Should handhelds count for console generations?

[TamagotchiTamaHero24's icon TamagotchiTamaHero24 TamagotchiTamaHero24]

Sounds like a simple question, but it’s really not. Console generations are a divisive concept anyway due to the variance of technology in many generations, especially the fourth and fifth, but handhelds make it a lot harder. However, a lot of handhelds are associated with accompanying home consoles. The GameBoy Color was marketed similarly to the N64, the PSP took much of its branding and style from the PS2 and eventually PS3, the Game Gear was built to complement the Genesis, etc.

That said, things get messy because of how handhelds don’t follow console rules. The DS and PSP both released late in the sixth generation of systems but then were mostly alive during the seventh generation. The Atari Lynx feels like it should match with the Jaguar, but it actually predates it and doesn’t have much overlap, essentially being Atari’s sole system on the market during the early 90’s. The Neo Geo Pocket Color doesn’t match with any singular console. And the Vita pairs strongly with the PS3, but most of its life was spent next to the PS4.

And then there’s the Switch. And that’s a whole can of worms on its lonesome. Released years before the ninth Gen, during the eighth generation that Nintendo already had a console in, and replacing their handheld business by combining handhelds and consoles into one. So, is it eighth? Ninth? Does it not count? What about the Lite, which is handheld only?

All this begs the question…

Do these count during their respective console generations?

 

[Nelson2001 Nelson2001]

Yes, Count as generations as well.

2nd Generation:
Milton Bradley Microvision (1979)

3rd Generation?:
Nintendo Game & Watch (1980)

4th Generation:
Nintendo Game Boy (1989-90)
Atari Lynx (1989)
NEC PC Engine GT/TurboExpress (1990)
Sega Game Gear (1990-91)
Gamate (1990)
Atari Lynx II (1991)
Watara Supervision (1992)
Mega Duck/Cougar Boy (1993)
Sega Nomad (1995)
Nintendo Game Boy Pocket (1996)
Nintendo Game Boy Light (1997, Only in )
Tiger Game.com (1997)

5th Generation:
Nintendo Game Boy Color (1998)
SNK Neo-Geo Pocket (1998)
Bandai WonderSwan (1999)

6th Generation:
SNK Neo-Geo Pocket Color (1999)
Bandai WonderSwan Color (2000)
Nintendo Game Boy Advance (2001)
Game Park GP32 (2001)
Bandai SwanCrystal (2002)
Nintendo Game Boy Advance SP (2003)
Nokia N-Gage (2003)
Tapwave Zodiac (2003)
Timetop Game King (2003)
Nokia N-Gage GD (2004)
Nintendo Game Boy Advance Micro (2005)

7th Generation:
Nintendo DS (2004-05)
Sony PlayStation Portable (2004-05)
GPH GP2X (2005)
Nintendo DS Lite (2006)
Sony PlayStation Portable Slim & Lite (2007)
GPH GP2X F200 (2007)
Nintendo DSi (2008-09)
Dingoo A320 (2009)
GPH GP2X Wiz (2009)
Sony PlayStation Portable Go (2009)
Nintendo DSi XL (2009-10)
Pandora (2010)

8th Generation:
Nintendo 3DS (2011)
Sony PlayStation Vita (2011-12)

 

[Segadude113]

I do count them. Game Boy and Game Gear as well as the Lynx would be part of the 16Bit generation alongside the SNES, Genesis, and TG-16.

Game Boy Color would be part of the N64, Saturn, and PS-One.

Game Boy Advance and N-Gage would be with the Gamecube, Dreamcast, XBOX, and PS2.

Nintendo DS and PSP would be with PS3, XBox360, and the Wii.

3DS and Vita with PS4, XBOne, and Wii-U.

Switch just replaced the need for a handheld. PS5 and XBOX Series X/S ignored it. I guess you could count the handheld for the PS5, but it's not a true handheld in my opinion. Steamdeck however IS.

 

[Adrastia]

I always thought of handhelds as companions to the consoles. At least in the case of Nintendo. Some handhelds even had connectivity features to the consoles. Maybe in some ways they are their own thing. But think about how many handhelds had a a version of games from the main console. That's same gen games right there. So I think they count as part of the gen.

 

[otogirisou]

yes

 

[elwynd16x]

Most games will attempt to build upon past ideas regardless of the hardware it's running on.
...Old LCD handhelds don't count unless they predate the Gameboy.

 

[qw90700]

I would consider handheld consoles to have their own generations separate from home video game consoles.

And then "generation" logic kinda works in a way which home video game console is technically better than the previous generation console. So to belong in the same gen they gotta be able to compete against each other technically. It does mean games can run between same gen consoles without significant change and absolutely no downgrade.

For example Nintendo Switch 2 is very weak therefore it's barely better than previous gen consoles, so cannot consider it in current gen consoles at all lol. It will need downgrade to be able to run current AAA games lol.

 

[nobitakun]

I would consider handheld consoles to have their own generations separate from home video game consoles.

And then "generation" logic kinda works in a way which home video game console is technically better than the previous generation console. So to belong in the same gen they gotta be able to compete against each other technically. It does mean games can run between same gen consoles without significant change and absolutely no downgrade.

For example Nintendo Switch 2 is very weak therefore it's barely better than previous gen consoles, so cannot consider it in current gen consoles at all lol. It will need downgrade to be able to run current AAA games lol.

This. Handheld consoles play their own generations, it's not about when they were released and if they coincide with the desktop console generation.

Being said that, I also only count generations to consoles who had a catalogue of retail games, in which case I wouldn't include:

Pandora, GP2X or Dingoo consoles, among others.

Hybrid consoles such as Switch count for portable, as it's the default mode the developers program for, so they don't belong to desktop generations.