Highlights

• Nintendo has enjoyed unparalleled success in the portable console market, with their handheld devices being some of the best-selling consoles of all time.
• While the popularity of mobile phones and the Nintendo Switch have challenged the market for strictly handheld consoles, Nintendo's offerings still have a dedicated fan base.
• Nintendo has a rich legacy of handheld consoles, from the Game Boy to the Nintendo Switch, and fans are eagerly anticipating what they will come up with next.

When it comes to portable consoles, none have come close to the same success that Nintendo has enjoyed. Though Sony, Sega, and Atari have tried in the past, none seem to have the same staying power and broad appeal as the Kyoto-based company’s offerings. While they have made a few mistakes in the portable market over the years, they have also seen overwhelming success with some of their portables being some of the best-selling consoles of all time, home consoles included. The legacy of Nintendo's handheld consoles is quite extensive and shows just how much they prioritized gaming on the go.

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With the advent of the Switch and the popularity of mobile phones, many people feel that a strictly handheld console doesn't have a space in the market anymore. This is true to an extent, with many big-name players in the market focusing on home console offerings instead of making a handheld of their own. While some people may understandably not be happy about this development, the existence of the Switch means that Nintendo's handheld devices still have a market out there, and fans can't wait to see what Nintendo will come out with for their newest console. Given how much of a disaster the Wii U was, most people feel like Nintendo will actually take the safe path this time and go for a Switch 2 or something along the same lines... but only time will tell if this is what is bound to happen.

Updated October 27, 2023 by Ritwik Mitra: Nintendo is one of the most popular video game companies of all time, being responsible for saving the industry from obsolescence after Atari single-handedly destroyed any faith in the idea of a home console market. After spotting a void in Western markets, Nintendo took a gamble and launched its home console offerings in both Japan and overseas... and history was made.

Nintendo became one of the biggest players in the video game industry and continues to be talked about to this day, even with other competitors like PlayStation and Xbox pushing the technical limits of their consoles to new heights and seemingly leaving Nintendo behind. However, the quality of Nintendo's exclusives more than made up for their lack of powerful hardware, showing that games didn't need photorealistic graphics to be enjoyable.

13 Game & Watch

Though the series of Game & Watch games aren’t what most people would traditionally call portable consoles, they are portable and they are video games. The games are on basic segmented LCD displays with pre-printed overlays, similar to Tamagotchis.

Nintendo started creating the Game & Watch series in 1980, predating the Nintendo Entertainment System. They continued to make Game & Watches until 1991, the same year the Super Nintendo was released.

Early Game & Watch games feature Mr. Game & Watch, who has now become a Super Smash Bros. staple but later iterations have popular characters like Link from The Legend of Zelda and Mario from Super Mario Bros.

12 Game Boy

The Game Boy, released in 1989, was Nintendo’s first handheld system with interchangeable cartridges. While many games on the system were water-down ports from the Nintendo Entertainment System or the Super Nintendo, the system was graced with many exclusive games made just for it.

The console has the longest lifespan for any Nintendo console — it lasted 9 years before being replaced with the Game Boy Color. The console saw a few revisions like the Game Boy Pocket which made the console smaller, and the Japanese exclusive Game Boy Light which added a much-needed backlight to the console.

11 Game Boy Color

The Game Boy Color, released in 1998, is often paired with the original Game Boy, however, the Color adds more processing power on top of adding color which allows for more graphically superior games.

Right out of the gate, the Game Boy Color came in a variety of colors including lime green, grape purple, translucent atomic purple, and more. There were many exclusive games for the Game Boy Color with their cartridges having a convex curve on them to prevent them from being put into an original Game Boy and possibly causing damage.

10 Nintendo Switch OLED

The Nintendo Switch may be a great console, but there are people who've wanted an upgrade for quite some time now. After all, the console had more than enjoyed a lengthy tenure, and it wouldn't be the oddest thing in the world for the company to finally launch a better console, whether it be the Switch 2 or anything else.

Instead, Nintendo decided to release a better version of the Switch with an OLED screen, which was admittedly an upgrade that many players liked. The console looked sleek as well, but it still ran hardware that was dated when this product was released, which made it hard to justify the purchase of this console unless players were desperate for an upgrade to the quality of their portable gaming experience.

9 Nintendo DSi

The Nintendo DSi was an upgrade to a legendary handheld that was positively appreciated across the board, even if there were still some people who weren't willing to let go of their beloved DS for this upgrade. However, the DSi more than justified this expense with its exclusive DSiWare downloadable content, a bigger screen, and a much-needed SD card slot too!

While this console lost the ability to load and play GBA games, it was a small price to pay for a handheld console that was easier to hold and play. However, in terms of overall cultural impact and relevance, it doesn't even hold a candle to the legendary Nintendo DS.

