this post was submitted on 20 May 2025
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I like how the Game Gear lost hard to the Game Boy, but now their design is the standard for handheld consoles.
The Game Gear ate batteries like they were Tic Tacs, and it needed 6 of them at once. I don't think it's the design that held it back. It's the power usage, and the lack of Tetris.
It was also gigantic compared to the Game Boy. Between that and the fact you needed to carry an AC power brick or 12v cigarette lighter adapter (or both) pretty much all the time unless you were swimming in AA battery money, you ended up carrying the thing around in what was basically a damn purse, like this one (more pictures on linked page):
And that's the smallest of the several first-party SEGA cases for it!
Needless to say, despite its technological superiority to a Game Boy, I didn't play mine nearly as often as I would have had a owned a Game Boy instead, just because it was so cumbersome to take places.
That's the whole point though. These PC handhelds are also giganti (as is the switch at this point).
And that's a big reason I don't own a Steam Deck.
I would be much more likely to buy one of those tiny retro emulator handhelds. (I haven't done that either, but that's for an entirely different reason: decision fatigue.)
They are, that's true. I think there's three big differences, besides battery life. First is we already have small phones that can play simple games and provide entertainment, so we don't need an additional something like the Gameboy. Second is it's marketed towards adults mostly, which are going to have an easier time bringing it with them wherever they are, unlike kids who would have to take it to school or wherever. Third is the game selection is massive and uses your steam library, which you probably already have a lot of games for.
Columns was... also a game where things fell vertically...
Columns was not an interesting or addictive as Tetris. It also didn't come with the console.
Tetris and the Gameboy being sold together was a massive boon to both of them.
I had family with a Sega Nomad. I thought that thing was a unit and I was so jealous of it. Now everything's significantly bigger than that. I remember how anything over 4.3" 16:9 phone display was too big to be portable. PC Handhelds go up to I think 10 inches now with GPD Win and the lightweight one soon being a Switch 2 is 7.9" 16:9 display
Had a nomad too. Thing was awesome. It was a tank but super fun.