rajin
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Post by rajin on May 19, 2023 16:41:53 GMT
I bought a DSi XL recently and thought it would be interesting to discuss the hardware of all known handhelds you have played. The physical cartridges were too small and easily lost however. I will keep mine to a top 5 and summarize my other experiences.
1: PS Vita OLED
I love how it fits in your hands and the analogue stick works pretty well. The screen at the time was also revolutionary and the interface is still my favourite. Decent battery life as well.
2: PSP 3000
I still love this console and the only reason its lower then the vita are the UMD's and worse thumbstick. I feel like sony's designs just fit better in your hands generally and use great screens.
3: New 3DS XL.
I really like the look and feel of the new design and think the 3D is much improved. Screen also flips with relative ease and does not break that easily. IPS screen lottery is my main nitpick and the crappy second analogue. DS games dont look that good however, which does bring it down a bit.
4: GBA original/SP
I am still torn on what model, I loved the backwards compatibility at the time, very ergonomic design. The screen was hot garbage with a lack of backlights. The SP while much better suffered from mediocre front lights and a design that never fit well in my hands. It was super portable and sturdy and definitely fit in my pocket.
5: Gameboy Colour
basicly improved on the gameboy in every way and still feels great to play on if it were not for that screen.
Other consoles summary:
The absence of the switch is not intended to be contrarion or anything. I truely feel its a terrible handheld and use mine exclusively docked. I hate the joycons with their drift, dislike the buttons, think its too heavy and most games were not optimized text wise and are therefore really hard to read. I even think its too big really. The DS models always felt uncomfortable and a inferior design compared to the 3DS. I have not had enough experience playing on the DSi Xl to comment on that. I loved my original gameboy but its truely ancient now. The atari lynx sustainability wise is a monster and eats batteries for breakfast. Ours also broke down after 2 year average use
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Post by 😎 on May 19, 2023 16:49:42 GMT
Steam Deck enters the chat
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 19, 2023 16:54:55 GMT
Switch Lite has a good shout too. Thread doesn't even have a poll.
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rajin
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Post by rajin on May 19, 2023 16:59:53 GMT
I am a bit of a boomer forgot about polls! Here we go had to use more braincells then my decafeffienated brain could handle.
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Post by dfunked on May 19, 2023 17:10:53 GMT
Original DS phat is probably the strongest attachment to a handheld console I've had aside from the obvious Gameboy adoration as a kid.
I was in a serious gaming funk when it came out, almost to the point of considering selling everything. Then I got one of these on a whim and it totally reinvigorated my love for gaming. Ouendan ftw!
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Post by elstoof on May 19, 2023 17:25:23 GMT
Did we ever find out why the vita oled couldn’t display true blacks
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 19, 2023 17:32:10 GMT
I 'member having this magnifying lens with light attachment for the OG Gameboy so you could play in the dark. Blew my tiny little mind.
I was obsessed with Double Dragon on it. Loved the Gameboy cartridge boxes too.
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Post by baihu1983 on May 19, 2023 17:32:30 GMT
3DS for me.
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uiruki
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Post by uiruki on May 19, 2023 17:37:44 GMT
The Vita’s OLED being a splotchy dark grey on black screens is because of something called mura, which all OLED screens have to a greater or lesser extent. PSVR2 had a lot of complaints about it.
I actually liked the LCD Vita a bit more than the OLED one because of the better battery, higher brightness (useful outdoors), standard charging cable and slimmer profile. For me my favourite is the Deck though, the variety of controls on it make it such a genuinely useful machine in so many situations, it’s extremely comfortable to hold even though it’s a big old thing, and I really like using it plugged in too.
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Post by Aunt Alison on May 19, 2023 17:47:20 GMT
GBA SP. There was a fancy gold special edition Zelda one (think it came with Minish Cap), plus ALttP on a portable console and Fire Emblem
PSP second just for Tactics Ogre
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Post by elstoof on May 19, 2023 18:25:34 GMT
My Vita screen looks like someone jizzed across it when it’s dark
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Post by elstoof on May 19, 2023 18:25:56 GMT
A perfect little 💦
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Post by Vandelay on May 19, 2023 19:04:21 GMT
I've only owned three and honestly couldn't give a fair assessment of one of them, being really too young to be in anyway objective (Game Gear - and it really belonged to my older brother). So, that just leaves the Steam Deck and Switch.
Switch is a lovely little console and has some fantastic games. Many of those games were already great Wii U games, so as someone who already owned that console having to re-buy all those games is a mark against. Also, as someone who doesn't even have particularly massive hands, it clearly hasn't been designed for grown-up hands, with zero ergonomics.
If you like Nintendo games though, then it is an essential console. Nice little indie game device too.
Steam Deck has replaced it for me as a handheld though. Blows my mind that I have a device that can (mostly) play games from 20+ years ago. If you don't mind a little fiddling, then the potential scope of it is insane. Modern games work pretty well too, although you do have to accept some compromises.
It is bulky, but it is surprisingly comfortable in the hands. You don't think it will be that comfortable when you first look at it, but you don't feel the weight at all.
Not having to pay Nintendo tax on the indie games is an added bonus.
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Post by brainbird on May 19, 2023 20:00:20 GMT
I loved the GBA. While it was almost too small to be of practical use the GBA mini was and still is one of the nicest bits of hardware I ever came across.
