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Portables (Games)

PSP vs. DS Six Months On 153

Posted by Zonk from the choose-your-poison dept.
Gamasutra has a follow-up to a previous Question of the Week about the PSP and the DS. The question this past week was: "Which handheld do you think is winning the most hearts, and which the biggest marketshare in each territory?" From the article: " My personal view of the PSP hasn't changed at all. It's not what I'm looking for in a portable system. Seriously, who actually wants to watch a movie on a tiny screen? The DS genuinely has more options for innovation when it comes to unique software, but because the general masses are easily influenced by what is cool, I can foresee less developers spending time on creating innovative software on the DS in an effort to cash in on the popularity (and mass marketing) of the PSP. Still, the DS has sold quite a number of units, also, where I currently reside, the PSP has only just launched recently, so it's still hard to say. -Anonymous "
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PSP vs. DS Six Months On More

PSP vs. DS Six Months On

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  • Price Drop (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Avacar ( 911548 )

    Personally, I took advantage of the PSP vs DS to buy a used Game Boy Advanced SP. Sure, I'm years behind on the handheld, but I'll wait out this current battle, and buy in once it is more affordable and has enough interesting games on one of the systems to really pull my interest.

    I do look forward, though, to seeing what a Zelda or Mario game on the DS would be like (and I don't mean a port).

    • Re:Price Drop (Score:1, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Sure, but on my psp I can play GBA games on a bigger screen on a sexier device.
    • New Super Mario Bros and Mario & Luigi aren't ports, they are new games. The first one are a 2D-scroller much like SMB I-III, the second one looks a little like SMW, althought it doesn't seem to play like that one.
      There are also a Zelda-game similair to Four Swords in the works.

  • Small screen? (Score:1, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward
    It's no 42" plasma, but compared with a portable TV its huge and beautiful, watching movies on it is easy, and with a big enough memory stick, extremely convenient.

  • DS is better, I love my PSP (Score:5, Informative)

    by MBCook ( 132727 ) <foobarsoft@foobarsoft.com> on Friday September 16, 2005 @03:39PM (#13579056) Homepage
    I think the DS is the better of the two. It's more innovative and has some amazing titles. I can't wait so see what Nintendo has in store.

    That said, at this point the PSP is starting to come into it's own. It is starting to get some games that are the kind I want (note: I own both). While there have been some nice games (Hot Shots Golf used up a lot of my time), Burnout: Legends just came out. Lots of content, fun to play, looks FANTASTIC. SSX on Tour is looking very interesting to me. GTA: Liberty City Stories will sell a ton and might be great.

    While the DS has better pick up and play games and short games. The PSP is a PS2 to go. The kind of games seem to be quite different. While that at first made me less interested in the PSP, I've come to a realization. I don't play my consoles much any more. I just don't have that kind of time that I like to devote to it. But I love the ability to play between classes on campus, when I have nothing to do at work, etc. Even just sitting at home and watching TV while playing. I really LIKE this ability, and I can see myself playing the PSP more and more if they have games I like. Since I can put the PSP on hold at any point, I don't have to worry about if I can pause/save when something is happeneing.

    I've played my DS more. I'm starting to like my PSP more. They are both good consoles, and I think they have such different market segments (at least for me) that it's not a problem. The DS has more "GameBoy" games, while the PSP has more "Console" games.

    If I had to choose one? The DS. I've played it more so far, found more games I like so far. And while I have no doubt there will be good games for the PSP, I always know I can count on my Nintendo consoles for great (and interesting) games. But it would be a hard choice. If you had asked me 3-4 months ago, the choice would have been MUCH easier.

    • i agree with you. ive tried to force myself to buy a ds to complement my psp, but as of yet, i havent found a reason to. the main thing stopping me is that i havent found any games that i am willing to play just yet. nintendogs doesnt interest me in the slightest. honestly the only game i would be interested in is advance wars ds, due to my enjoyment of it from the gba versions.

      i enjoy the portables for the same reasons you list. i like the promise that the psp shows. graphically and in terms of power, it c

      • ive tried to force myself to buy a ds to complement my psp, but as of yet, i havent found a reason to.

