DS and PSP - mutually beneficial

RE*AC*TOR

I know this is probably a new-ish concept, differring from the usual fanoboish arguements. However, basic economics on competition mean that, we the consumer, will benefit from both these consoles having a strong market presence. For example - the DS can never beat the PSP on pure graphics - DS game designers must then push the DS's assets - interface and originality. The PSP, however, looking over its shoulder at hugely successful titles like Nintendogs - must realize that there is a market beyond the FIFA, GTA, SSX etc "sequel" market.

Judging by various sales figures, the DS is beating the PSP in Japan, about even in the US. In Europe its too early to tell, but I think mostly due to the very slow release schedule on the DS the PSP will take a lead (of course the Nintendogs factor is yet to rear its head). So at least on a global scale we have 2 relatively co-dominant players.

Another example - Sony introduced their web browser quite early. I've used it, its not bad (in some ways better than browsers i've used on PDAs). The DS is arguably more suited to such a product, but has been slow off the mark. This may or may not push nintendo in getting a browser out, but more to the point - would Sony have released this browser had their been no DS? I think not.

I now own both, and I love both. Individually both have faults, combined you cover a huge range of gaming (and multimedia) possibilities.

qz

Just out of interest, which would you pick up more? The DS or the PSP?

Bluehair

RE*AC*TOR wrote:

I now own both, and I love both. Individually both have faults, combined you cover a huge range of gaming (and multimedia) possibilities.

Amen to that brother!

Show me the games has always been my mantra I couldn't give a toss who makes the unit. Both the DS and PSP have a fine selection to choose from already and it's early days yet.

I've been playing a lot of Advance Wars recently(DS) but before that couldn't put Ridge Racers down until i completed it(PSP), they're both different enough to compliment each other and I'm glad i got both too.

RE*AC*TOR

qz wrote:

Just out of interest, which would you pick up more? The DS or the PSP?

I've had the DS for months (day of release), I've had the PSP since Monday. In the last week I would have used the PSP more - but I wouldn't say its indicative of any long term pattern. Nintendogs still gets a lot of my daily attention.

Jammer

RE*AC*TOR wrote:

The PSP, however, looking over its shoulder at hugely successful titles like Nintendogs - must realize that there is a market beyond the FIFA, GTA, SSX etc "sequel" market.

Theres nothing original about Nitendogs, and the DS will be subject to the sequel market (mario, zelda, mario kart and so on, and so forth).

Its the way gaming is going...

Both are cool IMO. DS wins on value, its not that dear, and is a great little machine. PSP is expensive, but quality in almost every respect.

Laguna

I had both! Except the day after release I brought my PSP back becaus eof an unbelievable amount of dead pixels (we won't go into that though!). I had my DS since March and it has completely reinvigorated my love for gaming!, I was getting majorly pissed off with clone gaming on the PS2 with sequel after sequel after..you get the picture. The PS brand is marketed at the mainstream (generally, people who aren't really gamers who like the odd go of Need For Speed:UG cos it looks "Cool") whereas I feel Nintendo are a games company for games players with innovative titles (and now innovative ways of playing the games with the DS). I've been playing games for fifteen years now and feel the approach to gaming that Sony/EA games are taking will only end up stifling the market of all creativity (i.e. Nintendogs, WarioWare Touched) as they won't be seen as marketable as FIFA 2078. Ah, I miss the days when Sega was Nintendo's main enemy, those were the days we were spolit for choice!

Jammer

Laguna wrote:

I had both! Except the day after release I brought my PSP back becaus eof an unbelievable amount of dead pixels (we won't go into that though!). I had my DS since March and it has completely reinvigorated my love for gaming!, I was getting majorly pissed off with clone gaming on the PS2 with sequel after sequel after..you get the picture. The PS brand is marketed at the mainstream (generally, people who aren't really gamers who like the odd go of Need For Speed:UG cos it looks "Cool") whereas I feel Nintendo are a games company for games players with innovative titles (and now innovative ways of playing the games with the DS). I've been playing games for fifteen years now and feel the approach to gaming that Sony/EA games are taking will only end up stifling the market of all creativity (i.e. Nintendogs, WarioWare Touched) as they won't be seen as marketable as FIFA 2078. Ah, I miss the days when Sega was Nintendo's main enemy, those were the days we were spolit for choice!

ARGH! Not this again.

