DS VS. PSP - A Few Months On

RE*AC*TOR

So Ladies and Gents, we've all had time to get used to these two machines, spend some time with them - digest their abilities properly. Has this time allowed you to come to a proper conclusion as to which you prefer?

As for me, I have picked a clear winner - the Nintendo DS. Why? Well the games to be honest. Meteos, Kirby, Advance Wars and to a lesser extent Nintendogs are all great reasons to own a DS. As for the PSP - of all the games I've played only Lumines really sticks out as a top class game.

But its not all black and white. The DS does have one major fallback - the release schedule of Nintendo Europe - its shockingly bad. The US market this christmas will have Mario & Luigi, Viewtiful Joe, Animal Crossing, Phoenix Wright and many other games that we will be waiting months for. There is no real reason for this (not for english speaking UK and Ireland anyway).

The PSP does have its good points too. Homebrew is a major one. I did get a good week of enjoyment playing sensible soccer via a Mega Drive emulator. The biggest pro it has at the moment, though, is its video playback - for anyone who spends up to an hour on the bus to and from work - this is a god-send. If they would only allow it to play divx / xvid codecs, without having to spend a lot of time reencoding then it would be superb. Although make sure you use sound-isolating headphones, because the audio volume on video playback is weak on the PSP.

Mr E

I think as long as you have a credit card and internet access, the Nintendo Europe release schedule isn't THAT much of an issue (considering they're cheaper to buy online anyway).

As for homebrew on DS, its obviously not as prevalent as the PSP, but it does exist....

I've owned both, and still have my DS.

honru

TmB wrote:

I think as long as you have a credit card and internet access, the Nintendo Europe release schedule isn't THAT much of an issue (considering they're cheaper to buy online anyway).

True, and DS games cost alot less even when importing from the US. It's just ridiculous after all the promises for change and improvement from Nintendo Europe, we continue to get belated release schedueles across the board.

I don't have a PSP so I can't pick a clear winner, but I definetly prefer what the DS has to offer.

Laguna

I've had both and I still have my Nintendo DS. The games on the DS on the most part are great, with a much welcomed new level of interactivity in the stylus, the PSP is a cut down portable PS2, I'm not going to pay more money to buy a reduced version of GTA again.

Maximilian

I've got both & love 'em both. DS wins on the games front so far for me. PSP is more versitile though.

steviec

I've got both, had both since their Japanese launches, haven't touched my DS since I don't know when. I'm not paying a fortune for yet another kart racing game that hasn't changed since the 16 bit era. I'm interested in Advanced Wars DS but got other priorities at the mo.

PSP has tons of life in it, I'm still working my way through GTA, and for me it's been far better than any of the PS2 versions(which were great) because of the multiplayer mode. Fantastic fun. Nothing else has entered my PSP in quite a while, but before that I was enjoying Burnout, Mercury and others.

ObeyGiant

steviec wrote:

I'm not paying a fortune for yet another kart racing game that hasn't changed since the 16 bit era ... I'm still working my way through GTA

Hehehehe - so you give out about another release of a game you've played many versions of whose only really new selling point is wireless multiplayer, and then go on to praise.. another release of a game you've played many versions of whose only really new selling point is wireless multiplayer.

DS for me. Much better pick-up-and-playability, with games I can dip in and out of whenever I feel like it. I can have played a few quick levels of Project Rub (which is all I want, sometimes) by the time it takes the PSP to load a single level of Midnight Run.

Although the PSP is a much nicer bit of kit, the software wins it for the DS.

steviec

ObeyGiant wrote:

Hehehehe - so you give out about another release of a game you've played many versions of whose only really new selling point is wireless multiplayer, and then go on to praise.. another release of a game you've played many versions of whose only really new selling point is wireless multiplayer.

There's a big difference between playing wireless in a game that's always been multiplayer, where the wireless adds nothing whatsoever over what the gameplay was in previous versions and playing wireless in a game that's never had proper multiplayer support, which opens a whole host of new possibilities.

And I'd be mighty impressed if you can turn on and get into a DS game quicker then the <5 seconds it takes from turning my PSP off hibernate to being right into GTA and able to do anything from longer missions to a 5 minute killing spree to just driving around for as long as I want.

Laguna

Turning on a PSP from hibernate is not like turning a PSP on from scratch (hibernation uses battery power), I fail to see your comparison to the DS in the last post, you're telling me that if you turn on a PSP from scratch with GTA in the machine, it only takes 5 seconds to be on the Liberty City streets shooting to your hearts content?. Come on now, it's fact that cartridges load immensely faster than optical media.

rainbow kirby

I have a DS, and I'd like a PSP, but can't afford one. I'm liking quite a few of the DS games so far (but funds are stopping me from importing... ) And for how much cheaper than the PSP it is
PSP's main appeal to me is games like Lumines, the new Katamari Damacy... Japanese weirdness basically. I'm not a big fan of games like GTA or Gran Turismo, so the idea of being able to play cut down PS2 games on the move isn't a big selling point for me with the PSP.

steviec

Laguna wrote:

Turning on a PSP from hibernate is not like turning a PSP on from scratch (hibernation uses battery power), I fail to see your comparison to the DS in the last post, you're telling me that if you turn on a PSP from scratch with GTA in the machine, it only takes 5 seconds to be on the Liberty City streets shooting to your hearts content?. Come on now, it's fact that cartridges load immensely faster than optical media.

