Across generations, handheld gaming consoles keep us playing

On paper, handhelds might seem like a niche category in gaming, especially when compared to home console juggernauts like the Xbox or the PlayStation. But the data tells a different story. Handheld consoles actually claim two spots in the top five bestselling consoles.

In fact, one might argue that there are three handhelds in the list, as the Nintendo Switch is a hybrid system that is a mix of the two.

Gamers today are truly spoilt for choice, with everything from compact consoles to powerful handheld PCs and smartphones vying for a place in our pockets. Rana, like many millions of people around the globe, perfectly understands the appeal of a handheld gaming console. Unlike standard gaming consoles, handhelds let users play games pretty much anywhere, putting entire virtual worlds right in their pockets without the distractions that smartphones inevitably bring into the picture when they are used for anything from gaming to reading.

This appeal is reflected in the numbers. According to Global Media Insights, the global handheld gaming market was estimated at USD 16.3 billion in 2024, and is expected to grow to USD 37.7 billion in 2034.

It’s hard to imagine that all this was reportedly made possible by a bored Japanese businessman.

Kings and challengers

If gaming lore is to be believed, the head of Nintendo’s R&D division in the 1970s, Gunpei Yokoi, was riding the Shinkansen (Bullet Train) when noticed a bored businessman idly pressing buttons on his pocket calculator to pass the time. This led to the Nintendo Game & Watch, a small handheld that featured a simple LCD display, similar to ones found on calculators and digital watches.

The Game & Watch was not the first handheld. The space was pioneered with devices like Mattel’s Auto Race and Milton Bradley’s Microvision. But Nintendo doubled down on the success of the Game & Watch with the Game Boy and the DS, being challenged along the way by devices like the SEGA Game Gear and the Atari Lynx. However, the simplicity, affordability and the vast library of titles made Nintendo’s offerings a more appealing option for consumers. So for a while in the early 2000s, Nintendo was pretty much the only option. Well, that was until another Japanese juggernaut decided to venture into the handheld space. Sony entered the handheld space in 2004 with the Sony PlayStation Portable (PSP), which offered better hardware as well as an analogue stick for improved controls. However, Nintendo countered that with intuitive touch controls as well as a strong library of games. Over the next decade or so, both companies would launch various iterations of their handheld in order to stay relevant. During that time however, a new device would start competing for the space in our pockets.

The smartphone takeover

The mobile phone is a marvel of technology miniaturisation. So it was a matter of time before someone asked, “can we play games on it?" The initial generation of mobile phones were limited to the games that were added by the manufacturer like Snake or Space Impact. However, the advent of the smartphone (and by extension, the app store) changed everything. Now, downloading and installing games was as easy as pushing a button. Established game publishers started releasing mobile versions of their PC/console games, with PUBG Mobile (now called BGMI in India) being a standout example. The game was immensely popular, and it can be argued that it brought mainstream success to gaming in India.

Karan Gaikwad, Lead of Product Team, KRAFTON India (publisher of BGMI) notes, “Handheld devices laid the foundation for gaming on the go, but in India it is mobile that has carried that legacy into the mainstream. The country recorded over 15 billion mobile game downloads in FY24, and BGMI alone has surpassed 240 million installs, underscoring how mobile has made handheld-style gaming accessible at scale."

While smartphone gaming might be huge with a casual gaming audience, companies do feel that there is still a need for dedicated handheld consoles with each device offering its own unique take on gaming on the go.

The new generation

In 2017, Nintendo unveiled the Switch, a hybrid console that could be played at home on a TV via its dock, or picked up and taken on the go as a handheld system. Earlier, handheld games were either exclusive titles, or were watered down versions of full size games available on the PC or home console. But with the Switch, gamers could play complete versions of games like the Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim or Doom while on the go, albeit with lower graphics to make up for the limited performance of the Switch.

This is where laptop makers jumped in. These brands already offered powerful, yet portable gaming machines. They just had to make it even more portable. ASUS was amongst the first to release a new generation of handheld PCs in India. “India has one of the fastest-growing gaming populations in the world. Gamers here are aspirational, tech-savvy, and quick to embrace new categories when they see value," says Arnold Su, vice president, consumer and gaming PC business, ASUS India.

The ASUS ROG Ally series of handhelds are basically tiny laptops and offer similar levels of functionality and capability. As Su states, “With the ROG Ally, we saw an opportunity to bridge the gap between PC-level performance and true portability. Gamers today want powerful devices that don’t tie them to a desk, and handheld PCs are a natural extension of that demand."

While handheld PCs are relatively new to the market, their versatility is allowing them to make inroads into markets. “Globally, this category is still emerging but is growing rapidly as gamers embrace more flexible play styles," says Su.

Of course, the question of what makes a gaming handheld is getting blurrier than ever. Both Microsoft and Sony are working on cloud gaming, which will let them stream games from the cloud. Thereby negating the need for powerful hardware. The downside being that it will need steady internet connectivity at all times in order to work properly.