        Are you lucky enough to have 1.50 firmware on your PSP? If not, the Nintendo DS has relatively painless homebrew.

        i like the promise that the psp shows. graphically and in terms of power, it can do what the ds does and more.

        Not necessarily. What kind of control would you have in an RTS game with the PSP analog stick? Now compare to the Nintendo DS touch screen?

        i like the ability to encode a movi

  • No one's won my heart yet... (Score:4, Informative)

    by jeblucas ( 560748 ) <[jeblucas] [at] [gmail.com]> on Friday September 16, 2005 @03:44PM (#13579116) Homepage Journal
    I'm just kicking it on the fence here waiting to see how things go. I'm a long time gamer (Odyssey2 bitches! PickAxe Pete in the hizzouse!), have tons of disposable income, and prefer excellent games over excellent graphics every time. I still play Diablo 2 weekly, and currently have a nethack thing going.

    But I still don't know which of these, if either, I want. For a while I had the PSP on my Amazon wishlist, now it's a DS--maybe I'll switch back--I kind of want someone else to decide for me. Here's how I see them: The DS has better games (Kirby Canvas Curse, Advance Wars, Meteos), the PSP has the better screen and homebrew possibilities. The DS is cheaper, but the PSP can play movies.

    Neither of them has managed to court me sufficiently. Maybe by year end the games will decide it.

    • are you aware that they have a version of nethack running on the psp?
    • You can watch movies on the DS, if you want to.

      www.lik-sang.com [lik-sang.com]

      Not quite as spectacular as the PSP though.. although I like the fact that you can set it down and watch it like a laptop.

    • Re:No one's won my heart yet... (Score:4, Informative)

      by aliquis ( 678370 ) on Friday September 16, 2005 @06:51PM (#13581076)
      I'm in the same position as you. Just a short while ago it looked like the DS would have better games, but I would like to get into adventure/RPGs and there seems to come a bunch of those to the PSP aswell. Games which are the same on both (racing, snowboarding, so on..) will of course look better on the PSP and probably play better with the analoge stick so that's a reason to get that.

      Also the hardware is much better, the screen is brighter and it got a better viewing angle. The DS on the other hand got that touch screen, but there are a bunch of stupid boring games for that like WarioWare, I don't want those, use it there it makes sense instead. Also I don't care for Nintendogs.

      On the other hand you can share games with the DS, it's cheaper, and it got mario, zelda, metroid and I would like to say megaman but that title comes to the PSP instead.

      Anyway, I can't decide really, and I've got no money anyway. I would like to get a gamecube aswell but I guess it's better to wait for the next generation. But I want to be able to chip the console aswell...

      • Games which are the same on both (racing, snowboarding, so on..) will of course look better on the PSP and probably play better with the analoge stick so that's a reason to get that.

        Ports of PC RTS games such as the rumored port of Starcraft would play with the controller that is more like a keyboard+mouse, and that's the Nintendo DS touch screen, not some analog stick. Starcraft on PSP would handle like Starcraft 64, that is, it'd feel like Mouse Keys.

        The DS on the other hand got that touch screen,

        • Yeah, I know, althought I don't think there are any rumours about Starcraft, only "Would be nice to have". Advanced wars and Age of empires thought. And yes, touch screen makes it possible to do FPS and Strategy, which is good. (saw game footage of ghouls'n'ghosts or whatever the game is called just a few minutes ago, for the psp, looked nice, but castlevania for the ds is probably nice aswell.)

          No, I haven't tried kirbys canvas course, watched some gameplay footage today and it looked nice and fun, i'm more

          • Also I live in Sweden/Europe,

            Eh? Not Sweden/Africa?

            I'm not sure we have got kirbys here yet, we haven't good advanced wars, and a bunch of other games.

