Budget gamer on the go: Which system?

Hey Duders, I am wondering where is the best place for a man in my situation to play video games? I travel a lot and finance that travel myself, which means I don't have the cash to put 50-80 dollars on new games. Also since I travel a lot, I can't buy a desktop and real gaming laptops are too heavy and expensive to pack in my luggage.

So where is the best place for me to play games?

PC: I can play a decent amount of games on my laptop and steam sales offer me a wide variety of games. However, I am pretty much price capped with a 2.4ghz processor. After listening to the beastcast I looked into the Wolfe external processor. That might be a solution for the future but the weight/size/input/electricity demands are yet to be seen.

3ds: I thought since I'm interested in Fire Emblem and this thing is super old now that the prices would have dropped. This is not the case. 150-250 for the console and 50$ per game is too pricey for me.

Any ideas? I like management games, rpgs, survival games, story driven titles, and weird experiences.

You seem like a prime candidate for a Vita. It has lots of RPGs, other story driven titles and weird experiences (not so much the management games, and not a ton of survival stuff) it is very portable, not ridiculously pricey (though the memory cards still smart) and a lot of its games are either cheap or frequently on sale. Now you have to realize that the Vita is in some ways a deadish system. It isn't getting any more big budget games, and even the supply of Indies is slowly drying up, though it will still get lots of Japanese RPGs and assorted other stuff, but it has a big library anyway, especially if you are into PS1 and PSP games (though not every PSN PS1 game is playable on Vita unless you want to do some slight sideloading.)

I wouldn't buy the Vita expecting a lot of new releases, but if you look into the library it already has and if that seems appealing to you (and based on your genre interests it seems like it might) then dive right in.

Vita games drop in price to a degree that 3DS games don't really, since Nintendo doesn't like digital sales and Sony loves them, so it's a very good system for a budget conscious gamer. ESPECIALLY if you like JRPGs, where you can sometimes get a 40-50 hour title for under $10 during flash sales or the Japan golden week promotion.

@bigsocrates: Hmm sounds interesting. I had a psp and found it clumsy to control. It also had the "always on" feature which meant I had to recharge it whenever I wanted to use it. But I'll look into it.

Anyone have any other ideas?

The Vita is pretty good for traveling, and it sounds like its existing library would fit your preferences more. I like my 3DS but only because of a couple of games, and the Streetpass stuff makes the battery run out relatively fast while in sleep mode. It lasts about a couple days, while the Vita could last a couple weeks.

By the way, regarding laptop heaviness, a high end 14" gaming laptop is like 2kg total now (though they're still at least ~$2000 so maybe this point is moot). Also, external GPU for laptops (which exists beyond the Wolfe) is limited by whether or not the laptop has a Thunderbolt 3 connection.

I would suggest a jailbroken iphone or an android device. You can get a 5s for cheap (what I use) and when Jailroken there is a program called Controllers4All that allows you to pair a PS4 controller to the device. I then use a Nyko adaptor that allows me to attack the phone to the controller like a DS works and you now have a near unlimited amount of free and cheap games.

There are a ton of games that fit the genres you listed on these kind of devices, you have emulators (my 5s can play PSX games perfectly... if you jailbreak a newer phone I wouldn't be surprised if you could play PS2 games), and certain genres, like management sims are just better on a touch screen.

Vita's solid due to so many smaller indie games. Just buy Spelunky and play that every day for the rest of your life.

I think both the 3DS and Vita are good options if you can afford the upfront initial investment. Also remember that you'll need memory cards if you plan to do any reasonable amount of downloading... But they both have access to a lot of good games, and if you go that route the choice between them really comes down to what kind of games you like. Both have good, lengthy RPGs (mostly of the "J" variety) if you like that. Vita probably has access to more games overall if you count indies (and you should), and especially if you count all the PSP and PS1 classics you can play on it. The 3DS has a good swath of good Nintendo games and Atlus RPGs, and great downloadable puzzle games like Picross, Pushmo, and BoxBoy. I say look at what games you like and price those things out :)

Yeah it's more the 2000$ price point on it. I saw that it required a Thunderbolt connection. I didn't do the research to see if I had one yet or what kind of computers had them(and how expensive those were.

