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20 Years of Handheld Console Evolution

Posted by Zonk on from the watch-darwin-in-gorgeous-8-bit-action dept.

marcellizot writes "It has taken a while for handheld consoles to crawl from the primordial 8-bit slime to today's apex predator polygon juggling brutes. To illustrate just how much things have advanced over the last 20 years, Pocket Gamer has pulled together a few facts and figures in pretty chart form. Pitting the vital statistics of the critical handhelds of today and yesteryear against one another, there are some interesting facts to be gleaned from this infotainment extravaganza."

1 of 74 comments (clear)

  1. My opinion by beef623 · · Score: 0, Offtopic
    I agree, the article did lack a little kick. I've got a DS and a PSP, both are great systems. Both have had about equal play-time but I've got much more overall use out of my PSP because it does so much more. Here's my take on the PSP/DS comparison:
    • The things that stand out:
      • I think the PSP has a much nicer screen, is more comfortable to hold, easier to connect to the net and easier to keep track of the games.
      • On the other hand, the DS has better battery-life, the touch screen is cool and it seems to have more games(at least good ones).
      • The PSP can do some cool things with a PS3, like download PS1 games and even control the main screen(no gameplay though).
      • I've heard rumors that the DS is getting a media add on so you can play music and stuff, but I havn't really looked into it, I also don't know whether Nintendo plans on doing anything special with Wii/DS.
    • The little things:
      • If you want to change the brightness on a DS, you have to reset it and change it on the system menu. PSP has a button on the device.
      • Both have a "hold" mode. Tap the power button on a PSP, or close the lid on the DS. Both wake up without any noticable delay.
      • You don't need to buy any extra memory cards for the DS, the games save to themselves. This could be good or bad, if you rent/borrow/whatever a game you like and decide to buy it, you're stuck replaying it.
      • The PSP only has one analog stick...(sorry, this one really bugs me)
      • The DS doesn't have any analog sticks, but the touchscreen is used for one, albeit awkwardly, in several games.
    Taking everything into consideration, if someone asked me which they should get I would probably recommend a DS even though I personally like the PSP better. It's cheaper and you'll probably find a game you like easier on it. I've probably left things out, but that's my take on it. Hope it helps.