Handheld gaming is picking up steam in 2023. The gears started turning when Valve announced the Steam Deck in 2021 and eventually released it in 2022. 

There have been handheld PC gaming consoles, prior to it, of course. But none made by a major brand that most are familiar with. Now, ASUS is putting its horse in the race with the release of the ROG Ally. 

While we’re excited at the prospect of the future of this segment of gaming, it presents us with an opportune moment to look back at handheld gaming gadgets from yesteryears. 

Here are some of the most notable handheld gaming devices, from the perspective of the team.

Nokia (3310, 2600, N70, N-Gage)

Luigi: Technically, the classic Nokia phones aren’t gaming consoles. However, you can’t start off a discussion about handheld gaming without talking about Nokia. Not everyone owned a handheld console at the time, but practically everyone had a phone. Nokia, especially the Nokia 3310, introduced the idea that handheld gaming isn’t just a niche market. My mom would lend me her phone, and I played Snake and Space Invaders while she had meetings.

Vincenz: I grew up in a household full of Nokia phones. The classic Nokia 3310 isn’t an exception. That’s probably my awakening point that I can be competitive when it comes to mobile/digital games. I defeated several monsters in Space Impact as well as beating the existing high score in Snake. Also, the Nokia 2600 was very popular with the Bounce title. I also remember enjoying the better version of Snakes 3D using the Nokia N70.

Gab: Yes, you’re not reading that wrong: Nokia made something like a handheld console and disguised it as a cellphone called the N-Gage. Although I never personally owned one, in my younger years, I had a family friend who had one and we took turns playing with it. This device seemed like the cellphone world’s first attempt at coming up with a device that works like a console with calling capabilities. Honestly, it seemed promising until I found out that every time you wanted to switch games, you had to take out the battery first. At least you could play Crash Nitro Kart on it!

Game Boy (Original/Color/Advance/SP)

Gab: The original Gameboy was the first Nintendo-related console I owned. It was a hand-me-down from my dad when I was three. This thing ran on four AA batteries and was the foundation of handheld consoles during the 90s. I remember playing Super Mario Land with my dad helping me out in some levels; to be fair, I was three so I was slow in learning how the buttons work.

Also, the Gameboy SP had accessories like the Link Cable which made it perfect for Pokemon games with your friends. Personally, I never got to use it outside of trading Pokemon with some classmates in grade school. But it was a good way to find people with similar interests as you.

Luigi: The Game Boy Advance SP was my (and, I imagine, a lot of other’s) first actual handheld console. Though the console already went through so many iterations prior, the SP was a culmination of everything that came before. It had a decent battery, a backlight, and backwards compatibility for past cartridges. I didn’t have a lot of cartridges, but I remember playing those I had until I got sick of them. There were countless afternoons spent hunting for legendary Pokemon on Leaf Green or banging my head endlessly on Donkey Kong Country 2 levels.

So many Game Boy memories…

Vincenz: I was three when the millennium started — and that also reminded me of when I played Super Mario Land and Jurassic Park on the classic (and thicc AF) Game Boy with a black and green display reminiscent of the Nokia 3310. We even had this absurd-looking Light Magnifier to enlarge the pixels we see while playing. 

Then 2005 happened. That’s when our mom suddenly bought us a Game Boy Advance SP in a pretty black-ish Onyx colorway. That was a big upgrade coming from the OG Game Boy because of the colorful LCD and slimmer, more compact form factor. I may not have the popular titles but the three titles we’ve owned are enough for any 8-year-old (Spongebob, Shrek, and 135-in-1 game). Most of all, blowing those game cartridges to make the game work (no matter what Game Boy it is) will always be part of my core memory.

MJ: The Game Boy Color was the first handheld gaming I’ve owned, which was gifted to me so I would stop being envious of my older brother’s Game Boy. I still remember how I spent countless hours playing Pokémon Crystal, with Chikorita as my favorite companion. All those playtimes led me to my obsession with gaming on the go. When the world gets noisy, I know I can get lost in a different world through a console that I carry and own.

