Anyone have trouble with portable gaming?

i have a 3DS and Vita and have several games for them. I've owned every iteration of the Game Boy and the DS. When I was a certain age, I grew out of Pokemon (probably about 12-13), and that essentially made portable gaming a weird void. I feel like many portable games for 3DS and Vita want way more time commitments than I feel like investing into a small screen console. I just don't want a full 10 hour experience on a 3DS along with tons of console and PC games that require the same. When I start a portable game, I get uninterested in 30-40 minutes. Does anyone else share this? Does anyone prefer their longer experiences on PC/consoles and portable experience on phones as a short time killer?

Yeah, I get tired of long games on portable too. A four inch screen just doesn't lend itself to marathon gaming sessions and playing some 30+ hour rpg in 30-60 minute sessions is just a slog. I own Radiant Historia and I really want to like it, but I always get a little way in and just get tired of it. Though, I did manage to get through Dragon Quests V and VI on the DS.

I probably play more portable than I do consoles (Presuming you're talking about 3DS/Vita not mobile), due to the reliance of the Japanese industry on portable games, it tends to have more unique/interesting games and is the only place to play some of the major Japanese franchises like monster hunter, dragon quest, persona and others.

It depends on the game. I don't have much of a need for a portable gaming machine on the go but I really liked playing the FFX remake, lounging with my Vita.

I have more issues with mobile (cell phone/tablet) gaming than I do handheld gaming. I love my Vita and like my 3ds OK. I will never want those experiences on my phone because of things like battery life, format, controls, etc.

@mbradley1992: Are you 14? If you haven't enjoyed portable gaming since you were 13, why do you keep buying portable systems?

I'm really similar. I bought a 3DS a while back thinking I'd get a bunch of use out of it, now it mostly gathers dust. I refuse to sell it because there are those rare few situations where a handheld system is convenient (long trips, visiting a parent or relatives, waiting rooms), but the thought has crossed my mind. I find now that I'm extremely busy with work, I turn it on even less often.

Edit: Having said that, Shovel Knight on the 3DS was one of my favorite experiences from the year.

I've had a lot of trouble with playing my Vita and 3DS as of late primarily because of the games I buy for them. Like, why the fuck did I think I would want to play FFX Remastered on my Vita?

Buying mobile appropriate games is important. You know, something you can just casually get into while riding the train or waiting in the doctor's office. Something you can suspend and easily come back to. For me, lately, this has been Smash Bros for 3DS because I can play a few quick matches while commuting and it's always super easy to get into. Shovel Knight was great for this too, although it did lead to me cursing the inaccurate directional pad on the 3DS XL. Counterspy on my Vita also served me well for a couple of weeks

This is why the Vita TV seems so appealing to me. Never relaly cared to play RPGs on a small screen I Have to hold like that.

My cellphone's games are enough to scratch the portable gaming itch for me when need arises.

My attitude toward portable games is actually being challenged at the moment and I'm finding myself re-evaluating my stance on them.

Before my situation changed, my stance on portable gaming was pretty hardline against. I mean, not that I had anything against portable gaming specifically, just that I was often pissed off because there were good games to be had there that were, in essence, wasted in my opinion. I generally never got on very well with the hardware, I find most portable machines to be either too small (NDS) or too bulky and awkward (3DS XL), or to have really uncomfortable controls (PSP analogue... nipple... thing) and just generally found myself begging to be able to play those same games in front of a nice sized television with a regular controller, especially paired with the fact my eyes aren't too great.

So I'd have killed for some of the better PSP and DS games to have been released in a console format, I don't care about graphical upgrades or etc, for me it was literally a comfort thing, I found playing portables to be a pain in the ass especially considered 95% of the time I was just sat at home on my couch while playing them anyway.

Now though? Well, now I'm out of the house 13.5 hours a day, I get up at 6, leave at 6:30 and don't see my flat again until 7 or 8 in the evening thanks to a pretty shitty commute.

Suddenly portable gaming is a lot more appealing to me, and suddenly I'm willing to put up with some of the shortfalls because it means I can actually get an hours worth of gaming out of sitting in the back of a car (fortunately I carpool but don't drive, so I actually get to use that time). It does mean I'm having to harden myself to motion sickness, I used to get very bad motion sickness but I started by reading on my commute and managed to adjust to that over time so now I'm adjusting to playing portable games without feeling like I'm gonna hurl. I actually never intended to, I've been reading a lot more recently because of this, but now winter is baring down on us, it's too dark to read for most of my commute.

So yeah, suddenly the idea that I'd rather be playing, say, Grandia on PS1 as I am at the moment, on a big screen with a nice solid PS2 controller in my hands has gone out the window, because the choice is play it on PSP or don't play it at all. Suddenly the deficiencies I've long seen in portable gaming don't seem so bad.

