Mobile gaming has always been a key part of this blog, in fact, it was the purchase of a Nintendo DS back in 2007 that got me writing about video games. The number of mobile gaming consoles that I’ve owned has grown since then and the most recent acquisition was Valve’s Steam Deck. Here’s a rundown of what I’ve owned through the 16 years since the Nintendo DS.
Nintendo DS
The blue Nintendo DS came as part of an Animal Crossing bundle, and I gotten this at the Mall of the Emirates while I was on a work assignment in Dubai. I didn’t tell anyone this, but I went to the same shop for two consecutive days before making up my mind to get the bundle. The purchase was made on the same day I was to head back to Malaysia. The rest of it, was as people say “history”. My Nintendo DS games collection grew to a sizeable cache, and it provided a lot of the writing material for Nine Over Ten 9/10. My favorite games on this console? Animal Crossing and Mario Kart DS.
Game Boy Micro
To be honest, I bought this as a collector item purchase, although I did purchase several GBA titles to go with the console. The version that I got is the 20th Anniversary Edition that comes in a metallic red body with gold faceplate, not unlike Iron Man.
Nintendo 3DS
I received this as a present from my wife back in 2011. Similar with the Nintendo DS, the 3DS had dual screens. The 3D function was a nifty gimmick but the low-res screens meant that the 3D function didn’t really hit the spot for me. Since the console was also backward compatible with Nintendo DS games, I ended up not buying a lot of 3DS titles. The standout game for me was Mario Kart 7, but at this point I was already wondering what else can Nintendo cook up.
Nintendo Switch
When the Switch was first announced, I think even naysayers had to admit that the concept of a “hybrid” console was a very interesting one. Like the 3DS, this was another gift from my wife in 2019, and she gotten the V2 version which featured better battery life. Due to its portable nature, the Switch constantly following me around, and I clocked hundred of hours playing games such as Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Diablo III, Diablo II and Picross. Needless to say, those are my favorite games and the Switch remains my favorite Nintendo console.
Steam Deck
The Steam Deck was released in February 2022, and I managed to snag a 256 GB version on eBay. This was before the Deck was being made readily available by Valve. The interesting part about the Deck that it is actually a PC in very portable form running Steam games on SteamOS. While most Steam Deck-verified games would run off the bat, unlike the DS, 3DS and Switch, the Deck does require some tech finesse from the user in order to get an optimized experience for certain titles.
What’s Next?
I’m pretty excited to see what Nintendo will have offer as the successor to the Switch, even though there’s no date attached to that. While the designers of the Steam Deck have confirmed that there’ll be a successor to Valve’s first console, there’s no timeframe to that either. We may see the proliferation of handheld gaming PCs, spearheaded by the likes of AYA NEO, GPD and ONEXPLAYER, so that will definitely be a interesting space to watch.