Looks like I might be able to get a vita between 100-200 dollars. Memory cards etc will bump things up if I am going to be downloading a bunch of games but it seems like something I could invest in. I see a lot of 50 dollar games still but I also see older games for 25$ so that's encouraging. I'll need to do some more research. Anyone know if there is any region locking I need to worry about when it comes to buying games for a vita?

Ok it seems the 100-200 dollar ones are the 1000 series which I guess is the ps3 era vitas. The ps4 era vita are around 277$. Is it still worth getting the older one?

@izzygraze: the older vita model is a little larger and slightly less battery but the screen is OLED (vs new model's LCD), so it's less convenient but has better quality display. Up to you to decide which is more important. (I have the older vita, for what it's worth.) The Vita doesn't region lock but it is locked to one account. That doesn't matter much, unless you're moving or changing bank accounts often (there is some light payment region restrictions for security reasons).

An easy way to eliminate the possibility of having Thunderbolt 3 is to know that it was introduced to notebooks in December 2015, so if your laptop's older than that you're probably out of luck there. If it is new, does it at least have a USB-C port?

It's also worth noting that those external graphics cards solutions are expensive themselves, and big.

As others have said, the Vita does sound like a good way to go. You can even spend $60 and get PS Plus for a year and every month there will be a free game or two (I know, it's not actually free, but whatever). However, keep in mind that there aren't really that many good Vita exclusive games and Persona 4 Golden is still the only truly great game for the system. There are lots of really good PSP games for you to play, there are some ports of PS2 games to the Vita (God of War, Ratchet and Clank, Jak and Daxter), and you can play a lot of PS1 games on the Vita (if you want classic Square, then the Vita has you fucking covered), and none of those suggestions are terribly expensive. You'll need a big Vita memory card, though, and those things are really expensive.

However, setting all of that aside, I think you should also look into a gaming laptop with something like a 960m in it. You won't be playing Doom or Battlefield 1 on it, but you should be good to go for last gen games, indie games, and stuff like Overwatch and Team Fortress 2. I'm going to go check on prices for such a laptop, but all in all I think a lower-end 14/15 inch gaming laptop might be something worth looking into. The Vita's awesome, but there just aren't that many great games on it.

EDIT: The very first thing I saw on Newegg was this. Remember, that's a whole computer, not just something to play games on, so it's one less thing you have to carry around with and the games will be way better and there will be a much better variety.

You need a good memory card if you are going to use a Vita. So many of the good games for that system are download only that it is just necessary. You should factor in the cost of at least a 32 GB (though you CAN make due with 16 if you are willing to swap games often.)

The Vita holds a charge very well and doesn't drain a lot of battery while inactive. You should try one out in a store to see if you like the controls but I think they're...fine. It's a portable system so it will never be as comfortable as a controller but it's definitely manageable.

Finally, I'd point again to the fact that Sony has sales very often. A lot of those $25 games can be had for much less if you're patient. Sony is maybe not quite as good as Steam in terms of discounts, but it's the best of the big 3 console makers by far, and a patient gamer can snag lots of stuff for pennies on the dollar. You can get full long RPGs for like $8-12 and indie games for $3. If you're a budget conscious gamer who likes JRPGs you will get tremendous bang for your buck with a Vita.

The 2DS is $80, if you want a cheap but entirely functional version of that handheld, though I wouldn't be surprised if you could snag a used 3DS or New 3DS for something like >$100. While first-party Nintendo games are always going to have that premium attached, you can get a lot of older 3rd party games used for less than $20 each, easily. Digital Sales are a little more spotty, admittedly, though Atlus is at least pretty good about keeping their stuff on a pretty constant discount if you like Shin Megami Tensei and the like. You can get Etrian Odyssey IV for $10 seemingly every other week, and that's the best one.

Alternatively, you could spring for a fairly cheap laptop and just play older and indie stuff. I can think of a ton of older strategy/RPG stuff that one could get for dirt cheap on GOG and Steam if you wanted to go that route.

Viva la Vita!

I personally wouldn't buy anything external for my laptop. I also would always prefer pc games over anything else. There's so much good (free) stuff out there on top of frequent heavy sales and all around cheap games.

