Cannot decide for a portable

[morca007]

So, My family and I are going to be going on a boat trip half the summer and most of the school year. I need something to do on the boat, I mean, I'm not going to stare at water 24/7! Ever since the PSP came out it has occupied my mind. Beautiful screen for movie viewing, and nice graphics, cool games, photo/video viewing...

I finally have enough money to set one up right (IE psp+memory+games/movies). But something is stopping me from buying it. :o

Something tells me I would regret buying it, as if sony is going to release a new version, or no new games will come out, something is going to happen. This is normal for me, I am a wreck when trying to make a financial transaction over $100.

Also, the nintendo DS is right there, at he back of my ead, luring me with mario 64, and mario kart. But Other than the old franchises, I dont see it offering me that much, It doesnt look as good (graphically), no movie playback, smaller screen, but it remains a small option.

advice?

[Alpha2004]

know this:

psp games get boring pretty quick as of now, and chances are that you wont be able to run homebrew on the psp you buy for around 1-3 months, possibly.

[kylejn]

PSP. You should still be able to get one with 1.5 firmware (which means homebrew is A-OK). In addition, in my opinion, the games don't get boring at all. I've been playing Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee daily since it came out. It's incredibly addicting. There are other great games for the system too, such as Wipeout and Ridge Racer. You won't be disappointed.

[+Mystic MVC]

know this:

psp games get boring pretty quick as of now, and chances are that you wont be able to run homebrew on the psp you buy for around 1-3 months, possibly.

586179187[/snapback]

Yea, I just got one about a few weeks ago and it shipped with 1.5 firmware :D. The games are good and if you are able to run homebrew all the better. With Wi-fi capabilities and usb hook-up over the DS how can you go wrong? Please no flame wars here :D

[bob_loblaw]

Go with the PSP (and hope that you get a 1.5v firmware). You'll have the option to play new plus old games. And of course, movies, music, and pics.

I'm sure you wont regret it once big hacks or releases come out like browser, camera, and more. Big potentials there.

If you do get the PSP, I'll recommend Lumines, Ridge Racer, and if you're into sport, NBA Street Showdown.

[Kerm]

Psp

[Alpha2004]

Just be warned that ebgames (such as the one in my area) are only selling 1.51/2's

Anyways, Id recommend you get one asap if you decide to get it over the ds, and I would recommend the psp anyday over the ds.

I still have a firm stance on my previous statement. Buy a game like ridge racers and In a few weeks you will see what I mean

[Acezo]

I'd say go with the PSP. I'm usually not interested in handhelds, but I've been using my cousin's PSP over the last few weeks and I'm getting one as soon as I go back to the states. I haven't gotten bored of the games yet as I play it casually, and I know for sure that being able to play videos will keep me interested (hopefully I'll be able to grab a 1.5 to run homebrew on it)

[.....]

After a long debate on another board I visit, full of misinformation, opinions from people who haven't seen both, let alone played/owned them, I snapped. :p

It is opinionated, but this is how I feel about the two:

in my opinion the ds is a toy. for hard core gamers theres the psp. i mean what kind of serious gamer chooses a touch screen over power not me!

Ahahahahahahahaha! :laugh: Good one!

"hardcore" gamers don't care about graphics; the only important aspect is framerate, and even then, if a game is good enough, it doesn't matter. (see PGR2 for a "recent" example)

I'm glad the DS isn't as powerful as the PSP. Infact, seeing how both systems have progressed, after owning the two from (almost) day one - that's at least eight months; you actually see how smart Nintendo were when they made certain decisions with the DS, and it just shows how experienced they are in this market.

While the DS might not be in that shiny "piano-black" plastic the PSP is made of, it feels much more balanced in your hand and is more ergonomic than the PSP. It feels sturdier, and certainly not like a "toy" as you suggest. (not to mention that it doesn't constantly get covered in fingerprints)

• First off, the screens. Everyone initially said the PSP screen was far more impressive than the DS one, and I can understand why you would mistakenly think that - I did at one point too. Neither are great outside to be honest, but the DS is at least usable - the PSP is too shiny, and it's much harder to see. The PSP screen is incredibly bright, which makes you think it's a higher quality screen, but in actual fact it's worse than the ones on the DS. It's got a much lower response time, which means things blur. It's not too noticeable with 3D games, but I've been playing some great 2D stuff on it lately (NES emulation etc.) and it's awful for 2D games. Almost anything that's moving (backgrounds, for example) goes really dim as it blurs. The DS on the other hand shines with 2D, because the system was designed with it in mind.
  
