Portable Gaming Sees a New Dawn With the Help of Nintendo’s Switch
Competition unlike any seen before arrives in the handheld market
2021 was yet another year in the pandemic-infected world. But that didn’t stop innovative hardware products from exploding into the consumer market. One such example is the decades-old handheld gaming market where a new battleground is being set.
Handheld gaming is not new to the masses. It has found love across many generations over the years, ever since its birth in the 1970s. The Nintendo Switch is a prime example with nearly 102 million units sold, thus outselling the original PlayStation, and still continues to sell. This makes it the fifth best-selling console of all time.
But unlike a few years ago, Nintendo isn’t the only major player in the modern handheld gaming market. We’ve seen a sneak-peak of how competent the handheld gaming market is going to be with the rise of various handheld consoles that are much more powerful than the Switch.
What Makes Handheld Consoles Popular?
While gaming laptops offer gamers a way to play their favorite titles on the go, nothing beats a handheld gaming console. The feeling of holding one in your hand gives you an experience like none other. Would you rather play Witcher 3 on a gaming laptop or experience it on the Switch? That’s something to think about.
If you choose the Switch, then why? The Switch version won’t deliver the game in 1080p/60fps, even when docked. Nor does it support highly detailed graphics. But that’s not the point right? I believe gaming on handhelds can be equally immersive and enjoyable as playing on your 15.6-inch laptop display. The Switch is quite comfortable to hold in your hands and this usability can make it more engaging for players used to a home console than gaming on a laptop placed on a flat surface. The OLED model takes it even further, allowing any game to look visually appealing thanks to the upgraded display.
I also believe that a nearly perfect balance between performance and visuals should be enough for handheld consoles. A good game library makes it even better, one reason why the Switch is a success. This also holds true for retro consoles like the PSP, the Nintendo DS family, and the Gameboy family.
Handheld Gaming PCs Now Lead The Way
This is exactly where handheld gaming PCs excel. Combining a form-factor similar to that of the Switch with much more powerful hardware, these devices let you play almost any PC game you ever dreamed of on a handheld console-like device. Not to mention, these consoles are essentially laptops and run on Windows and Linux-based operating systems.
Users now have an enormous amount of PC games at their disposal. This also means enhancing your gameplay experience with countless mods. Considering the state of emulation that is improving at a massive rate, you may not even require to take out your Switch to play The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild anymore. Heck, you can even emulate some PS3 games on these handhelds! That’s how powerful they are and will keep getting better over time. So, you’ve basically got a Switch-sized gaming laptop that enables you to play God of War while you’re standing in line at a fast-food outlet. How cool does that sound?
Some of the notable players already in this segment include the Aya Neo, OneXPlayer, and GPD systems, with Valve getting ready to join in with the highly anticipated Steam Deck coming soon.
Closing Thoughts
All these handheld gaming PCs exist majorly because of the success of the Switch. Many of these consoles have already sold hundreds of units despite the chip shortage and global supply-chain issues. Moreover, Valve’s Steam Deck is hot in the market right now and may even sell millions of units due to its price-to-performance ratio. This shows that handheld console gaming is still as promising as it was thought to be.
Finally, answering the main question — Will they put an end to the Switch or any other upcoming dedicated handheld console? I doubt it. These devices have just arrived and I think it will take quite some time before they go mainstream. Nintendo will probably continue to enjoy many more years of unrivaled success. PlayStation and Xbox have hardly troubled them, so why would companies like Valve?
But here’s the real deal. It’s not Nintendo vs Sony or Nintendo vs Sega anymore. It’s now Nintendo vs handheld gaming PCs.
