When it comes to portable consoles, no one has ever managed to match the success of Nintendo. Although Sony, Sega and Atari have tried in the past, no one seems to have the same duration over time and the wide appeal of the company’s offers based in Kyoto. While making some mistakes in the portable console market over the years, Nintendo has also enjoyed overwhelming success, with some of their portable consoles that have become among the most sold of all time, including home consoles. The tradition of Nintendo's portable consoles is extremely vast and shows how prioritized the game “on the go”.
With the advent of the Switch and the popularity of mobile phones, many people believe that a strictly portable console no longer has space on the market. This is true in part, with many big market players focusing on home console offers instead of creating their own portable console. While some people might understandably not be happy with this evolution, the existence of the Switch means that Nintendo’s portable consoles still have a market out there, and fans can’t wait to find out what Nintendo will propose for their latest console. Since it was a disaster, the Wii U, most people think that Nintendo will opt for a safer road this time and propose a Switch 2 or something... but only time will tell if this will be the way to follow.
Nintendo has become one of the main players in the video game industry and continues to be the subject of discussions even today, despite competitors such as PlayStation and Xbox push the technical limits of their consoles to new heights and seem to leave Nintendo behind. However, the quality of Nintendo's exclusives largely offset the lack of powerful hardware, demonstrating that games do not need photorealistic graphics to be enjoyable.
Game and Watch
Although the Game & Watch series is not what most people would traditionally call portable consoles, they are portable and are video games. The games are on the basic segmented LCD display with pre-printed overlaps, similar to the Tamagotchi.
Nintendo began creating the Game & Watch series in 1980, anticipating the Nintendo Entertainment System. They continued to produce Game & Watch until 1991, the same year that the Super Nintendo was released.
The first Game & Watch games present Mr. Game & Watch, now a fixed element of Super Smash Bros., but later versions have popular characters like Link de The Legend of Zelda and Mario by Super Mario Bros.
Game Boy
The Game Boy, released in 1989, was the first Nintendo portable console with interchangeable cartridges. While many games on the system were simplified ports by Nintendo Entertainment System or Super Nintendo, the system was enriched by many exclusive games created specifically for it.
The console had the longest duration of any other Nintendo console, it lasted 9 years before being replaced by the Game Boy Color. The console saw some revisions such as the Game Boy Pocket, which made the console smaller, and the Game Boy Light, a Japanese exclusive that added a very necessary backlight to the console.
Game Boy Color
The Game Boy Color, released in 1998, is often associated with the original Game Boy; however, Color adds more processing power as well as color graphics, allowing graphically superior games.
From the beginning, the Game Boy Color has been proposed in a variety of colors, including lime green, purple grapes, transparent atomic violet and others. There have been many exclusive games for the Game Boy Color, with their cartridges presenting a convex curve to prevent them from entering an original Game Boy, causing possible damage.
Nintendo Switch OLED
The Nintendo Switch could be a great console, but there were people who wanted an update for a long time. After all, the console had enjoyed a long duration and it would not have been strange that the company finally launched a better console, which was the Switch 2 or more.
Instead, Nintendo decided to release an improved version of the Switch with an OLED screen, an update that many players enjoyed. The console had an elegant appearance, but still did hardware dated at the time of release, making it difficult to justify the purchase unless players were desperate for an improvement of the quality of their portable gaming experience.
Nintendo DSi
The Nintendo DSi was an upgrade for a legendary laptop console that was positively appreciated by everyone, although there were still people not willing to abandon their beloved DS for this update. However, the DSi largely justified this expense with its exclusive DSiWare downloadable content, a larger screen and a necessary slot for SD card!
Although this console has lost the ability to load and play GBA games, it was a small price to pay for a portable console easier to hold and play. However, in terms of total cultural impact and relevance, it does not hold the comparison with the legendary Nintendo DS.
Nintendo DSi XL
Given the legacy of the Nintendo DS, it was inevitable that the console would receive a substantial upgrade with the advent of the Nintendo DSi. However, it was not the only variant of this console to go out, with fans who had the pleasure of a larger version that made the games on this console better than ever.
