Where Do Handheld Systems Go from Here?

[Dragon]

Mmm, what I mean by this is that, what do you think Handheld gaming will go from here? Will they continue to expand the technology from, say, the Nintendo 3DS, or the PS Vita? Or do you think that they will continue to produce the systems?

Hypothetically speaking, if they do continue to make handheld systems, what would you like to see from them? For example, would you like them to be more visually appealing? More functions? More games that you can see from consoles?

Any thoughts? Feel free to share!

 

[Mackened]

I think we'll see another DS, but no more PlayStation handhelds for a long time.

 

[DraconianWing]

I feel that more functions is what handhelds systems would definitely need in the future. Because of how powerful they are becoming with every new system being released, I don't see why they should only be used for video games. Handhelds should get some of the stuff that smartphones have, like notepads(memos), PDF readers, or maybe even 4g functionality for online gaming on the go!

 

[Oryx]

I feel that more functions is what handhelds systems would definitely need in the future. Because of how powerful they are becoming with every new system being released, I don't see why they should only be used for video games. Handhelds should get some of the stuff that smartphones have, like notepads(memos), PDF readers, or maybe even 4g functionality for online gaming on the go!

I believe that that's where they're going, but I don't want them to go that way. I would rather they spend their time and money enhancing the gaming features, rather than trying to make game systems into everything my smartphone already has.

I hope they work to make handhelds as powerful as consoles. I know a lot of old consoles can be modded into a handheld frame now, and I'd like to see handhelds compete with consoles. We're getting partially to that point, with Nintendo games being released on both Wii U and 3DS, but it will be much harder with other consoles that are pushing the limits of what a system can offer.

 

[pompayyy]

Guys, I think I see a trend in the handheld market

 

[El Héroe Oscuro]

I feel that more functions is what handhelds systems would definitely need in the future. Because of how powerful they are becoming with every new system being released, I don't see why they should only be used for video games. Handhelds should get some of the stuff that smartphones have, like notepads(memos), PDF readers, or maybe even 4g functionality for online gaming on the go!

I'd rather that the software was dedicated solely towards video gaming. I've always been pretty strict of segregating my gaming from my social media, as I'd rather a company put in 100% dedication towards the gaming aspect of a device rather than trying to win people over with the utilization of media. Just personally for me, I don't know if a device would lose gaming power if having social media on it compared to just gaming. Just how like Microsoft sacrificed backwards compatibility to have an overall stronger console in the Xbox One by not having to dumb down the specs for Xbox 360 games, I don't know if that would have the same effect by adding other features to hand held devices.

 

[Oryx]

I'd rather that the software was dedicated solely towards video gaming. I've always been pretty strict of segregating my gaming from my social media, as I'd rather a company put in 100% dedication towards the gaming aspect of a device rather than trying to win people over with the utilization of media. Just personally for me, I don't know if a device would lose gaming power if having social media on it compared to just gaming. Just how like Microsoft sacrificed backwards compatibility to have an overall stronger console in the Xbox One by not having to dumb down the specs for Xbox 360 games, I don't know if that would have the same effect by adding other features to hand held devices.

On a basic level, say they have 300 developers working on the console side, and 200 developers working on the extra features. If they had all 500 developers working on the console side, it stands to reason that they would either have a better product or have the same product faster. It's not so much that the device itself can't hold both things, because they can always give it more internal storage to handle it (and any system with the power to run high-end games will have the power to run whatever else is needed for social media and such), but that the money they spend on the salaries of the developers and the time those developers spend working on non-game-related things could be redirected.

 

[El Héroe Oscuro]

On a basic level, say they have 300 developers working on the console side, and 200 developers working on the extra features. If they had all 500 developers working on the console side, it stands to reason that they would either have a better product or have the same product faster. It's not so much that the device itself can't hold both things, because they can always give it more internal storage to handle it (and any system with the power to run high-end games will have the power to run whatever else is needed for social media and such), but that the money they spend on the salaries of the developers and the time those developers spend working on non-game-related things could be redirected.

Hmm, interesting. Good point. I'd take a more powerful console with higher quality directed towards games than other features any day with more manpower focused towards the gaming aspects of the console.

