Nintendo DS vs. Sony PSP: Pros - Cons

[Black Mage von Stabby]

DS: Pros
Portable
Dual Screen
Touch Pad & Microphone
Remakes of classic Nintendo games
Cross between GameCube and PS
Plays GBA cartidges
Built in Light
WI-FI

Cons
No M-games
Graphics tend to be slightly sloppy
No analog stick

PSP(desn't come out till march): Pros
Big screen
Very thin
Basicly a portable PS2, all the games anyhow
WI-Fi
Super Graphics

Cons:
Analog stick is kind of hard to get used to
200-300$
Some games look like crap
No Square-Enix games annouced yet
Not enough good titles out, most are just stupid

[Psrdirector]

this is a thread that i thought should come out

Personally i dont like M games, so i dont see that as a con.
The graphics look really good.

The psp (even though i dont like it) to be fair you have some probloms with it. Ill just work on the cons. It is actually 189.95, that is the price that is anounced. Now this is the price for when it comes out in december, and as you said it dosnt come out till march in the US. That is the japaness price, so it may go down.

Some cons for both, im trying to be fair.
The DS, It is designed for use with the stylus (whitch i like) but if you dont want to use that for some reason, the games dont work to well. Like hunter, really kinda poor with out it. This also means a lot of displays will kinda suck, cause most of the places wont put the stylus out or if they do it probly wont be there long.

The psp. People say that the fact it plays movies is good, but you need to know that it isnt dvd it is psp movies. you need to rebuy them to play them. (think video now stuff) it dosnt have as many games, even if you dont include the gba games the 120 title coming out soon for the ds is much more then the psp and over 200 in the drawing bords. You also have to look at the compitition to nintendo dosnt have a very good trake recourd. 7 have tried, and they all died. So the hope that it will work isnt to good. Also, it is disks. This means besides the scratch and breaking thing, you will need to buy memory cards to go with it. Also you need to wait till march

Now some pros.

Ds. The stylus if you do use it is very good. In the hunters demo i played, i have never had more countrol on where i shoot in any FPS ever. Also the map being used on the bottom screen means makes it easy to know where you are. and for people that are bad at getting lost this is very good.

PsP. It isnt Nintendo (i think that is bad but anyways) so if you dont like them finally you have another option (well exept all the 7 others that have failed). Also it has movies, though this is also a con, since you need to buy them, but they are there. Also it has higher graphics then the GBA, the Gameboy it competes against, and if you really didnt like dual screen.


So there are a lot more pros and cons, and i was kind on the psp even though i think it isnt to great to be fair

[darth vader wannabe]

DS - Pros

It's out now.
It's going to have a lot of classic N64/PS1 ports (or so I hear).
Better battery life(?)
Two screens - more flexible for game manufacturers

Cons (Note that I haven't used one yet) -
Two screens - divided attention
Stylus/Rubber-Thumb thingie - Haven't tried it yet
TouchScreen - I'd highly doubt that this thing won't get scratched sometime

PSP - Pros
PS2 quality graphics
Big Screen
PS2/some more classic PS1 ports
Watch movies/play music (I'm thinking you might be able to do the latter off of mem sticks, not sure)
UMD - Think Minidisc, not CD (it's in a case, it'll be harder to scratch)

Cons -
Battery Life (?)
Having to re-buy movies
No screen protection
Need to use MemSticks

On a side note, I'm just curious of how many of the 7 other competitors of the Game Boy had a multi-billion dollar company backing them up. Even if they did, Sony can take the hit of one MAJOR flop and still come out ok, at least in my opinion.

Also note that I'm not getting a DS at this time, but I'm planning on getting a PSP pretty much when it comes out.

[Cloud Strife]

And, if I remember correctly, the last price quote I saw for the PSP was $185, not $200-$300. Just thought you should know.

[Hunter_Shu]

PSP's biggest con:
Max battery life of 10 hours, more if the game is advanced.

I personally think both of our current handheld options are terrible. I'll wait til Nintendo makes it's next GBA, as it's announced that though the DS can play GBA games, it will, after this, keep the two as seperate series.