The Nintendo DSi XL is the perfect example of why the greatest is better. Players could enjoy the games on a larger screen, which largely compensated for the added weight on this console. Anyone who owns this console can confirm that the vast DS game repertoire felt simply better to play on this enhanced screen.
Nintendo 2DS
After the 3DS proved to be an overwhelming success and helped Nintendo to stay afloat while facing the disastrous launch of the Wii U, the company realized that it had to keep its fans of portable consoles as happy as possible. This meant that the updated versions of the same consoles had to be perfect, and the 2DS was definitely in this category.
After all, most people barely cared about using the 3D function of this console, which was an interesting idea but seemed strange to use and did not really have the desired impact half the time. So, it was an obvious decision and a genius shot that Nintendo decided to release a cheaper variant of this portable console that eliminated the ability to project 3D images, but kept all the other qualities that would be expected from a new Nintendo portable console.
Game Boy Advance
Affectably called the Super Nintendo Portable, the Game Boy Advance, released in 2001, has a 32-bit processor capable of producing similar or even better graphics than the second Nintendo console.
The Game Boy Advance, like many Nintendo portable consoles, has seen many revisions over the years. The first was the Game Boy Advance SP, which features a shell design with a backlit screen – then there was the Game Boy Micro, incredibly small and unable to play Game Boy or Game Boy Color games.
Nintendo 3DS
The Nintendo 3DS, released in 2011, had a very difficult start. Initially, the price was too high for many consumers and the launch lineup was unsatisfactory. However, Nintendo quickly lowered the price and offered free download games for those who bought them before price reduction. Over time, after the release of many great games, the portable console has become incredibly successful.
The Nintendo 3DS has, as the name suggests, 3D functionality without glasses as well as enhanced reality features. The 3DS was followed by the 3DS XL, and fans loved the console even though the whole dynamic 3D appearance looked more like a trick than anything else.
New Nintendo 3DS
The Nintendo 3DS is responsible alone to keep Nintendo afloat after the disastrous launch of the Wii U, so it was inevitable that they would strive to improve this console as much as possible to keep it relevant to the masses. The 3DS had an extensive library of great games, and the company decided to make this console as attractive as possible by launching a new variant with improvements on all fronts.
This led to the launch of the New Nintendo 3DS, which included a new C-Stick, shooting buttons, enhanced RAM, face detection, better processors and a number of other improvements to make the games smooth and exciting. It was a step in the right direction, with many people who enjoyed the New Nintendo 3DS and consider it a worthy upgrade compared to its predecessor.
Game Boy Advance SP
The Game Boy Advance was a revolutionary portable console for Nintendo, and it's easy to understand why they decided to launch an improved variant of the console that seemed much more intuitive and fun to play. The backlit screen of the Game Boy Advance SP meant that players no longer had to fight in unideal lighting conditions, making it much easier to play games on the console.
The new shell design was also appreciated to be a significant improvement compared to the flat layout of the original and potentially opened the way to the iconic design of the DS that everyone knows and loves. However, the absence of a headphone socket was complained of by the masses, although this was a small price to pay for what was otherwise a great console in any way.
Nintendo Switch
Although it may seem unfair to put the Nintendo Switch in comparison with the other only portable Nintendo consoles, the fact is that it is a portable machine. The Nintendo Switch, released in 2017, joins the game on console and laptop in a single console. Players can play the same game that they are playing on television also in motion; a trick that changed the way many see the portable game. The system also saw a portable version of the console, the Nintendo Switch Lite, sold at a reduced price.
Only time will tell if Nintendo will ever release a strictly portable console again, with this revolutionary system in any way and kills two pigeons with a fava. However, if there is one thing that fans can be certain about, it is that the company will continue to evolve the portable game, just as it has done countless other times in the past.
Nintendo DS
Initially, the Nintendo DS, released in 2004, was not to replace the Game Boy line and should instead be a separate console line since Nintendo was not sure of the console's success. The shape of the DS was inspired by the old Game & Watch that also had two screens in a shell design.
The Nintendo DS has been incredibly successful and is one of the most sold consoles of all time. It was followed by the DS Lite, which presented a subtler design, and the DSi, which had online features.
