I hope handhelds are not dead. I mostly play on them. I wanted a Switch, but the price is way too high. I would love a portable Xbox, so many times I wanted to remote play my Xbox 360, but can't.
I think it's something in Nintendo's mindset where they cannot stand excess stock. Like with the amiibos, I don't think there was a huge shortage of the parts, but the big N doesn't like seeing hardware sitting on shelves too long. THAT'S THE SEGA SPARTAN, GUYS LET'S MAKE A CHANGE.ORG PETITION THEN THEY'LL HAVE TO MAKE IT
I have my own small colletion of amiibos even though I don't own a system that can make use of them. I buy the like 2 dollar clearance ones as cart toppers for free shipping lol. Better than buying a micky mouse phone cover or something.
You know, I've always wondered why Microsoft hasn't taken that road. I wonder what they would come up with. I would LOVE to play Fable or JSRF on a portable device.
Would have flopped probably... If Sony failed with Vita, Microsoft would surely follow. Even 3DS had hard time but Nintendo saved it with great exclusives. Still it wasn't as successful as Nintendo DS.
3ds had a hard time because no one wanted to pay $250 for a handheld. Now that they have 3ds systems as low as $80 msrp they are selling like hotcakes (couldn't even buy one last year)
Still it doesn't sell as well as DS. It's true that 3DS probably doesn't appeal to casual gamers as much. Maybe people play on phones more? There is certainly decreased demand of pure handheld systems.
For real though. I play a ton of games on my phone/iPad now, so maybe phones truly have severely cut the demand for pure handheld systems.
dead might be a stretch. It's certainly evolved, especially because of the Switch, and the 3DS seems to be doing ok. We'll just have to wait and see what comes next.
But really, has any company BUT Nintendo been truly successful making a handheld? You could say Tiger made a decent amount in the super-cheap market for a few years, but Sega, Nokia, and Sony all more or less failed in a business sense at the segment. Maybe the Switch was Nintendo's inevitable future.
I could agree with this. They aren't the best at directly competing in the console market. They add gimmicks like motion controls (Wii) and second screens (Wii U) in an attempt to differentiate so they don't compete directly. The Switch seemed to be the natural evolution. Make their console games portable. It seems to have worked.
That makes a lot of sense. Looks like their ploy worked! Not to mention they came out with a sleek, new portable when no one else was. They let the market dry out a bit
The Switch is selling the same rate as PS4. 10 million in 9 months. 3DS is at 70 million sold. New Vita games are still released in Japan and the west. So the answer is a clear no.
Considering they have to compete with two giant companies that are in many markets other than the video game market, it's probably the only way they can survive. Microsoft and Sony cut their console prices deep, to my benefit though. Who doesn't like getting a new video game console that is comparable to a mid-range PC for less than $200 brand new? Then I wait a year after each game is released and scoop it up for like $10. Golden.
I don`t believe handheld consoles are dead. I have my PSVita from since 1 year and have played so many cool games, and I am still playing now. I am looking for getting a Switch very soon, I just want to finish playing my Vita Lybrary, and I want to wait the price of switch and it`s games to drop down. I think for many people gaming on the go is a great oportunity to play and enjoy games anywhere, at anytime. Not everyone can spend many hours sitting on front of TV to play a game on console, however, you can play a handheld on some places and situations you can`t play a desk console. Like whenever going to the park for some walking, you can sit down a while, get your handheld and play it, whenever on BUS, whenever you are resting on your bed, and so on. For me handheld game consoles is something amazing.
Same here, I play a lot on my Vita. I wanted a Switch, but I would need to buy 2 for the family. Just waiting for the price to drop.
I was able to play Zelda and Mario at work today, since it's near Christmas and slow as balls. Try doing that on a phone.
