Being a Nintendo Fanboy (part 4)

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