Handhelds

[Malakai]

Lately, I've gotten the urge to check out and possibly buy some handheld systems and games. The PSP is too over-priced right now, and the Nintendo DS has nothing more than SNES graphics. I have a GBA, and it is so-so. I also have a game gear, and for the price these days ($5 or so for a working system,) it can't be beat.

While I'd like to have an atari lynx in my collection, what I have been looking at right now are: wonderswan crystal and neo geo pocket color systems. What I like about the wonderswan is that it has snes graphics, like the GBA/DS, yet it only cost around $30 for the system. Neo geo pocket color is about the same price. The only thing I don't like about the NGPC is that it doesn't have much/any rpgs or strategy games, while the swan has a few of both. There's also a gp32, but there's not much of anything on that system (that I've seen) that I would want to spend the money on.

What handheld system(s) do you like and why? Excluding famicom hacks, nomads, and pc express systems :/

 

[mtxblau]

I'm going to be the minority, but I love my N-Gage (not the QD).

Bluetooth, USB, and MMC support - with emulators for Nintendo, gameboy/gbc, genesis and game gear/master system(almost perfect emulation).

Then there are the games, like Asphalt GT or Super Monkey Ball, or X-Men.

Finally, Mp3 and video playback... I haven't done it yet, but as I understand it you can playback whole movies on this thing. Oh and it has a radio, which is really neat.

It's a very capable cell phone (not the QD). It's tri band and unlocked, so it works everywhere that uses GSM.

That's just my 2c though.

 

[Resident_Lurker]

Definitely the DS. You have to check out Advance Wars Dual Strike, Kirby Canvas Curse and soon Mario Kart and Animal Crossing, both wifi-enabled.

The DS's 3D capabilities actually aren't that bad. Oh, and the New Super Mario Bros is looking fantastic.

Mario Scan 1

Mario Scan 2

 

[Mask of Destiny]

I'm a big fan of the Zodiac. Lots of emulators (even a PS1 emulator though its very slow). There's a few decent games with Zodiac specific ports as well as a handful of decent Palm OS games. It also is a pretty good media player and has 2 SD slots.

 

[it290]

I have two handheld systems: the a GBA SP and a NGPC. I like the both about equally. The NGPC doesn't have that much variety, but its best games are unbelievably great. I probably play it more often than my GBA when I just want to kill time, although I rarely take it with be because of its size.

One other suggestion would be to get a flash cart for your GBA. I know I wouldn't like the system half as much if I couldn't play all those NES and SMS games on it.

BTW, saying that the DS has 'nothing more than SNES graphics' isn't nearly accurate.

 

[Malakai]

OK, I'll revise that statement: Maybe the DS has the capability to put out more graphics, but most games that I've seen on it only have SNES-like graphics. That mario one looks a bit better, and I think one of the new metroid ones looks better. For the price and what's available on it right now, I don't think it's worth $150, maybe $100, and that's being pretty generous, because of the two screens.

I was actually going to get a DS, for the new lunar game, but it apparently isn't true to the series, from what a lot of people tell me.

 

[Resident_Lurker]

The usage of the stylus really engaged me, it's quite addictive.

And a lot of the upcoming games look promising. I won't post a list because... well, I hate lists. You can make game lineup comparisons yourself, but I guess it just depends on your taste and needs/prefrences.

Mario Kart DS propaganda video 😉

 

[racketboy]

DS looks interesting -- my only concern is how hard it is to hold/play it for long periods of time.

PSP is just too expensive and no compelling games on it.

The GB Micro looks very appealing as it solves pretty much all of my complaints about the original GBA I have now.

 

[tsumake]

To go really portable, I'll have to vouch for the Gameboy Micro. It's tiny, has a nice design, and the screen looks great. The image looks sharper because of the smaller screen, and it (finally) comes with a headphone adapter. The downside is that it only plays GBA games, I guess partially because putting in a regular GB cart would make it wonky. Nice all around.

 

[Malakai]

Any one own a wonderswan mono, color, or crystal, and want to comment on it?

 

[KuKzz]

DS, second place is N-Gage QD (love the portable internet + MMORPGS 🙂)

Swan - yeah, I have them. Mono - so-so, color - utter crappy screen, DO NOT get, crystal - bit better, but still almost mo decent games (well, unless you're a fan of SRW/Square ports 🙂).

 

[Amon]

Nomad is where its at. Not the best screen at times, horrid battery life but all the genny games you want on the go rocks ^.^.

 

[KuKzz]

Nomad owns 🙂 BTW Swan doesn't have SNES graphics and NGPC owns it 🙂

 

[mtxblau]

Originally posted by Amon@Sat, 2005-11-05 @ 12:39 AM

Nomad is where its at. Not the best screen at times, horrid battery life but all the genny games you want on the go rocks ^.^.

[post=141395]Quoted post[/post]​

One of the reasons why I got the N-Gage. Genesis games on the go BUT 5+ hours of battery life, compared to... what, 25? 30? I could only get to the 5th level of Shinobi III before the fresh Duracells I put in died.

 

[KuKzz]

Btw does Genesis emu on your Ngage have sound ? I can't get it to work on mine 🙁

 

[mtxblau]

Originally posted by KuKzz@Wed, 2005-11-09 @ 03:43 AM

Btw does Genesis emu on your Ngage have sound ? I can't get it to work on mine 🙁

[post=141564]Quoted post[/post]​

No, no sound. Not for SOR2 anyways. I either just play Mp3s or have no sound on at all. I think it's doable, it's just that the emulator hasn't been worked on in ages. That's just based on Super GoBoy revisions (the latest one is ridiculously fast - with perfect sound!).

You can't get the emulator to work at all??

 

[KuKzz]

No, I can't get it to work with sound 🙂

 

[Twillinx]

Racketboy stole my post! I have the exact same opinions, well aside that I like the design of the GBA SP (the best design yet, for any handheld IMO).

I really hope they do a DS SP or DS Micro and present it on next years E3 (wouldn't mind if they presented it sooner though), my left hand usually goes to sleep when I'm playing on the DS.

As for the PSP, Lumines seems good, and maybe the GTA-game for it doesn't suck, but my main interest in that console is all the emulators for it. I would love to have a handheld Amiga/SMS/NES/Genesis/SNES/PcE etc etc. With the right screenresoulution I might add, since most of the emulators mentioned do exist for alot of other handhelds.

Edit: Spelling