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PSP And DS Duke It Out
With the looming launch of Sony's handheld console, X-Play has a series of articles comparing and contrasting the new and shiny portable gaming consoles. The articles are broken into three parts, The PSP vs. the DS, The DS vs. the PSP, and The Final Verdict. From the final article: "Are two screens better than one? Are graphics all that matter? In this third and final edition of my Sony PSP vs. Nintendo DS editorial, I'll compare each handheld bit-by-bit and determine which of the two is worth your hard-earned cash."
He recommends the PSP. However, it's an extra $100, so only for those with disposable income.
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Definitely. Not to mention the upcoming games list!
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DS:
http://www.gamesarefun.com/gamesdb/platfor
PSP:
http://www.gamesarefun.com/gamesdb/platfo
DS definitely wins!
I will not pick up the DS. Because frankly, although the DS is innovative and unusual, the PSP has the goodies. MP3 playback, media, etc.
Plus, Sony's 3rd party gaming support is superior. I buy the PSP not because I particularly like Sony, or dislike Nintendo, but because it will provide me with a more satisfactory general experience. That's all there is to it.
Well, it's not much of a review. Notwithstanding the obvious anti-DS bias (which is obvious from the outset) being unhelpful in a shootout review, they also missed the fundamental point that the Nintendo DS does have analog control!
Perhaps they missed the thumbstrap in their box? I found that it offered fantastic control of Mario 64 DS and the Metroid Prime demo, and whilst it feels weird at first, I find it more comfortable than the PSP analog control once I had adjusted.
You're not supposed to be playing Mario 64 DS with the stylus!
Also, the load times and battery times on the PSP aren't that bad. Yet, the selection of games for the PSP at launch is dreadful, whereas the DS titles at least have some charm.
I have bought both machines (Erk, Geek). And I love them both. I'm not sure I'd want to be forced to choose, but the DS is definitely the most fun machine.
And for me, I want a games machine to be fun.
...the DS and PSP's success.
DS - Will Nintendo pull it's proverbial head out of it's backside and develop games that aren't amied at 12 year olds and start developing games that challenge the marketplace. This is the age old story of Nintendo not moving out of consistent 'Mario' releases.
PSP - Will the US public be willing to slap down $250 (US) for the PSP and another $250 (US) for 1GB + Memory Cards. This is even before games or movies are even purchased.
I personally have a DS and am sickened by the lack of attention that Nintendo is STILL giving to the crap titles that are coming out.
The DS is an amazing product but no one has even shown that they can not only take advantage of what the DS has to offer but to push the limits of the console with an amazing game.
From what I've seen so far, the types of titles that have come out or are coming out are either kiddie games or re-packaging of old games that have come out of previous incarnations of Nintendo products.
Xbox had Halo to show off what their console can do, I have yet to see an equivelant for not only the Nintendo DS but for the PSP as well.
Dolemite
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You assume a lot.
While I may not speak for everyone here, I at least DO put my money where my mouth is. I haven't bought a sony product since the PS1 I bought used 6 years ago. Sure, the Playstation 2 has shiny graphics, and the PSP looks shiny as well. But y'know what? I think I'd rather put my money into nintendo, who is at least trying to create innovative games, and who's business practices are at least marginally better than sony's.
So yeah. I do put my money where my mouth is. and will continue to do so, by not buying a PSP. Now the question is... do you, oh would-be inflamitory poster? Or are you as hypocritical as you accuse everyone else of being?
I have a GameCube and a PC when I'm interested in 3D games. I have my GameBoy Advance for old-school classics that are in 2D. Fire Emblem (on the GBA) is easily one of my favorite games ever, and I've yet to play a good 3D Castlevania. Thing is, three-dimensions doesn't hide crappy gameplay.
I think there are enough people on slashdot that we have people on both sides of the fense. Those of us who like Nintendo and/or Sony are chiming in. Those of us who don't will complain when the next article about patents comes out. (although I must admit, I am also a staunch hater of software patents as well)
Now I will go ahead and say that I think the DS will be the successful handheld. Many will rushout and buy the PSP. But in the end it will come out to cost. The cheaper cost will create a bigger demand for the DS. This will cause more developer support and better games for Nintendo. Resulting in even more people buying the DS.I'll throw $120 down to get a DS and even if I don't use it a whole lot, it won't be a great loss. The PSP just doesn't seem cost effective to me considering the amount of use I'd get out of it. For a parent buying a handheld for their child, this is also a no brainer. Nintendo knows the handheld market, I don't think sony will make it this time and wind up like Nokia and the ngage. I could be wrong though, we'll just have to see.
But that's why there's a new Gameboy in development right now. The DS is not a Gameboy replacement.
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It's also worth mentioning that every kid in the US, at least, already owns a GBA, and already has an assload of games that will play on the DS.
