Maybe hot take: as a handheld, the regular switch is an awful handheld

Have you ever held a switch? Its long, flat and the controllers suck. Awful dpad and bad sticks.

Its almost comical, for a small stick the 3ds stick is better than any joycon stick.

And also, internal storage being only 32 GB, and cart games being downloaded in full to the system.

The switch is a mess. At least the games emulate well.

That’s not even going into the online ransom shit.

And the dock sucks too. Would it have killed Nintendo to add like 2 more USB ports and an Ethernet port.

And not related but powera can eat shit

loren,

The Joy Cons are the worst controllers Nintendo has ever made. If Switch 2 is anything even remotely similar, it’s seeing zero use as a handheld from me (if I even buy one).

homicidalrobot,

It would have killed nintendo to add an ethernet port. As someone who bought the dongle, having a wired connection will NOT save you from nintendo online being the worst gaming networking service ever devised. No game benefits from it, least of all actual nintendo titles like splatoon or smash. It’s not even a problem of speed, it’s wholesale reliability issues, constant loss of connection errors. If an ethernet port was available included rather than needing to be a seperate purchase, more people would realize sooner just how truly awful the paid nintendo online service is.

I’m just still mad that I could play phantasy star online for ten hours uninterrupted on my gamecube, but now there’s not a single nintendo title that has stable online. Pokémon might let you get a raid or two before needing to reconnect. Splatoon might get a match or three before needing to reconnect completely. Smash won’t stay stable for even one full match. It’s a complete tragedy.

sleepybisexual,

Online sucks, its all p2p with network speed of my ancient laptop

Blackmist,

Well it’s the only handheld that hasn’t given me cramp after 20 minutes, so at least there’s that. DS and 3DS were limited to stylus games for me.

sexy_peach,

Wow many people seem to own both a switch and a steamdeck. Do y’all just buy everything?

smeg,

The crazy one is when you see someone who owns both a PlayStation and an Xbox!

sleepybisexual,

Lmao

Don_alForno,

Handheld mode is really not great for extended periods.

I got it for (business) trips, so I appreciate that I can easily connect it to a hotel room TV, or put it upright on a train or plane table.

One disconnected joycon in each hand IS pretty comfortable, since I can avoid the static “controller in front of you” arm pose.

Caffeinated_Capybara,

I think the switch did pretty well actually and I get why they made the decisions they made. As much as I love my steam deck, the thing takes up like twice as much space as my switch, for example. There is definitely room for improvement though.

sim_,

Interesting, I adore my switch. I love my deck for its capabilities (e.g., modding) but I’ll usually buy a game on the switch if I have the option. For me, it’s much more comfortable to use for extended time whereas the deck is heavy enough that it’ll give me wrist pain for long sessions. The battery difference is underrated here too. It’s nice traveling or hell even on the couch to not have to worry much about battery on the switch.

Moonrise2473,

Wait, the games in the cartridge need to be installed in the main memory as well? Effectively just a drm gimmick?

They can’t read the resources they need from the cart like in the past?

Blackmist,

I don’t think that’s the case at all. They run from the carts just fine.

sleepybisexual,

From the tests I have done, the cart is a DRM gimmick

We need big carts with enhancement chips to return, digital only and DRM can get fucked

GARlactic,

I completely agree that the switch is genuinely painful to hold on handheld mode for more than ten minutes. The controllers and buttons are too small, it’s flat, and generally not ergonomic. It’s definitely designed for child sized hands in mind and not adults. I do my best to avoid using it in handheld mode.

Meanwhile, my steam deck is a much superior design. The ergonomics are excellent, it fits my hands, the buttons are spaced apart well, and are adequately sized, and I can play for hours with no hand cramps.

However…

The switch absolutely trounces the deck on portability. The fact that it’s flat and small means that, even while in a case, it’s extremely easy to slip into a backpack and take on the go. The deck while in a case, however, is bulky and doesn’t fit in a backpack if I want to put anything else in there (like a book and my laptop).

They were each designed with different goals in mind. I hate the ergonomics of the switch, but really do appreciate how easy it is to take on the go. I love the ergonomics of the deck, but hate how cumbersome it is to take anywhere. Nintendo made the choice to sacrifice ergonomics, and valve made the choice to sacrifice portability. Unfortunately, no solution will be perfect, and I accept that.

sleepybisexual,

Good point, tho my switch only left my house like once for a smash tourney

FlashMobOfOne,
@FlashMobOfOne@beehaw.org avatar

Yup. I got a grip accessory for mine to mitigate it.

