The Death of Handheld Gaming [Editorial]

Jordan Lund gives his reasons for the decline of handhelds like the Nintendo 3DS and PlayStation Vita and the rise of iOS devices.

[jujubee88]

In conclusion, make a bigger screen for PS VITA.

>.<

[JonahFalcon]

Actually, he writes: "But what really made the difference was the ease of Internet Access. My 3G enabled smart phone has a hotspot feature, so I’m plugged in from the moment I hit the train station until I get to work and again until I get home."

[jujubee88]

3G and Wi-fi b/g/n.

Edit (I had this cached bc of the bubble counts):

-"Again, EASE of internet access."

On the following:

"....watching movies, listening to music, surfing the Internet, getting mail, sometimes all of these at once...."

I don't think you know, but this is all possible on VITA. Tethering, connecting, etc to internet is possible. It's literally just like when you where learning your iOS/Android.

The browser is decent (compared to smartphones, yeah it's average - but it's way better than console browsers).

Thanks to the newes VITA firmware - I just downloaded "OMG Zombies" (free from PSM Store on a special deal). I popped out. I'm in the browser. I'm watching footage on youtube (for another PSM game I might buy from the PSM store). I could share the video on my VITA's LiveTweet twitter app so my followers can see.

I know it's tough with the set up, though you can easily get around work arounds. In my school, the internet connection is through some proxy thing. But I just went into the settings, adjusted for the proxy thing. Now, it automatically connects me (because it remembered my settings). So, the vita can connect online and be easy; it's just different nomenclature.

[JonahFalcon]

Again, EASE of internet access.

[H4all]

well look positive at handheld..
+a button = easy to control..
+a game = not all tablet can handle..
+a title = more good title and has a long story

i love handheld, a sample please take a look fifa 13 on vita, its better from smartphone and tablet.. touch, touch pad, button, so good to play on handheld..

handheld will not die like u said..

[tubers]

"I had that awkward thought this morning. I have Vita games I could be playing, why didn’t I bring the Vita? Because I’d rather spend the time with Google News, Facebook and Reddit. While that’s all also possible on the Vita, my iPad has a much, much larger screen."

That's why the VITA should keep on improving the browser (copy paste, more consistent page loads, less random autorefresh, full html 5 video support).

Sony's showing some support by giving the VITA some (not all html 5 vidoes work) html 5 video support with the recent patch (2.10)..

If Sony can't make a set of handheld IPs as attractive as Nintendo's then they should at least keep on sharpening the VITA's outside gaming capabilities (w/c they're trying to do).

[Kingthrash360]

Stupid shit...tabs aren't a hand held gamiming systems they are TABS... I really hate when people confuse the two. My ipad this and that stupid ipad has like 5 versions in undar 5 years only games they play is mostly micro games or bad uncontrollable emulators. Gaming isn't the focuse