Since around 2013 one can just stream in FullHD from your desktop to your phone, and all you needed is a 200g Sixaxis (and a video cable if you wanna dock). Since around 2018, one cna do that in 4K. On a rare occasion when you’re flying, you can run the weaker titles through GameNative/Winlator/etc. There isn’t even a debate on whether you need a crappy actively cooled half-a-kilo brick with a screen that’s strictly worse than your previous smartphone’s or a good controller for your phone. Just which one. And they come in all prices and sizes, starting from around $25/50g. You don’t have to plan your trip around tossing that in your bag.

Your rant sounds like one from a parallel reality where internet didn’t take off. USA?

I don’t believe people actually take Steam Decks outside, there is no way, portable in this case must really mean “from your couch to your bed”. I’ve seen a few Switches randomly though, again they take up space so it’s rediculous to drag it around, 10/10 rant no notes.

The DS was truly an incredible console and still the gold standard for mobile gaming imo. The switch is absolutely great but it’s not mobile gaming in the same sense at all.

3DS was such a good little console. I’d bring it everywhere just to get some street passes. That shit rocked. In Animal Crossing New Leaf, if the person you street passed had a file, you could go to a special part of the game where you could tour their in game house and order furniture that they have that you maybe didnt come across yet. I completed a lot of sets that way. I found out someone else on a long train ride I was on was playing the same game as me and we made friends. That shit was cool

The phone has become the pocket handheld, unfortunately.

It was inevitable. People don’t want to have multiple things to keep track of in their pockets. We’ll get rid of wallets and keys too.

Sounds like you need to start wearing JNCOS, that way anything is pocketable.

I have a small retractable controller from gamesir (x5 lite) that fits in my purse and attaches to my smartphone. My smartphone is somewhat powerful, a pixel running grapheneos. It can run switch games, incl latest pokemon titles. Sometimes I bring a mouse and a very small keyboard with just basic gaming keys in my purse to play something like FTL. I’ve been considering buying their pocket taco cause it looks cute

Imo I think running it on smartphones is the most reasonable thing for most people so you don’t have to spend money on extra devices

But then smartphone gaming turned into a barren hellscape of ads and fremium mtx ridden slop. I don’t know about you, but despite owning high end smartphones I have literally no games on my phone. Not to say that no good smartphone games exist…

Just emulate real games from real systems with a phone controller of your choosing. I’m currently playing Valkyria Chronicles 3 with the English fan translation. If your phone’s high end you could probably do Gamecube and PS2 which should be enough for anybody

I have a Miyoo Mini Flip which is a super tiny (and relatively cheap) portable retro gaming device. I regularly play retro games with it of course, but there’s also a ton of really great newer homebrew coming out. I also don’t necessarily care too much about new stuff when I have thousands of old games I never really played when they were released.

Smartphone delenda est.

I picked up one of the very last 3D XLs you could buy in stores, as my first clamshell console (the last mobile console I owned was my childhood Gameboy in the 90s). It’s been pretty great - the combination of the clamshell and standby is the ultimate in pick-up-and-play convenience. And between the native 3DS games, the DS back catalogue, and emulation and homebrew support, I don’t think I’ll be running out of stuff to play for years to come.

I would appreciate a better screen. Newer handhelds have such good screens that it sometimes feels strange to play old games on them.

I’ve been yearning for a Vita-sized handheld PC for a while. Some things that get close:

- Ayaneo Air 1S: Honestly pretty close. 5.5" AMOLED, with better specs than a Deck. A little on the bigger side but smaller than a Switch. Not super pocketable, but you get better ergonomics

- Android handhelds: Dime a dozen and in every form factor imaginable including the actual Vita. Emulation has always been great on them, and things like GameNative to play PC games are actually starting work great now, so they might be the way forward.

- Android phone + controller doohickey: Same as a dedicated device. A flagship phone likely has comparable specs and a better screen than any handheld. Likely better wifi for streaming as well.

That’s been the case for years as we all just wait for AMD to maybe announce a small Zen 6/RDNA5 chip.

My ayn odin 2 mini with gamenative almost fits the pocketable niche that I wanted. Main downside is android is ASSCHEEKS and really gets in the way sometimes, but proprietary qualcomm means rocknix has issues that mean its only really good for experimenting not daily usage.

Im hoping as gamenative gets better i can basically close my eyes and pretend i have a psvita again.

But then smartphone gaming turned into a barren hellscape of ads and fremium mtx ridden slop.

Now it’s a crack induced fever dream of partially AI generated trash.

…Okay to be fair pseudo flying because the slop machine made it so you could infinitely jump was pretty funny.

We could’ve had genuinely nice games on mobile phones, but capitalism murdered that possibility in broad daylight back in the early 2010s.

So something else I forgot to mention in my other comment is that you can play Steam games on those android handhelds, basically making them like a pocket Steam Deck. There’s a guide for it here.