Although I respect Nintendo for a variety of things, no one can get customers to play the consumer whore as well as they can. Any other company that pulls the same is whoring out it's characters (Ref: Mario Party, Mario sports games, selling olden goldies for 30 bucks instead of a max of 25), but Nintendo gets customers to say "Thank you sir! May I have another, Sir!"

[Psrdirector]

I personally dont look at it as whoring. I like the games, and most of them are better then anything anyone else has put out.
Ever heard of Sega, yes, for many years it was the compatition to Nintendo. Sega was the first next gen counsols (the Dreamcast came out before the PS2 and it is the same generation) It came out with the GameGear. They thought it would blow away the gameboy since it had color, better graphics and longer battery life. Well it failed, sega though was a big enough company so they wernt hurt bad by it. I havnt seen the graphics yet of the psp. but i dont think having one big screen is that big of a deal. The duel screens are a great idea for games, by placing a map on the touch screen it is not going to take your attention away from the game, but you can use it to find out where you are. Personally i think the Duel Screens on the DS is a big big Pro.

The stylus is not a con, it is a big pro. You play hunters with it, you have never had more countrol on a fps then you will have in that game.

[Hunter_Shu]

Mm, yeah, one game that is NOT a Shin Megami Tensei game will never be enough for me to purchase a system. Further, no, the Stylus will never afford control equal to a Keyboard and Mouse, although I suppose it will be better then a normal controller. Either way, if you've actually done any research, you'd realize how much of a gimmick the 2nd screen is. Not that you or I couldn't call that a mile away, but it's true. And yeah, it's consumer whoring. Like I said, Nintendo does it best. With franchise characters and apparantly systems. Seriously, rediculous.

And every company turns it's fans into consumer whores. Incontrovertible. My point was simply that Nintendo fans complain the least. Doesn't make them NOT consumer whores.


...Ref: E-Cards, E-Card Readers,

[Sithdarth]

The second screen is not a gimmick. It is very usefull. Plus as has been said it doesn't divide your attention. I've played upwards of 30 hours so far and not once has my attention been divided by the smaller screen. The touchscreen did pick up a few scratches but when a game is running you can't see them. I don't know what ninetendo did but they disappear like magic when you turn the thing on. As for control with the stylus, there is no equal. Where you point on the screen is where you aim. It's like using a mouse but quicker and easier. I've sucked at most FPS because my aiming and reaction time aren't the best and I was shooting like a pro in the Metroid demo. Don't trust the models in the store. Actually playing the thing is much differnt when you are few to move with it and sit or lay down.

[Hunter_Shu]

I'm trusting the research I've done on the subject. Few games use the 2nd screen in a way that is unique, like Sega's dating sim or MP: Hunters, or the Princess Peach game that's coming out. Most use it to essentially save me a button press by showing me a different screen that is usually a quick toggle. I'm not terribly interested in most of the games coming out.

...All that said, I might end up getting one anyway. A Shin Megami Tensei game is supposed to be coming the the DS, even in the states. Bastards at Atlus....

[Stabbitty Death]

I'm curious, how do you play Metroid Prime: Hunters with the stylus? You aim with the stylus, but what button do you use to shoot? Is there a lock on button, and can you strafe? If one hand is using the stylus and the oter is on the control pad, how do you jump (or do you even have to)?.

[Sithdarth]

You double tap to jump and you use the right shoulder button to fire. I didn't find a way to lock on but it's only a demo so that might come later. Even without that it's really easy to track things. I have horrible FPS tracking skills and I was able to track the other power suit in the last fight.

[CHICAGO¤lollie]

A pro for DS: This incredibly cute piece of work! (http://gprime.net/flash.php/nintendodogs)


I'm a Sony Whoreâ„¢, really. But I'll sure as hell be getting an emulator just to run that thing. :D

[Royalspork]

people, you're all crazy :) [/flamesqueness]
I have tried the DS. I really don't want to get it now, simply because of the touch screen. It controls too much and it ends up enefective. For one, it controls like the things that labtops use as a mouse (ever used on of those to play a game..ergg!) I bounces around the screen making it imposible to aim. Then you have to pick your hand up to touch sertan parts of the screen.
Another thing is that the ds is big and bulky. I have large hands and it still is hard to grip around the DS.

Touch screen=DS's death screen :)