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"Future of Handhelds"

Handheld consoles have been around for quite a while, there is a big market for them and a big part of todays gaming. Firstly this post is about the future, we all know that Nintendo dominate the market with the Gameboy and its various sequels. Atari with the lynx, Sega with the GameGear and many others have had a go but never really reaching the domination that Nintendo have always seemed to have.
But what about the future of this side of the market?

To me this has always been a little disapointing due to the fact that Nintendo have had no competition, but maybe Sony, Microsoft and other big named companies could prove that this can be a market dominated by others and not just Nintendo. Also as most of us know, competition for them is no bad thing.

Take a look at the gamecube, tiny for a console but it does show us that technology is getting smaller, we could reach standards were it is possible to cram a lot more into a smaller space giving us very high spec handhelds and not ones that can only compete with consoles that have been around for years.
I think the handheld market gets overlooked a lot just because Nintendo seems to be the only one interested in it, maybe because others see it as too hard to compete with them. Maybe because the time, effort and money in the end just wouldn't be worth it. Either way there could be money to be made if they take a risk and try take on Nintendo - but the handheld would have to be great to take on the likes of the GBA.

So whats important with a handheld? Well they have to be of a high quality, portable, easy to use and have a battery that lasts long enough to allow a decent length of gaming to be played. It is here that the Gamboys have always been better, particularly in the battery length and ease of use. This is why they have been so dominant in this part of the market. So what could the future hold for the handheld market?

Mobile phones? Could well be a form of handheld gaming. As anyone who pays any attention to latest phones you will know that soon phones will send pictures from digital cameras, play movies and play better quality games, maybe even reaching a suitable standard to compete with game developers.
But is there another possibility? How about using phones to allow the handheld consoles to play on-line using the likes of WAP or even better communication protocols to send/recieve the information to allow a decent on-line game to take place. All possibilities but maybe not of any interest to people out there until they become more than just an idea or possibility. Mobile phones are a huge market so there is money to develop and research the gaming side to it all, whether we will see console quality games ever on a phone though is just something we will need to wait and see.

One thing that came across as I wrote this was what would happen if Nintendo pulled out from this part of the market all together? Would others try take their place or sadly could this part just die out and fade away to just a memory?
I would love to see the likes of Sony and Microsoft have a go with a handheld, just to increase competition and variety in this area, more choice of games, choice of handheld/peripherals etc to suit what games you like. But as with all things that are to do with the future we will never know until someone else tells us what is going to happen.
Just hope this part of the gaming industry improves and dosn't become overlooked.

Ha! No.

Note the sarcasm in "Ha!"

I don't want Microsoft to make a handheld, you'd need a rucksack to carry it around!!!!

;)

All Sony or Microsoft need to do is design an adequately-sized handheld console, engineer it to last, and develop a way in which not only it will be powerful, but not use up too many batteries in the process. Oh, and they'd need many willing third-party developers.

So, not too much to do, eh?

Which is why I think Nintendo will rule for a VERY long time.
Not that that's a bad thing. :D

The GBA is'nt that exciting, i have one with 3 games. You need sunlight to see the screen and the screen gets dirty really quick.

Dringo wrote:
> Eventually Handhelds will replace home consoles and Nintendo will rule
> once again.

If the games of the future can only be played in direct sunlight, count me out :O[

Yeah, it's a little strange. Microsoft are indeed going to publish games for the GBA.
Munche's odyssey and even HALO are on their way to Nintendo's machine!

Microsoft are still doing that despite now making games for the GBA?????

It will be interesting to see Microsofts Handheld offering.
But, toppling Nintendo will be a Mammoth obstacle. All Nintendo needs to do is have Backwards Compatibility with their next Handheld to the GBA to you see any contender faced with a problem.

Eventually Handhelds will replace home consoles and Nintendo will rule once again.

Yes, Nintendo has dominated the handheld market and it will do so for at least a few more years but could their handhelds get better with just a little competition? I mean like you said, competition is no bad thing, and maybe if someone like Sony did a first attempt at it, it would force Nintendo do to a lot of alternatives to compete. They might lower prices, try to make bigger and better games, and it would mean a 2nd rate console war instead of the next generation battles going on now. But although I have never thought about it before, the handheld market could go anticlockwise if Nintendo was to pull out of it soon, and could die out instantly.

But I would definitely like to see the other companies get involved, and hey and if they see it for the picking, Sega could even have a go!

Only Time will tell...

T_W