THE ALCOVE

5 – PS Vita

 

The PS Vita is quite easily the most powerful console on this list and is the main reason it has made the list in the first place. The Vita came to the market with a hefty price RRP of £229.99 for the Wi-Fi only model and £279.99 for 3G and Wi-Fi. The price and lack of games actually being made for the console are often slated as some of the consoles main shortcomings, but that shouldn’t detract from what it is and what it can be.

 

The Vita has a vast library of both Western and Japanese titles, ranging from modern releases to PS1 classics. The Vita’s expandable storage means that the sky really is the limit on the amount of games you want to take on the go with you and that really is a great feature. Armed with front and rear touch controls as well as two dedicated joysticks, the Vita surpasses many expectations when it comes to features, not to mention the remote-play capabilities when linked to a PS4.

 

But why is it at the bottom of this list? Well, I just don’t think it has the legacy that all of the others have achieved, it hasn’t had the same impact. Nevertheless, I believe the Vita deserves a spot on this list against all other competitors.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4 – 3DS and New 3DS

 

The Nintendo 3DS is a household name at this point and that’s the magic of them. A successor to the Nintendo DS, the 3DS packs portable 3D gaming at an affordable price, something I personally never thought I would see.

 

The 3DS launched with the controversy that it was causing eye-strain and motion sickness. Though it didn’t have the greatest beginnings from a feature perspective there has been a plethora of great titles released for the console and in my opinion, it received one of the best line-ups from launch across all gaming platforms.

 

The New 3DS when above and beyond to fix its predecessors shortcomings and what an achievement that was. The New 3DS brings the huge 3DS and DS catalogues to a worldwide market for an affordable price, not to mention that the eShop provides more titles to be downloaded straight to a standard SD card. There was no way that the 3DS would have been missed on this list.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3 – Gameboy and Gameboy Color

 

The classic. The big-hitter. No way this couldn’t be on the list. Not a lot to be said here, if you were out in the playground with one of these you were going places in life. So many fan-favourite franchises were born here and carried around in oversized pockets. Nintendo shaped the portable market, managing to make some of their standout classics portable, then they went and added colour too. Nintendo dominated the handheld market and it could be argued they still do. Oh, and these things were literally bomb-proof. Enough said.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2 – DS

 

Nintendo DS. Was there anyone born in the last 20 years who didn’t have one of these at some point or another? It didn’t just put one screen in your pocket, but two! And it closed like a clam from the future. From Nintendogs to Mario to Pokémon, the DS had it all. It has a huge back catalogue and many of the titles stand up to the test of time. The DS was also constantly evolving. The original DS was clunky and large, but they made it sleek and stylish with the DS Light. Then they went on to make it lighter and add a camera with the DSi. Not finished there they then added the DSi XL for those of us who don’t have the worlds tiniest hands. Props on this one Nintendo, the DS deserves to go down in history.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1 – PSP

 

The handheld to end all handhelds, the Sony PSP takes the crown on our list. The PSP, or the PSP 3000 to be more specific, is everything that you could want in a handheld. The PSP 3000 took everything the 2000 had got right and perfected it. For starters it is sleek and stylish, as well as being available in a variety of colours, it was also light and small enough to fit in a reasonably sized pocket.

 

Next, you have the games. The PSP was blessed with a huge catalogue of games, from FPS to Fantasy. These games also worked with online multiplayer with the built-in W-Fi. Wi-Fi also meant that there was a store full of new games ready to purchase, download and store on the PSP’s expandable memory cards. Though the proprietary memory cards can be a pain, it did mean that back when the PSP launched there was support for truly portable gaming.

 

Finally, the PSP wasn’t just a games console, it was a portable multimedia device. The PSP had a built-in music player as well as the ability to play movies either from the memory card or from purpose-built movie PSP UMDs. The PSP 3000 was a console for everyone, entering the market for £149.99 the PSP 3000 was fairly priced and nowadays you can easily find them for less than £50. With a huge back-catalogue of games to explore the PSP is still a fun bit of tech to throw in a backpack. And the whirr of a PSP UMD in the back is a pleasure too, so that’s nice.