Do you actually play handheld consoles in public places?

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by Leo656

I honestly don't think I had a cell phone until around 2007-ish. I do know I was one of the last people in the civilized world to get one and resisted it for as long as possible. It might not even have been until 2009. I can't remember.

Well I got my first one in 5th grade. Nokia 3210. Then a couple of years lter got a Nokia 3310.

Up until I got my first ever smartphone in 2012 I only used my cellphones to play snake or to call/send texts to my mum and a few other people. I can understand why nowadays people are addicted to their phones since you can do so much on them, but I dunno why teenagers were so addicted to them back in 2006-2008 already. I think that's when the "free text messages to anyone who has the same operator as you" thing started, so maybe that's why.

However, I did know a decent amount of people who did not have internet at home up until like 2008-2009. Nowadays that'd be UNTHINKABLE.

[Leo656]

Holy sh*t, I don't know what kind of phone I have NOW. A Motorola something-or-other, I think? I honestly have no idea, my wife bought it.

I don't remember what my first cell phone was, either. I just know it was one of those ones you bought at 7-11.

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by Leo656

Holy sh*t, I don't know what kind of phone I have NOW. A Motorola something-or-other, I think? I honestly have no idea, my wife bought it.

I don't remember what my first cell phone was, either. I just know it was one of those ones you bought at 7-11.

I sometimes forget the modle of my current one as well. It's a Samsung Galaxy something. The'res been so many different Samsung Galaxy models with different number and letter combinations that I can't keep track anymore.

I do miss the days where you didn't have to recharge your phone every damn day. And also when the phones wer a lot sturdier. My current phone is my longest lasting smartphone and I've only had it for like 2 years.

Meanwhile, the last non-smart phone I had was a gift from my mother to me back in mid-2007 or so and only died in mid-2012.

[Storm Eagle]

Originally Posted by Prowler

Wow someone actually owned an Atari Lynx?!

I've only known a couple of people who did. Around the time it came out, Game Boy had also come out, and I remember when there almost wasn't a day where I didn't see anyone without one. I think Game Gear might have put an end to all of that, even though the Game Boy still won out in the end.

Originally Posted by Leo656

I've only ever had a Game Boy Advance, and I never played it outside my house. I've always generally operated under the philosophy, "Never leave the house with anything you'd be devastated to lose."

That reminds me of when I heard the opposite. It was back in early 1991 and I was in sixth grade, and I was taking the train to school. This group of teenage girls got on at one stop, and one of them pulled out her Game Boy. One of the other girls laughed at that, but she just said "don't leave home without it". She had a point, even though I guess it is kind of risky to take such things with you.

Originally Posted by Prowler

Exactly. Like I said, my brother somehow lost his original Game Boy outside when he was a kid. I never understood how he did that but my mother was clearly upset at him for losing it, so she never let me take any toys or handhelds to school.

On the last day of school when I was in seventh grade, one of my friends brought his Game Gear to school, and then it got stolen. Thankfully he got it back, although he had gotten another one during the summer.

I once actually let a girl borrow my Game Boy in sixth grade against my better judgement, and my mother wasn't too happy about that. I got it back safe and sound though. All I had at the time was Tetris, and she told me her mother was the one playing the hell out of it.

Originally Posted by Leo656

I honestly don't think I had a cell phone until around 2007-ish. I do know I was one of the last people in the civilized world to get one and resisted it for as long as possible. It might not even have been until 2009. I can't remember.

I didn't have one until 2002. My mother got it for me for Christmas, saying I'd need it, even though I didn't really have a desire to have one. In my high school days, it was all about the beepers, and I never wanted one of those either.

Originally Posted by Prowler

Up until I got my first ever smartphone in 2012 I only used my cellphones to play snake or to call/send texts to my mum and a few other people. I can understand why nowadays people are addicted to their phones since you can do so much on them, but I dunno why teenagers were so addicted to them back in 2006-2008 already. I think that's when the "free text messages to anyone who has the same operator as you" thing started, so maybe that's why.

However, I did know a decent amount of people who did not have internet at home up until like 2008-2009. Nowadays that'd be UNTHINKABLE.

I got my first smartphone in 2017, courtesy of my mother. I still have it. I'm glad smartphones weren't a thing when I was in high school, and maybe I should be glad not as many kids in my school had internet access. I had AOL from 11th to 12th grade from January to October of 1996, and my mother cancelled it. It was expensive back then, and I can't say I blame her, and I'm sorry I ran the bill up with it. Especially since the things I was using it for were a waste of time to her. We didn't have internet access in the home again until late 2001, and it was DSL. So we didn't have to worry about it running up our phone bill. When I did have the internet in the 90s though, I watched this show where it was talking about internet access, and mentioned a prediction that everyone would have it in the future, although I don't remember just when the prediction said it would happen. I guess it wasn't too far off, since pretty much everyone seems to have it in one way or another.