 

[AcesHigh89]

I don't really know anyone with a vita. But Nintendo could use some of those features, at least a really good music player. Better than what's on the 3ds now. Probably get gamecube remakes and so on and so on. I'll take better gameplay and games over graphics anyday.

 

[Deleted member 12729]

On a basic level, say they have 300 developers working on the console side, and 200 developers working on the extra features. If they had all 500 developers working on the console side, it stands to reason that they would either have a better product or have the same product faster. It's not so much that the device itself can't hold both things, because they can always give it more internal storage to handle it (and any system with the power to run high-end games will have the power to run whatever else is needed for social media and such), but that the money they spend on the salaries of the developers and the time those developers spend working on non-game-related things could be redirected.

Not really. This is one of the most popular fallacies when it comes to software development. A simple redirection or multiplication of efforts does not guarantee a better product or a shorter development time. Read up on the mythical man-month if you want a little more insight on why this isn't the case.

So no, adding more people to focus on the console side would not guarantee anything. It just doesn't work that way. What you need is focus from the point of inception.

Also want to note that software development teams are nowhere near as large as the numbers you make up (not counting designers and other teams involved in the production of the hardware itself). They're usually about an order of magnitude smaller :p

 

[Oryx]

This is one of the most popular fallacies when it comes to software development. A simple redirection of efforts does not guarantee a better product or a shorter development time. Read up on the mythical man-month if you want a little more insight on why this isn't the case.

So no, adding more people to focus on the console side would not guarantee anything. It just doesn't work that way. What you need is focus from the point of inception.

Also want to note that software development teams are nowhere near as large as the numbers you make up (not counting designers and other teams involved in the production of the hardware itself). They're usually about an order of magnitude smaller :p

As far as the numbers go, I just made them up, so it's not really relevant to the discussion whether they're accurate.

I haven't read that book, but reading the description of it, it's referring to projects that are behind schedule. When you start a project and are very far along in it and add more developers, obviously the project will add a delay of getting those programmers integrated in the system that's already been set up. But if it followed that more developers was always bad, then every system would only have one developer, and that's clearly not the case. I'm not talking about getting halfway through developing the system and scrapping what they've already done and telling those developers to integrate themselves into the game side of the system, I'm talking about deciding from the beginning to put all developer power towards one goal instead of splitting efforts.

So I guess I agree with "what you need is focus from the point of inception."

 

[DraconianWing]

On a basic level, say they have 300 developers working on the console side, and 200 developers working on the extra features. If they had all 500 developers working on the console side, it stands to reason that they would either have a better product or have the same product faster. It's not so much that the device itself can't hold both things, because they can always give it more internal storage to handle it (and any system with the power to run high-end games will have the power to run whatever else is needed for social media and such), but that the money they spend on the salaries of the developers and the time those developers spend working on non-game-related things could be redirected.

I see your point. Although having an all-around system would be nice,putting more focus on features that are connected with playing games instead would be more likely result in a better gaming dedicated handheld that does what it's made to do (as opposed to trying to mimic a different device that serves a different purpose)

 

[Dustmop]

I believe that that's where they're going, but I don't want them to go that way. I would rather they spend their time and money enhancing the gaming features, rather than trying to make game systems into everything my smartphone already has.

I hope they work to make handhelds as powerful as consoles. I know a lot of old consoles can be modded into a handheld frame now, and I'd like to see handhelds compete with consoles. We're getting partially to that point, with Nintendo games being released on both Wii U and 3DS, but it will be much harder with other consoles that are pushing the limits of what a system can offer.

Could not have said it better myself. I want quality, not quantity. With how much they cost, I want them to focus a little more on the gaming aspect of a gaming system than anything else. I don't care if it can double as a camera, I have one. I don't care if it can double as an mp3 player, I have one of those, too. Smart phone now, too? Even I have that, and I don't need nor want everything that offers me, either. So on and so forth.

I paid for it to do this one thing, and I just want it to do that one thing really well. And rivaling consoles would definitely fit that bill, lol. That would be fancy. :3


On another note, I'd also like a slightly larger screen. The 3DS XL screen is certainly an upgrade, but I'm old and I still can't play it for long. I'm sure they can do so without making it too bulky. I mean, as it stands, the XL's screen is still smaller than my little hands.
Oh. And I'd really like screen protectors to actually be sold with the console, instead of an extra few bucks separate. That would be nice.

