The darkest hour and the phoenix-like rebirth of handheld game consoles
The era of chaos in handheld gaming consoles.
On October 16th, Microsoft's PC handheld gaming console, the ROG Xbox Ally, was released. A little earlier, Nintendo's new handheld console, the Switch 2, was released on June 5th this year. As we witness the changing of the guard, we've reached the final installment of our series of articles on handheld gaming consoles. In the previous three articles, we revisited the information war between the NDS and PSP on the eve of their launches in 2003 - 2004, the exploration of online games by these two handhelds during the dawn of the internet era (2005 - 2007), and the first - round confrontation between the iPhone and handheld consoles from 2008 - 2009.
This article focuses on the period from 2010 - 2019, which was the era of chaos in handheld gaming consoles. The PSP, 3DS, PSV, and Switch presented a complex situation of "three generations co - existing". The PSP became a legendary device that lasted for a decade. The 3DS achieved a hard - fought victory at the cost of sacrificing profits. The PSV made a series of blunders and faded out of the market early. The Switch absorbed the best of Nintendo's past and brought handheld gaming into a new golden age. And this year, the Switch 2 achieved an excellent energy - to - performance ratio with DLSS3 artificial intelligence upscaling technology, setting a record of 3.5 million in first - day sales over four days and continuing Nintendo's dominance in the handheld gaming console market. Sony and Microsoft are considering launching new handheld consoles that are directly compatible with old - generation console games in a few years. Handheld consoles have emerged from the darkest period when they were severely impacted by mobile phones and are being reborn. The future of the handheld gaming console industry will be even more exciting.
Content is King
"I think handheld consoles are like take - out food, while home consoles are like dining in a restaurant. Their positions are different. I once developed 'Our Sun' for the GBA, allowing the game cartridge to receive sunlight outdoors through a light sensor to provide energy for the protagonist. Handheld consoles should explore areas that home consoles can't reach."
— Hideo Kojima, Director of "Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker"
"Pokémon Black/White" for the NDS became the best - selling game in Japan in 2010, with 5 million copies sold. This was the most revolutionary installment in the "Pokémon" series. The setting was moved from Japan to the United States, and some scenes used a dynamic 3D perspective to show complex structures, demonstrating a lot of new ideas and sincerity. "Monster Hunter Portable 3rd" sold 3.8 million copies in Japan in 2010, becoming the runner - up. Its final sales reached 4.9 million, surpassing the 4.1 million sales of the original PS version of "Final Fantasy VII". It remains the highest - selling game on Sony's platform in Japan to this day.
An American city in "Pokémon Black/White"
"Monster Hunter Portable 3rd" was only released in Japan and had no European or American version.
"Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker" for the PSP sold 900,000 copies in Japan and 2 million copies globally. Considering the different environment of handheld consoles compared to home consoles, this game fragmented the levels, added a co - op mode, and the boss battles were similar to those in the "Monster Hunter" series, catering to Japanese players. Bandai Namco's original game, "God Eater", launched a direct challenge to the "Monster Hunter" series. "God Eater" was in development since 2007, and after multiple delays, it was released in February 2010. The combat rhythm of "God Eater" was faster than that of the "Monster Hunter" series, and its unique "bullet editing" system was also quite distinctive. It sold 600,000 copies in Japan at its launch. Bandai Namco quickly released the expansion pack, "God Eater: Burst", in October 2010, and it sold another 400,000 copies in Japan.
The co - op mode of "Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker"
"God Eater" became Bandai Namco's flagship game on handheld consoles.
In 2010, the PSP was a star - studded device in Japan but faced a cold reception in Europe and the United States. "God of War: Ghost of Sparta" was the last notable big - budget game for the PSP in Europe and the United States. The playtime of "God of War: Chains of Olympus" released in 2008 was 5 hours, while that of "God of War: Ghost of Sparta" in 2010 was extended to 7 hours. However, the global sales of "God of War: Ghost of Sparta" were only 1.2 million, far less than the 3.2 million sales of "God of War: Chains of Olympus". The developer of this game, Ready at Dawn, even thought that "with the rampant piracy of PSP games, it's meaningless to launch new titles." After that, new PSP games in Europe and the United States were mainly cross - platform sports and racing games, such as the racing game "Split/Second" that emphasized physical destruction.
"God of War: Ghost of Sparta" pushed the PSP's performance to the limit.
"Split/Second" retained the gameplay of the PS3 version on the PSP.
In March 2010, Nintendo announced that the next - generation handheld console of the NDS would be called the 3DS. At this time, third - party game companies had already received the development kits for the 3DS. Subsequently, the 3DS was available for a hands - on demonstration at the E3 show in June 2010. To be backward - compatible with NDS games, the 3DS continued with the dual - screen design. The 2D resolution of the upper screen was 400×240, and when the autostereoscopic 3D was enabled, the resolution of the upper screen became 800×240. The lower screen did not have the autostereoscopic 3D function, and its resolution was 320×240.
