The history of gaming stretches its roots down to the ancient arcade gaming booths of the old days up to the epic-scale gaming consoles and mobile-driven handheld ones of today. From ancient 8-bit graphics to high-definition details in gaming environments, gamers all over the world have undergone a transcendental evolution on entertainment and enjoyment unlike any.
Recent gaming trends cycle between releases of increasingly complex and massive console units that cater to the hardcore gamers wishing to take the experience to the next level. However, the handheld console environment never falls behind on the times; continuously increasing the quality of its hardware as well despite the obvious competition that it suffers from its more stable brothers.
However, it is a curious mystery that players still obtain them. Here are a few interesting reasons why many still believe that handheld consoles are better than the more stable devices in the gaming market:
- Mobility – there is no question to the unshaken integrity of handheld devices when it comes to their mobility. In between conference calls and sending internet fax in the office, professional gamers among us can find time to inject a few minutes of entertainment into the stupor of the office environment. It also serves its purpose greatly for people who are constantly on the go and cannot afford long hours on end in front of a television or a computer playing the higher-end consoles.
- Utility – many of today’s handheld consoles not only serve their purpose as game devices but also double as various other devices such as music or video players, internet browsers, and even play host to other custom or more professional-driven applications such as calendar tracking, notepads, or even calculators. It started with mobile devices as early as Nintendo’s 3DS, which was the first to prove the point that even gaming consoles can become devices that professionals can utilize in their work.
- Social Experience – while it can be argued that consoles and computers do their job flawlessly in handling the social experience for gamers, the variant provided by handheld consoles make for an overall more engaging social experience for players. As handhelds can be brought anywhere and used while on the go, the experience of actually meeting another player with a similar handheld console, interacting with him or her through a similar game that can communicate between handhelds, is an experience that not only breaks the barriers to gaming but also builds more solid social relationships between players as opposed to behind character avatars or living room couches.
These major points continue to encourage game developers to keep releasing more advanced versions of the handheld gaming consoles and even going as far as porting several stable console games to a handheld version so that players who are more comfortable playing on the go can enjoy these epic titles just as equally. The concept of handheld gaming has been embraced so well that even players who own stable consoles such as the PS3 or XBOX360 still opt to get a 3DS, or PSVita for their handheld gaming needs.
