I always believed calling the Nintendo 3DS and PlayStation Vita “handhelds” was appropriate. These smaller systems couldn’t really pose any real gaming experience, I thought; they were just systems to hold your hand through the gaming universe. Boy, was I wrong.

I played the Game Boy religiously as child, and when I say religiously, I mean I even played that bad boy at church. I couldn’t put it down. As the years passed, my Game Boy and I grew apart as my love was split between new Nintendo and Sony consoles. Handhelds couldn’t keep up with the experiences now offered to me by more advanced systems.

As the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii came out, I decided I didn’t need what I thought was a subpar experience provided by handhelds. I would go to Best Buy or GameStop and play with the testers and view the unique titles, but I was never impressed enough to indulge myself with a purchase.

But that’s the thing: The beauty of handhelds won’t be shown if you sit down to take an hour and see what it’s about. You won’t think you need it if you have a console. So, here’s the top three concepts I learned when I bought the Nintendo 3DS (sorry, Vita, your prices still haven’t dropped).

**1. A cheaper way for change**

I play mostly on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, both of which have their own unique catalogs of games as well as share dozens of titles. Nintendo produces quality games, but I never seem to have time for them compared to the blockbusters constantly churned out for the PS3 and 360. The 3DS is a way for me to experience a huge collection of Nintendo or third-party games for the 3DS that I never really would have experienced before instead of having to go the more expensive console route. Maybe if I played Nintendo’s Wii or GameCube more, I’d want to invest in a Vita for that change.

**2. Variation in game production**

There’s a difference in a “Mario” game built for a home viewing experience and one built for a mobile handheld. For a handheld, games will be more structured like a level-by-level game — an experience that you’d have absolutely no trouble completing in less than three minutes at the bus stop. The beauty of the handheld is that you can have a complete gaming experience if you are crunched for time. Sure, “Super Mario Sunshine” was longer and had more content to it whereas “Super Mario 3D Land” mimics the structure of “Super Mario Bros.” for the SNES, but both are great games. Sometimes it is satisfying to have a shorter game experience and actually feel like your time accomplished something instead of looking at a console game and seeing that your two hours of gameplay only got you 1 percent further in the game.

**3. Flexibility of play**

Anywhere your hands can hold these devices, you can play them. Say you don’t really want to take your handheld around campus, fine. You are not tied to a television to play, which is helpful for when your roommate wants to watch countless hours of soap operas and/or sports and you don’t want to be “that roommate” and kick them off to play games. Think of it as a book—if you want to play a bit while in bed, take it to a quiet couch in the Student Center or sit outside for some peaceful gaming pleasure, you can. If you’re traveling, handhelds can too. You can be prevented from using your console due to its mobile and screen limitations, but handhelds fly free.

**Conflicted about handhelds?** If you’re leaning one way or the other, I’d go 3DS, but not only because that’s the one I bought. Sony didn’t do the best job of supporting the PSP with content, and the Vita not being backward compatible is more evidence of that, especially with its small library of available games. The Vita is also exploding with so many additional features that it is really like a console, computer and smartphone packed into a handheld. But if you’re getting a console experience on a handheld, wouldn’t you just rather play it on your couch at home?

The 3DS isn’t simply the Nintendo DS with 3D implemented, as the title might suggest. This is a next-generation handheld with a powerful graphics and processing system that is sure to change your mind about handheld gaming. It sure changed mine.