What console?
So it's a handheld console you're after eh? Well, you've come to the right place, or at least you've come at the right time.
There's a cornucopia of handheld gaming gadgets on offer at the moment, all with their own unique gimmicks, pros and cons. Whether it's playing movies and music, PDA power or a natty touch screen that floats your boat, you can be sure that it'll be well and truly, errr floated.
Nintendo DS
 The latest offering from the great stable of pocket gaming thoroughbreds, the most exciting feature of the Nintendo DS is that it has two distinct screens, one of which is touch sensitive.
The most innovative of the latest generation of consoles, what it lacks in style (it's rather plasticky) it makes up for in charm, accessibility and some truly amazing games.Plus points: + A huge back catalogue, plays the entire Game Boy Advance range! + Most affordable of the new batch, just £99 + Genuinely innovative + Software is just as funky The DS diss points: - Case design is a little on the clunky side - Games tend toward the overly cutesy end of the spectrum USP: It's got 2 screens and one's a toucher! Ideal for: Everyone really, espcially the young at heart and those who love innovation  The PSP is certainly not lacking in either confidence or style. Sony may be a newcomer to the pocket gaming scene, but it was new to consoles once too, with the Playstation - and look what happened there!
Tagged the 'must have gadget of 2005' months before its actual release, the PSP is undoubtedly a triumph of design. It also plays movies and music and browses the internet. With hidden depths every bit as impressive as it's good looks, plus a solid line-up of games, it's a worthy if less innovative contender to Nintendo's throne.PSP plus points: + Gorgeous design - the new iPod! + Impressive power (like having a Playstation 2 in the palm of your hand!) + It can play movies and music too Minus points: - It's expensive at nearly £200 - Games aren't as innovative as Nintendo's - The range isn't huge yet, either USP: It plays films and music too ( and did we mention it looks great?) Ideal for: The style conscious gamer and the PlayStation generation  The most established pocket gaming format, Nintendo's GameBoy Advance (GBA) recently got a face lift in the form of the super small, super slick Micro. The newcomer demonstrated Nintendo's commitment to pocket gaming by cramming their best-selling GBA SP into the size of a match-box.
The GBA SP may be a generation behind the PSP and DS, but 150 million gamers can't be wrong. That's how many have bought Gameboys of one sort or another to date, ensuring the supply of software won't dry up for some time yet.
In fact, new innovations are still being built into GBA game cartridges - like the new gyroscope element that enable you to play certain games by tilting the handset.Game on! + Huge back catalogue - it plays the entire Gameboy range + GBA titles + The price tag of the GBA and its games won't hurt your pocket… + …and neither will the ultra-compact design Game over? - Old fashioned visuals compared to the PSP and DS - Lacking in power when compared to new contenders - Games are increasingly aimed at younger gamers (not that we've got anything against them!) USP: It's the market leader - you'll be in good company Ideal for: Younger gamers, who want to spend less  Launched in a blaze of PR by giant Finnish phone makers Nokia (as in the company is rather sizeable, they don't make huge handsets!), the original N-Gage became more famous for the distinctive 'side-talking' phone calls than for it's pocket gaming capacities.
Fortunately a more natural chatting style, stronger games line-up and the innovative multiplayer options via the N-Gage Arena made the follow-up N-Gage QD a more attractive option. However, with Nokia dragging their heels over the formats future and the series 60 technology showing its age, the best reason to buy a QD right now is the ability to play the latest mobile Java games with a friendly control system.Engage + It's a game console and a phone in one! + There's thousands of compatible mobile java titles available as well as it's own cartridges + The N-Gage Arena offers loads of great multiplayer options + It's actually quite cheap these days + Hard-wearing bit of kit Disengage - Nokia aren't sure whether they're going to make any more - So there aren't many new games coming out - It's a bit weedy compared to the other handhelds... -...and it's also falling behind the latest mobiles in terms of power USP: The only real gamers phone Ideal for: Mobile gamers who want console control  The wild card of the pack and a name that's gained fame for all the wrong reasons thanks to some questionable dealings behind the scenes.
At the time of writing the console looks to be on it's last legs as Gizmondo Europe has entered liquidation and American parent company might not be far behind. If the Giz truly is a goner it will be a shame for innovation lovers as the console has a decent camera and a natty GPS element built in plus the ability to play music and movies like the PSP and, with a little added software even double up as a Sat-Nav unit for your car. What it didn't have however was a strong games line-up.
The adventurous amongst you should be able to still find one somewhere, possibly at considerably less than the £130 Smart Ads version, but we'd recommend looking elsewhere.
Giz me the good points: + GPS functions adds whole new possibilities to games + Digital camera for snaps, as well as further gaming options + A growing list of games promised + Offers movies, music and even sat nav! Gizzards! - Lack of big name titles - No guarantee it'll be here in 12 months USP: GPS, Camera, it's a jack of all trades Ideal for: Early adopters, the easily lost Tapwave Zodiac 2 (discontinued)  Note to readers: The Tapwave Zodiac has been discontinued, but we've left it here in case you find one in a boot sale.
NEW GAMERS SHOULD BUY SOMETHING ELSE!
The memory-boosted follow up to the original Zodiac (you now get 128Mb of memory, which makes for more or better games), this is a PDA in handheld consoles clothing.
It runs the Palm PDA operating system and so supports all Palm games, and it also has all the professional PDA functionality you could expect (including touch screen). It also boasts its own limited range of dedicated software, which coves music and movies as well as a selection of games.Stars of the Zodiac: + Full PDA functionality at the fair price of £150 + Runs anything that runs on the palm OS (including a range of game emulators) + Big touch screen (480x320) Zodiac mindwarp: - Notable lack of dedicated games - Multimedia software is limited - Newcomer, so faces a very risky future - UPDATE - No longer available! USP: Palmtop power for a pocket price Ideal for: Business types, and retro gamers who love emulations of games from their childhood. |
Chris James
A footy game fanatic and experienced editor of numerous computing and game titles, bossman Chris is up for anything – including running Steel Media (the madman).