 

[Sonata]

This is how it is.

Scrap everything.
Make high powered tablets with game slots.
Give it joysticks and control pads.
You now have the wii u.
Give it backwards compatibility all the way to Gameboy.
Give it all the unnecessary apps.
Give it 3D.
Give it hotspot capabilities.
Give it a 36 hour battery life.
Prosper.

 

[Juno]

I reeeally miss backwards compatibility. Got a box of GB/GBA games collecting dust here, and emulating is just not the same for some games.

 

[Satoshi Ookami]

This is how it is.

Scrap everything.
Make high powered tablets with game slots.
Give it joysticks and control pads.
You now have the wii u.
Give it backwards compatibility all the way to Gameboy.
Give it all the unnecessary apps.
Give it 3D.
Give it hotspot capabilities.
Give it a 36 hour battery life.
Prosper.

And the price will be PS4 + XBone^2.

Anyways on topic... I believe handhelds should go PSV way. People don't just want to play games, they want to use it for music, videos, etc. from what I heard, 3DS doesn't use these features well.
But I don't think we will see new handheld from Sony for a while.
They need to boost Vita now.

As for Nintendo... 0DS is the way.

 

[Deleted member 12729]

And the price will be PS4 + XBone^2.

Anyways on topic... I believe handhelds should go PSV way. People don't just want to play games, they want to use it for music, videos, etc. from what I heard, 3DS doesn't use these features well.
But I don't think we will see new handheld from Sony for a while.
They need to boost Vita now.

As for Nintendo... 0DS is the way.

The problem is the fact that the average smartphone does those things a lot better than both the 3DS and the Vita. I don't know anybody who uses their handheld console as a media player as opposed to their phone.

Handheld multimedia features are a precursor to the average smartphone, if you think about it. When the PSP came out, its only media competition was the MP3 player, whose video capabilities definitely didn't match those of the PSP. This was also during a time where Iwata was starting to envision everybody with a DS using it as a 'personal companion' for all sorts of stuff.

Then the smartphone came along and completely demolished both of those concepts. Things are a little different now, and handhelds seem to be playing the same ball-game they were playing 8 years ago. And that's not the way to approach handhelds at the moment. They need focus, or else they're gonna be out real soon.

 

[Hiatus]

They've been developing and improving on handheld systems for ages, so… I'm not really sure what would make them stop all of a sudden. xD;; If something causes them to decline in popularity, then I could definitely see that happening. Anyway, in future, I'd like Nintendo to drop DS (and its variants) completely and work on something new; one that just a single screen like GB, GBC, and GBA, and not two.

 

[machomuu]

They've been developing and improving on handheld systems for ages, so… I'm not really sure what would make them stop all of a sudden. xD;; If something causes them to decline in popularity, then I could definitely see that happening. Anyway, in future, I'd like Nintendo to drop DS (and its variants) completely and work on something new; one that just a single screen like GB, GBC, and GBA, and not two.

That'd be difficult, considering that if they did, they'd have to drop backwards compatibility support. That'd be unfortunate, because the DS has an innumerable amount of good games, and the 3DS' continues to rise.

I do understand what you're saying, though. I'd like to see where if they'll head from the DS. After all, the DS was such an innovative (and interesting) idea when it came about, and I'd say it's about time to start a new line. I wouldn't mind if that "new line" were just a standard handheld with no wild ideas, either...though if they did, it may make choosing between Nintendo and Sony a bit mundane.

 

[Oryx]

That'd be difficult, considering that if they did, they'd have to drop backwards compatibility support. That'd be unfortunate, because the DS has an innumerable amount of good games, and the 3DS' continues to rise.

I do understand what you're saying, though. I'd like to see where if they'll head from the DS. After all, the DS was such an innovative (and interesting) idea when it came about, and I'd say it's about time to start a new line. I wouldn't mind if that "new line" were just a standard handheld with no wild ideas, either...though if they did, it may make choosing between Nintendo and Sony a bit mundane.

Not necessarily; plenty of smartphones and computers run DS games with one screen from a technical perspective. It would just have to be a carefully crafted game system. I don't think they're ready to let go of the old library yet so I doubt there will be a question of them making a handheld that's incompatible with DS games.