If I were to start over from scratch and I was on a tight budget, I'd get a 500 dollar laptop with an i3/i5 processor and the best integrated graphics card I could find (Intel HD 4600 or 5500). It's a heavy investment up front but I use it daily so it would be worth it for me. It will never run modern-ish 3D games great but it will run them. To give you a ballpark, it would run Skyrim and Dishonored at a decent framerate at the lowest settings. 2D games and older 3d games would be fine. It's still somewhat mindboggling to me how good integrated graphics cards have become. I remember buying Doom 3 and having to cycle through multiple pc's every couple of years with (bad) dedicated graphics cards before I could even run the damn thing.

What keeps me back from getting modern handhelds, especially the nintendo ones is that the games for it are still pretty expensive, especially compared to pc games. If you're getting a vita, remember that the memory card for it is very expensive. I do have an original PSP that I use as an emulation machine and for homebrew software. There's a kickass homebrew version of Tetris available for it and I still mainly use it for that.

@audiobusting: I don't think I have a Thunderbolt then. Mine was made in 2009 I think.

@justin258: I'm not sure which computer you're talking about. The link goes to the homepage of their shock deals.

@majormitch: Yeah I was interested in the 3ds because I was interested in the Pheonix Wright titles, Fire emblem, and I think there was some kind of visual novel type stuff on it maybe or that could have been ios. But yeah, I don't want to spend 50 dollars on every new game.

@bigsocrates: Yeah I was looking at those memory cards. But if the initial investment is worth it and the titles are cheap then in the long run it should be ok. But yeah, I do remember my hands cramping up with the psp. I should try it before buying it. I think with these price points I'll have to wait a bit before buying.

@arbitrarywater: 2ds is listed as 140$ on amazon and it doesn't fold. 3ds is 170-240$ depending on if it's xl or not.

Since laptops were brought up a few times. I was considering a new laptop but my processor usually seems like to bottleneck for games and I couldn't find something better for a decent price point. I'll drop my specs here:

Asus B43S(with extra ram and an SSD)

Intel core i5-2520M CPU 2.5 GHZ

8192MB RAM

intel HD graphics 3000 (video)

Ok so I got my laptop fixed recently and he said I had 2 graphics card installed and he switched to the most powerful one...not sure if that is the case. I'll have to investigate. I can't figureout how to view what the other graphics card is. I'll have to contact him during the week. Quick search on the internet says the graphics card could be a "AMD Radeon HD 6470M"

CPUs usually aren't the gaming bottleneck, but your integrated video card might be borrowing CPU and memory. A dedicated video card will handle graphics better, but expect any graphics processing to eat your battery.

That said, PCs have a huge library of low-fi and 2D games which almost any hardware should be able to run.

It does sound like the integrated graphics was the bottleneck. The benchmarks for Radeon HD 6470M seem fine. Either way, using dedicated graphics will cut the battery life significantly. You might want to check the AMD graphics switching stuff (apparently it's called Enduro?), if you want to use that laptop outside of video games while on battery. I don't think a new laptop is really necessary in this situation, you can just play lighter/older games.

With yourself.

As far as game prices I suggest following CheapassGamer forums for deals on games on sale or clearance.

I too am a budget gamer. For hand helds I use a 2DS and score the sales on the eshop often. The site nintendolife puts out a list of games going on sale and new releases for both USA and EU markets.

I'd check out humble bundle if you haven't already for the pc stuff. My graphics card sucks atm and they still have games that drop for as little as .06 to a dollar that you might be able to play. Best part is you can pay as much as you'd like and part of it goes to a charity.

If you ever get the ability I'd also recommend grabbing an android device. There are a good deal of games on the google play store that are actually not pieces of crap. You could also hook a blue tooth controller to and play on emulators....but do that at your own judgement as its a gray area.

As for fire emblem your most likely going to be better off to buy the eshop version. Sure it's still 40 bucks, but in most cases its still cheaper than what people are asking for a physical copy. OR! You could wait and see if Nintendo ever adds it to their 'Nintendo Selects' brand. That means they will drop the game down to 20 bucks, and put out new physical copies with the new selects art on the box. Also for 20 bucks as well! Granted that might never happen..but hey!

Speaking of selects their are some good games out there for 3DS for 20 bucks now. Ocarina of time 3D, Animal Crossing New Leaf are both in that line now too.

