In this day and age, people often treat the words "mobile" and "handheld"(or portable) as interchangable in regards to gaming platforms. I'm writing this piece to say unequivocally that there IS a difference. A big difference. From the time the gameboy launched 1989, any game system released that ran on batteries(AAs and later built-in rechargable batteries) was called a handheld. With the advent of the PSP, the term 'portable' gained wide usage as well. And then came along the iPhone and Android telephones. Mobile gaming is called such because it began with cellular (or mobile) phones. They employed games like solitaire, or small physics puzzlers; ragdolls in cannons and birds in slingshots. On computers they were called(for the most part) flash games. On computer (as in their current form on cell phones) they're 5 minute timewasters, often with lousy controls due to the limitations of the interface. Now a handheld system, on the other hand, is built to play the games- controls laid out in a logical fashion and games that craft huge worlds and intricate stories. Current handhelds are powerhouses(when compared to their mobile counterparts) with graphics that resemble the end of the previous generation/the beginning of the current generation's. I suppose at the end of the day, it comes down to this: Mobile gaming is to handheld gaming as a Tiger game is to a Gamegear. And if the references made in the above analogy are unintelligible to you, then you are too young to weigh in on such an important topic. Thanks for reading, El Z.