The DS vs. The PSP! Winner: DS by a thread!

[Renzatic Gear]

Now that I have em both and have spent some quality time with them (NOTHING DIRTY), I think I can now offer a nice subjective opinion on them both.

Lets start with the basics, a nice average pro and con breakdown on both systems.

The DS Pros:

-Some people might say otherwise, but I find the DS to be the most comfortable system to hold and play. It seems to be just the right size and weight for my hands.

-The stylus is an awesome feature that definately puts it ahead of the PSP. Some might think of it as a fluff feature, but it'll eventually allow it to do games that simply won't be possible elsewhere. Like Gadfly has said, it's the perfect system for RTS games...and judging from Metroid Prime Hunters might be really damn good for FPS games as well.

-It's sturdy as hell. I don't feel like I have to treat it like a valuable antique that might be irreverisbly damaged if I accidently put it down on a slightly coarse surface.

-Has a ton of awesome Nintendo made games coming up for it in the near future. If any one company knows how to make something fun and unique, it's Nintendo.

-Mario Kart DS actually has a sensation of speed. Seriously...go to IGN and watch the 2 new videos. It looks freaky cool.

The DS Cons:

-Isn't as slick as the PSP graphically. While it can hold it's own, it won't ever be able to truly match it.

-It won't ever have console worthy audio like the PSP. Wipeout Pure and Tony Hawk Underground 2 offer proof of the advantages of UMD's over the DS's memory card like cartridges.

The PSP Pros:

-OMG that screen! True 16:9 aspect ratio, nice, sharp quality, easy to look at without any eyestrain. There isn't a single thing I can bring up against it.

-Those little 1.5 gig discs are gonna allow developers to pack alot of good stuff into their games without sacrificing any quality. It isn't necessarily the graphics or the screen that the PSP has over the DS, it's the UMD's.

The PSP Cons

-DEAD ******* PIXELS! I'm on my 2nd PSP right now, the first had 3 dead pixels that were glaringly obvious, my new one has one permenantly dead pixel towards the center bottom, and another off to the left that can't seem to display black. It might be picking nits to bring it up considering that to most people it's barely noticable, but it bothers ME!

-Too much screen, not enough console. I'm really paranoid about getting fingerprints on the screen, which is rather hard considering that my thumb ALMOST touches the screen when it's on the D-pad. I need to get one of those Hori screen protectors like Tashi suggested.

-Totally and completely useless analog nub. Really...what's the point? Mercury would've been so much more entertaining if it used the D-pad instead of the nub, but because it uses it exclusively I can't play it for more than 15 minutes without feeling like I'm about to break my thumb off.

-Fingerprints randomly appear on the thing, it sucks em to it like a giant fingerprint magnet. If someone touches something downstairs a print will appear on the PSP. I can throw my DS down on the table and know that when I pick it up later that day it'll still look brand new. If I spend 15 minutes with my PSP it looks like I've been rubbing it in Crisco. I spend as much time wiping it off with a silk cloth as I do playing it.

Now for the most important part....THE GAMES!

The PSP has some great console style games coming out for it, games I know I'll really enjoy playing, but the DS definately isn't slacking here either. While it might've had a very weak launch, it's gonna be getting some guarenteed kick in the ass fun blow your mind games for it within a couple of months...games that are guarenteed to be more memorable than anything the PSP is currently showing simply because of it's clever use of the dual screens and the stylus.

This is the reason why I'm leaning towards the DS at the moment. I know the PSP is gonna get alot of play in the future, but right now nothing for it really strikes me as truly unique, while the DS is offering up something that's totally different than just about anything I've seen.

In closing, I think the PSP is a good purchase, I'm more than happy with it (despite the 2 dead pixels) and would recommend one, but I put it 2nd to the DS because it's not quite as strong in the new games department just yet. The PSP is really strong on presentation, but the DS, despite being weaker hardwarewise, has it beat on style.

[Glockstar]

Good post; nicely put. For the most part, I concur.

That last statement may come as a shock to some, but how can I deny it? I now own 3.5 DS games (still counting Feel The Magic as only a half a game) as opposed to 3 PSP games (recently got rid of the "half-game" Wipeout Pure).

All comments deserve an asterisk tho', I think, because the DS has been out for 6 months longer. And it's in that light that I still hold my PSP in higher esteem than my DS.