            Try oredering from Lik-Sang (lik-sang.com). They send games with free shipping worldwide, I think. And, thanks to the relative strength of the Euro, you might get a much better deal there than from your local dealer.
            • I mentioned Europe since we always get everything last and for the highest price. (Xbox360 premium will cost $340 in asia, $400 in the US, $525 in Sweden..)

              I know about lik-sang, but ordering from there probably takes more time, plus you might have to add swedish taxes and custom and end up with price of game + postage(free you said) + 25% tax + 6% custom. And still, why do we always have to get everything last? And the stores can't show advanced wars and kirby anyway.

              Also for some retarded reason we voted
        • What I wanted to say there seems to be many "tech demo"-like games for the NDS so far and not that many games where the touchscreen really makes sense, with a few exceptions.

          • What I wanted to say there seems to be many "tech demo"-like games for the NDS so far and not that many games where the touchscreen really makes sense, with a few exceptions.

            What I wanted to say there seems to be many "console"-like games for the PSP so far and not that many games where the portability really makes sense, with a few exceptions.

            Remember that a handheld will likely be turned on for 10 minutes at a time, so there have to be games that don't give you NOW LOADING all the time and don't re

        • Yeah, just one more addition ;)

          As you can see we only have crap. Piracy ftw.

    • Firmware; movie selection (Score:4, Insightful)

      by tepples ( 727027 ) <tepplesNO@SPAMgmail.com> on Saturday September 17, 2005 @01:06PM (#13585334) Homepage Journal

      the PSP has the better screen and homebrew possibilities.

      The supply of PSP units with 1.50 firmware on the used market is dwindling fast as homebrew players snap them all up on eBay, and the 1.51 or later firmware is not cracked to my knowledge. The most common Nintendo DS firmware, on the other hand is fully cracked ("PassMe" and "WiFiMe"), and even the new version in Chinese units and some Japanese units has a preliminary crack for it.

      The DS is cheaper, but the PSP can play movies.

      The Nintendo DS plus a portable DVD Video player is $250 just like the PSP, and there are a lot more lawfully available feature length movies on DVD Video than on a PSP compatible format. In fact, Disney/Pixar's Toy Story is the only G-rated movie available on UMD Video in North America. Read More... [pineight.com]

      • In one sentence you suggest using a DS for homebrew and in the next you imply that the PSP is bad since you have to rip/encode movies to watch on it. Pretty nice case of double-think if you ask me.

        To me the PSP comes out on top wrt homebrew (a lot more of it), screen, video/music and pure power. The DS comes out on top wrt interesting add-ons (mic, touchscreen, dualscreen). Both are pretty inadequate wrt actual games. (There are plenty for both, but not that much that actually warrant a purchase.)

  • Damnit people, leave Zonk alone! (Score:5, Insightful)

    by nmaster64 ( 867033 ) on Friday September 16, 2005 @03:53PM (#13579229)
    What the hell is with all the people bashing Zonk in the last couple posts? No one was bashing when interesting stuff was posted about the X360 or PS3...but when Nintendo gets it's 15 minutes of fame everyone goes whining about the admin being biased and what-not.

    Christ, you people need to grow up. The man is doing his job, leave him alone. He's supplying information, that's what he's there to do, and he's doing a damn good job, so back off. This subject is offtopic anyway (my own post included, I won't exclude myself from the blame).

    • Re:Damnit people, leave Zonk alone! (Score:4, Insightful)

      by oGMo ( 379 ) on Friday September 16, 2005 @06:33PM (#13580923)
      What the hell is with all the people bashing Zonk in the last couple posts?

      Because he seems to post things with an inflammatory bent, espcially pro-Nintendo stuff. Now don't get me wrong: I love Nintendo. I grew up with Nintendo. I still have my NES and most of my carts. But come on.

      Things seem to often fall like this: "Microsoft is OK, Sony Sucks, and Nintendo is Where It's At." Always? No, not always. But enough that some people would be upset enough to bash him, obviously.

