13 Portable Console Innovations Changing How We Play Anywhere

4. Touch Takes Over: Nintendo DS and PlayStation Vita

Touchscreens didn’t just change smartphones—they sparked a second golden age for portable play. The Nintendo DS dazzled with dual screens, letting you solve puzzles, draw paths, and try out genre-bending games you couldn’t experience anywhere else. It wasn’t long before the PlayStation Vita took touchscreen controls even further, adding slick capacitive input and opening up creative, new ways to play. The DS now stands as the best-selling handheld ever, with 154 million units sold, and its approachability made handheld gaming a hit with all ages—especially younger and family gamers. If you’ve ever juggled picross puzzles and Mario platforming using nothing but a stylus, you know why touch sticks around in modern portables.