The autostereoscopic 3D screen without the need for glasses became the biggest feature of the 3DS. However, this autostereoscopic 3D design was in conflict with the dual - screen and touch functions by nature. When players shifted their line of sight between the two screens, their eyes needed to refocus. The stylus or fingers would also directly disrupt the autostereoscopic 3D effect, resulting in the lower screen of the 3DS giving up the autostereoscopic 3D function.
In the NDS game "Nintendogs", players could directly touch the pets on the lower screen. In the 3DS game "Tomodachi Life", only a silhouette was provided on the lower screen for touch interaction, which was far less intuitive than the previous NDS game. These issues were a microcosm of the self - contradictory design concept of the 3DS.
In "Tomodachi Life", only a silhouette is shown on the lower screen for touch interaction.
In January 2011, on the eve of the 3DS launch, Sony held a press conference and announced a follow - up handheld console to the PSP, codenamed "NGP" (Next Generation Portable). At the press conference, the graphics of PS3 games such as "Metal Gear Solid 4" and "Lost Planet 2" on the new handheld console were shown, but these were only technical demonstrations, and ultimately, these games were not ported to the new handheld. However, Activision promised to release new titles in the "Call of Duty" series on the new handheld console.
The Sony handheld console initially announced under the codename "NGP".
The 3DS was launched in Japan, the United States, and Europe from February to March 2011, with a price of 25,000 yen or $249/€249. This price was significantly higher than the launch price of the NDS (15,000 yen or $149/€149). Nintendo stated that the size of the initial version of the 3DS had been compressed to the limit, and there would be no ultra - thin version in the future, asking players not to wait and see. Indeed, there was no ultra - thin version of the 3DS, and the initial version was the smallest in size.
The mediocre launch game lineup of the 3DS affected the hardware sales. Only two first - party games, "Tomodachi Life" and "Pilotwings Resort", were part of the launch lineup. The global cumulative sales of the NDS game "Nintendogs" were 24 million, while the global cumulative sales of the 3DS game "Tomodachi Life" plummeted to 4.7 million. "Pilotwings Resort" was a game that fully demonstrated the autostereoscopic 3D effect, but it was just a casual game and couldn't shoulder the heavy responsibility. Its global cumulative sales were 900,000. The third - party games "Super Street Fighter IV" and "Samurai Warriors Chronicles" were scaled - down versions of home console games, with only a few new functions designed for the dual - screen.
"Pilotwings Resort" was just a casual game.
The high price and mediocre launch games led to the 3DS not meeting the sales target in the early stage. Sony tried to seize the opportunity. At the E3 show in June 2011, Sony announced that the official name of the new handheld console would be the PSV (Play Station Vita, where "Vita" means "life" in Latin), with the same launch price as the 3DS. In July 2011, Capcom stated that a new title in the "Monster Hunter" series for the PSV was in development. These news made the PSV the focus on the internet, but then Nintendo stirred up a real storm.
In August 2011, Nintendo significantly reduced the price of the 3DS to 15,000 yen or $169/€169. After this price cut, the price of the Japanese - version 3DS was the same as that of the NDSi, and the European and American versions were only $20/€20 more expensive than the NDSi. Players who bought the 3DS before the price cut were given the "ambassador" status and could receive 10 FC games and 10 GBA games as compensation. This was the famous "Ambassador Program". Nintendo sacrificed the hardware profit of the 3DS and the later - stage sales of the NDSi, putting great pressure on the PSV.
In September 2011, Nintendo announced that "Monster Hunter 3G" would be released in Japan on the 3DS in December 2011, and at the same time, an external right joystick, the Circle Pad Pro, for the 3DS would be launched. Although players speculated that Nintendo would quickly launch a dual - joystick handheld console, the new 3DS with built - in dual joysticks was not released until 2014. The "Monster Hunter" series had been the pillar of the PSP in Japan. The launch of "Monster Hunter 3G" on the 3DS was a fatal blow to Sony's handheld console business in Japan.
The external right joystick, Circle Pad Pro, for the 3DS.
As for the first - party games of the 3DS, "Super Mario 3D Land" was released in November 2011, and "Mario Kart 7" was released in December 2011. These two blockbuster games stabilized the European and American markets for the 3DS. Among them, "Super Mario 3D Land" was tailor - made for the 3DS, and all kinds of ingenious visual illusions became clear in the autostereoscopic 3D mode.
What if Nintendo had postponed the 3DS launch until the end of 2011? Could it have avoided the big price cut? This is an assumption that makes people daydream, but history doesn't allow for "what - ifs". With the help of the low - cost hardware and three blockbuster games, the global sales of the 3DS reached 15 million by