If you go outside, to your local coffee shop, or your favorite online message board, you’re sure to hear someone confused about the difference between mobile games and handheld games. Nearly every day I hear these poor souls wandering the streets, desperately searching for anyone who can explain the difference between the two. Well, those people are in luck, because this is the official My Dpad explainer for mobile games vs handheld games.
Okay, so maybe I’ve never heard anyone asking this question in real life. According to my keyword research, though, this is a question that some people do have. It can be confusing, too, since “mobile” and “handheld” both seem to roughly mean the same thing.
In general, mobile gaming refers to smartphone games while handheld gaming refers to handheld video game consoles, such as the Nintendo 3DS and the PS Vita. Handheld consoles are also referred to as portable consoles sometimes. So, there you have it. When someone (including My Dpad) says mobile gaming, they are talking about games you can play on your iPhone or Android. When someone talks about handheld or portable gaming, though, they are talking about handheld consoles from companies like Sony and Nintendo.
The distinction should be smaller than ever, with some smartphones now rivaling the specs and screen sizes of handheld consoles. The types of games made for each type of gaming are very different, though. Mobile games tend to be free or cheap, filled with in-app purchases, and meant for small gaming session that don’t last very long (often throttled through an energy system or something). Handheld games, on the other hand, are more expensive (about half the price of home console games, such as PS4 fames), less weighed-down by DLC (usually), and are meant to be games you can play for hours.
At My Dpad, we mostly talk about mobile gaming instead of handheld gaming because mobile games are usually not given the due diligence they deserve. This leads to cash grabs with a lot of marketing dollars behind them being the only games players know about, while well-made gems languish in obscurity. My Dpad aims to help people find the best of the best mobile games so they don’t have to stick with the mediocre time waster they usually go with. We also don’t talk about handheld games much because Sony has done the PS Vita incredibly wrong, and it is my favorite console ever in theory, so I’m still mad about that. Just saying.