      I haven't seen many or any people who are really anti-Nintendo, especially on slashdot. So you have to take a serious look at what's going on if a lot of people start complaining about someone who publishes a lot of pro-Nintendo stuff, stuff they don't necessarily disagree with. They have issue then with something else, and maybe it's legitimate.

      The man is doing his job, leave him alone. He's supplying information, that's what he's there to do, and he's doing a damn good job, so back off.

      It seems a number of people disagree.

      • So posting legitimate information of general interest is being pro-something? That's friggin' ridiculous. Let's go back through Slashdot Games over the past few days, before Nintendo started to get the post time IT DESERVED from TGS, and what do we see? ONE, maybe TWO Nintendo stories. If it deserves to be mentioned, he mentions it. Final Fantasy and PSP seem to get more /. time than Nintendo, so I don't think anybody should be complaining. That fact is, that if you feel he's biased, that just means YOUR b
        • I quote, from the summary:

          "My personal view of the PSP hasn't changed at all. It's not what I'm looking for in a portable system. Seriously, who actually wants to watch a movie on a tiny screen? The DS genuinely has more options for innovation when it comes to unique software"

          Then it goes on to basically accuse the PSP of being just hype, causing developpers to stop writing innovative stuff (as if writing software for another resolution automatically turns a genius designer into a me-too cloner, or vicevers

  • DS Baby! (Score:3, Interesting)

    by diamondmagic ( 877411 ) on Friday September 16, 2005 @04:09PM (#13579446) Homepage
    The DS is much better because of two all-important features:
    • The touch screen
    • Download games and programs from peers
    The second option has seeded the way for using the DS to interact with the Revolution, because this allows you to use it as part of the game, not just for transfering information.

    • Re:DS Baby! (Score:2, Interesting)

      by Lordie ( 98168 )
      Burnout Legends lets you share a multiplayer demo of the game with other PSP owners. While we're wildly speculating on what the DS is/isn't going to do with what might or might not be called the Nintendo Revolution, we should also speculate as to how the wireless aspect of the PSP allows you to use it as part of the game, and not just for transferring information.

    • Re:DS Baby! (Score:1, Flamebait)

      by TJ_Phazerhacki ( 520002 )
      Thats odd - The PSP Is better for almost the same 2 reasons...

      A Screen so clear you could touch it!

      And Downloadable homebrew!

      I don't want to interact with my games by touching them, or blowing on them, immersion be damned. You look like an idiot.

      • And Downloadable homebrew!

        Yeah, if you pay extra for a 1.50 on eBay, and then you have to be extremely careful about what games you run, or it might get inadvertently upgraded to 1.51 or later that locks out homebrew. Nintendo DS games on the other hand do not have built-in firmware upgraders, and even the new new red DS in Japan that blocks the first version of PassMe apppears to have a working downgrader available, letting the DS homebrew scene continue.

        I don't want to interact with my games by tou

        • Or you just bought an early PSP? (I have a 1.0 BTW.)

          And just as a quick information for anyone worried about the FUD above. The PSP /WILL NOT/ upgrade your PSP automatically. It will simply refuse to play the game until you upgrade. (I have tested this myself.)

          Furthermore the PSP /WILL NOT/ allow you to upgrade unless you are plugged into a wall socket. So unless you always play with the PSP plugged in you don't need to worry.

          Finally, since the PSP was resently released in Eu with 2.0 firmware I think it's

          • The PSP /WILL NOT/ upgrade your PSP automatically. It will simply refuse to play the game until you upgrade.

            If 90 percent of titles force an upgrade, then what is the difference? And if you buy a disc that turns out not to work unless you upgrade, you're out fifty bucks.

            I think it's safe to assume that the Eu market will soon crack that firmware.

            Unless the new PSP firmware was designed with formal verification [wikipedia.org]. In that case, you'd need to find space inside the case to install a modchip.

