Which Portable ?

[toller pretzl]

I notice that a lot of people here say positive things about Nintendo DS, but not so much about PSP.

So my question is : is Nintendo DS better than PSP ? In what way(s) ? Or is it just a matter of personal attachment to a brand ?

Disclaimer : this is a real question, I don't mean to start a console-war.

 

[CustodianV131]

I notice that a lot of people here say positive things about Nintendo DS, but not so much about PSP.

So my question is : is Nintendo DS better than PSP ? In what way(s) ? Or is it just a matter of personal attachment to a brand ?

Disclaimer : this is a real question, I don't mean to start a console-war.

DS gets CivRev... end of discussion

 

[toller pretzl]

DS gets CivRev... end of discussion

You're right, then it's not a real question. I had managed to miss that CivRev is only developed for 3 platforms (Xbox360, PS3 and NintendoDS)

 

[MattFDR]

PSP is also a lot more like a console in terms of the type of games you find on it, where the DS has some of the best puzzle games ever created. I'd say the DS is a standalone product whereas the PSP is exactly what is says, a portable playstation.

 

[Endure]

I think it mostly comes down to what games are available for each console as to which one people prefer. Personally there's DS games I wish were available for PsP, and PsP games I wish were available for the DS.

 

[rabidveggie]

Well say DS is better since it has a higher quality, and quantity of games. However I'm sure the PSP has some advantages like that it... Makes a good paper weight!

 

[Schuesseled]

i think both suck.

 

[Zardnaar]

My PSP sits around gathering dust and I haven't touched my GBA in 3 years and can't be bothered getting a DS.

You can do alot more with a PSP and its graphics are quite impressive for a handheld and it is a portable PS2 essentially.

 

[XxtraLarGe]

All I can say is that I bought a DS a couple of months ago, and I've finished 3 games for it already (Orcs & Elves, Advance Wars: Days of Ruin, and Professor Layton and the Curious Village). My co-worker saw it and decided for some reason to buy a PSP a few days after I got my DS, and has yet to play through an entire game. Bottom line though is the only reason I bought a DS was to play Civ Rev, but there's still plenty of other good games out there.

The PSP isn't really that much more expensive than the DS, has some really cool games, can be used to browse the web (you can only do that on a DS with some hard to find software), watch movies or listen to your MP3's, and you can even hook it up to your TV and play your games on TV. Based on features alone, the PSP whips the pants off of the DS. However, the DS has far more titles, the titles cost less, and it can play most GBA titles as well.

PSP games tend to be first person shooters or platformers, whereas DS games tend to be turn-based strategy, puzzle oriented or role playing games. PSP games tend to be targeted more toward adults, DS games tend to be geared more toward youth. Both games have all genres and have games targeted at all ages, but these are the tendencies.

You're probably going to have fun no matter what system you buy, but you'll only be playing Civ Rev on a portable if you buy a DS.

 

[Civfan333]

which is why I think the DS is more worth getting..........CIV EVERYWHERE!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Zardnaar]

PSP has Sid Meiers Pirates though which is only slightly addictive.

 

[Keldryn]

I think that the Nintendo DS is a far better system than the PSP.

My major gripe with the PSP is that it is an over-engineered piece of hardware that can't decide what it wants to be. Is it a game system or a media player? Sure, it can do both, but I don't think it's necessary and it is hard to do both well. I have an iPod for listening to music on the go, and it is more portable than a PSP and has a better interface for playing music. I don't see the appeal in watching movies on such a tiny screen (that goes for the iPod as well as the PSP), especially when it meant paying $30 for a movie that I probably already own on DVD and can't use with any other device.

The PSP is a portable/handheld unit, but the games are generally designed no differently than games on the Playstation2 (or other home console). It's the same gameplay experience as playing on a home console, except you get cramped controls and a 3.5" screen to look at. Many of the games take a long time to load due to the UMD media format. Some games take 3-4 minutes before you're actually playing anything. If what you really want is the cinematic home game console experience (complete with loading times) shrunk down to a tiny screen, then I guess the PSP might be appealing. Plus the battery life is notoriously poor on the PSP (especially if the game accesses the disc drive frequently).

