I’m sitting here writing this just over a month after my 53rd birthday. Many people cite the original PlayStation as their first entry into console gaming, or popular systems from the 90s such as the SNES or Megadrive. Not me. As I’ve said on a number of occasions, my first foray into the world of gaming was a Pong clone back in the mid-70s, followed by a few LCD/LED tabletop units then my first computer – the Commodore Vic 20 – at the start of the 80s. But I’m now at a crossroads as a gamer and I’m starting to ask myself if handheld gaming really is for me any more…
Handheld Woes
Now that may seem like quite a dramatic thing to say, especially in a post on a site dedicated to handheld PlayStation gaming. But if I’m honest, I’ve been thinking about the way I play games for several years now, and it’s approaching a stage where the systems I use is almost as important as the games themselves.
Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely LOVE the PS Vita and its incredibly diverse games catalogue. In the 35 years that Infinite Frontiers has been in existence, we have only ever been inspired by a hardware platform twice to dedicate publications/outlets to them. Those have been the PS Vita and various incarnations of the Commodore Amiga. So it’s safe to say that the Vita is held in high regard by all of us here. But as an individual, I’ve found myself changing the way I play games.
Too Old For The Vita?
The harsh reality is that I’m not getting any younger. In myself I’m still as passionate and enthusiastic about all aspects of gaming as I was when I first fired up that Pong clone and the first time I stepped into an arcade and saw the likes of Pac Man and Space Invaders. But physically, age is starting to take its toll. I’ve had to wear glasses permanently since I was about 20 and my eyesight is getting worse each year. The more text there is on screen – and RPGs are the worse culprits for this – the harder they are to read, even with my varifocal lenses.
I remember trying to play the Doodle God series on the Vita in particular… the text was so small that the games were almost unplayable on the Vita’s OLED screen without near perfect vision. Fortunately with PlayStation TV compatability I didn’t have to give up on these, but other games with similar issues weren’t as fortunate. But that’s not the only problem I’ve been facing of late.
Losing My Touch
As I said in my head-to-head comparision, I’ve always believed that the PS Vita was an incredibly well designed console and is one of the most comfortable hand held devices I’ve ever used. But despite this, my joints – especially my hands – are starting to disagree with this opinion! With early signs of arthritis setting in, its making it increasingly uncomfortable using any handheld system for a prolonged period of time, and I’ve even been prone to losing my grip on them completely.
I’ve never been too impressed with the ergonomics of Nintendo systems at the best of times, and as part of an exercise I’m undertaking right now streamlining all of my gaming and geek collections I’ve actually sold my Nintendo DS as it simply wasn’t being used. As for the Switch, again this hasn’t been used in well over a year and I’ve even started trimming my games collection for it.
Don’t get me wrong, I still think it’s a great console, but it’s one that I just don’t find comfortable to use and looking back I really should have opted for a regular Switch instead of the Switch Lite. At least then I could have opted for a regular controller instead of the included Joy Cons.
The Future?
So where does that leave me when it comes to handheld systems and the Vita specifically? I’m certainly not going to give up on the Vita. As I said at the start, it’s one of my favourite platforms and I love the games on it too much. But I also have to be practical and think of my own health going forward so I can continue to enjoy games for as long as possible.
Thankfully, Sony did give all of us an answer in the shape of the PlayStation TV. While not everything is compatible, most of my collection that I enjoy is. The upscaling make games look great and being able to use a PS4 controller ensures that they’re comfortable no matter how long I’m playing them for. For games that aren’t Vita exclusives, like so many others I have opted to get the PS4 or PS5 versions instead (although I’ve also done that for games I owned on the Switch as well). But this approach means that I’ve still got many years of happy Vita gaming ahead of me.
The only thing that’s left now is to replace the Switch Lite with an OLED Switch and do the same there as well…!
Main Photo by MART PRODUCTION: https://www.pexels.com/photo/man-in-brown-sweater-sitting-on-brown-leather-couch-7330165/
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