            Oh and *

            • There is this thing called the internet which contains a lot of information. Eg you can find information of which PSP firmware version a game requires before you buy it.

              I think it's safe to assume that the Eu market will soon crack that firmware.

              Unless the new PSP firmware was designed with formal verification. In that case, you'd need to find space inside the case to install a modchip.

              Yeah, I bet they added something like formal verification in a firmware update. There are a lot easier ways to secure the

              • Eg you can find information of which PSP firmware version a game requires before you buy it.

                And when all games and movies first published on or after 2006 require firmware that hasn't been cracked yet, then what? Unless and until a switchable modchip comes out, do you suggest buying both a used PSP with 1.5 and a second PSP whose firmware is allowed to be upgraded for commercial games?

                Besides even if the end result is a modchip that seems like a reasonable price to pay for future gaming pleasures.

                • And when all games and movies first published on or after 2006 require firmware that hasn't been cracked yet, then what? Unless and until a switchable modchip comes out, do you suggest buying both a used PSP with 1.5 and a second PSP whose firmware is allowed to be upgraded for commercial games? ...

                  I understand that, but how would a modchip fit inside the PSP case, or would it stick out like the DS passthrough device? And would it be cheap enough to produce that it would beat carrying a homebrew-friendly GP

    • Re:DS Baby! (Score:3, Insightful)

      by cowscows ( 103644 )
      I'm going to add another observation on the DS. I don't have a PSP, so I can't fully compare them, but here goes my comment anyways.

      When I evacuated for the hurricane a couple weeks ago, I ended up staying with some of my girlfriend's family, including six kids ranging from the ages of 1-12. Our two DS's were very popular with them, and were the cause of much fighting and grabbing. Portions of the DS even spent some time in the one year-old's mouth.

      When it was all said and done, neither of them were damaged

      • Re:DS Baby! (Score:2, Interesting)

        by fistfullast33l ( 819270 )
        The DS is a solid piece of hardware for sure. I don't think twice about throwing it in my bag and going about my day.

        That being said, I'm just going to point out that the PSP is definitely too expensive to buy for your 10 year old, let alone several 10 year olds. However, my 10 year old cousin played my PSP (Ape Escape, if you must know) when I was home a few weeks ago with no problems whatsoever and he loved it. I've heard complaints of dead pixels and shaking it to break and all that. It's an electr

    • The DS is much better because of ... Download games and programs from peers

      The PSP has disc swapping. It appears that several PSP games' multiplayer modes support loading the whole thing into RAM and then booting the other PSP off the same disc.

  • Uninformed response (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Bastian ( 66383 ) on Friday September 16, 2005 @04:11PM (#13579477)
    (not that uninformed is bad - perceptions of people who own neither system are what will ultimately decide which becomes dominant.)

    Now, here's what I see as the difference between the DS and the PSP:

    1. The PSP costs twice as much.
    2. The PSP won't fit in my pocket as easily.
    3. The PSP's battery life is so short that it's not really all _that_ portable. For example, it probably won't be able to keep me entertained for the length of a long flight.
    4. With the PSP, I'm paying for oodles and oodles of features that I know I will not use.
    5. I can play all those Game Boy games that are still on heavy rotation on the DS.
    6. The PSP costs twice as much.
    • 2) They are almost the same in size, the PSP is a little wider but the DS is much heigher then "flipped out", and probably "fatter" than closed.

      3) That is more or less a fanboy comment, the PSP batterylife isn't that bad, I think they say around 6 hours, 3 with intensive games, for the DS it's 5 with light on the screen and 10 without, not that big of a difference. Also remember the PSP got two 222 (up to 333) mhz cpu cores + very good graphics where's the NDS just got 33+66 mhz cpu cores and much worse gra

  • from GBA to DS (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Is0m0rph ( 819726 )
    DS homebrew is cheap and easy now that the SuperCard flash system for the GBA/DS has had a firmware upgrade allowing it to run DS software from a CF or SD flash card. I use my GBA all the time with a SC system I think I'm upgrading to a DS soon.
    • Hm, SuperCard is 60$, SuperPass is 20$ and you need a SD or CF-Card in addition and even with all that you have a whole bunch of oversized cards sticking out of the DS, neither cheap nor easy in my book.

