I started playing handhelds a long time ago, and I still play them today. Back then I had no idea what to do with them, but they came into their own a few years ago. Back then I was the type of kid that did things, but would fall off the grid for months at a time when a game came out that had names like "Fantasy," or, "Quest," at the end of the title.
Nowadays I mostly play RPG's and puzzle games on them. They are great for that. I can sit there and help Chrono get twisted off "Competition drank," or help Joan D' Ark handle a mess her god told her to deal with while waiting in a doctors office lobby, a dream come true.
I don't play many MMO's though, well I play them because they are games, but I don't play them as an experience, like I would with a Persona or others of the sort. They feel more like real life than an adventure to me. I enjoy playing traditional RPG's specifically for the reason that they are not real life, or more apropos, my life. I was helping a character sort out their shit, not mine, which is a nice change.
To me logging into a current gen massively multi player role playing game is tantamount to logging into real life, because I mostly play them at the behest of people in my real life that feel I would get something from playing them. And while its fun to travel and level and adventure and such, its just now I have a responsibility to keep up with their levels to hang out in there, always be wearing the best gear, and never talk about the story, characters, or events in the game as if they are anything but a game we are playing.
Ugh, that's a lot of work just to kill a dragon that lives indoors. But I ain't trippin, because I know that the current crop is only the first salvo. One day all three RPG cars currently on the road, which are, MMO's, Dwarf Fortress, and Minecraft, will slam into each other, and the explosion will be beautiful.
