Are We Moving Towards a "Portable Console" Era of Video Games?

KeenGamer: "Portability seems to be an ongoing topic in gaming today. Is this the future, or is it a trend? Valve, Nintendo, and Microsoft are playing significant roles in bringing the excitement of gaming anywhere you go. With Valve's Steam Deck, Nintendo's latest OLED Switch, and Microsoft's Cloud, portable console gaming is here."

[DonDon3000]

I hope not.

[Sonic-and-Crash]

agree...not at all ....has anyone of them played an HD visuals game on portable (Switch)? ....the thing cant be played and is not enjoyable ...you miss ton of graphical work and it fatigues you very quick ....

TV console gaming is the only way to fully enjoy high end games

[Skuletor]

Try PC gaming on an ultrawide monitor then repeat that last sentence again

[Rbeasley123]

Why wouldn't you want the utility of going on the road? I agree if it's ONLY handheld, but I can see a time when all future console releases are able to switch between big screen TVs and portable, the Steam Deck is proving the tech is finally able to produce console quality gaming in a handheld form factor.

[Chriswheeler22]

With a minimum of 30 fps and 720p though no?

[mandf]

I hope not.

[dumahim]

If I'm not at home, it's for a reason and that reason usually has my attention occupied so I can't play games on the go. I that's true for most people.

[Inverno]

I hope so. I'd like to see portable gaming getting better and better and I think the Steam Deck might just be that push. I don't think it'll replace stationary hardware, but I personally like not having to turn on a TV and being able to move around and just take my games with me.

[Rude-ro]

Handhelds are your wallet size gaming on go…
Not the way to game.
That would set back gaming 10 years as developers made the games work on such small devices.
They are welcomed, they just are not the direction gaming should take.
I very much doubt steam will see any large growth due to these and Nintendo is dead quiet with software movement compared to all other competition.

[Inverno]

I don't want them to take over I just want the option to improve tech wise. With the Deck the tech is trying to catch up with the games rather than having to scale games so down for tech that's obviously not powerful enough to handle it.

[Rbeasley123]

I don't think a future handheld console future would be "exclusively" handheld gaming but a "switch" option. Why wouldn't you want that utility? If you could get console/PC level power in a small handheld form factor, why not? If you want it stationary just plug it into a TV and leave it stationary lol, I don't see why the Steam Deck isn't definitely the way of the future

[VersusDMC]

Looking at 60$ Square Enix games(octopath, Neo: The world ends with you) compared to 60/70$ console games(FF7R and FFXVI) i MUCH PREFER stationary console gaming.

Portability as an excuse to use 2 gen old tech and charge the same is a straight up grift.

[Viljong]

Not. I dont understand taking games outside, unless it is a long bus ride, or you can play at work. I rather maximize the game experience i make it my special time with myself. Rather have large premium gaming tv with thunder avr 7.1 tower hometheatre. That is money well spent.

[GameZenith]

No

Next

[P_Bomb]

No.

[FallenAngel1984]

Back in the PSP era so many Nintendo fans asked why would anybody want a console experience on the go

My how times have changed

[TheColbertinator]

No.

[cammers1995]

I wish Sony would make another PSP/vita. Something

[Thundercat77]

Definitely not.

[Retroman]

Nope notta chance.

[nommers]

I really hope not. While I enjoyed a lot of the games that came out on the 3DS, PSP, GBA and DS I would ultimately prefer to play all the games on them on the big screen so my neck, back and fingers don't hurt. Seriously the button placement on these devices are just nowhere near as good as the traditional PS, Xbox, Gamecube and SNES controllers. I don't even play Metroid Zero Mission on any of my handheld devices any more, I play it on my TV. I bought a Playstation TV device just so I could play PSP games and some Vita games on my TV.

[Elda]

Gaming on home consoles first & foremost.

[Good-Smurf]

I hope not, as much as I'm into gaming there are other hobbies and stuff that takes higher priority when I'm on the go and being prone to motion sickness portable gaming cause great discomfort and frustration over inferior controls than conveninece and enjoyment to me.

[Sayai jin]

I don't think so. Still will remain niche

[glennhkboy]

It's already here, outside US & Western Europe. For the rest of the World, more gamers are playing on phones then consoles.

[Ratchet75]

Some games are just meant to be enjoyed on a big screen with Dolby Atmos sound... etc
Am I right? 😉

[Charlieboy333]

They have been spewing this ''hot take'' since games first appeared on mobile phones. The answer now, as it was then, is no. People will still prefer sitting on their couch with their huge tv and sound system to experience their games in order to get the full effect. Portable consoles are fine if you somehow take 3 hour shits or spend half the day on the train or bus.

[gold_drake]

god i hope not. i cant deal with small screens lol

[FinalFantasyFanatic]

I don't think so, I see this as natural evolution of what would have been the handheld market e.g. DS/3DS, PSP/Vita, ect... There's enough room for both approaches in the market (keep in mind the Steam Deck hasn't proven itself yet, but it's looking good to me, time will tell).

Imagine when battery tech improves and we can do something with higher performance than a Steam Deck, but with a 6 hour battery life. I assume battery tech will have some massive leaps in the future, considering it hasn't had many huge leaps in the last 10 or so years. Especially when you look at say mobile phones, yet the world is moving towards higher battery dependency because of tech like EVs and renewables.

[brewin]

Hell no! Its an option and will never be the only way to game. As long as people still buy consoles, home console gaming will never go away. Hell, I play my Switch in docked mode much more than handheld cuz I cant stand the shitty joycons. The pro controller is way better and the system is more powerful in docked mode.

[acptest]

I sure hope so