      PSP on the other side looks better, home-brewn stuff works out of the box via memstick when you have the right firmware, no need for additional modules or hacks. Plus its quite a bit faster then DS and allows SNES games at full speed from what I heard.

      But in the end neither of them are really good for homebr
      • If all you want to play is Homebrew then you could just buy the Gameboy Advance Movie Player [lik-sang.com] and then get the Firmware Hack [ndshb.com] and then if you don't mind opening up your DS and flashing the firmware you can play homebrew on the GBA Movie Player without a passme (plus it gets rid of that annoying as fuck touch to being screen at the beginning). Total cost? $25 + shipping + CF card which a 32 MB Generic card (I mean you don't need a sansdisc for this right?) can be found at PriceWatch [pricewatch.com] for $11 shipped. So for und

      • even with all that you have a whole bunch of oversized cards sticking out of the DS

        Once you can run DS homebrew, you can soft-mod your Nintendo DS by using the "FlashMe" firmware hack. That eliminates the need for carrying around the PassMe card.

        [On the PSP,] home-brewn stuff works out of the box via memstick when you have the right firmware

        Unlike PSP units with the "right" firmware, Nintendo DS units with the "right" firmware are still sold in stores.

        Plus its quite a bit faster then DS and all

  • Personally I think it's a toss-up between the two. IMHO both have a few games that are interesting but not enough to really warrant a purchase.

    I only have a PSP so far but I use it more for homebrew (ScummVM baby!) and movies (great for long flights) than actual gaming.

    For me a huge gorgeous screen on the PSP coupled with it's pretty damned powerful processor is more "innovative" than microphone and touchscreen. My Palm has had that for quite a while, I want something new.

    In the end I'll likely get a DS as

    • I agree, who cares?

      The point is to be satisfied with what you have, no matter which one it is. I only have a DS and I'm quite content with it. If you're happy with your PSP, good for you. There's no point in bickering like fanboys [vgcats.com] over it.

      If you're happy with both, well you're a rich little snot and I envy you.

    • If you want homebrew, pick up a DS/flash cart+passthrough package(or SD reader cart + passthrough). They already have a mostly-working SNES [utah.edu] emulator(Super Metroid works), a touchscreen-enabled version of ScummVM [drunkencoders.com], and a bunch of cool little tech-demo apps(calculators and what not). Doesn't break DS game-capabality or GBA game-capability either. You also get that huge-back-catalog of GBA homebrew(which includes completely working emulators for everything pre-SNES/Genesis, Nethack, Ebooks, tons of craziness
    • Ouch, DRM make you pay twice? It's said you are willing to accept that.
  • I love my PSP, but only for homebrew, emus, etc. God knows why Sony wish to stop people using the PSP for the only thing it's good for.

    • Re:PSP best for homebrew (Score:1, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Sony takes a hit on every PSP they sell. They make money on every UMD they sell. If people can play with the hardware without buying any software, then they dont make any money. I think God is not the only one who knows why they do it...
  • i have both machines. Just bought the DS for Nintendogs. Briliant game, my 6 year old loves it. Nintendo builds great games for kids. PSP is excellent for videos. i've ripped kid's videos for long plane trips and car trips. cheaper than putting a DVD in your car, and less bulky than portable DVD players. games are weaker so far. i don't think the machines will necessarly compete for the same demographics, and will settle into their own niche. the PSP may be more of a competition for the iPod though

    • i've ripped kid's videos for long plane trips and car trips.