ReallyActuallyFrankenstein,

Yes, I didn’t and still don’t understand why they didn’t make the joycon buttons and “d-pad” more comfortable. It’s Nintendo’s least comfortable controller and it’s the biggest reason I hate using the Switch portable mode.

Everyone’s saying it’s old here - the Game Boy was more comfortable to hold and had better buttons. It’s not about age.

sleepybisexual,

The 3ds has a good dpad too. Has Nintendo forgotten how dpads work

grrgyle,

It’s no Gameboy, that’s for sure. I use it resting on a pillow on my lap, so I don’t actually have to hold it up. Works very well that way actually

Megaman_EXE,

I find I very rarely use it as a handheld. I find it kind of heavy and awkward to hold after longer periods of time. I kinda wish Nintendo made another 3ds, lol. I’m extremely curious about what they’re going to do for the switch successor

grrgyle,

I’d go even farther back - make another GBA

sleepybisexual,

I want both a new GBA and a new 3ds.

grrgyle,

I think maybe I just want a GBA

Which is probably currently available if I look around

sleepybisexual,

I want a GBA, but the money to get one is not worth it.

A GBA is not worth 100 euros to me.

grrgyle,

That’s true, especially since I don’t have any of the old physical games.

I might get one of those “retro handhelds” (rg351p, PowKiddy, etc) one day. Those at least seem much more reasonable, and probably sport more open architecture

sleepybisexual,

I’m big into those, you want some recommendations?

grrgyle,

Hell yes!! I would love that. I’m definitely looking for something lofi - like even playing SNES games would probably be overkill. Bonus points if it can play contemporary retro games, like for PICO-8

sleepybisexual,

OK, so yih looking for something that can do SNES well, that would be low power, unless you wanna have newer systems,

So I need answers for these 4 questions

What shape you want?

What budget?

How much power do you want!

What os do you want?

For SNES the cheaper end will work

grrgyle,
  1. Smaller the better, not wide like a Switch or Stream Deck.
  2. Under 200 CAD, but flexible for the right device
  3. Limited 3D but no more. Like FX chip level
  4. Linux? Hopefully I understood the question

Thanks for taking this time!

sleepybisexual,

OK, I have some ideas.

For all of SNES and some other stuff as a bonus the ambernic rg35xxh seems like it’d be a good fit. Tho it is horizontal. About 80-90 USD I think

The rg35xx is similar but vertical with no sticks

For something that’s like 40 USD ish there’s the powkiddy v90.

Tho for 200 cad that’s like mid range tier. But most powerful ones are landscape.

A good yt channel is retro game corps.

My personal machine is the retroid pocket 4 pro. An android handheld that is very powerful, can emulate up to some switch

grrgyle,

Oh the different retroid pockets look really cool. Thanks, you’ve given me a lot to dig in to!

sleepybisexual,

Didn’t think you’d like a retroid cos they run android but they are extremely good.

The 4 pro is good, it runs a lot well, up to 2d switch games.

I heard horror stories about the 3 and flip tho.

Also powkiddy stuff is bad at mid range, only consider them for very cheap,

Megaman_EXE,

That would be really interesting. Heck I would even just take people making more games with the gba’s restrictions. I’ve always thought it’s super interesting. As developers get used to working with a console or system, we end up rolling into the next generation. So they don’t really get to flex their skill as much as I think they probably could.

I sometimes wonder what we would see if older consoles had another 7 years of life added to them. I try not to think about it too hard or I get kinda sad about the games we’ll never see lol

noob_dragon,

Yeah, it is basically impossible for me to use the stock switch for anything more than an hour handheld with my hands cramping up. I ended up having to get some rubber grips with a palm bumpout in order for it to be remotely comfortable.

The steam deck is a huge upgrade in that regard. Significantly more comfortable to hold. Plus, the steam deck is capable of emulating pretty much anything on the switch full speed :). On top of all of that is barely even costs more lol.

comicallycluttered,

Wii U gamepad was a lot more comfortable for me. I’d play Windwaker or Mario Maker or 3D World or Splatoon for hours and never feel all cramped up with half-numb palms. I play Ace Attorney for an hour and it just hurts.

Plus the charging port location makes it annoying to play while charging. It makes sense for the dock, but it ruins it in handheld mode.

I’d love to just get a Steam Deck and be done with it, but Valve won’t be shipping here anytime soon and the cost of importing it along with our shitty forex rates end up with the base model hitting PS5 cost territory for me (which is also more expensive here than in most Western nations).

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