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The DS' stylus is an awesome feature. We are just now starting to see the advantages of it as a control mechanism - I know that there are a lot more - and better - things to come. My hopes for it don't seem like crazy-wishful thinking anymore. Quite the contrary, it's fast becoming my preferred method of control. I even like it better than "the mouse"; I wish there was a such a peripheral for my computer.

Those little 1.5 gig discs [of the PSP's] are already allowing developers to pack alot of good stuff into their games without sacrificing any quality: a lot of the PSP games are already equal to (if not greater than) their PS2 brethren/cousins. I know that the new, smaller-thinnner, PS2 - coupled with a portable screen - is supposed to exemplify portable-super-enriched-gaming, but the PSP already achieves that - and does it cheaper and with greater practicality. Tho' not with greater control. And therein lies the rub...

I can also see the DS getting a greater focus-of-attention from Nintendo than the PSP from Sony, with regards to games. Both are extremely successful sytems but the PSPs' controls just don't allow for a whole lot of creativity. In fact, with regards to this-gen gaming, they are a step backwards. (They are to the PS2 what GBA games were/are to the SNES/PS1 - or to put not-too-fine-a-point on it: there are buttons conspicuously missing.) I expect to see even more PS2-ports than what we've already seen and what has already been hinted at (and ports of the older PS2 games at that). Which is all well and great in my book but with it's unique control the DS will (naturally) lend itself to new(er) games and game-types. And what with the fact that the DS still maintains a traditional control-mechanism, I think that it can cover a greater spectrum of games than the PSP can (including those aforementioned cut-down SNES and PS1 games). Tho' just how big and how deep those games are - especially as compared to what we're used to - and with what the PSP can deliver - will be the question.

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You're on your second PSP already?! That's not what alarms me, really. It's that you've already had yours replaced. Sounds like you had the exact same problem I've got with mine, but that you've gotten yours resolved in, seemingly, no time at all. Where'd you buy yours from again? And what, if any, extended-warranty/product-replacement-plan did you purchase?

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In closing, I still favor my PSP over my DS - because of the games. For my PSP it's: Lumines, Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee, and Midnight Club III: DUB Edition; For my DS: Feel the Magic XY XX, Meteos, Nintendogs, and Advance Wars Duel Strike. Basically what it comes to is Hot Shots Golf:

Lumines and Meteos are a wash (I've been deliberating all along as to which is the better game but I don't see me reaching a verdict until the last possible second (on December 31)).

Feel the Magic is ultimately too short and too shallow to make too big an impact either way (but at the same time too unique to get rid of), thus, why I only count it as half-a-game; Nintendogs is not a game at all, it's just a time-waster... but it is a special one at that; and AWDS... is too new for me to comment on.

I've spent a lot of time with MC3, and have to say that my problems with it are not with the infamous load times, but with the a-nub and the ergos (of the PSP)... which is to say that I have no real complaints with the game itself - only with the hardware... otherwise the game kicks azz. I'll take it over Nintendogs and FTM anyday, all day.

Which leaves me with HSG: Open Tee... a veritable GOTY contender, in my book. This game is handheld perfection; it is everything I hoped for. Worth $300 even. If I could go back in time and do it all over, with what I know now... I would still buy a PSP - for the explicit purpose of playing this one game. Absolutely I would.

So the question, right now, is... is AWDS equal to HSG: OT? I guess I'll get to finding that out over the next couple of weeks...

[Renzatic Gear]

So now you AND Gadfly are recommending Hot Shots Golf to me. Hell, I might as well go rent it and see if I like it. :P

Keep in mind that when I'm recommending the DS, I'm looking at it from an end of the year perspective. At this very moment, as in like right this second, I like my PSP better because it has more games I want for it. I'm not a huge block puzzle fan, so neither Lumines or Meteoes are interesting me much. With that the only 2 games that are out right now for the DS that I like are Mario 64 and Kirby's Canvas Curse. That's just 2 games compared to the 6 I want for the PSP...Wipeout, Mercury, and Tony Hawk Underground 2, all of which I now own, along with Twisted Metal, Ridge Racer, and (now) Hot Shots Golf...that's 6 games for it, quite a few more than with the DS.

But that's gonna start changing come this Winter. The DS is gonna have Castlevania, Mario Kart, Lunar, Lost In Blue, Advance Wars (already out I know :P), Mario and Luigi 2, New Super Mario, Worms DS...I'm really looking forward to all these games, and I know they're gonna be great.

