Big game, tiny screen?

I have a problem with the handheld market today. Whether it’s the result of the big boy consoles requiring larger budgets and longer development time, or simply because companies want to make a quick buck, there seem to be more and more games coming out for the handhelds when they should be out on the home consoles.

Remember what handhelds used to be? Something that all handhelds had in common was the fact that you could just pick up and play at any given moment, and turn it off whenever need be. Puzzle games like Tetris, for example, make for great handheld games. Games with no ultimate goal like Animal Crossing: Wild Worlds make for great downtime. Even games like Pokemon still work because although they have an ultimate goal, they’re still simple in nature, and can be picked up or put down at any time.

The games I’m talking about are the shooters. The full fledged RPGs with 20 hours worth of cutscenes. The “remakes” of games past that are really nothing more than ports because of their simple graphical prowess. Why are these games being put on the handhelds? I’m all for a few quick bucks in order to help keep the company running, but why not make more games like the aforementioned titles? I rarely play handheld games unless I’m on the go somewhere. And when I say 'on-the-go', I don't just mean to the supermarket.  I mean more like vacation or lengthy periods of travel. But when I’m playing a 30-hour story, I like to finish said 30-hour story. And I prefer to do it on a big screen tv, laying on a comfortable couch, surrounded by speakers, arms relaxed, fingers at the ready for the full cinematic experience. Not hunched over in a chair, squinting to see the finer pixelated detail of a two-inch screen with piss-poor speakers.

Handhelds are a rarity for me to come across. There’s plenty of series that I really enjoy that seem to want to release games for the handhelds, like Zelda, Resident Evil or Final Fantasy, but I’m really not interested in playing them because the quality receives a massive downgrade, and the story and character development suffers when you’re developing a mainstream title for a screen that can fit comfortably under your tongue. And now especially with the upcoming 3DS, plenty of companies are wanting to jump on that bandwagon with the new 3D technology. Granted, I’m not saying I want them to spend 5+ years developing the best possible graphics for the big screen (FFXIII…..), but I would still prefer even a bad experience on the bigger consoles. Because then I'll at least still have good vision and no back problems from having to hunch over and squint for a 30-hour title.

But maybe that’s just me.