I'm not disputing that. But the only times since I bought my PSP that I've loaded a game from scratch is when I've bought a new game or I'm switching between games. So that's not a fair comparison. In reality, it's fast and simple to get straight into the game.

exzantia

Laguna wrote:

Turning on a PSP from hibernate is not like turning a PSP on from scratch (hibernation uses battery power), I fail to see your comparison to the DS in the last post, you're telling me that if you turn on a PSP from scratch with GTA in the machine, it only takes 5 seconds to be on the Liberty City streets shooting to your hearts content?. Come on now, it's fact that cartridges load immensely faster than optical media.

Hibernation does use battery power, but it uses VERY little of it. Your comparison is totally meaningless... I NEVER turn off my PSP, I ALWAYS hibernate it, why?

Well for one thing it takes more effort to turn it off than to hibernate, second you never need to save, which is a bonus in its self. Mainly though all games will start from hiberante almost instantly. The only game that needs to load for a few seconds is GTA, and by a few I mean less than 5.

Yes, cartridges do load faster than optical media, but RAM loads much faster than cartridges...

Lord Oz

If Sony would open up and provide an SDK and promoted homebrew, the PSP would be the winner in my opinion. But for the moment I'd have to go with the DS simply for the quality of games.

koneko

both

I'm playing Phoenix Wright on my DS, and GTA on my PSP.
Both consoles have their advantages.

One of the advantages of the PSP I haven't mentioned before is indeed that I am able to turn it on and play right away, I can just pause GTA and turn it off, don't need to save, turn it off, load everything again and all that malarky, very handy. Very quick.

deadduck

if you close the ds, it goes into hibernate, and once you open it, it springs back to life, within a second. not that it makes much of a difference, but it makes the hibernation argument silly

steviec

deadduck wrote:

if you close the ds, it goes into hibernate, and once you open it, it springs back to life, within a second. not that it makes much of a difference, but it makes the hibernation argument silly

You know I own a DS and I wasn't aware of that. Or maybe I was and just forgot, it's been a long time since I've had reason to turn it on.

steviec

Lord Oz wrote:

If Sony would open up and provide an SDK and promoted homebrew, the PSP would be the winner in my opinion. But for the moment I'd have to go with the DS simply for the quality of games.

I agree with that. It'd save them having to keep up the firmware race and it would reduce piracy. Doesn't look like it's gonna happen though.

ObeyGiant

Jeez, I'm sorry for even bringing up the pick-up-and-playability issue now. But just one thing...

And I'd be mighty impressed if you can turn on and get into a DS game quicker then the <5 seconds it takes from turning my PSP off hibernate to being right into GTA

Well, you're pretty easily impressed, but yes - my DS is actually sitting beside me mid-turn in Advance Wars DS. All I have to do is flip up the lid and it's my go. This isn't a a matter of "less than five seconds". It's not even a matter of seconds: It's instantaneous.

But my point also wasn't strictly about the speed of loading, but also about the style of games available with both: the DS has a ton of games that you just pick up and play, which just appeals to me right now. I don't have time to sit through all of Midnight Club and build up a huge garage, customise my cars etc. But I do have time to turn on, say, Project Rub, and belt through a couple of levels while I'm waiting for the kettle to boil.

Tusky

I have both and I havent used my DS since I got my psp. I like them both and am not blind to either ones flaws. Why do people get so offended when people insult a console that they own ?

Yes, the psp is full of games that can be bought on ps2..but so what. Its essentially a portable ps2. Thats what I want. Why does it need to be full of original games ? Dont get me wrong, I will welcome new and original games but im perfectly happy to play ports of existing titles once they are good.

Gta, burnout, wipeout, ridge racer, lumines & virtua tennis are what I play most on it. ( all of which received a 9/10 on eurogamer...or does my memory fail me? *goes to check* )

evad_lhorg

my motives for not buying a psp.

IF i want fifa 06 or pro evo 5 or another gta game or xmen legends or burnout or tiger woods or any other sports game or midnight club or whatever else they are doing on all the other platforms(which is the majority of the games just cut down a bit) il buy it a home console as its the same price or in some cases cheaper.

if i want mp3 on the move ill use an ipod or zen.

if i wanted movies id buy em on dvd cause they are about 5-15 euro cheaper and i wont be watching a movie on the bus. eg family guy the movie was between 30-35 euro on UMD or around 20 on dvd. h,mmmmm i wonder which one id buy.



yea i have a DS. i dont play it too often but thats only cause im addicted to pro evo 5.i have advance wars and castlevania at the moment and will be getting mario kart as it will be amazing endless fun online. it will have zelda.... it will have metroid hunters(which looks amazing.... and its somethin different rather than just playin the same oul games on the move you can use a great machine with great interface and great games like advance wars or mario kart.

