What is the age cutoff for saying "Portables" instead of "Handhelds"?

GCrites80sGCrites80s
in Everything Else
What is the age cutoff for saying "Portables" instead of "Handhelds"? It seems to me that people who are currently in their early 30s seem to be the transition age.
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  • DefaultGenDefaultGen
    Which is the older term, handhelds? Nintendo still calls the 3DS handhelds as a noun. I didn't think it was a generational thing.



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    If calling them portables is the older word maybe I'm a generation removed from people who ever said that.
  • darkchylde28darkchylde28
    I've always thought of "portables" as larger, bulkier items which you can technically lug from place to place but which aren't really meant to be used on the go (like very early "laptops" and prior to that, "luggables" like the Osborne). As far as gaming is concerned, I think any sort of system or game which can easily (and literally) be held in your hands should be considered a "handheld," regardless of vintage.
  • GCrites80sGCrites80s
    EGM used the term "portable" regularly until at least the late '90s to describe GB, GG, Lynx and NGP. So did a lot of people in interviews.
  • SplainSplain
    It might be because I hang around sites like bitbuilt.net, but the word "portable" makes me think of a console that wasn't built to be portable, but made portable. I only hear "handheld" for things like GB, Lynx, 3DS, etc. But I'm in my 30s.



    Now that I think of it, the Switch gets called a Portable, and it makes some people irritated when I call it a Handheld. But make no mistake. The Switch is a Handheld.
  • GlovesGloves
    I'm 30 and I say handheld where consoles are concerned (eg game boy).
  • BouncekDeLemosBouncekDeLemos
    Thought they were synonymous. :\
  • TulpaTulpa
    Portable is the GameCube. It's got a handle.  
  • noisereduxnoiseredux
    Originally posted by: BouncekDeLemos



    Thought they were synonymous. :\





    same. I use both terms interchangably.
  • GlovesGloves
    Frankly I didn't even realize ANYONE said "Portables" in relation to handheld video game consoles.
  • cartmancartman
    I don't even know what i would say now that i think of it but probably handheld. In Swedish it would lean more toward portable literally carryable if there is such a word.
  • arch_8ngelarch_8ngel
    Originally posted by: Gloves



    Frankly I didn't even realize ANYONE said "Portables" in relation to handheld video game consoles.

    Only in relation to stuff like Ben Heckendorn's work...



     
  • AbelardoAbelardo
    In Spanish (or at least in Mexico) we refer to them as portables, it seems that there is no good equivalent for handheld in Spanish.
  • AstralSoul13AstralSoul13
    I don't think I've ever used the term "portable" when describing handhelds. Game Boy, DS, 3DS, etc have always been handhelds for me.
  • GCrites80sGCrites80s
    https://www.retromags.com/gallery/image/8836-egms-guide-to-portable-games-and-accessories/
  • GlovesGloves
    A portable is a classroom outside the main building of a school.
  • VGS_Br81zadVGS_Br81zad
    This seems more like a regional thing to me. (coke vs. soda vs. pop)
  • GCrites80sGCrites80s
    Could it be? EGM and I are both Midwest.
  • Boosted52405Boosted52405
    lol I was gonna say Soda or Pop?



    Never really heard of "portables" before...but I'm an Iowa guy in my 30's that didn't read EGM much
  • QuazeQuaze
    I don't even know which one is supposed to be the earlier term of the two, I thought they were kind of interchangeable, with most people calling them "handhelds". I'm 37 so you'd think this would be clearer to me, but I kinda just grew up with both.
  • MuNKeYMuNKeY
    until your unable to see the damn thing even with corrective lenses.
  • GCrites80sGCrites80s
    I think I haven't been able to focus on an early DMG screen properly since about 17 years old.
  • GutlingGutling
    Ive never used or heard portables. Handhelds only.
  • ne$_pimpne$_pimp
    Never heard portables used in gaming either.
  • Andy_BogomilAndy_Bogomil
    I rarely use either term and typically call the system by its name but I guess I would say handheld when describing these systems in general. Portable seemed to make more of a presence after the PSP was released.
  • themisfit138themisfit138
    Portable was also used as the pitch for the Sega Nomad in all the Toys r Us adds.
  • SplainSplain
    Can't argue with that EGM scan. I would normally have said something like "portable is the word used by stuffy grown-ups who don't know what the real lingo is" but it's not like EGM was struggling and failing to keep up with the youths.



    I agree with the use of the word Portable when talking about the Nomad (making an immovable thing movable), Ben Heck (making immovable things movable, like I mentioned before about BitBuilt), and the PSP (wanting people to feel like they're playing Playstation, but... movable). As if calling something "portable" requires you to specify what exact already-existing thing has this portable "version."



    I'm trying to find whether or not Sony calls the Vita a portable or a handheld.



    Edit: I also thought that "port" implied taking something and moving it to somewhere else, like "a console port" etc. but it looks like the Latin "port" just means "carry," so any connotation is at least newer than the Latin language.
  • JamesRobotJamesRobot
    They're all gameboys.
  • JamesRobotJamesRobot
    Originally posted by: DefaultGen

    Which is the older term, handhelds?

    It's been portable since day one. "Now you're playing with power - portable power!"

  • DefaultGenDefaultGen
    Originally posted by: JamesRobot

     
    Originally posted by: DefaultGen



    Which is the older term, handhelds?



    It's been portable since day one. "Now you're playing with power - portable power!"





    Excuse me, the box clearly states it's a Compact Video Game System. When did we stop calling them compacts?
  • GCrites80sGCrites80s
    When did we stop calling them Game Paks?
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