Being a Nintendo Fanboy (part 1)
Being a Nintendo Fanboy (part 2)
Being a Nintendo Fanboy (part 3)
For the handheld market, all of the iterations of the Game Boy and DS lines were the clear and dominant systems. The only challengers worth mentioning are the Atari Lynx, the Sega Game Gear (both of which competed primarily against the original Game Boy), the PSP (which competed against the DS) and the PS-Vita (which competed against the 3DS). The closest that any of these came to second place was the PSP which sold half as much as the DS. Basically anything else in that list (including N-Gage, Game.com, etc.) was practically unknown. I heard about a few others, like the Sega Nomad and the NeoGeo pocket, but never saw them played, never saw them in a store, and I never knew anyone who owned one. As far as I’m concerned, they might as well have never existed for as little of an impact that they made.
While they weren’t handheld consoles per se, the Tiger line of single-game handhelds were popular enough that it wasn’t uncommon to see them in kids’ toy collections at home or being played by kids on an airplane. Nintendo had its own line of single game handhelds - the Game & Watch series, which preceded the Tiger ones and were much better, though they didn't flood the market the way that Tiger did.
And while the same "generation" groupings exist for the handheld market, I'm only going to do four comparisons, and I'll just categorize them by the major competitions. I'm also not including anything before the Game Boy, as there are hundreds of single game pocket devices, including Nintendo's Game & Watch series.
Nintendo Game Boy (and later Game Boy Color)
vs Sega Game Gear vs Atari Lynx
For me, this is the real beginning of actual handheld gaming. The previous entries (like the Game & Watch series) were far less capable and weren't fun beyond a few minutes. That being said, nobody I knew of took their Game Boy everywhere they went, except for one guy and only when it was new to him. It was the kind of thing that you took with you on a trip to play in the car/plane or some kind of planned outing where you knew ahead of time that you’d have some down time or kids in need of entertainment (like waiting at the DMV). But it wasn’t uncommon to see kids at airports, waiting rooms, and other places where people mostly have down time while waiting for something. The second most common thing I remember seeing are the Tiger single games, unfortunately. As crappy as they were, they were cheap and didn’t gobble up batteries like a Game Gear or Lynx would. Truth be told, I have never seen either one out in the wild, so to speak. It was either Game Boy or Tiger.
Category | Winner | Reasons |
Graphics
|
| I’m giving this one to Atari because of the 16-bit processor. The Game Gear’s graphics were blurry with movement, but they were backlit. |
Sound Effects/
Music |
| All three were about the same in terms of sound output. |
Console Design/Form Factor/Button Placement |
| I much preferred the horizontal oriented consoles as they’re easier to hold. |
Games | 
| A no brainer. Nintendo’s library was more robust with higher quality games including the usual Mario, Zelda, Metroid, Mega Man, Kirby, and Pokemon. Oh, and Tetris. |
Price/
Availability
|
| The Gameboy was half the cost of the other two systems, and was much easier to find in stores. |
| Battery Life |
| This was one of the main things that helped Nintendo win. It had a much better battery life than either system. |
Accessories/
Peripherals | | The sheer proliferation of the Gameboy line meant that there were far more and better accessories. |
| Online Services | N/A
| Internet wasn't a thing back then. |
Backwards/
Cross-
Compatibility |
| GBC would play all GB games with (optional) color enhancements. |
Box Design | 
| Plastic boxes > cardboard boxes |
Coolness Factor |
| The Gameboy was just far and wide more popular than anything else on the market for years, despite brief flashes of Sega popularity. |
Overall Winner | |
|
Game Boy Advance and Game Boy Advance SP
vs. Nobody at all, really
What can I say about this one? Nintendo so handily beat the competition that there really wasn’t any. The GBA was a huge leap in terms of technical/graphical ability, it added 2 more buttons, and the SP improved upon it with the addition of a backlight.
