Topic: Multi Handheld Users - Portable Gaming

What is your multiple handheld rotation / collection? What portable game devices are gaming on now? What do you take on the go presently? Or what handhelds have you retired?

I regularly keep my New 3DS/XL and Vita charged and in my rotation along side the Switch Lite and Oled.

I have an Anbernic RG Arc as well for arcade and 8/16 bit library access.

Right now I’ve either been taking the RG Arc or the 3DS XL when I leave the house. I was using the more portable New 3DS for a long time on the go, but I’ve come back around to the larger display 3DS XL..

Retired devices (but some of them I pull out every odd year or so lol):
-Game Boy DMG-01 and Pocket
-Game Gear
-GBA original and SP
-DS Lite
-PSP (permanently replaced by Vita)
-GPD XD (permanently dead lol)
-3DS original and original XL (traded in for the New versions)

Would also be interested to hear what’s in your handheld wishlist..

On my wishlist I have the Analogue Pocket. Also potentially the Switch Lite Oled mod

I’m an odd duck because I actually hate handheld gaming (except the switch) because of vision issues and hand cramps but I have an extensive collection because I am unwilling to miss out on games because I hate the system format. That being said anything that has a tv out option I take.

3DS-Both my JPN and NA 3DS systems are in rotation. Trying to beat a few games before the servers go down.

PSP - I have tv out cables.

Vita- Vita TV although I do have an Original one as well.

GBA/GC- just got an analogue pocket and dock but used my gba player and gb player previously. This has been good as it meant I could retire my gamecube and SNES.

Anything else I just purchase on switch or had bought on VC.

3DS is my most painful system (as from the 3D functionality that hurts) as I have a massive library and Nintendo never made a tv out option. I am hoping analogue eventually figures something out.

Currently, mines are:
1.2DS
2. OG DS (plus GBA thru BC)
3.DSi
4.Vita
5.Switch Oled

@NinChocolate My handhelds are the following:

• Game Boy Advance SP Pearl Blue AGS-101
• Game Boy Advance SP Pearl Pink AGS-101
• Nintendo DS Phat - Pearl Blue
• Nintendo DS Phat - White
• Nintendo DS Lite
• Nintendo DSi XL
• Nintendo 2DS
• Nintendo "New" 2DS XL
• Nintendo 3DS XL
• Nintendo "New" 3DS XL
• PSP 2001
• PSP 3001
• PSP Street
• PS Vita (LCD)
• Steam Deck (LCD)
• Switch from 2017

Wishlist:

• Original 3DS
• "New" 3DS (small) US region (impossible dream )
• Nintendo DSi
• Modded original GBA (indigo) with rechargeable battery
• The first PSP with the metal shell

I love handhelds! They are like tiny independent gaming worlds

@Ryu_Niiyama How has the Anlg Pocket dock been? Does it work really well? If I get a Pocket it will mostly be for the dock functionality

@Zuljaras nice! How much do you use the DSi XL? I’ve actually been contemplating scooping one up for whenever I want to go back to DS stuff

I traded in my pink and purple original 3DS systems when the 3DS XL arrived. I really regret that. I don’t regret getting rid of the original 3DS XL lol

@NinChocolate I bought it on a whim and I thought that the bigger display with the same resolution will look bad but I was 100% wrong!

I love the pixelation for sprite based games like Castlevania! I also played all of Resident Evil 1 on it and it was a fantastic experience

Too bad Nintendo ditched the GBA slot after the Lite

Sadly I don't have any of my handheld consoles anymore, they were all stolen a few years ago. I do however have my Gameboy games still which I play via the Super Gameboy on my Super NT.

My wishlist includes not in a particular order

A New 3DS (just waiting for the price to come down)
DS Lite
Steam Deck

I haven't decided if I want an Analogue Pocket yet.

Here's what I mainly use these days...

• Nintendo Switch OLED (Mario edition)
• New Nintendo 3DS XL (red)

Likewise, here are the handhelds that are retired since I've done system transfers from these...

• Nintendo Switch (V1 - it's kind of showing its age now)
• Nintendo 3DS XL (original, red and black)

And here are the rest of the handhelds that I have...

• Game Boy Advance (original, 2x - glacier and indigo)
• Game Boy Advance SP (2x - cobalt blue and NES edition - cobalt blue one's a bit busted though)
• Nintendo DS (original, silver, doesn't work anymore)
• PSP (original, doesn't work anymore)

My NES edition GBA SP still works great, though its battery life has been shortened quite a bit. I might still have my black DS Lite somewhere, I just don't remember if I sold it or not. I used to have my Game Boy Color (grape purple), but I lost it many years ago.

Edit: I forgot to mention that I used to have the original aqua blue 3DS, but I gave it to my brother after transferring my stuff to my 3DS XL. So I went from 3DS, to 3DS XL, to New 3DS XL.