The PSP has some good titles coming up too, but there are only a handful keeping me on the edge of my seat like the aformentioned DS titles. You have your racing games, TOCA2 and Colin McRae, along with Popolocrois and maybe Kingdom of Paradise for my RPG fix, Medievil for my platformer, GTA for my..err..GTA fix, and Lemmings to combat Worms (which I admit I'll probably like better...I love Lemmings). They'll be good games I'm sure and they'll be fun as hell to play, but I'm just not anticipating them as much as the future DS games.

Oh yeah, I bought my PSP at Best Buy and took it back to Wal-Mart. I said it was a birthday present and I didn't have a recipt for it, but considering that I was just wanting to exchange it for another one there shouldn't be much of a problem. Best Buy would've given me hell about it, but most Wal-Mart employees don't know much about electronics and aren't really losing anything in the exchange. They're much easier to deal with, all you need to do is be polite and show a little charm and you can switch just about anything you want.

[Renzatic Gear]

This is totally off topic here..but it's my thread SO I CAN DO WHAT I WANT! :E

I decided to bite the bullet and upgrade to version 2.0. One of the coolest features is that you can put your own pictures in as the background...which I decided to do! (http://208.49.149.118/TheDarkMod/screenshots/renzatic/psp.jpg)

If you all want any backgrounds like that, I've got a ton of pics I took on a recent trip out to the country...just ask me and I'll toss a few up for everyone to grab.

[Gadfly2317]

But that's gonna start changing come this Winter. The DS is gonna have Castlevania, Mario Kart, Lunar, Lost In Blue, Advance Wars (already out I know :P), Mario and Luigi 2, New Super Mario, Worms DS...I'm really looking forward to all these games, and I know they're gonna be great.

The DS's fall/winter line-up is outstanding in its diversity. . .with you able to make a list quite different from my DS want list; while I'd like Lunar, Lost in Blue and Mario and Luigi 2 and Castlevania, they are all on my secondary list to pick up if something on my main list turns out to suck: Phoenix Wright, Trace Memories, Trauma Center, Metroid Pinball, Mario Kart and Animal Crossing. Also on my "possible" list is Shogun Warriors, a really cool looking RTS game, but must wait to see if it delivers.

The PSP has some good titles coming up too, but there are only a handful keeping me on the edge of my seat like the aformentioned DS titles. You have your racing games, TOCA2 and Colin McRae, along with Popolocrois and maybe Kingdom of Paradise for my RPG fix, Medievil for my platformer, GTA for my..err..GTA fix, and Lemmings to combat Worms (which I admit I'll probably like better...I love Lemmings). They'll be good games I'm sure and they'll be fun as hell to play, but I'm just not anticipating them as much as the future DS games.
Racing game fatigue; that's what happened to me with Xbox. I've already got 2 PsP racers and your list contains two more; though they might be good its such an over done genre I just can't get all that excited about them anymore unless its been awhile since I've raced. Are Toca2 or Colin McRae going to be online? If so I might dump Wipeout and Ridge Racer for one of them. Overall, I'm just having a really hard time getting enthusiastic about dropping $50 on warmed over Ps2 titles with reduced control schemes, like the GTA game; just not sure I want to play yet another GTA title, especially one that's a step backward from the full-featured PC and Xbox versions. . .I was even trying to work up some enthusiasm for SSX Tricky, but can't even manage to do that.

Still, I'm not totally dissapointed, I've got several first rate titles and a flood of DS stuff to keep me buys until PsP starts to get some original titles, hopefully by mid-2006 at the latest. I mean, if they keep up this blah, spotty release schedule for too long, the temptation to trade it and the games in will grow, first with the 360's release, and then even more-so as the other consoles get ready for their 2006 launches.

[Gadfly2317]

This is totally off topic here..but it's my thread SO I CAN DO WHAT I WANT! :E

I decided to bite the bullet and upgrade to version 2.0. One of the coolest features is that you can put your own pictures in as the background...which I decided to do! (http://208.49.149.118/TheDarkMod/screenshots/renzatic/psp.jpg)

If you all want any backgrounds like that, I've got a ton of pics I took on a recent trip out to the country...just ask me and I'll toss a few up for everyone to grab.

What is web browsing with it like? I keep meaning to download 2.0, just haven't done it yet.

