a lot of hours. The screen size, brightness, lightness, comfort level, colors, processor, and libraries all met my needs.

Advance Wars may as well have been glued in my SP for a long time. There really are games worth buying a handheld for. I have a big soft spot for my Sega Master System, but I have still only played Phantasy Star on my SP. Even if you don't own a single Nintendo console, you can sample Nintendo games like Links Awakening. The PSP has supporters too.

I can understand not being interested in portables. The libraries have a lot of underwhelming games, and holding the entire portable is not as comfortable as holding just a controller, and the screens are small, or feeling forced into using a stylus and touchscreen, etc. For me though, I enjoy my Nintendo portables so much that I am cautiously optimistic on the NX.

To be honest I own a GBA, Game Gear and DSi but very rarely use them. Gaming is my unwind time and I'd rather kick back with a console game.

I had a period of enjoying iPhone gaming but the onslaught of freemium, micro transactions and also losing game progress when you need to delete an app to make room on your phone has pretty much killed it for me.

So my opinion on portables are that I like them so I can still game when I'm away from home. But bulk of my gaming time is with a console and TV. But I'm glad I have the option of an handheld.

Yeah, in the past I rarely played my portables. I've got a GBA, DS, PSP, and Vita that for the most part collect dust. Although frankly, I think I should pull them out more often but whatever time I have available at the moment, I try to read something or flip quickly to the Xbox One or PS4. And when those require updates, it's back to NetFlix or TV.

They're great when you're stuck on an airplane or traveling but I don't need to do that very often these days.

While I never take advantage of their portable nature, I love them.

It's nice to lay back with a nice game and I'd hate to do without the many great games that are exclusive to them (Like A Link Between Worlds for the most recent game that I've finished). It's also why I love tv options for handheld gaming. Since they're always played at home in view of a television, I may as well have the option of a large screen and comfortable controller while I enjoy such games.

The DS was my first followed by the backlit Game Boy SP that I feel had the first truly modern portable screen on it that fully met my expectations. But before that, I was enjoying Nintendo's output on my tv years before thanks to the Super Game Boy and Game Boy Player despite never having owned an actual Game Boy or Game Boy Color due to their poor screens.

And thanks to modders, I now own an Atari Lynx with a more than acceptable screen on it (With tv-out capabilities, even) and look forward to doing likewise with the Game Gear if something like the Retron 5's Game Gear adapter doesn't beat it to the punch.

I've become a handheld gamer over the past several years, starting with the GBA SP. I can't tell you how many hundreds of hours my DS Lite got, nor the countless hours invested into my 3DS. I'm a smoker (I know, it's bad), and I live in an apartment, so I'll take my handheld out on my patio, when the weather permits, and relax with an old school game (currently, I'm playing Super Metroid).