• Control. Everyone was quick to complain that the DS doesn't have an analogue stick - not an issue. I haven't missed it at all. If necessary, the stylus gives you at least as fine control as one when you spend the time to get used to it.
  See here. (Note: This was made after only having the game a few days, and I had never played SM64 before. I was playing with my arms stretched out around a tripod for the camera, and the end of the video is not due to to control issues, but my cat was being affectionate and started rubbing against my arm. :laugh:)
  This also means that developers can't be lazy and do direct N64 ports because many people don't like the "fake" analogue control. I agree that a proper analogue stick would be better in some cases, but I'd rather developers were forced to be more creative this way.
  The PSP's "analogue nub" is rubbish. It's in possibly the most uncomfortable place they could have thought to put it; the rest of your hand gets no support when using it, so you cramp up very quickly. Even if you can put up with this, it feels nothing like a real analogue stick and is very "floaty." I'd rather they didn't have it at all, because some games won't even let you use the d-pad because it's there. The buttons on the PSP don't feel as good, and because it uses the typical PS controller "d-pad" it's nowhere near as good as the DS one.
  
• Graphics; well it's obvious that from a technical standpoint the PSP is better. It's not quite PS2 quality as some people have said, but it's good enough to get pretty faithful PS2 ports... which is why it's just about all the PSP has been getting lately. Great. :rolleyes:
  The DS may not be as powerful, but because it's on a smaller screen, 3D doesn't look bad. Of course it's not as good, but once again, I actually think this works in the DS' favour. It means that you're less likely to see direct ports of current-gen games, and those that we have seen, have failed miserably. This means the DS is getting many more unique games than the PSP is. It also means that, for the most part, the DS is still a 2D system! :D This is great for a number of reasons. While it might be nice having a PS2 in your pocket, 3D games simply don't work that well on the move. Generally these sort of games aren't pick-up-and play titles that handheld games need to be. Sure, if you're playing at home it's great - but why not just buy a PS2 then? Once again it forces developers to be more creative, which is a great thing. The DS does amazing 2D, and games like Sonic Rush which are mostly 2D with some 3D effects thrown in look incredible. Hopefully the DS isn't going to be the last home for new 2D.
  
• Sound. The PSP is more powerful, and has a larger capacity medium, so you would expect sound quality to be better. However, most PSP games actually use up about the same space as DS cards, so this isn't the case. The speakers on the PSP are crap. Very tinny, and the volume control is digital. This means you've got three unnecessary buttons on the system; volume up/down and a mute one. (that you have to hold down for a few seconds) This means that changing volume is pretty slow. They're also on the bottom of the system, so you can't rest the PSP against you when playing.
  The DS has a volume slider, and that's it. The speakers are much better than the PSP's. There's much better stereo separation, and they're just much better over all. Changing volume is very quick, and you can make more minute adjustments than you can with the PSP. The one thing I will say though is that it doesn't fare as well at lower levels. Once you get below a certain point, "bassy" sounds crackle, and the headphone output is a bit too loud for my liking, so I have to hook up an in-line volume control before I connect up my headphones, which is a bit inconvenient. (but I have "hypersensitivity to noise" so I'm sure it's fine for almost everyone else)
  
• Load times. No contest here. The DS uses game cards, and the PSP has UMDs; kind-of a cross between a mini-disc and a dvd. DS games have no load times that I've seen so far, and PSP games are pretty awful. Not only is the PSP noisy when loading, it's slow, and it's limiting developers because it's a huge battery drain. This is the reason we probably won't ever see a true Metal Gear Solid game on the PSP, and why we're getting card-based games instead. (not that they're bad games though, but they're nothing special)
  (mods, if this bit isn't allowed, please just remove this part and not delete my entire post)
  I won't go into details, but there's now a way to play games off a memory stick, rather than using the UMD. I haven't done this myself, as it's illegal, but I hear the load times are significantly faster, the system is silent, and in games with a lot of loading, battery life is also increased a lot.
  
• Battery life. Not much needs to be said here, the DS wins hands down. With the PSP's overly bright screen, and disc-based loading, it doesn't last as long. Not only that, but Sony has currently limited it to working at two thirds of its power to keep battery life up. Yes, I'm being serious. So when you see newer games like GT4 on PSP, not only will it eat up the battery life with all the loading cars etc, but it's the first game that will have the full speed unlocked, so I can't see it lasting too long.
  