PlayStation Portable (PSP) and PlayStation Vita

Rodneil: I unapologetically love everything PlayStation. It should come as no surprise that the first handheld gaming console I purchased with my own dime was the PlayStation Portable or PSP. For the life of me, though, I can’t exactly remember which version it was. What I do remember is NBA 2K, God of War, and a few other games helping me get through my internships and first few years as part of the workforce. 

Gab: Everyone I knew in my age group owned a PSP at the time, whether it was the thicc version or the slim version. I had the slim one because I found out that the thicc one had problematic batteries at the time. We wanted a version that lasted longer. The PSP introduced me to some of the games that I’m still fond of to this day, like TEKKEN 5: Dark Resurrection and Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories. 

Maybe we do need a new PlayStation handheld?

Vincenz: I clearly remember it was in 2007 when we had the PSP. During those years, it was a powerful piece of gaming hardware at your fingertips. I wasn’t even aware that Sony released several iterations – until I saw the PSP 2000 (Slim) of my cousins and the sleeker PSP 3000 of my grade school classmates. Thus, the realization that we had the OG “Phat” model (or PSP 1000).

Shockingly, I’m today years old when I found out there’s another version called ‘Street’ (or PSP-E1000) right after my younger brother’s friend lent me the device for the photos above. I realized it after seeing the weird-looking bottom control bar and that matte-ish, less glossy body compared to its predecessors. The PSP Go, well, it’s a whole new device that people barely wanted.

The PSP also made me discover my strengths in gaming: Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories, Vice City Stories, Chinatown Wars, Ridge Racer, Gran Turismo, Need For Speed, Midnight Club: DUB Edition, and even the mind-boggling EXIT and EXIT 2.

During the start of the pandemic, a lot of people were so hyped about the Nintendo Switch (and even the cheaper Switch Lite variant). Meanwhile, I’m one among few who bought a PS Vita. I got the fat version since I love its OLED screen. It’s also more premium-looking than the plasticky Slim. Even though the game library isn’t as vast as what the PSP has offered over the years,

I’ve chosen a variant with a jailbroken firmware / homebrew so I could play both PS Vita and PSP games through an emulator. PSN is useless on the Vita anyway. Games are truly enjoyable with its bigger screen — and graphics are clearly better than what the PSP had when it was released (ngl, it amazed all of us during its peak).

Nintendo Switch 

Luigi: Before the Nintendo Switch came out, there wasn’t anything like it. The Switch doubled as a home console and a handheld gaming device. It was both the new generation and a love letter to Nintendo’s previous successes. Six years later, it is still one of the most popular consoles, brandishing iconic titles like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Super Mario Odyssey, and Animal Crossing: New Horizons. It also helped that the console peaked during the 2020 lockdowns, a time when most people were stuck home with only their Switch for company. 

MJ: I’ve stopped console gaming after I focused on my career and studies, and sought comfort through mobile games instead for accessibility. That changed when the pandemic bored me to death being stuck indoors, and I bought a Nintendo Switch Lite to play The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Pokémon Diamond that I borrowed from my best friend, and eventually played Pokémon Legends: Arceus. I haven’t dusted off my Switch ever since I finished the game and went back to my outdoor life after the pandemic eased up. Maybe when I’m in my off-season, I’ll probably pick it up and play Pokémon Scarlet and Violet.

ROG Phone 

Rodneil: Mobile gaming was already blowing up when the ROG Phone came into the picture. At the time, we were already getting mobile games that rival some console games when it comes to visual presentation. The ROG Phone was a device validating the growing popularity and legitimacy of mobile gaming. Things have only gotten better since its 2018 release — both the ROG Phone and the quality of certain mobile games.

Future is promising

Handheld gaming is on the uptick and it’s not just because of the Steam Deck and the ROG Ally. The AMD Ryzen Z1 series chips powering the Ally is made specifically for this type of device. It’s not a farfetched assumption that more devices from other manufacturers are on the horizon. 

Microsoft, for its part, is also working on a version of Windows designed specifically for handhelds. PlayStation, meanwhile, has been rumored to be working on its own handheld. Although, it may be focused only on cloud gaming. 

Handheld gaming’s past is rich, its present on the uptick, and its future extremely promising. We’re excited.