I've been with this series from the beginning, transition to handheld, back to console and back to handheld. It's clear Nintendo now has problems getting these handheld variants readjusted back to console. People criticize City Folk for taking so much from Wild World, but why blame them for doing so, it's the highest selling game in the series.
The biggest problem for me with consoles is that one, you can't play them anywhere, they're kind of tied to plugs, and televisions- not all Wii U games, but the majority of 1st party games require a television now. AC works on handhelds because this game is based in real-time, so not being home at a certain time means you either miss it, or you have to time travel to get it redone. I don't know about others, but I simply refuse to change my clock unless the clocks themselves changed- Daylight Saving, so I better be home to make an event! I've rushed home too many times to get that stupid lighthouse light turned on to continue that in the future.
That said, it really makes more sense on handheld. I'll never forget back in 2005 when I was playing Wild World, and I agreed to meet with a villager later in the day. Well, I was still out of the house when the time came, but I still made that event, and remember thinking that if this had been on the GameCube, I'd have totally missed it- I wasn't at home! From that moment on, I realized because of that clock how much better this series is on handhelds than consoles. Just like in New Leaf, I can agree to do something later, and since the thing goes with me everywhere- EVERYWHERE (toilet included), I'll never miss an event on a handheld version.
Put it this way, I wasn't home on Thanksgiving, I traveled out of town. I still made the Harvest Festival though, I totally missed it in e+, Animal Crossing, and City Folk. Not in New Leaf though! Wild World doesn't have it, so nothing to miss there. Either way, that's why the majority loves handhelds, not because the home is the handheld version bigger, it just makes more sense to take this thing with you, you can't always be home to play, and if you are, you're either working from home, sick, an adult still living at home with your parents, home-bound, etc, and not living in the real world like 99% of us are. For us, we NEED a game we can take anywhere, handhelds allow us to do so. The portability is just perfectly suited hand-in-hand with this series.
- - - Post Merge - - -
Definitely home consoles. They can support things like USB keyboards so you don't have to use an awful on-screen keyboard, you get better graphics and sound, play on a much larger screen, you can use a regular controller, etc. If there's a problem with one of your buttons, you can get a new controller without having to replace your whole system. So far, the portable versions haven't supported voice chat or multi-level towns either. And if you want to record videos for Youtube, it's much easier and cheaper to get a capture device that works with any home system than it is to modify your 3DS (and even then, it would only work on one specific system).
Try playing a console version in a public library, and take it with you to the toilet, then play on a subway, an airplane, and during a power outage? See why handhelds are superior, you CAN play it in a library, on the toilet, in a subway, on an airplane, and DURING A POWER OUTAGE- I know, I've played Wild World and New Leaf in all these places. Also as a person who NEVER changes their clocks, like you would to make up for missed events, you'll never understand the true connections handhelds have with these clocks staying in real-time like I do. I simply refuse to cheat, if a time comes and I miss it, too bad, I can't do it in real life, and these games are called LIFE SIMULATION, I'd like to see you break that 4th dimension and go back a few hours to when that store you arrived to is closed simply so YOU can shop.