      Let me translate that into how Sony hears it: "i've committed a federal felony by circumventing copy-protection on kid's videos for long plane trips and car trips. i'll go turn myself in to the fbi now." Besides, kid's videos plural? What G-rated UMD Video titles are there other than Disney/Pixar's Toy Story?

      cheaper than putting a DVD in your car, and less bulky than portable DVD players

      If you're going to be sitting in one place long enou

  • The majority of the summary is a post from an anonymous author talking about how the PSP and DS face off even though he admits obvious personal bias against the PSP, and his thoughts on how others view the systems are skewed by the fact that the PSP has only recently been released in his area?

    How in the hell does this constitute a summary of PSP vs the DS 6 months in??

    Up next on slashdot, we ask this homeless man in Ottowa how he feels about the new upper tax bracket cuts for rich citizens of Argentina.

  • PSP vs DS sales (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Konrad9 ( 784416 ) <konrad9@gmail.com> on Friday September 16, 2005 @05:23PM (#13580297)
    I recently started working in the electronics dept at a local walmart, and the DS is whooping the PSP's proverbial butt.
    Every time I go in there are less and less DS's (till we restock). I've only seen one PSP sold and never notice any less in the glass case.
  • ....Then maybe the PSP's UMD movies would appeal to me. I could watch movies as my driver takes me to a fancy specialty store to buy my $400 bottle of wine. But as fate would have it I'm not rich. The only time I have any time for movies is when I am at home and I already own a DVD player. Therefore for myself, and many others, the UMD movies are worthless. Besides that I would need to be a little better off to own a $250 piece of handheld machine in the first place. As an MP3 player it once again misses th

  • In a nutshell... (Score:4, Informative)

    by MMaestro ( 585010 ) on Friday September 16, 2005 @07:12PM (#13581214)
    DS Pros :

    Better/more numerous games
    More innovative
    High potential as a gaming system
    Won over the hardcore audience
    Durable
    Acceptably priced
    Battery life is excellent

    PSP Pro :

    Superior hardware
    UMD movies
    Beautiful screen for a handheld
    Buries the DS in marketing
    Seen as 'hip'
    Future game releases could be a serious tide-turner (if things aren't already in favor of the PSP)

    DS Cons :

    Still viewed as 'kiddy' (Nintendogs isn't helping this image)
    Nothing to match the PSP's music and movie playing abilities (third party add-ons don't count)
    Games are largely untraditional (Kirby Canvas Curve takes some serious getting used to)
    Poor marketing ('Touching is good'? Wth?)
    Still fairly small game library (not including GBA games)

    PSP Cons :

    Poor construction for a portable device (Scratchy screens, UMD shooting abilities, dead pixels, etc)
    Firmware alienates all homebrewed software (early adopters are in the minority with no hope of increasing in number)
    Battery life is horribly short for a handheld (Most users report between 3~12 hours usage depending on whats it used for)
    Game library pathetically small even compared to the DS (Homebrewed games and emulators don't count)
    Although future releases promise PSP domination, they're still future releases and have not been launched

    • Re:In a nutshell... (Score:1, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward
      I agree with everything there except:

      "third party add-ons don't count"

      Why the hell not? The point is playing the video, not who you bought it from.

      PSP screen is bigger anyway, so it's still a better portable video player.
      • Because if I included third-party add-ons it'd sound one sided. The GBA had the E-reader which was first-party and that let you watch videos so Nintendo has Sony beat there. The GBA also had flash memory cards which let you run homebrewed software on the GBA with no firmware upgrades, so Nintendo has Sony beat there. Finally, the GBA could be used as a mp3 player with a flash memory card and some free homebrewed software, again Nintendo has Sony beat.

        I was being generous in my previous post. Other than wrap

    • Nothing to match the PSP's music and movie playing abilities (third party add-ons don't count)

      How about the Play-Yan? [lik-sang.com] This is a Nintendo made product, though it hasn't made it's way stateside(it's on it's way), I know plenty of people who have imported it.

    • +PSP: UMD movies

      Which G-rated titles (plural) are there other than Disney/Pixar's Toy Story?