Originally Posted by Prowler

I do miss the days where you didn't have to recharge your phone every damn day.

No kidding.

[Stephen]

Originally Posted by Storm Eagle

I didn't have one until 2002. My mother got it for me for Christmas, saying I'd need it, even though I didn't really have a desire to have one.

Same. I didn't bother using one for quite a while. Did you get friends pestering you to get one?

Originally Posted by Storm Eagle

I had AOL from 11th to 12th grade from January to October of 1996, and my mother cancelled it. It was expensive back then, and I can't say I blame her, and I'm sorry I ran the bill up with it.

We had quasi-free dial-up Internet in the UK, such as X-Stream Network, but it would sometimes take dozens of attempts to get a connection. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-Stream_Network

[Storm Eagle]

Originally Posted by Stephen

Same. I didn't bother using one for quite a while. Did you get friends pestering you to get one?

Nobody was pestering me to get one.

[Roseangelo]

I play Pokemon GO. It's a phone app, so not exactly what I believe is the intention of this question, but when we've got a large group of people together in a public spot for a raid or other reason, we can get a lot of weird looks and people asking us if we're some sort of "phone convention."

Otherwise, I have no problem bringing my 3DS or Switch out in public, if I have reason to. I will bring the Switch out when I'm playing Pokemon GO to help other players acquire a Mystery Box from Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee. And I also brought it on a plane with me for a recent trip. I've honestly only ever used it in handheld mode anyways (plugging in the dock means trying to organize a bunch of cables, which I haven't dedicated myself to doing yet).

[TigerClaw]

I don't know about using handheld devices in public is a good idea. Especially if its in places where you'll potentially get mugged and your 3DS stolen.

Phones are OK however with games like Pokemon Go.

[Prowler]

@Storm Eagle

My brother and I had a Game Gear when we were kids. I only recall having like 2 games for it. A sonic game and a Shinobi game. The GG sucked. It took 6 batteries.

Originally Posted by Roseangelo

I play Pokemon GO. It's a phone app, so not exactly what I believe is the intention of this question, but when we've got a large group of people together in a public spot for a raid or other reason, we can get a lot of weird looks and people asking us if we're some sort of "phone convention."

Otherwise, I have no problem bringing my 3DS or Switch out in public, if I have reason to. I will bring the Switch out when I'm playing Pokemon GO to help other players acquire a Mystery Box from Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee. And I also brought it on a plane with me for a recent trip. I've honestly only ever used it in handheld mode anyways (plugging in the dock means trying to organize a bunch of cables, which I haven't dedicated myself to doing yet).

Well, hard to leave the house without a phone nowadays, tbh. We live in a time where we rely a lot on our phones. Plus, everyone carries around a phone nowadays, while not everyone carries around a handheld video game system. And if you're playing Pokémon Go in large groups then it's more unlikely someone will come up to you and snatch your phone, anyway.

Originally Posted by TigerClaw

I don't know about using handheld devices in public is a good idea. Especially if its in places where you'll potentially get mugged and your 3DS stolen.

Phones are OK however with games like Pokemon Go.

Well I don't go to dangerous places, but you can never be careful enough. Playing it on the bus or metro could be risky if you're close to the door and some opportunistic thieve jus snatches it from your hands and runs out of the train/bus with your handheld system. Not saying it's something that happens often out there, but it's still a potential risk. On an air plane it's safer since you can't just get out when you please.

I just find it a bit unpractical to play the 3DS in public tbh. Especially in a more crowded area. I did bring my 3DS to university and play it after having lunch and waiting like 30 minutes for my class next to the door, but that's a much more familiar place and there wasn't really any fear someone would snatch it from my hands. I also did play a few Smash matches on my 3DS during class without the professors noticing. I sat in the back, put the backpack on my desk, opened the backpack, pretended I was going through its inside looking for something when I was actually playing a quick Smash match . None of the professors seems to have noticed it ever. And tbh, I don't think they'd care as long as you didn't pull it out and played it right in their faces.

[Stephen]

Originally Posted by Prowler

I just find it a bit unpractical to play the 3DS in public tbh.

Did you ever use the StreetPass service, since that seem to be designed to encourage people to use their 3DS in public?

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by Stephen

Did you ever use the StreetPass service, since that seem to be designed to encourage people to use their 3DS in public?

I certainly have, but you don't need to whip it out and walk around with it in your hands for the feature to work. I just kept it on in rest mode inside my backpack as I rode public transit, walked outside and went to uni. That was 2016 in a nutshell to me. I didn't get a 3DS until way late in game. Got it around April 3 years ago.