is a senior editor and founding member of The Verge who covers gadgets, games, and toys. He spent 15 years editing the likes of CNET, Gizmodo, and Engadget.
I love modern handheld gaming, and I recommend it to anyone and everyone. Just maybe not today? If you decided today was the day to finally drop hundreds of dollars on your first handheld, I might advise you to wait.
Four reasons:
The best handhelds are sold out
The second-best handhelds just got more expensive
Third-tier handhelds are riddled with compromises
The entire state of gaming handhelds will improve if you wait
The best handhelds are sold out
If you’re reading this story, I suspect you’ve been on the fence about handheld gaming machines — until the Nintendo Switch 2, the fastest-selling game console of all time, caught your attention. Perhaps you liked the idea of bigger Mario Kart or smoother Fortnite and Pokémon; perhaps you liked the idea of taking graphically intensive games like Cyberpunk 2077 on the go.
Unfortunately, the $450 Nintendo Switch 2 is sold out everywhere as of this writing, and its alternatives may not offer the experience you’d hope.
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