[ppseafield]

There is a niche for small, mobile handhelds, with companies such as Retroid and Ambernic making devices with smaller screens. Interestingly even in this niche the proportion of truly mobile vs. portable is seeing the same continuing shift to larger, more powerful handhelds over time.

It seems in all categories people tend to purchase devices with larger screens. I wonder if this is caused by the nowadays much larger proportion of adults using these devices, where the Gameboy, etc., we're seen more as children's toys - meaning smaller form factors and screens might have been a better fit.

[dagmx]

The Gameboy was designed and marketed to be casual gaming on the go (while commuting etc) as well as for children. It was the spiritual successor to the Game&Watch after all.

Those sorts of games are best suited to smaller screens but that’s the market that smartphones have basically taken over.

So if you need to differentiate a gaming product from the smartphones that everyone owns, you kind of need things like bigger screens, better ergonomics and more immersive games etc