Handheld consoles in the last 20 years: A quick comparison

In an information laden article by Caspar Field, developments of handheld consoles within the last 20 years was discussed. Now from the Atari Lynx to our modern day PSP, he discussed the units in terms of RAM, processor speed, screensize, and weight. Here’s a quick run down of the stats.

In terms of RAM, the PSP led the pack with the Nintendo DS coming in at a distant second. By distant, we mean the PSP has eight times more than the DS. The PSP also took home top honors with processor speed at 333 MHz. The second best was the Nokia N-Gage which clocked in at a respectable 104 MHz.

Another category in which the PSP dominated is screen size, beating out all the other units. The second? You’d be surprised to find out that it was snatched up be Sega‘s Nomad. The lightest unit among the group was the Nokia N-Gage and was followed closely by the Gameboy Advance.

So what does this all mean? Well, creation of handheld consoles seem to be a very delicate process. A lot of sacrifices have to be made in terms of size and build of the unit to make it sellable. Among the modern units, the DS is currently on the top of the heap at 40 million units. That’s 85 million units behind the best-selling handheld console of all time, the Gameboy Advance. If you’ll notice though, both units never topped any of the charts, so can it be argued that it’s not the stats of the console but the games it offers that make it the best?

In an information laden article by Caspar Field, developments of handheld consoles within the last 20 years was discussed. Now from the Atari Lynx to our modern day PSP, he discussed the units in terms of RAM, processor speed, screensize, and weight. Here’s a quick run down of the stats.

In terms of RAM, the PSP led the pack with the Nintendo DS coming in at a distant second. By distant, we mean the PSP has eight times more than the DS. The PSP also took home top honors with processor speed at 333 MHz. The second best was the Nokia N-Gage which clocked in at a respectable 104 MHz.

Another category in which the PSP dominated is screen size, beating out all the other units. The second? You’d be surprised to find out that it was snatched up be Sega‘s Nomad. The lightest unit among the group was the Nokia N-Gage and was followed closely by the Gameboy Advance.

So what does this all mean? Well, creation of handheld consoles seem to be a very delicate process. A lot of sacrifices have to be made in terms of size and build of the unit to make it sellable. Among the modern units, the DS is currently on the top of the heap at 40 million units. That’s 85 million units behind the best-selling handheld console of all time, the Gameboy Advance. If you’ll notice though, both units never topped any of the charts, so can it be argued that it’s not the stats of the console but the games it offers that make it the best?