Anyone feel less effort/interest in portable systems?

[MrEco]

I find handhelds inconvenient. If I have the time to play something in a dedicated fashion, I want a dedicated space. I just can't pay attention to something whole-heartedly when I'm on the go. That's why all the games on my phone are lightweight stuff. If they were heavy and demanded focus I wouldn't touch them.

I think I can relate to this. I have very little time to just focus on gaming, since I'm always multitasking with something else. And I've noticed that it can often be harder to focus on a handheld game than a console one, for some reason. If I'm sitting at my computer (For example) and doing like three other things at once while trying to play a handheld game, I tend to be constantly looking up to check on whatever else I'm doing. Whereas with console or PC games, I'm able to get more into the experience I'm having with the game and not be distracted as easily.

Again though, I don't feel satisfied with this answer. I still don't really know why it's easier to be distracted from a handheld game. I feel like if I knew the why, then I could do something to change it. Then I'd enjoy my handhelds more.

[laurenhiya21]

I'm not sure exactly why I prefer consoles over handhelds, but I think part of it might just be that I really don't like getting the screen dirty.

If I get a controller dirty, they're pretty easy to clean. Cleaning handheld screens though is such a pain for me. Especially with the DS and 3DS since I can't get a bit of hair out from under the touch screen I guess that might sound a bit silly, but it really bothers me!

Also when I look at what games I still want, there tends to be more games I want for consoles than handhelds. Not sure if the games I like just tend to be better on consoles or something, but I think that even if I liked handhelds more, I still might of ended up with more console games than handheld games anyway.

[Anapan]

I buy big sheets of screen protector, cut to exact shape and put one on every handheld. I keep them in zippered felt cases made to look like various shaped DMG Gameboys so they self-clean when put away.

I can definitely see the distracted thing tho. It's a lot different sitting in front of a big screen with a sound system. Mostly I am easily amused by small things.

[isiolia]

Again though, I don't feel satisfied with this answer. I still don't really know why it's easier to be distracted from a handheld game. I feel like if I knew the why, then I could do something to change it. Then I'd enjoy my handhelds more.

May be due to comfort. At least, it tends to be for me. You have to hold the system in a way that lets you see the screen, and keeps it relatively steady. Most controllers these days are also fairly ergonomic, where portable systems still tend to favor form-factors that are easy to slip into a pocket...and not as comfortable to hold, and featuring scaled down buttons and the like as a result.
So, I find myself shifting around a lot to try and avoid getting a cramped up neck from hunching over a handheld, or taking time to rest my hands since I tend to get pain or numbness in them from the awkward, undersized controls...things that aren't issues with full sized controllers or mouse and keyboard.


Otherwise, I think it's a lot that I live by myself, so if/when I want to game, I can go to whatever room/setup I want, crank up the sound, and zone out. Similarly, I tend to prefer to focus on a TV show or movie if I'm going to watch one. Of course, were things different, I don't doubt I'd appreciate the ability to do my own thing while others watched or played something else. Right now, it rarely applies to me, so the allure just isn't there.
I've still wound up playing handheld games on occasion, but I'd agree that despite having a decent number of games for them, I often don't even think of them when looking for a next game to play.

[noiseredux]

May be due to comfort. At least, it tends to be for me. You have to hold the system in a way that lets you see the screen, and keeps it relatively steady. Most controllers these days are also fairly ergonomic, where portable systems still tend to favor form-factors that are easy to slip into a pocket...and not as comfortable to hold, and featuring scaled down buttons and the like as a result.
So, I find myself shifting around a lot to try and avoid getting a cramped up neck from hunching over a handheld, or taking time to rest my hands since I tend to get pain or numbness in them from the awkward, undersized controls...things that aren't issues with full sized controllers or mouse and keyboard.

I agree with this.

Similarly, I tend to prefer to focus on a TV show or movie if I'm going to watch one.

Mostly this. Sometimes I'll go in sit in the living room when my wife is watching TV and I'll bring my tablet/laptop to play stuff out there. But I feel like that's become my portable gaming device at this point.

[Tanooki]

I do that with my tablet too, laptop almost always stays on the desk unless like right now under warranty once I get my rma it is outta here for a dead hdd >:[

What I do is bring the tablet and poke away at stuff online or do some game, but if I have a new or newer handheld game I will do that. One easy to throw out is the hours of overkill grinding in a dragon quest game like 7 on 3DS. Ill do that with a tv show or even a movie on as I do not get bored so easily watching the same 5 dumb monsters go down if the TV is amusing. Also works great for Animal Crossing fishing, fruit collection, etc.

[alienjesus]

The console I own the most games for is the DS, so that should let you know what my general opinions of handhelds is.

You're certainly not alone in preferring consoles though. I feel like far too many media outlets are quick to use phrases like 'it's pretty great, for a handheld title' or similar, as if they're somehow inferior to a home console experience.

For what it's worth, it doesn't upset me too much, because in general it means that a lot of handheld game prices stay quite low. Besides a few outliers, the average price of games for Game Boy, DS and PSP is pretty damn affordable compared to most older home consoles.

[noiseredux]

I do that with my tablet too, laptop almost always stays on the desk

actually to be more specific, my portable of choice is now a Windows tablet. I can use it as a touch screen tablet (Hearthstone, Duelyst), or I can attach the keyboard dock in 3 seconds and turn it into a laptop (Alone In The Dark), or I can use the dock "backwards" to rest it next to me and use a Bluetooth controller on it (Ghosts N Goblins). It's definitely versatile. And yet it's nothing fancy; just an off-the-shelf Acer Win10 tab with a mere 2GB RAM and integrated graphics. But that's no problem as I find that any "portable gaming" I want to do is far from demanding.

[Tanooki]

Alien my feelings exactly. People dump on it like a lesser experience when it is not. But hey I am fine with it too, keeps prices and expectations down and in the back end keeps the games cheap new and on the second hand market years later -- all around win. Let the foolish stay away leaves us more options.

Noise -- I feel that I am the same with my nvidia shield tablet. I have a steel series free mobile pad and a micro keyboard I can use with it so it has some real choice options. As its open unlike non jailbroken IOS I can toss whatever on there one way or another to have fun. I have even NEO.emu on here with my 20 plus MVS games that work great.

[MrEco]

Again though, I don't feel satisfied with this answer. I still don't really know why it's easier to be distracted from a handheld game. I feel like if I knew the why, then I could do something to change it. Then I'd enjoy my handhelds more.

May be due to comfort. At least, it tends to be for me. You have to hold the system in a way that lets you see the screen, and keeps it relatively steady. Most controllers these days are also fairly ergonomic, where portable systems still tend to favor form-factors that are easy to slip into a pocket...and not as comfortable to hold, and featuring scaled down buttons and the like as a result.
So, I find myself shifting around a lot to try and avoid getting a cramped up neck from hunching over a handheld, or taking time to rest my hands since I tend to get pain or numbness in them from the awkward, undersized controls...things that aren't issues with full sized controllers or mouse and keyboard.

Hmm, this makes a lot of sense actually. I've never really thought about it before, but that could be the issue. In fact now I remember a couple of times where I had to stop playing my 3DS because it was so heavy and after a few hours it was actually getting tiresome to hold.