App Store vs Handhelds: The Mobile Game Debate

When Rovio released Angry Birds out to the public in 2009, little did they know it would become a cultural icon, selling 12 million copies and becoming the most purchased app of all time. When Rockstar Games released Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars for the Nintendo DS, I bet they weren't expecting it to have a current global total of 1.29 million copies sold. The debate over handhelds versus apps has been going around for some time now and I've decided to say my opinion about which is better.

The Apple App Store has what seems to be a limitless supply of games. Literally. It seems as if every day, more and more people are creating games for the App Store and for good reason too. According to mobithinking.com, mobile gaming apps are generating a TON of revenue every year and the chart below proves that:

Sure, I love a good game of Temple Run but a good majority of the games that come onto the App Store fail. According to the same article, in 2012, about 26% of all the apps that came into the market failed.

But what does this mean for handhelds? Well, personally, I've always loved handhelds. I've got a Gameboy Advanced SP, Nintendo DS Lite, Nintendo DSi, Nintendo DSi XL and now a Nintendo 3DS and I've loved every single one of them. Even though the L and R buttons break frequently and the hinges break easily after a good rage. The only downside to handhelds is that the games are expensive and come in cases. Think about it: A new copy of Game Freak's Pokemon X from gamestop.com is about $40 and can get lost very easily. Even if you download the game via Nintendo eShop, you'd still have to dish out the $40 just to get the game. With apps, a single game can vary from free to about $10, making them inexpensive.

But in the end, for me personally, I'd have to go with handhelds. With handhelds, you are able to get more content in a single cartridge instead of if you are playing a series like Angry Birds or Plants Vs. Zombies and have to go and download the next version. With handhelds, you can go buy the game and it'll already be up-to-date. Plus, with handhelds you can keep your games in a case, which will make them las longer and you can resell your games. I don't see anyone selling a pre-owned Flappy Bird in the App Store. But's that's just my opinion.

What do you guys think? Apps or handhelds?