It was inevitable, really: nobody is reading, but I'm still writing. Therefore, as the summer draws to a close, now is not the time for considering the larger issues at hand, but instead taking a look at some of the more compact and portable issues that we're facing at the moment.

And of course, the Summer drought.

All throughout the Summer months gamers are complaining at the lack of new titles with which to tantalise their home consoles, and brighten up already bright days. But what's the point? People work during the Summer, as they do throughout the year. The sunny weather is worth making the most of �especially as in Britain we now seem to have successfully reduced the Summer down to a two-week period at the end of July.

Furthermore, a crap game released in the run up to Christmas is still crap even if you release it earlier on in the Summer; in fact, it might be even worse given that the development time may be reduced as a result of the early release of the product. Besides, if all the games are scheduled for a Christmas release were suddenly released in the Summer, what will you do over the festive period when all your interminably dull relatives come over to stay? There would be no squirreling yourself away from Uncle Boris and Aunty Doris on Boxing Day if you have no new games to play, instead you'll be forced to sit through ANOTHER viewing of the Sound Of Music and dragged into JUST ONE MORE game of Monopoly as your parents and in-laws try to warm up the frosty atmosphere between your brother and his girlfriend after they were both beaten in seven consecutive games of Scrabble.

But wait! There's a silver lining to this gloomy cloud above our heads! The Summer is perfect for handheld gaming! Whip out those portable pals and start having a play during the car journey from London to Paris! Sneak in five minutes while on the train! Get in a quick round of golf while you're waiting to tee off at the local course! There's nothing better than a quick burst of excitement on a long hot Summer's day when the TV is crap and the fridge is empty.

Or at least there wouldn't be, if the handheld gaming scene wasn't just as dead as the console scene during the Summer.

Perhaps that's not a fair judgement however, the Summer months really are what the handheld machines are made for; quick, simple games such as Monkey Ball Jr. and Puyo Pop are fun to play and fun to share are the best when travelling with siblings: console imitators such as Final Fantasy Tactics or the sublime Advance Wars make excellent travelling companions on long uninteresting journeys. It seems like the Summer should be ideal for the handhelds. Yet for some reason it isn't. The Game Boy and now the DS suffer from exactly the same absence of games as their larger and less portable brothers.

Couple this with the fact that working in retail you see a week-on-week average of handheld units sold that is much higher than other consoles and you are faced with a bit of a quandary: why aren't there more games available for the handheld machines when the time appears ripe for their sale? Traditionally, hardware is a loss-maker, or at least has a marginal profit; surely it would make sense to manufacture and develop games to maximise profits when hardware sales are going through the roof?

Realistically, however, it all comes back to Christmas and the concept of seasonal spending. Games are essentially an indoor pursuit targeted at indoor-people. That's why you don't get accessory packs for your Gamecube that include a little waterproof umbrella for the console and TV that you can use outside. Equally, hardware sales rocket during the Christmas period anyway. So as far as a strategically modelled business plan is concerned, it is a far better idea to release new titles into the market during the period where the industry is gathering most steam. A large majority of consumers (not all, mind) are gearing up to buy presents for children and loved ones, so it makes much more sense to tap into the market when people are almost certainly, if not definitely, prepared to spend money on these new titles.

Sadly, it is not the majority of gamers that seek new thrills and challenges in the Summer, there is certainly a vocal minority in favour of more releases, but for the companies, it is not good business sense to bank on minority purchaser �particularly when minority purchasers are dedicated gamers and therefore the most choosy about the kind of titles they pick up.

Still, returning to the notion of handheld gaming for Summer, it would not necessarily be a bad thing for some developers to release simpler games for Summer play. Something like WarioWare that has a relatively short development cycle and low demands in terms of power and dedicated developers could easily be put together alongside the major releases that are scheduled for much later in the year. A classic compilation, released during the Summer and backed up with a strong and clear marketing campaign could make a decent profit and quell the mutinous murmurings of the faithful as they await the showstopper that they saw all those months ago at E3.

Personally speaking, it would be great to see more handheld games released during this quiet time. I'm far too old to go and play in the park.

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