Where do you usually play your handhelds?

[JoeAwesome]

I find it interesting that the two highest responses so far, couch or bed, means most folks play their portable systems while actually at home. I mean, I do too yeah, just kinda funny. Although if I were to ride public transit for long commutes every work day, certainly I would be playing handhelds while doing so.

I don't use public transport, which is crazy because I work at a university that offers it, but even in Houston, public transportation is confined primarily within a loop around the city (the Beltway, not 610). I, and several others I know on here, live outside that area.

Besides that, I can't read or play games very long in a vehicle. Too much motion sickness.

[laurenhiya21]

I don't take public transport very often but I wish I could play games on the bus! I need to pay attention to where I am or else I would miss my stop.

[darsparx]

Sadly i have to take bed....I mean to play at work on lunches and such but I always seem to forget now to use it and honestly since I go outside(and forget jacket with portable in it). The 20-30 minutes here and there on my bed has to do. Even on my nights off I don't play straight so yeah those are kinda missed opportunities maybe but ehh

[Anayo]

Lately I've been playing Castlevania Symphony of the Night on my PSP in bed with a bluetooth speaker connected to the headphone port. It sounds glorious.

[nightrnr]

In bed just makes sense for me. I mean, what more comfortable place is there?
Otherwise, it's just convenient to lay down and grab whatever portable you have in reaching distance (for many it's their phone, but I usually have a PSP, a GBA, and/or a DS at the head of my bed).

[BoneSnapDeez]

Couch. I only leave home with my handhelds if I'm going on a trip for a week+.

[Key-Glyph]

I'm one of the on-couch-at-home peoples, although I always bring my DS Lite with me on vacations. To play on vacation couches.

My issue with playing handhelds out and about in the world is that I simply can't concentrate well enough. When I was eight and playing Wario Blast! or Kirby's Dream Land while trailing after my mom and brother at Guitar Center, that was one thing. Either those games were short and simple enough, or I simply had a more robust ability to shut out the outside world.

Nowadays the only thing that can truly smite the stress of the Registry of Motor Vehicles or the doctor's office with complete immersion is a book or music. If I play my DS in those situations instead -- or airports, plane rides, you name it -- 90% of the time I am still anxiously aware of my surroundings, and the happiness of the gaming experience is soured. Feeling sad while playing a game I love is a terrible thing. So I typically leave it for chairs, beds, and other places where I'm "settled" for a while.

The best thing about handheld gaming at home is that it frees up the TV for someone else to play something on.

[marlowe221]

The best thing about handheld gaming at home is that it frees up the TV for someone else to play something on.

That's one of the reasons I love handheld gaming and hope it never dies. I can't tell you how many nights I have sat on the couch with my wife and played my DS/3DS/GBA while she watches something on TV.

I am just not very interested in television. But handheld gaming can be a real marriage saver!

[Ivo]

I play mostly at home, but when I was commuting to work on light rail I used to play when I got a seat (which was most of the time).

True story: once in a country in Europe, I was actually approached by a girl when I was playing Fire Emblem on my DS lite, and she asked me what game I was playing (she thought it was Battle of Wesnoth, which gives her some geek cred as that is fairly obscure, but it would be pretty difficult to get it on a DS lite, so...). It was only a while later that I figured out she was probably trying to flirt with me.

[keresmatic]

I selected on couch at home. I love handheld gaming and prefer it to console gaming for the most part. I didn't always use to have this preference, but I find handheld gaming is just easier to "boot up" and get going. It's more intimate too.