RE*AC*TOR

Jammer wrote:

Theres nothing original about Nitendogs, and the DS will be subject to the sequel market (mario, zelda, mario kart and so on, and so forth).

i beg to differ. Sure Nintendogs could be compared to tamagotchi or Dogz - but that would be a superficial comparison. It goes way beyond both in many ways - I don't think it can be truly comparible with any other game. As for nintendo's sequel machinery, it has produced a lot of originality withing its franchises Mario64, Ocarina of Time, Metroid Prime etc.

shortys94

The PSP has only has a few games at the moment and most of them are graphically good, but sometimes the gameplay is bad. I mean most of the games right now are more of the same as things we have seen before.
I have a psp and it is a great piece of hardware, the DS on the other hand isnt my kind of thing, nintendo should introduce a web browser and more features to the home menu.
Otherwise I am very happy with the psp, and it seems as if there is alot of good future releases and alot of them are incorparating online play.

I am still glad i spent so much money on my psp last march, i think some people may be reretting to not have waited until the psp launch, but who could wait, i know i didnt.

But i think you need a good internet connection to maximise the potentials of the psp, i use my jap psp for alot of stuff, but some people in ireland are still not internet literate or do not have access to such technology.
Overall the psps great.:) lol

dimerocks

Jammer wrote:

Theres nothing original about Nitendogs, and the DS will be subject to the sequel market (mario, zelda, mario kart and so on, and so forth).

Its the way gaming is going...

Both are cool IMO. DS wins on value, its not that dear, and is a great little machine. PSP is expensive, but quality in almost every respect.

how many of the psp launch titles were originals.its very early and im tired but Lumines is the only tht springs to mind.

flogen

I'd love to see some PDA and web browser function on the DS, it really is perfect for it. There was talk of PDA style software at E3 04, but nothing since then.
I havent gotten a PSP yet because the games don't appeal to me, and if the PSP catalogue is anything like the PS2 it will be some time before I do get one. The DS has originality but has suffered from Nintendo waiting around, saying that they could snap up the christmas market if Nintendogs and Advance Wars, along with Mario Kart are as big as we all expect them to be.
I think we'll see a tight race, with games like Nintendogs creating a divide only for stuff like GTA to pull it back, I'd like to se Ninty beat Sony but if they don't put the killer apps out then they don't deserve it.

Jammer

dimerocks wrote:

how many of the psp launch titles were originals.its very early and im tired but Lumines is the only tht springs to mind.

I don't buy the whole sequel thing. I don't get it. So what if its a sequel, it makes as much difference as the price of tea in China. If its a good game, its a good game. Midnight Club on the PSP is class, so what if its a sequel. Tony Hawks on PSP is fun to play. World Soccer is okay, and will tide over till Fifa 2006 is released on it, it looks class. The best selling games this year are sequels..

Halo 2
Half Life 2
Doom 3
Quake 4
Mario Series.....etc etc

I hate all this 'ive been playing games for 15 years and only buy real games' and 'people who buy the sequels arent real gamers' talk. Its prue ****! If someone likes a game, they like it and it doesnt make them any less 1337 then someone who plays their heart out on every original title on any platform*.

*Thats not aimed at you Dimerocks

Jammer

RE*AC*TOR wrote:

i beg to differ. Sure Nintendogs could be compared to tamagotchi or Dogz - but that would be a superficial comparison. It goes way beyond both in many ways - I don't think it can be truly comparible with any other game. As for nintendo's sequel machinery, it has produced a lot of originality withing its franchises Mario64, Ocarina of Time, Metroid Prime etc.

Yeah i agree with what your saying, just not how your saying it

dimerocks

i wasnt complaining about sequels either i was just highlighting the point that if you want originality it is the DS the PSP is the one for sequels and stuff.

Jammer

I know this going a bit off Topic (and i do agree with the OP) but..

* Super Mario 64 DS (Nintendo) - x
* WarioWare Touched! (Nintendo) - x
* Pokémon Dash (Nintendo) - x
* Polarium (Nintendo) - ?
* Tiger Woods PGA TOUR (EA) - x
* The URBZ: Sims In The City (EA) - x
* Spider-Man 2 (Activision) - x
* Project Rub (SEGA) - ?
* Mr. Driller: Drill Spirits (Namco) - x
* Rayman DS (Ubisoft) - x
* Asphalt Urban GT (Gameloft/Ubisoft) - ?
* Sprung (Gameloft/Ubisoft) - x
* Zoo Keeper (Ignition) - x
* Ping Pals (THQ) - x
* Robots (Vivendi) - ?

wheres the originality there??