I tend to avoid iPhone games as the nerve in my index finger is busted from too much laptop trackpad usage, but there's some stuff on that's really worth my time, too, stuff I specifically waited to come out on PC so I could play, like Superbrothers: Sword and Sorcery EP. That I'm now finding I don't have time to play at home and instead have to play on the iPhone/iPad haha. I really would like to play more Republique as well, but unfortunately I missed my activation code from the kickstarter and now have to buy it, the devs kinda got screwed when Apple's promised plans for letting dev's roll out promo codes never materialized. They offered to refund me cash to buy the season pass, but I said "nah, keep it I'm not giving apple 30% of the cash I already donated to you" and was waiting for the PC version instead. Maybe I'll drop for that season pass now though...

Also, I'm still waiting on Shin Megami Tensei 4... what the actual fuck, I thought we were done with this region-locked/delayed-european-release bullshit in 2014.

I prefer handhelds to consoles tbh.

In fact, my favorite game of the year was on the vita.

I don't have a problem with playing handheld games at all,though an officially supported way to play any portable game on the big screen would be awesome.

No problem with portable gaming though I do find myself hardly playing the handhelds when I'm out. Most of the time they just sit in my backpack or car just in case I do find myself in one of those situations where I can play it in public.

I have nothing on them, except for Advance, which is unusable outside.

I love portable gaming, as I spend large bursts of my time away from home, so my Vita and 3DS come in handy ever so often.

I bought a Galaxy Tab just for emulators so no.

I tend to lose the tiny 3DS cartridges though and the eShop prices are ridiculous so I don't buy games for my 3DS that often.

@the_a_drain: Interesting. I suppose if I had a commute then I would use it more. But I live in a small town, so I pretty much have to drive to work.

@Corevi: yeah, I hate having to swap carts. But buying Paper Mario Sticker Star for $40 nearly two years after release on the eShop is wacky as hell.

@I_Stay_Puft: do you have time in public to play and choose not to or do you rarely have time?

@FancySoapsMan: That's fair, but what draws you to it over consoles?

I have a 30-40 minute commute each way to and from work every weekday. I use that time to play games on my Vita. Some are pick up and drop in games like Rogue Legacy or Splunkey and others are JRPGs. The beauty of the Vita is that suspend function. That thing is the best to play JRPGs on because I tell it when to pause and the game has no choice in it. Lengthy monologue coming up but you're out of time and there's no save point? Just put it in suspend.

I also play it at home because I enjoy the games and the screen size doesn't bother me. And also if I'm out and waiting on a friend to show up, I'll usually just sit down in a coffee shop or something and play a game for a while.

I'll eventually pick up a 3DS (probably the New XL) to play some games on that.

@mbradley1992: I've also had this problem. I owned the PSP and the most fun I had playing it is hacking it and putting a SNES and Genesis emulator on it. Those games fit the portable scene better IMO. There are some that can fit the hand held though, like the recent Rayman games, but even those I'd rather play on the console.

@mbradley1992: I don't have those long drawn out commutes where I can play. If I do I probably find myself checking these forums half the time. Giant Bomb is literally cutting into my online gaming time in public! Portable gaming has become much more of a home thing where I like to sit on the couch sideways flat and just chill.

The last handheld console I bought was a DS Lite, which is still sitting in my bedroom on top of my PC with a copy of The World Ends With You in the slot. I bought a fair amount of games for it as well, but I started to play it less at some point in favor of reading books on my commute instead. Then I switched to a job that I drive to, so I've gotten even less done (although I still fire up TWEWY every once in a while because eventually I will finish that game...eventually. Maybe. Probably not), so for the last few years I've had no need for a portable console at all. Added to that is the fact that I've become more likely to just download some games to my laptop when I travel, or just watch shit on my tablet (or play Swords and Sworcery on my tablet)--but I also haven't had to travel that much lately (my job doesn't require much travel, and apart from a drive back to my parent's place now and again I don't do much travel by plane or train or whatever), so that's been that, kind of. When I'm home, I tend to play my PC or something on console, because why waste those huge screens?

Recently, however, I've started to reconsider my stance--there's a chance my job is going to involve semi-regular travel to Europe now, for starters, and IT has started to crack down on people with non-approved software on their laptops so I'm running out of gaming options; plus I really like Persona 4 and Persona 4 Golden has my attention (also it is all but inevitable that I will break down and grab a PS4 at some point, and the cross play functionality or whatever its called is pretty goddamn dope). More importantly, the idea of laying in bed and playing video games has become increasingly tempting the older and lazier I've gotten (I keep the consoles in the living room, there's not really room for them in my bedroom), which has me coming around on handheld gaming again.

Most of these 3DS and Vita games would be so much better on bigger screens. It's a waste to put em out on handheld only. Just think of Zelda and P4 Golden/Tearaway on a TV.. huh, yeah some of those will be on proper screens soon.