• Features. The DS has dual-screens, one of which is a touch-screen, a built-in microphone, wifi and a GBA slot. If a developer wants, they could create a simple one-screened game just using the buttons and d-pad, but it also gives them the flexibility to create completely new experiences that you can't have on any other system. If a developer wanted to, they could port over virtually any PSP to the system. Of course it may not look as nice, but it can be done. The same can't be said about DS games to PSP. The GBA slot is great for backwards compatibility, but it's much more than that. Developers can release expansion packs for games having the DS game read data from the GBA cart. They can also create rumble packs, add a cart with a gyro, a light sensor, even a camera. The list goes on, and it can all fit nicely into the system without looking out of place.
  The DS is virtually a pure gaming system. The only things that aren't, are pictochat, and it can be set as an alarm... that's about it.
  The PSP is just "more of the same" when it comes to gaming features. D-Pad, crappy analogue nub, and your buttons. (which are digital btw) Unlikely you'll be seeing anything innovative here. Mercury did have a motion sensor planned for it, which I think would have worked really well, but Sony canned the idea. Anything like this that they add to the system has to be external and screws onto the top of the system, connecting to its USB port. I doubt we'll actually see anything like this get released though.
  It's loaded with plenty of non-games features though. It can play back UMD movies, which is the worst idea ever. Who is going to pay virtually the price of a DVD for something that is worse quality, can only be played back on the PSP, and won't have nearly as many features. The same applies to UMD music discs.
  It can play back movies off a memory stick, but once again it doesn't work well. First off, you have to convert everything you play back on it, which can be a long and (sometimes) frustrating process. You can rip DVDs to it, but this means buying a large capacity, overpriced memory stick duo. The files cannot be in the "native resolution" which basically means the videos are very "soft" or "blurry" on the screen. Not only that, but the audio and video goes out of sync on longer videos (like movies) unless you pause them, wait a few seconds and resume them often. (assuming you can even get PAL stuff to be in sync to begin with)
  It also has MP3 support, but again this is a bit of a rip-off feature. Sounds like a nice idea until you realise you've just paid ?180 for the console, and have to spend ?50 for 512mb, or even more for larger capacities. ?50 could buy you a 512mb player on its own, which will do a much better job, won't be as big, and will have better battery life. (or you could spend ?20 more and buy an iPod shuffle)
  The only good thing is that to expand a game, you won't need to buy a new cart, you can download directly onto a memory stick, but the included one will fill up very quickly, so you'll probably have to buy a bigger one for that too. (assuming they even provide much free content)
  Oh, and if you really want, you can buy the "play-yan" device which lets you use SD cards to play back MP3s / MPEG4 movies on either a DS or GBA. The great thing is that it's likely to be cheaper to buy the device and an SD card than an equal capacity Memory Stick Duo Pro would cost for your PSP, but even better - it means that people like myself, who don't want this feature aren't having to pay for it anyway.
  The games. The DS has great titles like Super Mario 64 DS, Mr. Driller DS, (if you've got the JP/EU version) Chokkan Hitofude / Polarium (well, I found it a bit easy, but most don't, and love it) Feel the Magic / Project Rub, Touch! Made in Wario, Meteos, Touch! Kirby's Magical Paintbrush, Catch! Touch! Yoshi!, Famicom Wars DS, Bomberman DS, Nintendogs, Zoo Keeper, and I'm probably forgetting one or two as well.
  It's also got a bright future with Mario Kart DS, (online) Animal Crossing DS, (online) Metroid Pinball, a new Super Mario Bros. game, (2D gameplay!) Sonic Rush, Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, DigDug: Digging Strike, Jump! Superstars (if you like smash bros. / anim?) Lost in Blue, Metroid Prime: Hunters, Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles DS, Pac 'n Roll, Scratch! Viewtiful Joe, Final Fantasy III Remake, (not VI) Pok?mon Diamond/Pearl, the rumoured Metroid: Dread, (which is said to be a new 2D gameAndnd it's got the entire GBA collection as well! (they also get an upgrade with the better screens, and sound)
  The PSP has Lumines, Ridge Racers, and I hear Minna no Golf is good too. Erm... that's about it. Yesterday I actually took the time to check out the release lists for it, and I can't see a single title on there that's even got a chance of being AAA apart from GT4 / GTA, which I couldn't care less about.
  It can emulate NES/SNES etc. if you've got firmware version 1.0/1.5 (which the UK one won't) but they don't run too well yet, and thanks to the controls / screen quality, they're not nearly as much fun as you'd expect anyway.
  I'm so tempted to sell my PSP right now, but I've regretted selling just about every other system I've owned, which is the only reason I've kept it. I wish I had sold it when they were going for stupid amounts of money though. (?600+)
  

A "serious gamer" will pick the DS over a PSP any day, although they might even have both. (because Lumines andareare awesome games; it's just a shame there's been nothing else close to this quality since it launched in Japan about 8 months ago.

