Portable Gaming

[Jassassino]

There is a real charm and magic to those kinds of games and experiences which slot nicely into your hands whilst on the go. I feel like I'm finding new reasons to love them day-by-day, especially when travelling. So what portable games have you been playing recently? 

I know that with the Nintendo Switch and Switch 2, alongside Steam Decks and ASUS platforms, this feels like a much more varied and open question - we no longer (really) have development studios specialising in on-the-go gaming and how the experience of travel lends itself to the experience of the game much anymore, but there's a vast rogues gallery out there of games that did, and mobile games that do.

At the moment, I'm playing a lot of Reel Fishing: The Great Outdoors on my PS Vita. Originally developed for the PSP, it's an honestly mind-blowing and addictive blend of Fishing Sim, Japanese Light Novel and one of those "summer break" type games (think of Boku no Natsuyasumi).

[Dirty Duck]

I feel like most people here know about my deep love of portable gaming and the design philosophies that (used to) come with it.

The Switch is great but I yearn for a true next gen dedicated portable one day. A new PSP or a Xbox Xbag or something along those lines. I played some MGA2 my PSP Go on a long train journey home the other day and it was just such a joy to be able to pull it out of my small bag and play it for a short burst and feel like I've achieved something in the game by the time I put it away...or at least I would have achieved something had I not got spotted right at the end of the mission and died in an annoyingly spectacular way as every soldier I'd knocked out instead of killed swarmed around me. Good fun, though!

[SK8R LUNG]

i do play a fair amount of stuff on the Switch Lite, and i also have a backlit GBA that i play stuff on. but i feel like the 3DS is the definitive handheld for me. gotta be one of the craziest game libraries of all time. i'm currently playing Ocarina of Time 3D on it because i never actually beat that game for real

[Silent Assassin]

I used to love portable gaming when it was actually portable. PSP and Vita sized consoles that you can just put in your pocket and go.

Not a fan of these portables that require a wheelbarrow to move.

And it just lost its charm over the years, since phones do a lot of what portables used to.

[NateDog]

i do play a fair amount of stuff on the Switch Lite, and i also have a backlit GBA that i play stuff on. but i feel like the 3DS is the definitive handheld for me. gotta be one of the craziest game libraries of all time. i'm currently playing Ocarina of Time 3D on it because i never actually beat that game for real

Hey I've just been looking at buying OOT this past week lol. Had it on my list for a long while but really feel in the mood for a good PSP/3DS game right now.

[SK8R LUNG]

i do play a fair amount of stuff on the Switch Lite, and i also have a backlit GBA that i play stuff on. but i feel like the 3DS is the definitive handheld for me. gotta be one of the craziest game libraries of all time. i'm currently playing Ocarina of Time 3D on it because i never actually beat that game for real

Hey I've just been looking at buying OOT this past week lol. Had it on my list for a long while but really feel in the mood for a good PSP/3DS game right now.

i'm enjoying it. feels like a nice clean way to play the game, faithful to the original where it matters, with some nice improvements in other areas.

[Jassassino]

Yeah the 3DS has an insane library. I was quite late to get one, but every game I've had on it I've enjoyed. Majoras Mask 3D sunk my social life for a good while when I got it lmao.

In fact the expansiveness of 3DS' library (as it includes DS too) has made me really curse how slow I am with playing games.

I used to love portable gaming when it was actually portable. PSP and Vita sized consoles that you can just put in your pocket and go.

Not a fan of these portables that require a wheelbarrow to move.

And it just lost its charm over the years, since phones do a lot of what portables used to.

Yeah although I do like my Switch, it's just too big. I like playing it in various places around the house, outside in the garden or maybe locally, but putting it into a carry case and then a bag and ferrying it around isn't something which ever appealed to me - I think just because if I'm carrying a bag around, it's either quite a small cross body bag or my backpack to like, go shopping lmao.

[NateDog]

i do play a fair amount of stuff on the Switch Lite, and i also have a backlit GBA that i play stuff on. but i feel like the 3DS is the definitive handheld for me. gotta be one of the craziest game libraries of all time. i'm currently playing Ocarina of Time 3D on it because i never actually beat that game for real

Hey I've just been looking at buying OOT this past week lol. Had it on my list for a long while but really feel in the mood for a good PSP/3DS game right now.

i'm enjoying it. feels like a nice clean way to play the game, faithful to the original where it matters, with some nice improvements in other areas.

I haven't played the OG so I'm - very slowly - trying to get through older Zelda games. However I stupidly started with Majora's Mask as I've always been fascinated by so much of the art from the game. Only when I was a bit into it and Link pulls out an item called the Ocarina did I say "ah shit, you idiot".

[Dirty Duck]

i do play a fair amount of stuff on the Switch Lite, and i also have a backlit GBA that i play stuff on. but i feel like the 3DS is the definitive handheld for me. gotta be one of the craziest game libraries of all time. i'm currently playing Ocarina of Time 3D on it because i never actually beat that game for real

Hey I've just been looking at buying OOT this past week lol. Had it on my list for a long while but really feel in the mood for a good PSP/3DS game right now.

i'm enjoying it. feels like a nice clean way to play the game, faithful to the original where it matters, with some nice improvements in other areas.

I haven't played the OG so I'm - very slowly - trying to get through older Zelda games. However I stupidly started with Majora's Mask as I've always been fascinated by so much of the art from the game. Only when I was a bit into it and Link pulls out an item called the Ocarina did I say "ah shit, you idiot".

Not an idiot at all. MM follows on from OoT but you don't really need to play it in that order. Zelda games are practically like FF where just play them in the order you're interested.

[NateDog]

i do play a fair amount of stuff on the Switch Lite, and i also have a backlit GBA that i play stuff on. but i feel like the 3DS is the definitive handheld for me. gotta be one of the craziest game libraries of all time. i'm currently playing Ocarina of Time 3D on it because i never actually beat that game for real

Hey I've just been looking at buying OOT this past week lol. Had it on my list for a long while but really feel in the mood for a good PSP/3DS game right now.

i'm enjoying it. feels like a nice clean way to play the game, faithful to the original where it matters, with some nice improvements in other areas.

I haven't played the OG so I'm - very slowly - trying to get through older Zelda games. However I stupidly started with Majora's Mask as I've always been fascinated by so much of the art from the game. Only when I was a bit into it and Link pulls out an item called the Ocarina did I say "ah shit, you idiot".

Not an idiot at all. MM follows on from OoT but you don't really need to play it in that order. Zelda games are practically like FF where just play them in the order you're interested.

I know but I think the game is like "remember the Ocarina? That thing Zelda gave to you dumbass??". 💀 This felt like a rare occasion where it was more of a direct sequel even if mechanically / thematically it was different.