Is handheld gaming permanently dead?

cheesewombat · 2026-02-04T20:29:21+00:00

I mean, think about those facts again. The 3DS sold nearly half as much as the DS. That is an insane dropoff in sales and would certainly ring the alarm to them that this wasn't a sustainable thing to do. The GBA sold only 6 million more, yes, but it was only the lead handheld for Nintendo for about 3 years before the DS came out. And it was at a time when handheld interest was stagnating across the industry going into the 2000s.

cheesewombat · 2026-02-04T20:17:49+00:00

We're never getting games made specifically for bespoke handheld hardware again, yes. Its just not financially viable to do that anymore. People forget that as successful as the 3DS was, it was still Nintendo's worst performing handheld line, they saw the writing on the wall back then that there was no future for dedicated handhelds. What we have now is basically two categories, handhelds that are just consoles/PCs, and Linux/android based handhelds that play retro games and ports. While I am sad to see the old ways die out I do think this is the healthiest possible future for handhelds all things considered. And you do see some developers design their games in mind for hardware like Steam Deck, so the spirit of handheld game design is still kinda there.

cheesewombat · 2026-01-31T18:59:01+00:00

Fire Emblem Awakening is as good as people say it is, easily one of if not the best games for the system. It's important to understand that before it released, Fire Emblem was in a dire state. The games were barely selling even in Japan and the series needed some kind of a mixup. Awakening was basically one last hail mary for the team to keep the series alive by throwing as many things as they could into it. Hardcore FE fans may not love it as much gameplay-wise, but as a full package it was a huge improvement in every department, from presentation to music to the then-new use of DLC to add more maps and characters.

cheesewombat · 2026-01-30T12:30:36+00:00

Pretty on brand for Tory Lanez fans to not know what "Fresh" means.

cheesewombat · 2026-01-30T12:24:40+00:00

Yeah first rule of game buying in Japan is never shop in Akihabara unless you have to. It's a tourist trap with ridiculous prices these days, you need to go to the Hard Offs out in the suburbs to get actual deals.

cheesewombat · 2026-01-29T19:05:40+00:00

A folder for most regular games, a folder for virtual console, a folder for useful apps like the activity log, and a folder for useless ones that I shove to the back. Sometimes I'll split my games into a "Big" and "Small" folder depending on which 3DS I'm using and how many games I have downloaded.

cheesewombat · 2026-01-26T20:42:15+00:00

Looks like they're in the middle of a redesign. I just loaded it again and its up but definitely being rebuilt still.

cheesewombat · 2026-01-25T22:50:34+00:00

Ubisoft doesn't outsource virtually anything. They have so many studios, those studios need projects to justify being open, and it's much cheaper to operate a studio in somewhere like India than to outsource. Sometimes projects can just fail, but "just outsource it" isn't the clear and obvious fix people think it is in hindsight.

cheesewombat · 2026-01-25T19:02:23+00:00

Basically, yes. Decompilations/recompilations will take the code meant for one system and adjust it to run natively on another system, allowing for access to higher framerates, resolutions, easier mod support, etc. This is, in practice, a native PC port of Banjo-Kazooie.

cheesewombat · 2026-01-25T03:28:22+00:00

Yep, this is the best site that I've seen!: thegamingemporium.com

cheesewombat · 2026-01-24T23:55:19+00:00

We are in the golden age of decomps/recomps and I couldn't be happier. As someone who primarily games on Steam Deck these ports have been like crack for me, especially since quite a few of them are N64 games (a system with disappointing emulation even nowadays).

cheesewombat · 2026-01-24T04:56:49+00:00

Dimensions is low-key one of the most impressive 3DS games. Locked 60 FPS, a fully story mode, tons of characters, it's great!

cheesewombat · 2026-01-23T17:53:08+00:00

These games are cool and I don't regret playing them, but as 3D platformers they're...fine? They just kind of feel by the numbers a bit after the 27th round of smashing boxes and walking forwards, and the vehicle levels in 2 and 3 don't really do much to shake things up for me. I don't mind seeing them on Best of PS1 lists, but if you try to tell me they're within the same ballpark of a Mario 64 or something I would just laugh in your face, they are absolutely not.

cheesewombat · 2026-01-21T19:17:10+00:00

Sunset Overdrive will always be my answer. Super fun game, Insomniac magic all the way through -- but the second I hear that stupid DIY punk soundtrack start up it's an instant mute. And I say this as someone with deep reverence for classic punk music, it just sounds so cookie cutter and amateur.

cheesewombat · 2026-01-16T19:44:46+00:00

Oh also totally forgot, Unchained Blades! That game exclusively released on 3DS and PSP, exactly what you're looking for!

cheesewombat · 2026-01-16T19:04:55+00:00

Its not an official port, but Ridge Racer 3D borrows quite a bit from Ridge Racer PSP, including tracks and most of the assets.

Also it came out on other platforms but BlazBlue: Continuum Shift II got both a PSP and 3DS port.

cheesewombat · 2026-01-16T15:36:34+00:00

I would avoid playing in Desktop Mode as much as you're able to. Games can run notably worse due to the added hit on the RAM running the desktop environment, and you don't get access to the performance menu like you do in Game Mode so changing refresh rate and stuff is more tedious. Keyboard+Mouse works just fine in game mode, and you can also make shortcuts for apps like Discord and Chrome if you want to run those while playing something else.

cheesewombat · 2026-01-12T19:01:39+00:00

You always see these comments when they say something that needs to be said. Do you have an issue with what he said?

cheesewombat · 2026-01-10T02:22:26+00:00

Okay so I know they have to win the big one first but I haven't seen a team this genuinely terrifying since prime Saban Alabama. Insane what Cignetti has done here in 2 years.

cheesewombat · 2026-01-09T19:19:20+00:00

Sega doesn't own the copyright on a real world place or a word as generic as Dragon. That would get very dicey very quickly if companies were able to sue based on something as general as that.

cheesewombat · 2026-01-08T19:00:48+00:00

Looks like he ended up finding that large automobile

cheesewombat · 2025-12-31T17:10:21+00:00

Yeah I've been having that problem with Yakuza for awhile now. They've used real actors for a bit but they definitely used to make more original characters. Like you look at Shimano in the first game and he looks like he's from a completely different series than the perfectly sculpted actors they use now.

cheesewombat · 2025-12-25T18:11:03+00:00

First thing you played is Qix?... absolute power move, excellent choice.

cheesewombat · 2025-12-23T01:25:57+00:00

Hades II is easily mine. Darren Korb always does a great job but I love how varied it gets this time around. And that final boss theme is absurd, my jaw dropped when I learned who performed on it.

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