I wish ya the best duder! Good luck!

I have a 3DS and Vita, and unless there's a 3DS title I'm working through, the Vita is always my go-to travel buddy. Tons of really good RPGs, lots of PSP and PS1 ports, as well as a lot of modern indie games that are definitely worth your time (Spelunky alone might be worth the cost of admission, that game is addictive). It might not be getting any more big games like the 3DS, but Vita games are getting pretty cheap used, and if you get the larger memory card you should have everything you need without having to mess with cartridges.

Regarding the model, I've been more than happy with my 1000's battery life, especially if you turn on flight mode and reduce the brightness(which is still extremely bright). Standby times are excellent (weeks with flight mode on) and the screen is beautiful. I would also recommend getting on of these, a little extra bulk but makes things significantly more comfortable if you're playing for long stretches.

If you want something portable with cheap, good games that will last you a long time, Vita is the best choice.

My platform favourites:

The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth, Axiom Verge, Rayman Origins/Legends, Spelunky, Rogue Legacy, Super Meat Boy, La Mulana, Castlevania:SoTN, Grandia, Suikoden II, Freedom Wars, Persona 4 Golden, Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth, Helldivers, OlliOlli.

@izzygraze: I wouldn't buy a 3DS at this point, that system is barely going to get anything new moving forwards probably. If you really REALLY want one get a 2DS for like half the price, the thing is though the nintendo titles cost what they cost unless you catch a random sale (which is never low enough).

The vita is a great Indie/JRPG/Visual Novel machine, if your interested in visual novels this is the system to get with the grisia trilogy(coming at some point), stiens gate. Though most of them will probably run on your laptop if you would rather buy them through steam, and there library is expanding all the time with things like Muv Luv and Clannad, VN's that not that long ago most thought would never come out over here. (Fair warning good VN's are very rarely cheap unless there on sale, but stuff like Muv Luv and Clannad are 60+ hour's long depending on how fast of a reader you are).

Sony semi regularly does some sales on weirder vita stuff now and again.

Though the cheapest place to play in "cost of games" terms is still the PC, steam runs sales all the time and humble bundle is so cheap sometimes you feel bad for paying 10$ for 5+ games. They also do a humble monthly where you spend 12$ a month get one game right away and another 7 (random ones that they dont tell you ahead of time) at the end of the month. Hell I got a month of it to buy Soma for 12$ and got a 50$ game with it... (it was WWE 2k16 which is shit but still).

As of this posting for the next 3 days you can get The Banner Saga over there for like 7$ if you like fire emblem style things. Not exactly the same thing but its in that vein.

And while I dont have much experience with them, nor do I know your price point, Newegg runs sales on MSI gaming laptops all the time. You probably wont get the high end for what your looking for, but do you really want to play the witcher 3 or something like that while traveling?

Having the 6470m opens up the doors a bit. You won't be playing modern titles, nor will you be playing more recent stuff on anything but low-medium settings outside of a Torchlight or Diablo 3 at a playable framerate. Take a look at gog.com, you can do all the older stuff, no problem!

If you haven't played through Baldur's Gate or any of those old Bioware/Black Isle games, those are a lot of fun and big time sinks. KOTOR/KOTOR II, Jade Empire, Vampire Bloodlines, those would work well on that Radeon 6470. Freespace 2 is great and works with a mouse. The Jedi Knight/Outcast series would probably play well too. Titan Quest just got updated - I bet it'd run like a champ.

You could also toss an emulator on there.

However, unless you can get a seat on the plane with a plug, I wouldn't expect more than 2 hours of game time. Less if that laptop's old and the battery is worn.

I personally wouldn't want to buy a gaming laptop. They're heavy. You pay a huge premium for that GPU. You get very little battery life. You really need to drill down into the spec's. Not every laptop i5/i7 is actually quad core.

If I were to consolidate to just a laptop, I'd get a decent i7 laptop and an external GPU. However, those external GPU boxes are heavy, large, and expensive - it's a stay at home peripheral. Depending on the airline, I'd worry that an external GPU box wouldn't fit the carry on box, and I wouldn't feel comfortable checking-in $500+ in computer hardware that's going to get thrown around like a sack of potatoes.