I won't say that a "serious gamer" will definitely have both thougcancan be a serious gamer and not be able to afford all the systems / games you;)ant. ;)

Still, the PSP isn't a bad system, it's just lacking in games, and has a few problems, in my opinion.

If there's anyone in the UK that still wants one after this post, mine is up on ;)obay ;)

https://www.neowin.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=341335

[Alpha2004]

After a long debate on another board I visit, full of misinformation, opinions from people who haven't seen both, let alone played/owned them, I snapped. :p

It is opinionated, but this is how I feel about the two:

Still, the PSP isn't a bad system, it's just lacking in games, and has a few problems, in my opinion.

If there's anyone in the UK that still wants one after this post, mine is up on neobay ;)

https://www.neowin.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=341335

586179964[/snapback]

i read the part about the screen and stopped right there.

The psp screen is not an lcd touch screen, which basically means better quality right off the bat. It has a higher resolution, and it rivals my own computer lcd in terms of quality. Yes, it does ghost badly though, but given how thin it is...

[.....]

i read the part about the screen and stopped right there.

The psp screen is not an lcd touch screen, which basically means better quality right off the bat.  It has a higher resolution, and it rivals my own computer lcd in terms of quality.  Yes, it does ghost badly though, but given how thin it is...

586180277[/snapback]

PSP is a gaming system, so ghosting is a huge problem. The DS screens barely ghost at all. Sure, they're not as high res and aren't insanely bright, but for playing games, they are much better.

[+Mystic MVC]

Well andrewfee I had a hard time reading that already knowing the outcome a quarter of the way through but first of all you failed to mention one huge aspect. How many handhelds has Nintendo made (many), how many has the Sony made (1 to my knowledge)? When you make that many you have a few advantages in the market as well as most of the market share. Sony made a really good handheld for their first time out and some kind of credit should be due.

For the games it also points back to the market share, favorites of the old classic nintendo games have an easy choice becasue they know they will be ported to the new handheld. Does Sony have those kind of old old classics like nintendo that it can constantly remake? If you want to play the same old games go with the DS but as Sony begins to take a chance in the handheld market give them time because you can't expect a new handheld to instantly take away the huge percentage that nintendo has on the handheld market.

[Laughing-Man]

@Alpha2004:

The psp screen is not an lcd touch screen, which basically means better quality right off the bat. It has a higher resolution, and it rivals my own computer lcd in terms of quality.

IMO, 2D > 3D. Higher resolution + better graphics != better games.

@mystic-shadow:

If you want to play the same old games go with the DS

Please tell me you are kidding. Do you even know what games have been released for the DS? Edited July 8, 2005 by jmole

[Danrarbc]

Yea, I just got one about a few weeks ago and it shipped with 1.5 firmware :D. The games are good and if you are able to run homebrew all the better. With Wi-fi capabilities and usb hook-up over the DS how can you go wrong? Please no flame wars here :D

586179573[/snapback]

You do realize that DS can also run homebrew and has wifi right?

At this point I wouldn't recommend a PSP until later in the year, it's currently in the same type of game drought DS was in for the first few months of this year. It will come out of it just like DS did, but right now that means DS probably has a better game lineup. Kirby and Meteos are better than Super Mario 64 DS, BTW ;)

[.....]

...first of all you failed to mention one huge aspect. How many handhelds has Nintendo made (many), how many has the Sony made (1 to my knowledge)? When you make that many you have a few advantages in the market as well as most of the market share. Sony made a really good handheld for their first time out and some kind of credit should be due.

586180693[/snapback]

Actually, I mentioned that in the first couple of lines:

you actually see how smart Nintendo were when they made certain decisions with the DS, and it just shows how experienced they are in this market.

586179964[/snapback]

I realise that this is Sony's first attempt in the market, but that doesn't mean we should just "give them a break" because they're new to this. It's not like you're backing an underdog; it's Sony.

