Is Handheld gaming on the way out...?

[Anjerith]

No, Handheld gaming is not going anywhere. The most that will happen is traditional Handhelds will see a price structure and delivery change.

Likewise, Consoles are not going anywhere. Console quality titles suck on handhelds and vice versa, there will always be a place for both.

Ten years ago, people speculated that consoles would kill PC's. This has not only *not* happened, the PC is entering a new renaissance.

Using Sony as an example of a proper handheld is also a mistake, as Sony has *never* understood how to sell a handheld game device.

[PBitt]

I would think so, yes. Handheld games have always been more casual, on-the-go style of games that you just pick up and play, and that is exactly what you can get on your phones, ipads, etc that lots of people already own without having to carry an extra system with them, or spending extra money on it, etc.

[Kaosbringer]

IMO smart phones are a terrible gaming platform. Casual games are one thing, but some games just don't work well without proper buttons (I know some smart phones have buttons but the majority of the popular ones are touch screen based). Take Secret of Mana for example I got it on the App store for a good price but the fact that my fingers cover parts of the screen where enemies can hide is annoying (that and the controls are horrid compared to its original SNES version). I find this with many action based games the Final fantasy games are ok but they don't require tight controls and fingers don't hide shit. Smartphone gaming is a good idea but with the current phones the specifically designed hand held consoles are better.

I think what is really killing the hand held console market is lack of anything other then casual games coming out in recent years (seriously the only games I can remember that aren't are Flag ship franchises like Mario and re-releases like FF3 and Legend of Zelda OoT, and Pokemon). This in my mind, developers just plain thinking that casual games are where the most money is (maybe right), thus killing the serious gaming market on hand helds.

[anyaka21]

I definitely think handheld gaming is going away. Smartphones just offer much more versatility and it has a much wider audience than handheld gaming devices.

[Bolson13]

http://www.joystiq.com/2012/03/06/ni...year-outperfo/

I think we are all too old and rusted to our PC's. A lot of parents are still buying these handhelds for their kids to keep them quiet basically. That is why I think Vita is going into the same direction as the PSP. You need to target that young audience + cheap price (So parents can afford it). That is where the market for these things is.
Vita is too focussed on older gamers like us and we don't like to play on these things, we all have iphones, galaxy S and what have you. Especially since most of us are probably at least a little techgeeks who are intrested in smartphones.

[Kivimetsan]

Nintendo should tap into the smart phone market.

[Deleted]

Nintendo should tap into the smart phone market.

That's been my logic for years ever since seeing the transition from commuters using the DS console to smartphones.

As previously stated, the selling point for a phone is everything other than its call function which is fairly universal.