How Nintendo Handhelds Evolved from Game Boy to Switch

Nintendo has comfortably dominated the handheld market for decades, but it has not done so without a long and rich history spanning from the 1980s.

[ApocalypseShadow]

You mean, the Nintendo Switch is not a home console where it has no competition? You don't say./s

Nintendo does make great portables though.

[Bathyj]

Gameboy?
I started on Game&Watch
Donkey Kong, Popeye, Oil Panic, Turtle Bridge hold a fond place in my heart.

[CDbiggen]

Something's missing from Nintendo's offerings these days and I can't quite put my finger on it. Back in the day the GB and DS offered a cheaper, portable, less-powerful but more unique and fun experience. Now we have just the switch, which is the worst of both worlds, it's not powerful enough and the library still after these years just doesn't impress me like the DS's did, and costs more to boot.

[Yui_Suzumiya]

What chu talkin bout, Willis?! It's the best Nintendo console since N64. The amount of visual novels, FPS and RPG's on it is staggering. It's a powerhouse of a machine! First Nintendo I've bought since 1997.

[VersusDMC]

The switch made the great handheld advancement of making people pay 60$ for handheld games when they used to be 40...and everyone said sure. 😁

[porkChop]

The difference is the Switch isn't getting custom, stripped down handheld versions of games. It's getting the actual, proper console game.

[VersusDMC]

Vita and 3DS had "proper console games"...kingdom hearts, killzone, uncharted, smash bros, 3d mario world, assassin's creed.

And if you say they didn't run as well or look as good as their console counterparts...it's the same thing with switch.

[porkChop]

Those weren't proper console games though. I don't think you understand what I'm saying. They were special games made specifically for the handheld. Usually dialed back in some way, gameplay-wise, to make them work on the handheld.

You're not getting that with the Switch. You're not getting some handheld approximation of the console experience, you're literally getting the same game. That's why Switch titles cost the same as on other consoles.

[Yui_Suzumiya]

I spent $250 on the Collector's Edition of Clannad and you don't see me complaining, lol. If the majority of games I bought for Switch were $60 or less then I'd be in heaven, lol. Chump change right there.

[JustSomeGuy94]

Man the GBA is one of my favorite systems period, let alone hand-held