Poco Tuesday: Consoles vs. Handhelds

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As we all know, there are two basic ways to play videogames. You can play them at home on a console plugged into a television; or you could play them anywhere, on a portable device which I like to refer to as a handheld. Which is best? Whether you enjoy to play your videogames in the comfort of your home or on-the-go is your personal choice, but I’m going to look over the pros and cons of each. First of all, there are certain games I believe are simply better on either a console or handhelds. Some games, such as Donkey Kong, Zelda, and every FPS offer a better experience on a console I am also a firm believer that games such as Animal Crossing, Pokemon, and Metroid are far better suited for handheld devices. I don’t really have a good explanation as to why these games are better on said platforms, they just are. Consoles The first thing I want to look at with consoles, is what would keep most people from purchasing them, is the price. Consoles are very obviously much more pricey then handhelds. However, this is for a good reason, as it cost much more to make said consoles. Consoles are much larger, have much more internal hardware, need to be compatible with many more things, and need to have much greater specs. And while we are on the topic of specs, I would like to mention that specs are one of the main differences between consoles and handhelds. Naturally, a console has greater specs than a handheld, due to a handheld’s limitations. However, I believe this is a stupid reason to like consoles better than handhelds. First of all, I don’t care about a games graphics. Sure, I’d prefer good graphics over crappy graphics, but that doesn’t make or break a game for me. Things like gameplay, story, music, and content make a game for me, which can be provided equally on both consoles and handhelds. Something else I would like to bring up, is convenience. Handhelds, which don’t require a television, can go anywhere and easily fit into your pocket. This makes consoles much less convenient to play. Handhelds Handhelds are essentially a cheaper, dumbed-down counterpart to a videogame console. By no means does this mean that the portable devices and the games produced for them aren’t great. In fact, my personal preference is handhelds. All of that aside, there are some things handhelds are very useful for, regardless of rather you like them or not. When Nintendo introduced the DS, and more recently the 3DS, they introduced a new way to play games. Multiple screens and touch screen controls were unheard of previously. Great games such as The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass utilize both of these things perfectly. Could you imagine playing Phantom Hourglass on the Wii? More recently, Nintendo introduced something known as Spotpass to the 3DS. Spotpass is activated whenever the 3DS is in sleep mode, and whenever you pass another person with a 3DS on them, you can transfer data. Things like this, are unique to handheld devices, giving them room in the videogame market. Conclusion So in conclusion, both ways to play videogames have unique twists, and the on you prefer is simply a matter of opinion. However, consoles will probably always dominate the market, as they truly introduced non-arcade videogame playing.

About the Author: Rial Johnson

Rial Johnson founded Nintendo Castle in 2011 with hopes to build the largest collection of Nintendo walkthroughs, guides, and content on the web. He is an avid gamer with a special place in his heart for Nintendo, but often finds himself writing about games more than actually playing them. You'll likely see him around Nintendo Castle and on social media, mostly managing the front-end content of the site.

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