Is portable gaming going the wrong direction?

I found my old gameboy color the other day and popped in 2 AA batteries and played a good hr or 2 of pokemon red. Obviously the graphics don't hold up that well (yet it holds up better than I thought compare to modern pokeman -.-"), but the most noticeable thing is the game is snappy as hell. You open a menu, press an action, walk a step, it just happens. No waiting half a second-1 second for the action to happen. I feel like the portable games strayed away from this after the gba era. 
 
Anyone remember psp era before you could do 'install data'? Remember Midnight club DUB with it's 2-3min loading? Same thing happened to ds.  I couldn't stand pokemon diamond/pearl because of how damn sluggish everything was. The game didn't even look much better than the previous generation (the polygonal map looks arguably worse than the sprite based maps) yet was still about 1/3 slower. 
 
I recently watched someone mess around with 3DS and those menu transitions take wayyy too long.  I kinda doubt NGP will have amazing loading either. Sony consoles are great, but loading times aren't their strong point. 
 
I can see how people are saying ios devices are 'future of portable gaming'. The games are pretty enough (retina display helps). They are also mostly pretty snappy. And you can jump in and out whenever you want with quick app switching (I guess you kinda can with sleep mode on ds/psp). 
 
What's GB communities opinion on the current/next gen state of handheld gaming?

Buy a real goddamn system is my answer.

I'll hold my opinion until the 3DS and the NGP arrive.

" @Aronman789: Pokemon is my response. "

" @example1013 said:

" @Aronman789: Pokemon is my response. "

I really wish Pokemon would finally evolve from what it is, its been stuck that way for 16 years, don't you think its a good time to start adding in something besides catch-train-gym-catch? "

It's gotten far more gimmicky than it was in the old days. Now, they're at the point where they're trying to stretch the limit and go beyond what a normal console can deliver, rather than trying to match the standard.
 
Eh, I really can't care less. I won't be picking up a 3DS until it's below $180. If it doesn't, I'm sure I can live without it.

DS is better than previous Nintendo handhelds.

gba sp > ds in my books =/ 
 
Still love both though. Which is why I still have my ds lite xD
 
Portable gaming should have no transition screen at all. The 'fade to black' should be less than a sec =P
 
Portable games need to be snappy first, gameplay, than graphics =)

Portable consoles have always been about taking the last gen of tech and giving it mobility. All that is happening is both the pros and cons of modern home consoles being transitioned over to the portable market. If you really have a problem with it then you've probably have had a problem with every game of the past five years.

hmmm must be some kind of psych thing. I'm usually fine with console and pc loading but I usually don't have those in my hand. 
 
Probably something is hitting some nerve when I'm holding something and gotta wait for it.

If nothing else this generation of portable systems has kept good JRPGs flowing (and in surprisingly high numbers). For that, I'm glad. Modest presentation layer, engrossing gameplay, deep experiences writ small to keep them in a realistic budget. If i had to pick a single platform this generation, I'd pick the DS in a heartbeat. It has more games that I want to play than just about any console outside of the SNES.   
 
But ... as always, mileage may vary.  I'm not planning on getting either portable at launch, but I'll pick up both again because the kinds of games I like to play will continue to be too expensive to produce on consoles and will continue to find their home in a more niche market. 

" good JRPGs "

portable systems should provide portable experiences. i want snappy gameplay that i can pick up on the go. i certainly don't want your stupid wannabe movie on my psp.

Phones are becoming workstations and gaming devices <<>> Portable gaming devices are becoming workstations and phones. 

I like where the NGP(PSP2) is headed. There will always be a place for simple 2D games alongside blockbuster awesome 3D one's. I am addicted to XBLA games on my 360 like Super Meat Boy and Pacman CE DX, and I love to play more complicated game like... oh shit... umm... Assassin's Creed 2 and Bioshock and TDU2. I would love to play Final Fantasy XIII on a portable for example... even if I would need 6 NGP rom cards, because I would only need to carry the one that I am on. The NGP won't be using UMD, it will be running games off of solid state memory (like SD cards), which will provide extremely fast load times.

loading screens are there for a reason. they have to load stuff in the game. i don't like portable games i want to play games on a tv.

I'm one of those portable gamers that other portable gamers call a "lame-ass" I guess. I like playing my portables for a few minutes at a time. I like them to be snappy. I like the graphics on the screen to pop at me, which is probably why I like the old GB-GBA days. The look of most games was simple and clear. Also the portables were portable. That's why I still have an SP and a micro kicking around and sold off my PSP and DS a year ago.

GTA for the DS was awesome. That's all I know.

God of War and Lemmings on PSP are amazing, other than that the last handheld I spent a lot of time on was my Gmeboy colour, the main reason I'm not into handhelds now is they're way too expensive.