Kasavin Weighs In On PSP, DS Battle

Thanks to GameSpot for its Greg Kasavin-authored 'GameSpotting' editorial discussing comparisons between Sony's PSP and Nintendo's DS handheld systems, in a piece subtitled: "Five Capital Letters, Two Little Systems, One Big Bloodbath". Kasavin points out: "It's very, very easy to jump on Sony's bandwagon... it's also very, very easy to root for the relative underdog that Nintendo's lately turned into. But... neither of these companies expects your loyalty or necessarily deserves it. They're both these big, huge Japanese firms designed to pull a serious profit year in and year out." The piece continues: "There's a lot of evidence to suggest that the Nintendo DS is a reactionary device that lacks focus", although concedes: "To be fair, Sony has also done its fair share of double-talking with respect to the PSP", before marginally favoring the PSP, "designed with an 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it' mind-set." Elsewhere, Game Informer also weighs in, with a two-part series "analyzing the upcoming handhelds".

Greg passed up on one point

[orthancstone]

Greg acted like no games were made for DS functionality...yet he seemed to forget the Metroid game.
I'd have to say that being able to use a stylus to shoot at enemies on the new system would be making use of this new, interesting feature (not just using it to justify having it).

Re:From what I've seen - Popularity

[shakey_deal]

There is a poll next to the game spot article about which handheld people are more interested in. The results are surprising, imho.

Nintendo DS 2222 (51%)
Sony PSP 2091 (48%)

um, neither?

[h0mer]

I know a lot of people on here probably have stuff clipped to their belt and pockets full of gear. That's cool and all but not practical for everyone.

It seems like both of these systems are too big to carry around in a pocket, especially if you're wearing jeans. Also, I don't ride public transportation on the regular. I just don't see where I'm going to play these things, I don't play GBA very often as it is. My free time is at home, and if I'm at home, then I'll probably want to play something with more capabilities than these portable systems.

Nintendo didn't need to make the DS to compete with PSP, they just need to figure out how to stuff cell phone guts in a GBA SP.

Re:Missing One Important Point

[Doomstalk]

I honestly don't see the PSP's multimedia capabilities being all that widely used. Their coice to go to a proprietary media, the UMD, means that people with extensive DVD or CD collections will have to purchase their music and movies all over again if they want to use them in the PSP. If you start a collection on the PSP, you're going to have to buy it all over again to use it on your home entertainment system, or be left hoping that Sony evetually releases a standalone player.

Secondly, none of the music labels/movie studios have adopted the UMD as an approved format, meaning there's a strong chance that Sony Pictures and Sony Music will companies producing content on it.

Thirdly, in terms of movie playback, the PSP is severely harmed by battery life. The numbers I've read say it will have less than 3 hours' worth of power in movie playback mode. That means if you want to watch a long film like, oh say, any of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, you'd better have an outlet nearby. Additionally, it means that after watching shorter movies, you're not going to have much battery left to play games, meaning you'll have to choice on which you want on each outing.

Finally, there's the backlit screen. On first thought, the idea of laptop style screen technology in a handheld, but if you've ever tried to use your laptop outdoors on a sunny day, you'll know just how easily that backlight is drowned out. Chances are good that on any given car/train trip you're going to pass through a patch of sunlight, severely imparing how easily you can see the screen. Oh yeah, and let's not forget the color shift issues that occur when you view a laptop screen from any angle except straight on.

Respect for GameSpot...down one.

[metroid composite]

First, whenever I see a "DS or PSP" argument on a game forum, I want to slap the people. "None" "Both" or "I'll wait till they actually have games thank you" sound like more sensible replies in all honesty.

Second, "PSP will have more games" seems like BS. Last I checked (and correct me if I'm wrong) there were about 100 third parties working on each system, and about equal number of third party games announced for each. (And then Nintendo wins the first party, of course).

Historically, poor battery life and high price is downright DEATH in the portable world. Other than Sony being stronger than Atari/Sega, what's different this time?

I'm going to paraphrase the analysis of a GameFAQs user (HoratioQHornblower) who owns a shop and so seems to know more about what will sell than I do. Here's the thing: handheld gaming is different than home console gaming. For instance, while racing games sell just fine on big consoles, they sell poorly on handelds. Who's going to buy the PSP version of GT4 when they can buy the PS2 version and play it properly on a big screen? Handheld gaming (according to him) is more centered around platformers (Marios, Metroids) and strategy games (Fire Emblem, FFTA). Roughly speaking, the list of DS games seem more suited to a handheld, whereas the PSP games are mostly scaled down console games, often literally ports of PS1 games.

Again, I'm not really doing HoratioQHornblower's argument justice, but his prediction for his store was that people woud buy the PSP first (better marketing) but return it after a couple of weeks when they find out Metal Gear Acid is a card RPG and the battery life is low. On the other hand, the DS, even ignoring the innovation, has a library which guarantees a certain level of success as a handheld, even if initial hype is lower.

Re:um, neither?

[blueskatz]

I played both the DS and the PSP at E3, and they were both a lot smaller than you'd think. Both about the same size as the original GBA.

Though I'd be nervous about the PSP in my pocket without something to protect the screen.

The PSP definately looks a whole lot cooler up close, especially the screen. Its very large, and comparitively, the DS screens seem a bit washed out, as far as color. DS screens look exactly like GBA SP screens.

Still, based on the games, I will certainly buy a DS the day it comes out (another animal crossing!). I'll probably wait a few months on the PSP. The only PSP game that interests me enough to buy the system so far is Makai Wars.

Corrections

[Doomstalk]

Oops, sorry. My thoughts ran ahead of my words in a few spots. Here're some corrections so it makes more sense:

"Secondly, none of the music labels/movie studios have adopted the UMD as an approved format, meaning there's a strong chance that Sony Pictures and Sony Music will be the only companies producing content on it."

"On first thought, the idea of laptop style screen technology in a handheld ,i>seems like a good one, but if you've ever tried to use your laptop outdoors on a sunny day, you'll know just how easily that backlight is drowned out."

My take

[mfterman]

In general, I'm with the PSP people in terms of the overall design. Dual screens with a stylus strikes me as an attempt to be clever. Clever doesn't really work with these types of machines. Something simple and elegant works much better in these cases. The DS is relying on a dual screen gimmick and in my experience, gimmicks don't do too well.

The PSP has a very clean ergonomic design. The only thing that the PSP is missing is a second analog control. If it had that, I would say that it would be absolutely perfect in layout.

The two issues that worry me are proprietary media and data formats. I'd feel happier if it had some industry standard small data disk format. I'd also feel happier if they announced it could support a lot of media formats, including MPEG, MP3 and Ogg. To my mind, something that could play good games and support those formats would be something I would be seriously tempted in buying.

The price is also something where I think Sony may be rushing in too soon. Steve Jobs blew it with the Newton because while the concept was good the technology hadn't hit the right price point. While I think the PSP has a clean design, if it's too expensive, we've got yet another overprinced and overambitious piece of hardware to add to the list of other bold experiments.