Tusky

Wireless multyplayer Pro evo on the go doesnt appeal to you ?

Laguna

If I wanted to play pro evo against a friend, I'd rather do it in the comfort of my living room, not on some smelly bus over wi-fi. Are people becoming more hyperactive nowadays that they can't wait to get home to play games such as pro evo?

Tusky

Laguna wrote:

If I wanted to play pro evo against a friend, I'd rather do it in the comfort of my living room, not on some smelly bus over wi-fi. Are people becoming more hyperactive nowadays that they can't wait to get home to play games such as pro evo?

Silly silly arguement. We would all prefer to play our games in the comfort of a living room but is that not what the psp/ds/whatever other handheld is for ? To play on the move on ...smelly buses and such ?

Are people so hyperactive these days that they cant wait to get home to play games full stop ? Is that what your arguement should be ?

Linkdude

Both good choices really, but I can't give a fair opinion as I don't actually own a PSP, but I have played it. I don't think it does much for software, none of the games I've played on it are all that good, though keeping in mind I've only played about 3. It's brilliant as a media machine I think, though the whole UMD Movie stuff is next to crappy without those speaker accesories. I heard about the browser, but never tried and wonder if it's any good, and if it's free. The load times for it are awful, but I guess the Hibernate mode saves you a bit of trouble sometimes. Of course, I'll probably have to wait a while before I can afford one to give my true opinion of the PSP.

I love the software on the DS, though it lacks in the media department, but I'm sure a few little things could be added via Internet. Though, even then the Hardware still lacks in some capabilities (And I'm afraid add-ons would simply reduce how portable it is, though I could sya the same for the PSP). The Negative seems so-so, but the Positive seems great, every game I've bought for my DS had me playing for quite a few weeks, I usually get addicted to them, and reading the reviews for Mario Kart it can only get better.

That whole Hibernate issue mentioned earlier, it really doesn't measure compared to the DS's sleep mode, the game's back on in less then a second, if one is better it's got to be DS.

My main thing about software though is the fact that we'll probably never see games ready to seemingly more casual players, my guess is most will go to the PSP for it's "Older" factor. That's not to say if you play the DS you're kiddy, but developers may see it fit to avoid Nintendo with the "adult-oriented" games yet again. Just my guess.

steviec

Can somebody please name the list of amazing DS games that are original and addictive? Because I own one and I haven't come across any, having tried a lot. The only one I like is Advance Wars. Other than that it's all gimmicks and ports.

Laguna

Advance Wars
Castlevania
Kirby Canvas Curse
Mario Kart
WarioWare

and plenty more to come in


Age of Empires 3
Mario & Luigi superstar saga 2
Super Mario World 2
Metroid Prime
Viewtiful Joe Scratch...

evad_lhorg

yea sure wireless pro evo on the go is always good but lets face it.... I dont get the bus with mates unless we are goin out and i dont think wed be playin our games then. the bus is for drinking cans. :rolleyes:

Laguna

evad_lhorg wrote:

the bus is for drinking cans. :rolleyes:

That better be Dutch Gold you're talking about there!:v:

tHE vAGGABOND

DS is 100 quid cheaper and has better games IMHO..

PSP has a lot of 'ok' games, but the DS has a handfull of brilliant games. Im currently playing Advance Wars and cant wait for Mario Kart to play online with the lads from work

steviec

I love Liberty City Stories, Burnout, Mercury, TOCA, Virtua Tennis, Lumines, Metal Gear Acid in that order. Ridge Racers and Wipeout were fairly disappointing after getting over the graphics. Everybody's golf was also fun from the time I spent with it. Pursuit force looks interesting as do a number of other games in production, still waiting for a good RPG.

Mario Kart doesn't interest me, I got very bored of it a very long time ago. Got bored of Warioware after about a day, which is a pity I loved the GBA version. Mario 64 is horrible with those controls. Yoshi/Kirby seem gimmicky from the time I've spent with them. Advance Wars looks like a damn good game, I've only played through one level, still meaning to buy it myself. I am looking forward to the new 2d Mario game, it's about time they've done that.

glimmerman

steviec wrote:

Can somebody please name the list of amazing DS games that are original and addictive? Because I own one and I haven't come across any, having tried a lot. The only one I like is Advance Wars. Other than that it's all gimmicks and ports.

I've played most English games available for the DS, heres my top list:
Viewtiful Joe
Phoenix Wright
Meteos
Advance Wars
Elektroplankton
Mario Kart
Trauma Centre
Kirby

Haven't tried Tony Hawk yet but by all accounts its pretty good.

Also, I imported a PSP quite a bit before the European launch. The PSP is a nice machine, its just a great pity about the software. There are some fine games, but they are so few and far between that I'm considering selling mine. Of course, there is always the homebrew emulators on it


edit: Ooops, how could I forget castlevania!!