New console launches are fun, and the Switch 2 is one I’m eagerly awaiting. I’m quite happy Nintendo decided to give it a decent power increase and I like most things about the device, but one aspect that I miss is when portables used to be… well portable. You can’t throw these PC Handhelds or even a Switch Lite into a pocket and mobile games suck. Outside of Balatro, I don’t play games on my phone much. Accessories like this are promising, but I just miss the era of small dedicated gaming handhelds. The last good one was the Vita and regular size ‘New’ 3DS. Not interested in those emulation devices personally.
So for fun I imagined my dream handheld. Screen size of 5.4″ would be slightly larger than the Playstation Vita, but not by much, and with a resolution of 720p it’d still have nearly the same PPI as the Switch 2, but due to pushing a smaller resolution without any 4k docked expectations it’d have a huge advantage. OLED and 120hz would be nice to haves which would make the picture gorgeous and VRR would be super helpful. Probably my favorite feature of the Switch 2 is the 120hz panel they use with VRR. Anyway… if this had similar power to the Switch 2 or Steam Deck, it could push some seriously impressive visuals with the lower resolution requirement.
The other ‘dream’ features would be typical analog triggers with digital ‘bumpers’ above it.. I just miss that in general on Nintendo devices…
…but the unique one that’d be a selling point I think and something I would love to see made commonplace is reconfigurable button/stick modules that sorta ‘snap’ in and are extra secured with magnets, but can be popped out fairly easily if you lift from a corner indent.
The D-Pad is most comfortable for platformers at the top left, but for shooters and 3D games what if ya want asymmetrical sticks? Boom swap em.
Want two sticks on the side and use the device vertically so you can play SHMUPS with a stick to move and a stick to aim and shoot? Go for it.
Hell, maybe you’re playing 2D games and just want the D-Pad and not see the sticks at all. There could be ‘blanks’ to fill the spot with a plain plastic piece matching the shell. While my doodle concept is yellow, I’d imagine it’d prolly be more cost effective to just make the modules all one color like black or whatever so perhaps the chassis would be the same to match…
Anyway your sticks worn out? Easily replace em now. Or upgrade them to something fancier with more travel or something. Or hell they could just make whole new input module ideas for that spot and release them as a peripheral.
Touchpad maybe? Larger arcade unit style buttons? Maybe two larger in one spot or just one big button. Want to be weird and have face buttons on the left side? Sure why not. It’d just be an input module, so the possibilities are literally down to your imagination.
I think buttons on the back like you see with those pro controllers and the Steam Deck would be useful for the weird stick layouts, like the dual stick vertical orientation for shmups. In that position they’re sorta like triggers you’d use with your index finger.
While it’s a small device, it’d have a bit of a body to it for comfort so it wouldn’t be uncomfortable to hold like a joycon. Thin enough to pocket, but not so thin it’s annoying. Think Vita/PSP with a slightly added thickness for ergonomics. The slightly added booty would help with cramming in the performance as well. So thick for a handheld when compared directly, but still pocketable and dramatically smaller than even a Switch.
I think it’s pretty much at the limit of being pocketable. In my imagination it’d be roughly the size visually of two iPhone 13 Pro Max’s (my phone…) stacked on top of each other. Might be able to improve it with a better more rounded design like the Vita, this is literally a single pass on an idea that’s been pestering me, but I would want it to stay a bit thicker to accommodate a more ergonomic grip in your hands. Plus it’d allow a bit more space for hardware. Obviously somebody more talented than me could design this better.
Anyway I figured a little camera and mic would be easy and fun to include, gyro controls are so nice in gaming these days, and 3D rumble would be neat. SD Express expandable storage and of course the usual stuff like USB C. Perhaps a Magsafe coil in the back would be cool. Would be able to use charge pads and any kind of phone pop socket kickstand thingy could be used in the back. That would be particularly useful for comfort when using the device in vertical mode.
To keep it pocketable I’d have the default sticks be like the 3DS circle pads, but offer ‘Pro’ stick modules that are more like regular controller analog sticks.
With the performance aim of roughly a Switch 2 and Steam Deck with it being released in early 2026, I think it’d be possible to release this sorta device for less than $449. Yeah it’s a lot smaller, but there’s no docking expectations (or such hardware to produce) and it’d have another year of tech advancement behind it. I think they could make such a device for a similar price as the Switch 2. The screen being smaller and lower resolution would be cheaper at least. I think the magnetic joycon setup would cost a similar amount as the configurable modules to make. And the modules themselves would be muuuuch cheaper when sold separately, as they’re literally just buttons, or a stick, or a d-pad, etc. So they could release each of em for like $20 and the high end ‘pro’ ones for like $30. Where like Playstation and Xbox ‘Elite’ controllers are like $200 you could get a pro pack that bundles two sticks, buttons, and d-pad modules all with better materials and hall effect sensors and such, for like $100. Or just buy each part individually for $30. Maybe ya don’t want the d-pad. Save a little getting them all together, but you don’t HAVE to get them all.
…that is assuming the world economy doesn’t take a nose dive by then. In that case my bad estimations are even more bad.
Anyway seeing how mini phones are dead these days and everything is jumbo size, I unfortunately don’t see a device like this being made… but a man can dream.
Okay I’ve explored the very depths of this rabbit hole and need to climb out before I start boring myself with my rambling. If you’ve read all of this, god help you. And if by some microscopic chance you have some kind of influence or whatever in the hardware game, be it with the PC handheld scene, or even Sony and Nintendo.. Microsoft, I saw that handheld you’re doing with ASUS. It’s.. Okay… Anyway my point here is feel free to steal this idea. I want configurable input modules for my gaming stuff. That’d be neat. My dream of a small handheld is a pipe dream, but I really do think the configurable input module idea would be a hit. Do that please. Thanks.
-K