The Nintendo DS, on the other hand, was designed specifically to be a portable gaming console, and it doesn't pretend to be anything else. Its processing power and level of graphical quality is a little better than the Nintendo 64 console (but significantly less than the Gamecube), whereas the PSP's processing power is very close to that of the Playstation2. The tradeoff is that the PSP will often get about 4-8 hours of gameplay time from a fully charged battery, whereas I pretty consistently get a good 15-16 hours or more from a fully-charged DS. There is no fan noise or disc drive grinding with the DS and it generates a negligible amount of heat.

With every single DS game that I own, I can be actually playing the game within 30 seconds from a cold power-on. Resuming from standby takes 1-2 seconds.

To me, a portable game console isn't just something that I take with me so that I can sit and play a game for 3-4 hours straight wherever I feel like it. There are certainly times when I do that. However, a truly portable system needs to be one in which you can have an enjoyable gaming experience in play sessions as short as 5 or 10 minutes. Whether it's on public transit, waiting in the doctor's office, stuck in a long lineup at the store, I can pop open my DS, resume playing where I left off (whether it was suspended or powered off) and then put it away when I need to.

My point is that the DS was designed to deliver a different gaming experience than playing on a home console -- an experience that includes short bursts of gaming-on-the-go. The PSP was designed to replicate the home gaming experience in a handheld form, and I think that was a mistake on Sony's part.

When you compare the game libraries between the DS and the PSP, you can see these design goals reflected. The DS library does include games that play very similarly to home console titles, but there is a much wider variety of gameplay experiences available on the DS than there is on the PSP.

And I haven't even mentioned the DS touch screen yet. I adore using the touch screen to interact with (most) games, and generally find it a much more approachable and intuitive interface than the traditional D-pad and buttons. It's not a good fit for some traditional styles of games, but it offers most of the benefits of a mouse and I find it often brings a more personal sense of involvement when I'm not just moving a pointer around the screen but I'm actually "touching" objects in the game world to interact with them.

There are certainly some good games on the PSP, but there are a lot more mediocre ones and even the best ones strike me as games I'd rather play on the 52" TV at home with a comfortable controller.

I ended up having to buy a 2nd DS Lite to give to my wife so that I could have mine back. We're both really looking forward to Civilization on the DS, so I'm probably going to grab two copies on launch day so we can play together.

 

[Keldryn]

All I can say is that I bought a DS a couple of months ago, and I've finished 3 games for it already (Orcs & Elves, Advance Wars: Days of Ruin, and Professor Layton and the Curious Village). My co-worker saw it and decided for some reason to buy a PSP a few days after I got my DS, and has yet to play through an entire game. Bottom line though is the only reason I bought a DS was to play Civ Rev, but there's still plenty of other good games out there.

I would also recommend Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, Final Fantasy III, Puzzle Quest (if you haven't played it elsewhere), Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales, Age of Empires (PC RTS turned into TBS and it's very good), Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin, Hotel Dusk: Room 215, Trauma Center, and New Super Mario Bros.

The PSP isn't really that much more expensive than the DS, has some really cool games, can be used to browse the web (you can only do that on a DS with some hard to find software), watch movies or listen to your MP3's, and you can even hook it up to your TV and play your games on TV. Based on features alone, the PSP whips the pants off of the DS. However, the DS has far more titles, the titles cost less, and it can play most GBA titles as well.

The DS web browser really, really, really sucks. You're better off with a cell-phone browser. I can't imagine enjoying web browsing on the PSP though; the screen is still a bit on the small side for reading a lot of text and the navigation controls are annoying. I'm also baffled as to why the ability to hook up a PSP to a TV has any appeal to to anybody; you've still got a fairly cramped, limited controller and what looks good on a 3.5" screen is not likely to look good on a big TV. The Playstation2 is cheaper and still has better games. The PSP does have a lot more features than the DS, but it suffers from featuritis in my view.

PSP games tend to be first person shooters or platformers, whereas DS games tend to be turn-based strategy, puzzle oriented or role playing games. PSP games tend to be targeted more toward adults, DS games tend to be geared more toward youth. Both games have all genres and have games targeted at all ages, but these are the tendencies.

