During this E3, there was an interview with Miyamoto about the specs of the 3DS. He said (and I'm paraphrasing here) that he wondered if the specs of a portable console really mattered because this is something that you carry around with you in your pocket.

Now, I don't really care about the specs. Art style has always trumped polygons for me and I'd rather play Streets of Rage II on the Mega Drive than Crysis. So I'm not getting worked up about that. Instead, I'm more interested on the assumption that a handheld console is something people are just carrying around with them and playing at random intervals.

Yes, they're certainly portable. I'm traveling at the end of the month and it's easy to just shove my DSi in a bag and then play it at my destination. I certainly can't put my HDTV and PS3 in my carry-on luggage. But do I play it on the go? Do I play it while waiting for the bus? No... I barely even use my iPhone.

Most of my handheld gaming is done at home. I generally get a handheld console for the games (Advance Wars, Sonic Rush, Meteos, etc) so it gets the same treatment as any other console. But there are also other advantages to a handheld: everything is built-in. I don't need a TV for it, for example. Everyone else in my house can still be watching the TV and I can still be playing games. It's great. In fact, it was one of the driving factors that saw me with a Game Gear instead of a Mega Drive on Christmas morning 1991. So it's not so much that's portable as much as it's handheld and self-contained.

I can't be the only one who feels this way, can I?

Recently, I promised myself that I would spend less on games and start doing sensible things like saving for a house. With the 3DS coming out, it looks like it could be my main entry into the next generation. Everything, including the fancy 3D display, is built into the unit. It's all there and whenever I want it. I'm not getting it for it's portability -- that's just a bonus; I'm getting it for the fact it's my own little personal slice of gaming that is always there when I need it.

So out of curiosity, I ask people who own handheld consoles, do you get them to be portable consoles to play on the go, or do you get them to be handheld consoles you have for personal gaming experiences?