I forgot to mention that I also own the OG 3DS but I stopped using since November. Because of the faulty hinge issue. It, technically, works & powers on like usual.

But if I have it in a 90% degree angle, it just...shuts off. But if I keep it in neutral position, it's fine. It's what drove me to get a 2DS. At least with that one, no hinge issue. I do plan on getting the OG 3DS fixed & then have it modded to be be region-free. That's what matters to me anyways. These handhelds are getting more expensive than even the DS's....!

Actively using:

• Switch OLED
• Anbernic 35XX+

Have but not using:

• Clear DMG GameBoy
• Green GBC
• White, Day 1 DS Lite (last time I booted it up it wasn't working)
• Black 3DS
• Zelda Edition 3DS XL
• Day 1 Switch

Wishlist:
PC Portable
Not an immediate one, I don't want to burn that much money right now. Especially if Switch 2 is within the next year as it appears it may be. But generally I have a fairly large collection of games on Steam that I don't really touch because I'm more of a portable gamer.

Additionally while the 35XX+ covers emulation for everything I could want through to the mid-late 90s and the Switch covers a lot of Wii U stuff and bellow there are still gaps. Gaps that emulation could cover. Especially Wii era titles. And sure, some of these games have been remastered on Switch but.... I physically have copies of these games already and a lot of them are not and will never be on Switch

Refurbished/Modded GBC
I wouldn't mind getting a modernised GBC at some point. There are companies now that do full entirely new hardware and there are IPS screen mods, rechargeable battery mods and all sorts. Do I need this? Certainly not. GB(C) emulation is not a tough challenge. But a modern version of the GBC would be a fun piece

Switch 2
..... soon

i'm going to be the most boringest of you lot but i only use switch.
i've seen yt videos about people having multiple consoles and i wish i had the time/money but i'm happy with what i've got and to be honest, i can only play one at a time anyway.
i do keep hearing about steam deck but 3ds keeps catching my eye.

@Tasuki sad/angry to hear they were stolen.
were they stolen in one go (house burglary) or over the years?

Was thinking about this again. What I'd really want out of a PC Portable would be just something that's capable enough to emulate upto Wii/GC and also able to run fairly basic indie games. I'm talking like Super Meat Boy, Geometry Wars, Bastion, Pikuniku. That kind of thing. And then the rest can be just Steam Link

That'd do me fine. Especially if it was Switch Lite sized with an OLED screen, fairly decent battery life and not at a price that would make me think "I could buy a whole new PC for what they're charging". We're not quite there yet

For the longest time, I still took my GBA SP everywhere I went. Even in early 2020, I took my GBA to play Sonic Battle while waiting for the Sonic movie to begin. It was always my go-to portable system because I could put it in my pocket easily. I haven't done this in years since I have Sonic 1 on my phone (coincidentially enough, I was playing it while waiting to see Trolls Band Together as I got to the theater early), before that, I brought my GBA everywhere with me.

I also play my DSi and 3DS from time to time, and I keep all three near my bed so I can play something right away while I'm in my room in the evening and don't feel like playing a Switch or PC game.

Just a thought, I miss dedicated handheld consoles. Always interests me at the fact that muti-platform games would end up being different, which in turn made a totally new game different than the console/PC counterpart. The fact Switch and Steam Deck can play modern games shows how far we've come.

Well, there's what I have and then there's what I use.

I have, for example, a Vita OLED and GPD Win 2... but I never use them.

I have a modded New 3DS and modded New 3DS XL, but don't really use them anymore either. Though I did fire them up the other day for 3D virtual boy titles. Awesome stuff.

Nowadays it's just my overclocked Switch OLED (henceforth referred to as "SwitchPro" OLED) and my Steamdeck OLED. Between these two handhelds, all my gaming needs are met.

No case can fit them both, so I alternate. But I did deck out my SwitchPro in such a way that it feels like a Steamdeck Jr using Mobapad M6 HD joycon. No cut corners. Spared no expense. If you're gonna game portably, do it right. Hence why I upgraded to the Pro model. Tired of dropped frames and sub-720p portable gaming. Hence the M6 HD joycon. Tired of handhelds not feeling luxurious and comfy for proper gaming sessions.

No need for 15 different handhelds anymore. Just 2. And together they do everything I could ever possibly hope to want.

This thread just reminds me that I need to pawn away my ambassador 3DS.

Haven't touched it in quite a while.

Still use my Vita slim regularly though.

I've got a few handhelds:

Original Game Boy
SpongeBob GBA SP
DS Lite
3DS XL
Switch (Probably play 80/20 handheld)
Analogue Pocket

The GB & GBA don't see much use since I got the Pocket, and the DS games tend to get played on the 3DS, so that doesn't get used much either any more, but I'll likely keep them anyway.

I've been tempted to get a Vita a few times, but never pulled the trigger and may get another 3DS at some point to load custom FW at some point.