They focused far too much on the multimedia, and other non-gaming features, rather than the fundamentals for playing games.

Nintendo has only remade one game, and added / changed quite a lot. As far as I can see, every other game they're developing for the system is an entirely new game, many of which could not be done on another games system.

To be honest, I don't care what platform a game is on, as long as it's great, but the DS seems to be the one that is best suited for getting the truly great handheld games. It already has some fantastic titles, and has many more coming. I can't see a single PSP exclusive game that is going to be great that has even been announced, let alone released.

It's been eight months with no good new titles for crying out loud!

[Epimetheus]

DS, the damn thing is highly addictive, and it has Meteos, Kirby Canvas Course, Yoshi Touch and Go, Electroplankton, Mario Cart DS (Wifi later this year) Super Mario 64 DS, and Nintendogs.

[Alpha2004]

DS, the damn thing is highly addictive, and it has Meteos, Kirby Canvas Course, Yoshi Touch and Go, Electroplankton, Mario Cart DS (Wifi later this year) Super Mario 64 DS, and Nintendogs.

586181085[/snapback]

highly addictive?

so is age of empires on my pocket pc. Something that the ds cant even be made to play (un-nerfed version, yeah)

Really new games there...kirby, yoshi, mario, supermario...huh?

[stevonw]

PSP all the way i mean look @ the graphics compared to the DS!

Ds is such a bulky ugly thing that looks like it was made for ?1 and then sold @ ?100

PSP Can Play Movies, Music, Games, Pictures and dooo soo much more with all these Homebrew app:D:D

[Laughing-Man]

Really new games there...kirby, yoshi, mario, supermario...huh?

586181674[/snapback]

You do realize that using franchise characters in other games does not necessarily mean it is the same game? Besides Mario64, which is an obvoius port, what other games are not new for the DS?

[Danrarbc]

PSP all the way i mean look @ the graphics compared to the DS!

Personally I could care less about graphics in a handheld. Especially when said graphics hurt other aspects of the unit, such as battery life.

Ds is such a bulky ugly thing that looks like it was made for ?1 and then sold @ ?100

It's the same general size as a PSP.

PSP Can Play Movies, Music, Games, Pictures and dooo soo much more with all these Homebrew app:D:D

586181704[/snapback]

And again, you do realize there are DS homebrew apps right?

[eric zed]

Well I bought a PSP with THUG Remix, Twisted Metal, and Wipeout, and I have to say, I regret it. Teh games are okay, but nothign that really justified the $350 price tag. I sold it within a month and am now planning to get a DS.

The homebrew apps are okay, but they never ran that well. And I didn't even bother with the music or movies on my mem. card. That's what my Mp3 player is for. The graphics are okay on PSP, but the screen, I had about 6 fdead pixels within a month. I say go with DS.

[kazooingreen]

I have had both systems, and I regret selling my DS but I would never sell my PSP. You need to look at lists of games for the two systems and decide witch of the two is more appealing to you. And at home what system do you play more a Sony or a Nintendo system

And ok lets be serious homebrew on the DS isn't exactly the same thing as on the PSP

But don?t get a PSP unless you can afford a memory stick

Newegg.com was the cheapest place I could find them

[morca007]

I'm pretty much sold on a psp, despite the good arguments put up here for a DS, in fact, one post that helped me the most is comparing the games, the only one on DS that I really want is mario kart, mainly for nostalgia.

Plus I can watch super troopers and Kill bill V1/2 on it! :)

But back to games, I really think WO:pure, ridge racers, and er, that other racing game, along with GTA look pretty good to me, A good platformer would be nice though.

[digitallaughter]

I would go with the psp, especially for the homebrew. I can now contro my tv on and off with my psp using the remote app. Its awesome :D

[.....]

But back to games, I really think WO:pure, ridge racers, and er, that other racing game, along with GTA look pretty good to me, A good platformer would be nice though.

586185649[/snapback]

Ridge is the only good racer on the system imo; WipEout has serious framerate issues and the control is way off.

GTA just isn't the sort of a game to be played on a portable system if you ask me, but hey, if that's what people want, then fair enough.

I hope you enjoy your psp if/when you get it. :)

I would go with the psp, especially for the homebrew. I can now contro my tv on and off with my psp using the remote app. Its awesome :D

586190177[/snapback]

Yep, being able to turn your TV/PS2 on/off with your PSP totally justifies the price. :whistle: