I figured lately what makes the absolute superiority of vertical format (as in original gameboy) over horizontal format (gba); with vertical you can play lying on your side, in your bed. With horizontal format, not so much, because you have to maintain one hand slightly raised above the other which is uncomfortable. With a PSP it's even worse because bigger Try it, take your smartphone, lie in your bed on one of your sides, and hold your device vertically and then horizontally, with both hands. Right away you'll feel that the horizontal position GBA style isn't sustainable for very long, much less than the vertical That being said, with vertical handheld format you have a 4:3 screen, a opposed to 16:9, so if you plan on playing movies it's not that suited unless they are in 4:3 format already ...