So when they inevitably lose/destroy the GBA (mine have been through about a half dozen so far), the SP will be the likely replacement.
Also, it was the GBA SP's battery life I was praising. I'm quite impressed with it, and I generally always have the backlight on. Not that the original unit had bad battery life, either.
I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
I bought my DS about a week ago primarily for Wario Ware Touched and also to play around with it. I didn't care about any of the other games and frankly couldn't have cared less if anything else was ever released for it.
I also picked up Super Mario 64 DS because I figured "why not".
After about 10 minutes of SM64DS I about gave up on the game. The control was terrible. I was either using a poorly designed cross pad or using the stylus on the touch screen which was awkward. That was not the end though.
I checked the net for reasons why people actually enjoyed this game. It seems that quite a few of the people who liked it were using the thumb stylus found on the wrist strap for movement control.
I gave it a go and although it was unnatural at first, I was able to get used to it rather quickly and was soon playing the game like a pro. I think that anyone who doubts the touch screen control should just try it for a while. I'm now having serious doubts that the PSP's little analog button could be as good.
BTW, it is a shame that most DS demo kiosks don't have the thumb stylus/wrist strap on them. You can use your thumb without it but it's not quite the same.
I think the deciding factor for me is expectations I have from portable gaming. When I want to play a portable system, it is usually in short increments. For this reason, I'm looking for 1) Fast Load Times, 2) Simplistic gameplay. This is one of the reasons I love my GBA SP. I can turn it on, play for a little bit, and turn it back off. I also enjoy the fact that I have a large selection of more "old school" classic-style gameplay on my GBA SP since they aren't offered much on the consoles anymore.
When I look at the PSP, I see a mini-console. I don't know if I'm really interested in that sort of thing. I don't want all of the same games I play on my console, I want something different. Now, with that said, the library of DS games right now suck, so I'm passing on that as well until we can see what Nintendo can do.
I thought the writer made an interesting point about women digging the Nintendo DS. I've found that women generally seem to like the things Nintendo has to offer, and not just with the DS. When my wife and I have our couple friends over, it's funny to see the women in the group actually WANT to play video games because they want to play things like Mario Party and Donkey Konga. And my wife loves her Nintendo DS with Wario Ware (although she is wanting another game at this point). I think there is a real opportunity for Nintendo to capture a large number of non-traditional gamers with its products. Unfortunately, it can be a difficult proposition because it seems that most women get their video game experiences through more hardcore gamers, so unless Nintendo can get a foothold in with the hardcore gamers, they may not be able to capture anthing.
Forget the whales - save the babies.
Well, I personally bought my DS on a promise. A promise of games like Zelda, Advance Wars, Xenosaga, Baten Kaitos, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, Wario Ware, Mario Kart, and others. Since then, I've gotten news of gems like Lost in Blue, Soul Calibur, and Katamari Damacy.
I find that the touchpad is amazingly good, and as another poster mentioned to you, you should really try playing it with the thumbstrap. It's how the game really works.
And you also forget that DS has built in 802.11b (all it's missing is a software TCP/IP stack), and a stylus. This makes the game absolutely incredible for playing what? PC games. PC games usually feature two things. Fine mouse control and internet play. DS has BOTH of those things, making things like FPS and RTS games entirely possible on DS. And the DS also has a MICROPHONE.
These are the reasons I bought my DS. I was sold on the promise of PC games on a handheld, internet play, and the best lineup of games on a new console I've ever seen.
The PSP's controls are not very good though though -- the analogue nub is badly placed and quite fiddly to use, and the digital pad is the same horrid painful thing Sony's been inflicting on players since the PS1.
It seems like Sony spent all their time obsessing about the display and simply didn't think very much about the controls. [I should say "SCE", not Sony -- it's a very SCE thing to do...]
I kinda like the PSP, but the crappy controls put me off quite a bit. A shame. Maybe Nintendo's future GBA replacement will be better...
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"The PlayStation cannot beat Nintendo, because the N64 has more power."
Guess what happened. The PlayStation beat the Nintendo 64.
Keep your eyes to the sky.
Was it battery life?
The Lynx had many cool things going for it. You could hook eight of them together (hmmm, and I think the hardware would support up to 256, or in any case a helluva lot more than the 2/4 that the GB had), and play all sorts of games. The active-matrix, backlit color screen was bright.
The real problem was the lack of software support. Of course, while gaming historians may point to battery life, it could have been something else. Perhaps, if my memory serves me right, it was because Epyx developed it, with substantial financial backing from Atari, but somehow went bankrupt (the gossip and rumours -- nothing more -- at the time was something about their main financial backer being slow on paying the bills, causing them to lose liquidity), and Atari wound up with the Lynx. With a cool thing like that, you needed games and advertising. Lynx had neither; I don't think anyone ever developed a game that fully exploited the Lynx's connectivity (and hence the origin of the name "Lynx").