My Handheld Gaming Habit Has Me Rejecting the Video Game Graphics Horse-Race

I didn’t become such a devoted handheld gamer until the past few years. For most people, it may have started way earlier, with the first Nintendo Switch, but back when that console first came out, I kept the console in docked mode and didn’t use its handheld capabilities as often, as cool as they were. I’ve worked from home for about 11 years now, so I don’t have a commute; I had no real reason to play games on the go. Plus, games like Breath of the Wild look great on a big screen.

I’m not sure when exactly it started to change. I do know that by the time Hades came out in 2020 and I got the Switch version, I was fully embracing the benefits of playing my Switch in handheld mode. I would sit at my kitchen table after putting dinner in the oven, doing a few runs while I waited. Better yet (or perhaps worse), I could take Hades to bed with me (ha ha) and play one more run, just one more run, before falling asleep (and then, of course, not fall asleep).

In the 2020s, media was changing in other ways. The rise of streaming services and content made for those services resulted in a lot more sludge—shows made to be watched in the background while people are folding laundry or, naturally, playing games on a handheld or a phone. There are also, of course, legacy sitcoms that were in syndication for so long that they are formulaic and repetitive and therefore also perfect for background viewing. In the 2020s, I embraced the absurd pastime of playing video games while simultaneously “watching” television. This means that I have “watched” a lot of forgettable television while playing a lot of very good video games.

It’s also become a way that I can play games “with” my wife, even though we don’t play the same kinds of games. She has her Switch and her Steam Deck, and I have mine, and we both keep our handhelds by the couch. We have watched—well, “watched”—an absurd amount of HGTV and cooking shows with our handheld consoles in hand. It’s a way of spending time together while still playing each of our own single-player games. It has made me wonder if we should resort to a three-TV living room setup, like some other dual-gamer couples I know. I’m just not sure I can get myself to do that, even though it would result in my video games looking a lot better, because they’d be on a TV, not on a handheld screen.

This does mean I’m playing a lot of very expensive-looking games in a format that just doesn’t make them look that great. The reduced graphics aren’t the only thing I’m missing out on, either. I do still spend at least a few hours a week playing games “normally,” especially if they’re story heavy games like Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater. But when I play games while “watching” TV, I’m playing them with the sound off and therefore missing out on voice acting performances, musical compositions, and sound design that can all add a lot to a game experience. I do think I am doing these video games a disservice by doing this.

Counterpoint: I’m playing way more games as a result of my handheld lifestyle, and I’m having way more nice little conversations with my wife. I’ve also ended up having a way more positive relationship with video games overall, especially as someone who plays certain games in order to write about them and get paid for doing so. At many points in my career, I’ve felt lonely, holed up in my office, divided from other people in my life, determinedly playing games that I “have to finish in time” for a review or a podcast. It’s a very silly thing to complain about if this isn’t your job, and it might be hard for other people to understand this paragraph, even if they could relate to the other ones. I do think that even if this isn’t something you do for work, you probably also have grown to understand the appeal of the handheld console as a way to bring you out into other parts of your house where there are people who want to spend more low-impact time with you. This also allows you to get more gaming time in, without being as isolated as you otherwise would be.

And so, even though I feel guilty that a lot of my gaming time is spent in this way, it’s working for me, and it’s probably not going to change. The real problem is finding enough TV shows to serve as the appropriate background buzz to my household’s way of engaging with certain games. We may not be running out of games to play any time soon, but we’re definitely running out of HGTV and cooking shows that fit the bill. Tell me in the comments about your favorite shows to not-really-watch while you’re playing a video game.

Maddy Myers has worked as a video game critic and journalist since 2007; she has previously worked for Polygon, Kotaku, The Mary Sue, Paste Magazine, and the Boston Phoenix. She co-hosts a video game podcast called Triple Click, as well as an X-Men podcast called The Mutant Ages. When she is not writing or podcasting, she composes electro-pop music under the handle MIDI Myers. Her personal website is midimyers.com.