Will Smart Phones and Tablets Kill Handheld Gaming?

When someone mentions handheld gaming the first thing that pops into a gamers mind is usually a Nintendo product like the Game Boy or the 3DS. If you mention the same subject to someone who has never really been into the video game scene they would probably think of Angry Birds, Flappy Bird or whatever bird based game is popular at the time. The reason for this is that unless you’re either under the age of 12 or you are a video game enthusiast 99% of your gaming is done on your phone.

[PSNintyGamer]

No

[PoSTedUP]

Yes*... the DS, Vita, PSP and 3DS will die of laughter.

[Up_N_U]

lol

[MultiConsoleGamer]

Definitely not.

[donwel]

Yeah, how will 3DS and Vita survive without all of those flappy bird clones and micro-transaction laden king games.
Handheld games consoles have absolutely nothing to fear from mobiles. The problem with mobiles is, when you have a device that attempts to be a "jack of all trades" it inevitably ends up a "master of none".
3DS and Vita try to be nothing other than gaming devices and that's why they're not going anywhere.

[styferion]

SMH.. smartphones and tablets games have VERY DIFFERENT market than handheld gaming.

seriously, just because huge number of people "play games" on smartphone/tablet doesn't mean they can be defined the same as gamers who play handheld.

[Fullmetalevolust]

No, for the simple reason that they are dedicated gaming devices.

The 3ds has flagship nintendo titles who won't see the light of day on android or IOS as long as Nintendo remains successful.
The Vita has remote play and other attractive features (soon Psnow, strong multiplayer components).
Question is, will Sony develop and create a new handheld after the Vita?

Ps: I love my 3ds and Vita, my gamegear, psp and gameboy before that.

[BenRage3]

I just tried gaming on a smartphone for the first time a few days ago. Terraria was one of my favorite games last gen. I have it on PC and PS3, so it was a no brainer to have a portable version on my android phone. I downloaded the demo and played maybe two minutes before I deleted it. How anyone could enjoy using a touchscreen to play that game is beyond me. It was absolute garbage.

A touchscreen simply cannot replicate the accuracy of a gamepad/analog/circlepad. In conclusion, no, I don't think portable gaming is in any danger from phones and tablets.

[Geekman]

No. Who is this, the Motley Fool? Mobile gaming has never effected the sales of Handheld gaming. It is a mere idea in peoples head that people want to play short minigames like Angry Bird and Flappy Bird over long adventures like Dream Team and A Link Between Worlds or Persona 4 Golden.

[klecser]

Hey look! An article from 2009!

[Hicken]

More like 2009-20013. I guess if you keep making the article, eventually you have a chance of being right.

[Team_Litt]

You people are living in a bubble. Sony themselves have admitted that smart phones have badly hurt the handheld market.
You seem content sticking your fingers in your ears and burying your heads in the sand.

Let me lay some truth on you http://www.mcvuk.com/news/r...
This is a valid question, the answer may be "no" but let's not pretend it isn't a question worth exploring

[nohopeinc]

Isn't a smart phone a handheld device that you can game on? So no, handheld gaming will exist for as long as games do.

[schlanz]

This is a new and exciting question that's never been asked
/s

[jonnyp777]

What i dont like, is that vita is mostly trashy smartphone games. i bought it to be a portable ps3, and besides a few sports games and a few big hitters, theres not much else, and remote play wa a lie. its rediculous to sell angry birds for $30-40, and super old games for the amount they go for too. sony needs to adjust prices big time. when i do get a smartphone, it will be nice to get those trashy games with better graphics for a lot less. i will say, buttons mak the vita win in the hardcore gamer dept.

sent from my vita.

[PoSTedUP]

i agree on over priced phone games. but there are a lot of indies, and games like wipeout, LBP, uncharted, tearaway, gravity rush, deseagea*3, soul sacrfice, dragon crown, killzone mercs, modination racers, hotshots golf, p4g, atelier totori & atelier rorona, todiuken* (looks good), just to name a few, plus all the ports & indies, and all the games comming out this year: the vita, beieve it or not, is and has been getting A Lot more attention and games than it should (looking at sales). plus the ps4 remote play and PS3 games that will be avalible through psNow. the vita is solid so far imo. id just like to see more third party games.

[BelkingOfSony]

No!!!!!!!

[lonelyplayer]

Look at flappy bird... It just shows how bad are smart phones games are.

[youndamie]

Short answer no, long answer no.

[DualWielding]

handhelds are still popular in Japan, more popular than consoles even so Japanese developers are focusing primarily on handhelds.....as long as that the case handhelds would have a niche in the west with gamers who like JRPGs, Visual Novels and the like

[Xyconaut]

I'm much more interested in what it would take to kill these console death articles

[Austin48]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOO handhelds and consoles will never die

[batbatz]

gaming on phones is toxic, with the micro transactions and EA

[Geobros]

No way.................

[Otoshigamisama]

As long as handheld does what it does best and that is gaming HELL NO!! :)

[Razuel]

possibly, if someone develops an exceptional controller.