Category | Winner | Reasons |
Graphics
|
| Only game in town, but much improved over original GB. |
Sound Effects/
Music
|
| Only game in town, but much improved over original GB. |
Console Design/Form Factor/Button Placement |
| The GBA was horizontally oriented and better than the original, but the SP went back to being narrow and vertical. |
Games |
| Only game in town. |
Price/
Availability |
| Only game in town. |
| Battery Life |
| Only game in town. |
Accessories/
Peripherals |
| As the only game in town, there weren’t accessories for anything else. |
| Online Services | N/A
| Wasn’t a thing. |
Backwards/
Cross-
Compatibility
|
| Every GB and GBC game can be played on a GBA with color enhancements for the original GB games. |
Box Design |
| The only time cardboard wins is when there’s no competition. |
Coolness Factor |
| Only game in town. |
Overall Winner | |
|
Nintendo DS (and DS-Lite/DSi) vs Sony PSP
Sony decided to throw their hat into the ring with a handheld system, and while it was technically superior, it didn't have the history and install base that Nintendo did.
Category | Winner | Reasons |
Graphics
|
| Individually, the PSP’s graphics are generally better because of access to more processing power. But the DS had two screens, doubling the graphical output |
Sound Effects/
Music
| 
| Sound design had progressed to the point where the hardware wasn’t limiting developers’ choices/visions for sound and music. |
Console Design/Form Factor/Button Placement |
| The clamshell design gives it double the screens and keeps it from being scratched when not in use. The touch screen and microphone adds new kinds of interactivity and ways of playing. |
Games |
| There’s no competition here. The DS library outshines the PSP’s, even after considering the amount of shovelware. |
Price/
Availability |
| They could both be bought at the usual places, but the DS was almost half the price of the PSP. |
| Battery Life |
| Because of the higher processing power of the PSP, it also burns through battery quicker. |
Accessories/
Peripherals |
| Both had similar kinds of accessories. |
| Online Services |
| This was more of a per-game feature, rather than an online service in the way we think of them now, but Sony's services are better in general. |
Backwards/
Cross-
Compatibility
|
| The original DS and DS Lite could play the entire GBA library, while the PSP has some connectivity features with the PS3. |
Box Design |
| Both came in plastic cases. |
Coolness Factor | 
| Mainly because it’s riding on the success of the PS3 line and all of the clout that comes with it. |
Overall Winner | |
|
Nintendo 3DS vs. Sony PS-Vita
Really there's nothing new to add, other than it's just the next iteration of the Nintendo vs Sony handheld as the last competition. Both added new features and capabilities to their systems but once again Nintendo trounced Sony.
Category | Winner | Reasons |
Graphics
| | Like the previous generation, the Vita had more processing power, but the 3DS (again) had 2 screens, but one was 3D that didn’t require glasses. |
Sound Effects/
Music
|
| Like the last one, sound design had progressed to the point where the hardware wasn’t limiting developers’ choices/visions for sound and music. |
Console Design/Form Factor/Button Placement |
| The clamshell design gives it double the screens and keeps it from being scratched when not in use. |
Games |
| Again, Nintendo’s library of games outshines the competition. |
Price/
Availability
|
| Both were the same price at launch, but Nintendo had a 10-month jump, and it also got a permanent price cut before the Vita was released. |
| Battery Life |
| Because of the higher processing power of the Vita, it also burns through battery quicker. |
Accessories/
Peripherals |
| Because of the sheer volume different between the sales figures, there’s just a lot more stuff available for the 3DS. |
| Online Services |
| In general, Sony’s online services will be better than Nintendo’s. |
Backwards/
Cross-
Compatibility
|
| The 3DS can play the entire DS library, as well as Virtual Console games from past Nintendo Systems. The Vita was only compatible with digital games, but was usable with certain PS3/PS4 games. |
Box Design |
| Both came in plastic cases. |
Coolness Factor |
| Mainly because of the more “grown up” feeling that the PlayStation brand gives off versus the “kiddy” nature that Nintendo espouses. |
Overall Winner | |
|
