The Phonehelds Thread

[Vardalis]

Did you ever own a Nokia N-Gage? A Sony Xperia Play? How was it owning one? Did it get much mileage as a gaming device or did you use it mostly as a phone?

I thought I'd ask because I've always had a fascination about these sorts of devices. The hybrid nature. The physical buttons for gaming. Not needing that extra device in your bag or pocket or needing to carry around an extra peripheral if you want to slot your phone into a controller or something. Just being able to boot into a game or slide the screen up then and there. They always just seemed so convenient and fun. No fuss with extra devices or pieces of plastic. While they may be considered obsolete by modern standards I'd still buy a modern iteration of something like that in a heartbeat.

 

[Miles Miles]

I wish they still made phones like that. They would be awesome for emulation!

 

[Vardalis]

I wish they still made phones like that. They would be awesome for emulation!

Absolutely. I think the Xperia Play sounded like it got a good bit of mileage for PS1 emulation (and probably below) back when it was relevant and before the rise of the cheaper and more powerful stuff we have today. Of course now the version of Android is so old and it was only 3G, so you couldn't realistically use it as a daily driver in most cases.

 

[vulonkaaz's iconvulonkaaz]

xperia play self destructed itself the screen cable just break over time

i rember when the xperia play was like the official device to play minecraft pocket edition, it didn't last long that thing

they not making gaming phones like they used to, i'd probably use the Ayn Thor as my main phone if only it had a 4G modem

made that cringe meme few years ago still relevant i guess:

 

[Deleted member 560402]

Wanted one back then for Tomb Raider and Sonic. It looked cool in magazines and they had one that was playable in the game store at my mall.

 

[Miles Miles]

Absolutely. I think the Xperia Play sounded like it got a good bit of mileage for PS1 emulation (and probably below) back when it was relevant and before the rise of the cheaper and more powerful stuff we have today. Of course now the version of Android is so old and it was only 3G, so you couldn't realistically use it as a daily driver in most cases.

I find it crazy that there aren't phones like that anymore. Many people love to play emulated games on their phone, so I don't see why phones like that wouldn't do well today.

 

[Vardalis]

I find it crazy that there aren't phones like that anymore. Many people love to play emulated games on their phone, so I don't see why phones like that wouldn't do well today.

Yeah. I'd just assume it's not a priority for any of the bigger phone makers since they perceive people just use them for mobile games if anything, or use a bluetooth controller if they're dedicated enough. Or, another angle of the same argument, they likely don't see they'd make any kind of profit by doing something different.

 

[PhrawzT]

I had the Xperia Play back in 2012. It was great and could play NES, SNES and Playstation games. I wish I hadn't sold it back when I was strapped for cash and had gotten a new phone.

 

[Mr. SyS]

Does Vita count? It sure feels like a phone if it had good controls. The only thing you can't do with one is actually use it as a phone.

 

[Stingy Perry Stingy Perry]

The only phone I ever owned back then is a Nokia 6600. I e

 

[PrismRed]

I had N-gage, it was my primary gaming handheld for a few years during mid 2000s.

 

[Samatonic Samatonic]

I'm something of a gamer myself.

Had this family phone for 3 years. Didn't die, just had to replace it with a new one.

 

[TamagotchiTamaHero24's icon TamagotchiTamaHero24 TamagotchiTamaHero24]

Does Vita count? It sure feels like a phone if it had good controls. The only thing you can't do with one is actually use it as a phone.

Launch model had 3G. That’s the one I own. It’s a totally useless feature for it though.

That said, the Vita is the best way to play Jetpack Joyride imo…

Post automatically merged: Aug 27, 2025

I'm something of a gamer myself.

Had this family phone for 3 years. Didn't die, just had to replace it with a new one.

These bricks are total nuggets, but like all limited technology, they’re surprisingly durable.

 

[PhrawzT]

Launch model had 3G. That’s the one I own. It’s a totally useless feature for it though.

That said, the Vita is the best way to play Jetpack Joyride imo…

Post automatically merged: Aug 27, 2025

These bricks are total nuggets, but like all limited technology, they’re surprisingly durable.

I always found that Spelunky was easier to control on the Vita.