[Gadfly2317]

If you all want any backgrounds like that, I've got a ton of pics I took on a recent trip out to the country...just ask me and I'll toss a few up for everyone to grab.

Nice excuse to show off your sweet carrying case. I got one of those ugly metal boxy Initec ones available at launch :(

[Glockstar]

So now you AND Gadfly are recommending Hot Shots Golf to me. Hell, I might as well go rent it and see if I like it.

I like it so much that I'm thinking about going back and getting HSG Fore! for my PS2. (It's now a Greatest Hits title, you know.)

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...Lemmings to combat Worms (which I admit I'll probably like better...I love Lemmings). They'll be good games I'm sure and they'll be fun as hell to play, but I'm just not anticipating them as much as the future DS games.

I love Lemmings too. But the fact that the game is coming to the PSP and not the DS upsets me. To play Lemmings with touch-control? That'd be the shizzy! The publishers are blowing it!

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Oh yeah, I bought my PSP at Best Buy and took it back to Wal-Mart. I said it was a birthday present and I didn't have a recipt for it, but considering that I was just wanting to exchange it for another one there shouldn't be much of a problem. Best Buy would've given me hell about it, but most Wal-Mart employees don't know much about electronics and aren't really losing anything in the exchange. They're much easier to deal with, all you need to do is be polite and show a little charm and you can switch just about anything you want.

Aha. Yeah, I've done that before. I don't think it's right, but I'm not going to say anything. Besides, you're screwing over Wal-Mart... that's always a good thing.

[Glockstar]

Oops, forgot something...

One of the coolest features is that you can put your own pictures in as the background...which I decided to do!

Nice excuse to show off your sweet carrying case.

I was going say something too.

That Logitech case is sweet isn't it?!

Heh. Aren't we funny. He we are, supposed to be looking at your photo, but instead me and Gad are looking at your case. :p

[Renzatic Gear]

Hell man, they're just 20 bucks...go grab one. Not only are they pretty slick looking, but it makes the PSP feel thicker and easier to grip. I'm able to play Wipeout a helluva lot more comfortably since I got it.

The web browser...I haven't been able to really open her up yet since I don't have a wireless router, but from what I've seen it looks fairly robust. You have all your standard browser buttons along the bottom, the address bar along the top, clicking (I think) the triangle button brings up the PSP's keypad, and the circle button switches between regular and fullscreen views. The only problem is inputing the text, it uses that exact same system you use to enter your name in Wipeout...so it's clunky and godawful slow.

Oh yeah...I forgot about Animal Crossing. That's another game I'll want to pick up.

Glock: Yeah, Lemmings would be better on the DS, but I'm used to playing it with a D-pad so I'm not complaining too much. I used to play the game all the time on my friend's old Game Gear, so it's kinda like I'm moving up a bit. Being able to play the game in 16:9 and with a better soundtrack makes the hurt a little less painful though.

And yeah, Wal-Mart sucks, but you're not really screwing them over by doing that. None of these companies lose money on returns, all it costs them is a little hassle in paperwork. That's why I never feel guilty about doing it.

[Brendon]

it's fast becoming my preferred method of control. I even like it better than "the mouse"; I wish there was a such a peripheral for my computer.

It's called a tablet PC and it's been around for a long time. I tried playing Starcraft with mine, but it really needs dedicated software support.

[Renzatic Gear]

Not really. You can get a Wacom tablet and set it to mouse support. Works almost exactly the same.

[Brendon]

I know it works as a standard mouse - I just meant it dosn't work particularly well with games, probably because of how easy it is to slide when you're trying to hit the same point multiple times.

After all, tablets are for drawing, and anyone who says otherwise is a twit.

[trebor]

Feel the Magic is ultimately too short and too shallow to make too big an impact either way (but at the same time too unique to get rid of), thus, why I only count it as half-a-game; Nintendogs is not a game at all, it's just a time-waster... but it is a special one at that; and AWDS... is too new for me to comment on.

I'd have to agree about FtM. I'm not quite finished with it yet, but it's definitely a bit on the shallow side - but that's not necessarily very bad. If you're wanting something completely different, well then FtM is about as completely different as it gets.

As far as PSP -vs- DS, I'd say they are at a stalemate - as entertainment devices. Of course I don't own a PSP yet, but I have every intention of getting one within a years time. IMHO, the PSP beats the DS in terms of features and design, but the DS wallops the PSP in terms of games and creativity.