      +PSP: Future game releases could be a serious tide-turner (if things aren't already in favor of the PSP)

      Same for the DS. The mysterious future will always be the mysterious future until the day the console manufacturer EOLs the system.

      -DS: Nothing to match the PSP's music and movie playing abilities (third party add-ons don't count)

      Third-party add-ons do count, as long as they're under 120 USD (the pr

  • A year or two ago I was one of those players who bashed Nintendo for having kiddy games. However, I was getting bored with most new games coming out for PS2 and XBOX (same game formulas but better graphics). However, I played metroid huntters in the store about a month before the DS release and I was sold. I got the DS for Christmas and thought it was fun with Mario 64 but the game library was lacking. I was almost going to give up on it until this summer when it seemed like every couple of weeks crazy i

  • I own a PSP and It has ergonomic issues (Score:3, Interesting)

    by marcybots ( 473417 ) on Friday September 16, 2005 @08:25PM (#13581621)
    I own a PSP and it is uncomfortable to play games that use the analog stick for more than like 20 minutes, it makes my hand hurt! Also the screen has a refresh rate that is somewhat slow and makes my eyes hurt. My girlfriend agrees, and on a recent long car trip she had to take frequent breaks from playing the thing complaining that it was hurting her eyes. Thats pretty bad. I have actually gone back to playing Gameboy SP, its smaller, more comfortable to hold and easier on my eyes, even with its little screen....its something to do with the way it refreshes or the way it does 3d.
    • Also the shoulder buttons on the psp are hard to maintain pressed down...I will be playing a game where I will need them pressed down only to find that while I believe they are pressed down they are not...the PSP is all looks over function...thats why I went back to my GBA SP, plus it fits in my pocket more comfortably with keys and wallet.
    • Also the screen has a refresh rate that is somewhat slow and makes my eyes hurt

      The PSP screen is a LCD screen, there is no point writing about its refresh rate.

      Unlike CRT display technology in which the speed the electron beam is swept from the top to the bottom of the screen determines flicker, an active matrix display uses an active element (TFT) to control each individual pixel and thus refresh rates are not really applicable to LCD technology.
    • I won't say you're wrong, since I don't have yours or your girlfriend's eyes. :) But I have no problems at all playing mine for extended periods of time in a car. Most of the games I own I use the analog stick for, and I'm more likely to have to put the PSP down to do something else than have my thumb get tired.
  • That would be me. I ride the bus every day, and it is quite a nice change of pace to watch one of my dvds (ripped w/ pspvideo9) every now and then. And when my wife and I went to Las Vegas, we watched a couple episodes of 24 season 1 while on the plane. Yes I do play games mostly, but I love it's movie capability as well. And judging from the success of UMD sales in this country, I'm not alone.

  • DS vs. PSP in my eyes... (Score:4, Informative)

    by Demon-Xanth ( 100910 ) on Monday September 19, 2005 @12:17PM (#13596605)
    Number of DSs that I've seen:
    4, not counting demo units (managed to get them all in one place)

    Number of PSPs I've seen:
    0. No demo unit. Nothing. Never even saw anyone with one while waiting for someone at the airport.

    When the PSP came out I said if it overcame three problems, it'd be great. Price, battery life, and durability. It's still quite expensive for a portable device, it's battery life is still quite a bit shorter than an SP or DS, and it's still fragile.

    You pay $130 for a DS, and if you get a game, such as Bomberman, Meteos, Advance Wars: Dual Strike, or the soon to be released Castlevania for $30-35 and you're set. You don't need to buy any accessories.

    Now, you pay $250 for a PSP, it includes a small memory stick. The games are $40-50. If you want to watch movies or listen to music you gotta break out $50-100 for a memory stick large enough to fit them.

    Make sure you don't discount third party addons (ie: Play-yan, which is endorsed by Nintendo) while not discounting the need for the memory stick.

    Do I hate the PSP? No. Will I buy a PSP? No.

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