RE*AC*TOR

Warioware, Polarium, Project RUb all failry original.

kaisersose77

If anyone who bought a psp last week and now thinks its **** because of the lack of "original" games then you should spend five minutes researching it before you bought it. You then would know what your buying and its your own fault if you thinks its not worth it. I knew what games were out and what games were coming out soon when i bought my psp and I was happy with them. Its Sony, what do you expect. With regards to the DS games, most of these "orginal games" which are selling well in japan arent even out in europe yet and some of them probably wont even be released over here. Its fine for ppl who have a credit card who can import but i'd say the majority of ppl who have a DS in ireland have never imported a game in their life.

Looking at the list of DS games available atm on game.co.uk(they must be the same games available over here?) im afraid it doesnt look like theres a lot of very original games for someone with a DS in ireland who doesnt import.

http://shop.game.net/browse.aspx?cat=11226

So with regards to going into a gameshop in ireland and buying a game for either handheld, neither are very original.

steviec

Also, just looking at the names doesn't give the full story. PSP has completely new versions of Wipeout and Ridge Racers that are far better than their most recent incarnations on home consoles, not simply ports. The DS has an exact conversion of the N64 version of Ridge Racer which isn't in the same league. Metal Gear Acid carries the Metal Gear name but it's clearly a new and original title with nothing in common with other Metal Gear games. Lumines and Mercury are a couple of other original titles I have. I have a DS too and personally I've had a lot less fun with it, although I am looking forward to getting Advance Wars DS(not original but I'll take quality over gimmicky any day)

dimerocks

RE*AC*TOR wrote:

Warioware, Polarium, Project RUb all failry original.

you beat me too it

Jammer

RE*AC*TOR wrote:

Warioware, Polarium, Project RUb all failry original.

That wasn't really my point though, because the PSP has AS MANY orginal titles. So HA

They're both great machines. Why some people don't want them to co-exist is beyond me.

CiDeRmAn

Doesn't matter if a game is a sequel or and update or anything else, the only thing that matters is if it is any good or not.
Then you just make up your own mind if you want to spend your hardearned money, or your parents for that matter.
The PSP line up seemed to me a set of PS2 remakes that in and of themselves very good but then thats why I bought the original console versions over the last few years, hence why I wouldn't buy Medievil, Ape Escape, Formula 1 again.
Ridge Racers and Wipeout are places where the original template has been improved resulting in series highs for both franchises.
Nintendo has a similar story but, due to both technical constraints and innovations ,have made some interesting choices in how it has treated its IPs.
There was a chance that titles would be straight ports from the N64, no bad thing in many cases as the originals were classics and could be well suited to a smaller screen, the entire RARE backcatalog for example, but this only occuured in a limited way with Ridge Racer 64, MArio 64 and Rayman making the jump to handheld, otherwise games like Pac Pix and Yoshi Touch and Go show just how to update a franchise and produce something truely different.
ElectroPlankton and Nintendogs seek to open up whole new sections of the public to gaming too, making new markets instead of just courting a slice of the existing turf.

Glad I got shot of my PSP and kept my DS, far more emphasis on FUN on the DS, although I fear the schoolyard war is all over for Nintendo and kids everywhere wil insist on Sony PSPs for Xmas, for no better reason tha it looks cool, once it plays FIFA and Burnout they won't care.

I will only buy another PSP when GT4 Mobile gets released and not a moment before.

But of course anything that gains new buyers to the handheld market is welcome, especially adult gamers to a traditionally child orientated market, particularly here in the west. Hopefully we will see games of a sophisticated nature out for both major formats.

Well it could be worse, if the Nazis won the war we would all be playing Gizmondos!

honru

Jammer wrote:

That wasn't really my point though, because the PSP has AS MANY orginal titles. So HA

You really have to ignore the pathetic situation in Europe and look to the States and Japan for a wider selection of games. Oddly enough, it's even cheaper to import.

flogen

CiDeRmAn wrote:

I fear the schoolyard war is all over for Nintendo and kids everywhere wil insist on Sony PSPs for Xmas, for no better reason tha it looks cool, once it plays FIFA and Burnout they won't care.

You know, that's very true and if there's one reason to buy a console that pisses me off it's that. Saying that, kids seem to respond well to a good DS game like warioware, or nintendogs. Maybe Ninty should release a shiny black DS to get back the moron market!