8 Nintendo DSi XL

Given the legacy of the Nintendo DS, it was only a given that the console would receive a substantial upgrade that came with the advent of the Nintendo DSi. However, that wasn't the only variant of this handheld to come out, with fans being treated to a larger variant that made the games on this hardware look better than ever.

The Nintendo DSi XL is the perfect example of why bigger is better. Players could enjoy games on a larger screen, which more than made up for the added weight on this console. Anybody who owned this console can attest to the fact that the DS' vast repertoire of games just felt better to play on this enhanced screen.

7 Nintendo 2DS

After the 3DS ended up being a rampant success and helped keep Nintendo afloat while they dealt with the disastrous launch of the Wii U, the company realized that they needed to keep their handheld fans as happy as possible. This meant that their updated handheld releases of the same system needed to be perfect, and the 2DS certainly fit the bill in this regard.

After all, most people barely even bothered to use the 3D feature of this console, which was a neat idea but felt odd to use and didn't really have the desired impact half the time. So, it was both an obvious decision and a stroke of genius that Nintendo decided to release a cheaper variant of this handheld that removed the ability to project 3D images but still retained all the other qualities one would expect from Nintendo's newest handheld console.

6 Game Boy Advance

Affectionately called the portable Super Nintendo, the Game Boy Advance, released in 2001, has a 32-bit processor that can produce graphics that are similar or even better to those found on Nintendo’s second console.

The Game Boy Advance, like many of Nintendo’s handhelds, has seen a lot of revisions over the years. First was the Game Boy Advance SP which has a clamshell design with a backlit screen - then there was the Game Boy Micro which is incredibly small and can not play Game Boy or Game Boy Color games.

5 Nintendo 3DS

The Nintendo 3DS, released in 2011, had a very rough start. Initially, the price point was too steep for many consumers and the launch lineup was unsatisfactory. However, Nintendo quickly lowered the price and offered free downloadable games for those who bought them before the price drop. In time, after the release of many great games, the handheld became incredibly successful.

The Nintendo 3DS has, as the name would imply, glasses-less 3D capabilities as well as augmented reality functionality. The 3DS was followed up by the 3DS XL, and fans loved the console even if the whole 3D dynamic felt more like a gimmick than anything else.

4 New Nintendo 3DS

The Nintendo 3DS is single-handedly responsible for keeping Nintendo afloat after the disastrous launch of the Wii U, so it was only a given that they would strive to improve this handheld as much as possible to keep it relevant for the masses. The 3DS had a library full of some great games, and the company decided to make this console as attractive as possible by launching a new variant of the same with upgrades across the board.

This led to the launch of the New Nintendo 3DS, which included a new C-Stick, trigger buttons, enhanced RAM, face detection, better processors, and a wealth of other improvements to make games as smooth and exciting as possible. It was a step in the right direction, with many people loving the New Nintendo 3DS and considering it to be a worthy upgrade over its predecessor.

3 Game Boy Advance SP

The Game Boy Advance was a groundbreaking handheld for Nintendo, and it's easy to see why they decided to launch an upgraded variant of the console that felt way more intuitive and fun to play with. The Game Boy Advance SP's backlit screen meant that players didn't have to struggle anymore in less-than-ideal lighting conditions, making it way easier to play games on the console.

The new flip design was also appreciated for being a marked improvement over the original's flat layout and potentially paved the way for the DS' iconic design that everyone knows and loves. However, the lack of a headphone jack was lamented by the masses, although this was a small price to pay for what was otherwise a great console in every way.

2 Nintendo Switch

While it may seem unfair to put the Nintendo Switch up against Nintendo’s other handheld-only consoles, the fact is, it is a portable machine. The Nintendo Switch, released in 2017, brings console and handheld gaming together in one console. Players can play the same game they are playing on the television on the go; a gimmick that has changed the way many think of handheld gaming. The system also saw a handheld-only version of the console, the Nintendo Switch Lite which is sold at a reduced price.

Only time will tell if Nintendo will ever release a strictly portable console again, with this system being revolutionary in every way and killing two birds with one stone. However, if there's one thing that fans can rest assured about, it's that the company will continue to evolve portable gaming just as they have done countless other times in the past.

1 Nintendo DS

Initially, the Nintendo DS, released in 2004, was not supposed to replace the Game Boy line and instead be a separate line of consoles as Nintendo was unsure of how successful the console would be. The shape of the DS took inspiration from the old Game & Watches that also had two screens in a clamshell design.

The Nintendo DS was incredibly successful and is one of the best-selling consoles of all time. It was followed up with the DS Lite which had a slimmer design and the DSi which had online capabilities.

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