@why @kirby Any attempt at making a new pocket friendly console will end up chafing against "The Smartphone Problem". Which is to say, why would I carry an extra device in my pockets to play games that's weaker than the one I'm already carrying?

There's a lot of devices that I enjoy using more than a smartphone. Recently I got out of storage an old Palm Pilot and put in some effort to get it to sync with modern computers and services. It's enjoyable to use, it's well designed. I would even call it delightful. I also feel fucking stupid when I pull it out instead of my smartphone. It doesn't have online capability, it only syncs at my computer. The screen is dim. As pleasant and tactile the writing system on it is, it's still slower than my phone's touch keyboard.

I wish I could carry a PDA, a DS/Gameboy, a Minidisc player/recorder. They spark joy. But I feel like a dumb poser hipster when I do. Sure, controls do matter for games, but do they matter 300$ + another big bulging device in my pockets? If they mattered that much I could just carry a small bluetooth controller.