As for handhelds that I’ve owned, I’ve had a lot of them! And I’ve been “collecting” for quite a long time, haha. A little while ago, for instance, I came into possession into an original Game Boy. As in the one with only four colors and that (in)famous green dox-matrix screen, haha. My grandmother actually had one of her own back when it first came out, as well as a copy of Tetris. I ended up inheriting the latter, which I’ve had the pleasure of playing on my various other Game Boy family systems including this one. It’s pretty easy to see how the Game Boy became so popular with a game like that, even with its low-end specs; it’s so fun and addictive to play even to this day!
Besides that, the first game system that I ever owned actually happened to be a Game Boy Color in its iconic purple color. Pokémon Yellow was the first game that I played with it, and was by extension the first game that I ever owned (but not played, my parents’ Pentium MMX PC was my gaming home, of sorts, before then). I still have both, although I play neither much nowadays due to the GBC’s audio circuits not being the greatest after all of these years (lots of static that probably shouldn’t be there, haha) and Pokémon Yellow being perhaps my least favorite of the classic-era Pokémon games (on account of it being too damn hard for young me; I never finished it).
Other handhelds that I own, or owned, include an original Game Boy Advance (which I no longer have), and a Game Boy Advance SP (which I still do). Fun fact about the latter: I nearly lost it for good almost practically the day that I got it, when I left it unattended in a store at a mall that me and my parents visited (handhelds were a constant companion for me during such visits). A keen eye and perhaps a little bit of luck led to realize what happened just in time, but there was a real possibility that things could’ve ended up very differently that day and I’d be telling a much sadder story now, oof.
I also owned a DS, although I ended up barely playing it. Its main use ended up being my go-to for playing GBA games with its headphone jack (which Nintendo, in their courage, of course omitted on the GBA SP) and slightly superior screen. That said, when I got back into Pokémon around 2014 or so and picked up Pokémon White 2, I spent more time on there than I ever did, and it basically became the Pokémon machine then, haha. The New 3DS XL that I purchased for myself many years later would end up seeing much more love and use from me, and I would spend many more dozens of hours there playing Pokémon Sun especially.
I suppose that mentioning the Switch would be too easy here, haha. I got mine a little under five years ago, and I think that one of the most magical things I remember about it was seeing Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and its super-sharp graphics on that screen, looking oh-so-beautiful, haha. Few other games would inspire such awe due to the Switch’s technical limitations that became all the more problematic as the years went on, but Nintendo’s games usually tended to be among the “awe-inspiring” number. Not too much Pokémon activity here, actually; I stalled in the middle of Shield and I passed on Scarlet & Violet for various reasons, although I’m slowly getting into Legends: Arceus and New Pokémon Snap, both of which have been some of the more promising-looking (graphically and gameplay-wise) Pokémon entires on the Switch so far.
As for mobile gaming, none of that for me, haha. I’ve just never seen the appeal of it; my mind is typically elsewhere when I’m on the go. That’s not to say that I’m completely averse to the idea of it, though. I just might have to find the right game…