It's not as bad as with some of these IOS only games that would HUGELY benefit from proper controls and a TV screen, but it still hurts. Zelda belongs on the TV. At least give me the option. I don't care if the pixels get blown up. In fact I like that about some games. And a WiiU would probably be able to run that 3DS Zelda at a higher resolution, right?

That is of course only viable if you play games mostly at home. I drive to work myself and keep busy during the day, so I'm not the guy to ask about mobile/handheld gaming.

Edit: added some clarification

@ford_dent: I hear you on the older and lazier thing. My wife goes to bed earlier than me, and sometimes I don't want to go to sleep but want to lay in bed and watch tv until I fall asleep. So that would maybe be a good possibility.

Yeah I don't have a wife to worry about, but I do feel weird about having the television on when my roommates are clearly trying to sleep--I just don't want to be the dude keeping them up, you know (yeah I know you can hook heaphones up or buy wireless headphones or whatever, but man that will never not feel weird to me)? This way I could just chill out in my room, but keep the option to play games that aren't on the PC. Plus the other reasons I already mentioned (more travel in my future, etc).

Absolutely. I wonder if it's solely because it's less comfortable to play or if there is a more psychological factor at play. On top of long games, I have trouble with playing mechanically complex games on a handheld and maybe even graphically impressive games.

I played Tony Hawk Project 8 on a PSP and while I don't think the game is bad, I hated playing on a smaller screen and the level of engagement I needed to properly play. I don't like playing console ports at all in general on a handheld.

Like another poster said, I do love playing emulated games on my PSP. I loved playing Ninja Five-O for example and that's just a platformer. I guess I think in the back of my mind that portable gaming is more for shorter 2D games with simple mechanics. I probably played more GBA games than I did actual PSP games on my PSP.

I personally don't have time for games more than 10 hours. Even the ones that are on consoles and hit my 10 or so hour limit take me 3 months to finish if I ever even finish them at all. There are some exceptions to this if I really, really get into a game. For me 10 hours on a portable hits the sweet spot because I can take it anywhere I go. Games like Steamworld Dig, Rogue Legacy (A bit more than 10 hours), Guacamelee are perfect games for me because I can put in my 10 hours at home or on the go.

Not having enough time to play a wider range of games sucks, but time constraints are what they are. My suggestion would be to really think about what you want out of a gaming experience and take into account how much time you have to play. You can make some better decisions about what you want to play and what you actually have time to play.

Portable gaming for me = bed and toilet. Smash for the 3ds is perfect for a quick game in a pinch or lazy morning.

@dirtyrandy: Considering your "toilet portable gaming", I'm gonna take "in a pinch" as a very clever pun.

For me playing games on a handheld is always something I put up with rather than something I seek out. Nine times out of ten, I would rather play the game on a television with a controller.

Many times I try to sit down and play my 3DS, but it's such a pain in the ass, it's hard to enjoy whatever game I'm trying to play and usually give up. A game has to really be special to get me to play through it at length on a handheld.

I have 3ds XL and Vita, but don't play them very often at all, besides remote play and cross-save games on Vita. I drive to work in a car and don't use any public transportation. I never really saw the appeal of playing portable games in public, and now with a smartphone I would rather just surf the net or Twitter. Well, maybe if you sit down somewhere like a student union building, but playing at a food court or cafe just seems weird to me.

I have nice large 27~ish computer monitor or a 55-inch tv, why would I choose to play on a tiny screen with cramped controls? Playstation Remote Play is awesome and I hope it continues to evolve, but it is a nice alternative not replacement.

I spent around $150 on games for my vita when I bought it an have yet to finish any of them. It's weird, whenever I think of picking it up and playing a game I immediately think "Well, that seems like a waste of time." And then I play destiny or something for 6 hours. Doesn't make sense, and it urkes me because of the money I have in my vita that I don't even utilize.

I noticed it about myself and my gaming habits around DS and PSP. The only game I ever really went back to was Street Fighter Alpha, it was a good pick up and play sort of game that didn't need time investment. But I rarely have moments where portable gaming is useful. And the times it could be, I can waste that time on the phone. And even good games there are losing their appeal.

To be honest, I think I played my PSP the most when I used it as a NES-emulator. If Nintendo could magically release a decent looking portable loaded with most of the NES/SNES catalogue though, I would get it in a heartbeat. But that will never happen.

bought a 3ds and as long as you know what your in for, graphic wise and experience you really enjoy it. in no way am i saying they lack anything, but portable gaming for me at least, is great and hits its peak for me when im on the train to school. crack it open and its juuuuuust enough mario and maybe some monster hunting that i enjoy it and put it back down until i come home. its a portable system and thats what i use it for and it does great in every respect for that. I dont however find it enjoyable to sit on a couch and try and look at a small ass screen and play a game so crammed when i have a nice computer setup to play something more comfortable. Everything has a place and where it works the best is where i find the portable consoles are meant to.

just my opinion though. i know many people who love handhelds and portable gaming all day everyday and will use it in the house and everywhere they can