The Neo Geo Pocket Colour is a thing of beauty. I love the clicky thumbstick. Let's just not talk too much about the library.
My PS Vita is still in use these days. So those are my favourites.
I rarely use the Switch for handheld gaming to be honest. It's great hardware but as others have stated I use it almost exclusively as stationary console too.
I have a soft spot für the generation of Game Gear, Atari Lynx and og Gameboy but as handhelds go nothing tops the three above.
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KD
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RIP EG
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Post by KD on May 19, 2023 20:10:37 GMT
Out of those I only had an original Gameboy and now a Steam Deck.
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rajin
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Post by rajin on May 19, 2023 20:19:59 GMT
I loved the GBA. While it was almost too small to be of practical use the GBA mini was and still is one of the nicest bits of hardware I ever came across. The Neo Geo Pocket Colour is a thing of beauty. I love the clicky thumbstick. Let's just not talk too much about the library. My PS Vita is still in use these days. So those are my favourites. I rarely use the Switch for handheld gaming to be honest. It's great hardware but as others have stated I use it almost exclusively as stationary console too. I have a soft spot für the generation of Game Gear, Atari Lynx and og Gameboy but as handhelds go nothing tops the three above. Forgot about the gamegear, never seen one in the netherlands back when it came out. I did see neo geo pocket colours a couple of times and owned a relatively rare atari lynx. I mainly played rampage all day on the lynx and having to pay for batteries myself a gaming session basicly was like emptying your pockets at a arcade. |
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Post by elstoof on May 19, 2023 21:21:37 GMT
I liked the sega Nomad more than the game gear
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 19, 2023 21:27:29 GMT
PSP. Kept me sane during my OE.
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rajin
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Post by rajin on May 19, 2023 21:34:08 GMT
Honestly expectes the switch to be the most popular by a wide margin.
Sega Nomad is a even more mysterious handheld. I truely dont know anything about it.
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rawshark
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Post by rawshark on May 19, 2023 21:51:43 GMT
I’ve probably gotten more play out of handhelds than actual consoles.
Vote for the Game Gear as it was what really got me into games. Sure, it would only last an hour, but you could take it on holiday with you and plug it into the cigarette lighter for the journey.
Shinobi GG was hot shit at the time. Sonic 1 was tight. Mean Bean Machine was the only portable version of Puyo Puyo for years if I recall. And Defenders of Oasis was my first RPG - wore out the on/off switch because I hated the random encounters.
But obviously the Vita was the best.
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rawshark
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Post by rawshark on May 19, 2023 21:58:06 GMT
Oh but have to put a shout in for the GBA now too, purely because there was this time me and my friends went to a pub to celebrate someone getting their first court appearance (didn’t pay for his train ticket - shit crime but we had to turn up and watch him grovel in front of the judge anyway). We were young and stupid, and drank nothing but red bull cocktails all night. Wouldn’t you know it, couldn’t sleep for the next 48 hours.
So thank fuck for Advance Wars on the GBA. If it wasn’t for that game I might have gone insane with the caffeine overdose.
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Post by Fake_Blood on May 19, 2023 23:22:03 GMT
Give me a DS-lite and Picross 3D and I’m entertained for weeks.
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Post by elstoof on May 19, 2023 23:30:27 GMT
A psp and lumines would do me for the rest of my life most likely
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Post by simple on May 19, 2023 23:38:58 GMT
I think my DS Lite probably even beats out my Gameboy for hours played. There were so many good games on that little thing.
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Post by killerbee on May 20, 2023 7:25:22 GMT
Love my Vita. That OLED screen and dual analogue sticks made it feel like a handheld for proper gaming. I only ever actually bought about 5 games for it, but played so much brilliant stuff thanks to PS+ freebies.
Otherwise it’s Nintendo all the way - from the original Gameboy to the Switch. I’ve owned - still own - one of ever generation and they’ve never let me down. If I have to pick a favourite it’s probably the DS Lite but they’re all great.
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Lizard
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Post by Lizard on May 20, 2023 8:42:12 GMT
Yeah, DS has a great library.
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Post by Bill in the rain on May 20, 2023 9:05:09 GMT
I wish the touchscreen on my DS Lite hadn't died. Apparently it was so common that nintendo sued the supplier.  I had a cool handheld back in the days before switch, that I bought off ebay. But I've completely forgotten what it was called. It would run loads of emulators, so I remember playing Doom and Quake on it, back when the idea of being able to play Quake on a handheld seemed crazy. Wish i could remember what it was called, because it was awesome.
Oh, and I deeply love my GBA Micro.
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Post by Fake_Blood on May 20, 2023 13:21:19 GMT
Has anyone played Phantom Hourglass in the last years? Been thinking about playing a more friendly Zelda, ideally Windwaker HD but that would involve setting up the WiiU. Just wondering if it holds up.
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cubby
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Post by cubby on May 20, 2023 19:50:09 GMT
I much *much* preferred Spirit Tracks to Phantom Hourglass. It felt like they'd learnt from all the mistakes of PH, with much better dungeons and music.
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Lizard
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I love ploughmans
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Post by Lizard on May 20, 2023 20:12:14 GMT
I tried to finish PH twice but got fed up with constantly returning to that main temple. Loved the sailing and everything else though.
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