I disagree with you on that assessment. PSP games tend to be targeted more toward young male adults between the ages of 15 and 35. DS games tend to be geared toward everyone not in that demographic. The PSP is aiming for the same audience that is most interested in the PS2, Xbox, PS3, and/or Xbox 360.

I belong to that "young adult male" demographic (not for much longer), but I don't really enjoy first person shooters, racing games, sports games, real-time strategy games, or fighting games. Thus, the DS and Wii appeal to my tastes more than the alternatives.

 

[XxtraLarGe]

I would also recommend Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, Final Fantasy III, Puzzle Quest (if you haven't played it elsewhere), Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales, Age of Empires (PC RTS turned into TBS and it's very good), Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin, Hotel Dusk: Room 215, Trauma Center, and New Super Mario Bros.

Puzzle Quest & AoE are on my list. The rest don't really appeal to me.

The DS web browser really, really, really sucks. You're better off with a cell-phone browser. I can't imagine enjoying web browsing on the PSP though; the screen is still a bit on the small side for reading a lot of text and the navigation controls are annoying. I'm also baffled as to why the ability to hook up a PSP to a TV has any appeal to to anybody; you've still got a fairly cramped, limited controller and what looks good on a 3.5" screen is not likely to look good on a big TV. The Playstation2 is cheaper and still has better games. The PSP does have a lot more features than the DS, but it suffers from featuritis in my view.

I already have a PS2, which you're right, is better. Still, I doubt anybody would complain if you could hook up your DS to your TV screen.

I disagree with you on that assessment. PSP games tend to be targeted more toward young male adults between the ages of 15 and 35. DS games tend to be geared toward everyone not in that demographic. The PSP is aiming for the same audience that is most interested in the PS2, Xbox, PS3, and/or Xbox 360.

I'm outside of that demographic as well, but not by much. If CivRev was on the PSP, that's what I would have bought instead, because of some other games like Final Fantasy Tactics & God of War. All the same, I like the turn based strategy games on the DS.

 

[AluminumKnight]

can't be bothered getting a DS.

Have you tried playing a DS?

Keldryn pretty much summed it up. Having a PSP is fine, but it does many unnecessary things that it's kind of like the "jack-of-all-trades" versus specialist issue. It does a lot of things, but none of them particularly well. If you want to buy a handheld for the sole purpose of games, DS is the way to go.

 

[CustodianV131]

I ended up having to buy a 2nd DS Lite to give to my wife so that I could have mine back. We're both really looking forward to Civilization on the DS, so I'm probably going to grab two copies on launch day so we can play together.

Same here! DS finally got my wife into gaming. She even wanted the Wii on launch day after that, I didn't even have to bring up the discussion about it

Now I hope the DS and CivRev will get her addicted to the Civ gameplay!

 

[Thrallia]

Just to add to what everyone else has said...the DS is the way to go(not just because Civ is on it!)

Games are cheaper, more creative, and generally higher quality on the DS than the PSP.
Also, any decent PSP game gets ported to the PS2 within months, and is CHEAPER for the PS2 than it is for the PSP once that happens(along with having added features usually)

Sure, the PSP has more features...but half of them are rather pointless...PSP on your tv? why? PS2 is cheaper and looks better on the tv. Web browsing is a pain with such a small screen. The only features the PSP has that are really worthwhile are the music and video playing...but then you might as well get an iPod since the screens are nearly similar in size and the iPod has 8GB of memory, while you'll need to buy crazy expensive Sony brand memory sticks if you want anything other than just saved games to fit on your PSP memory card.

 

[dizzymunk]

I have the DS because it is an open ended system. There is a big community of people creating homebrew games and applications that are free to download. I make music, read comic books, have an organizer and a whole lot more on my DS. It is an amazing little tool considering it has a touch screen. The PSP has great graphics but that means little to me because the games on the DS are fun and addictive. If I want HD explosions then I want them at home on a big screen. Check out DS homebrew on the net to see what I mean.

 

[GeoffgoB]

I have a DS because LAN play via the Download option is great. I regularly meet up with 2 friends over lunch and play fun multiplayer games like Mario Karts, Sonic & Mario Olympics, Bomberman, Worms etc. Half these games don't require you to all own a copy so you can spread the cost between you and have hours of social fun.

 

[Civfan333]

YAY!!!!!!! now I just need a DS...........