Worth Reading?
+27 [41 votes]
As the holiday season fast approaches, we’ve been getting questions from readers regarding which portable games console they should buy for themselves, their friends or their kids. It’s hard to believe that there are still people out there who haven’t decided on a side in the PSP/DS war, but here are a few factors you should consider before splashing your cash either with Sony or Nintendo.
Traditionally the Nintendo has been seen as the young-persons’ choice, but this year a range of “brain training” games has pushed it into the eyeline of the adult and even elderly market. The clever controls - undeniably more innovative than the PSP’s, with both the usual D-pad and buttons as well as a touchscreen and stylus - have given games designers more flexibility, and its backward-compatibility with Game Boy Advance titles mean there’s a healthy, and cheap, back-catalogue to choose from.
On the PSP’s side, however, are the media and processing capabilities which have made Sony such a contender in the lounge gaming market. While UMD-based movies may have bombed, the handheld can still play films and audio stored on Memory Stick or streamed wirelessly from a PS3. Recent sales figures from Japan show that PSPs there are being snapped up, with 250,000 sold in the four days following the redesigned Slim & Lite’s launch and, although it lacks the catalogue of classic titles, more recent games on the PSP - usually aimed at a teenage audience - score highly in reviews.
Both consoles have wireless, allowing for multi-player gaming, but the DS edges ahead a little with many multi-player games requiring only one game cartridge. Pair the PSP with a PS3, however, and you can make use of Remote Play, which lets you access media and games on your home console wherever in the world you have a WiFi signal. As for add-ons, the PSP can be augmented with a TV tuner, GPS, camera and more, but of course these are not necessarily cheap options and some require imports since not all are officially available outside of Japan.
Many find the DS better for impromptu gaming, with the handheld working well in snatched moments on buses and waiting in queues; on the other hand, some have accused DS titles of lacking the in-depth gameplay that is available on the PSP. It’s very much a matter of taste, and if you’re buying for anyone other than yourself then it could be worth asking them whether they settle down for longer periods or see themselves gaming more casually.
Of course, for some it will come down to price: the PSP Slim & Light comes in at $169.99 while the Nintendo DS undercuts it at $129.99. In the run up to the holidays retailers will be clamouring for your business with bundled games, cases, and the ubiquitous “travel pack” (which usually consists of a travel charger, some sort of case and maybe a screen-protector). Here at SlashGear we’d recommend the DS for younger or significantly older would-be gamers, who should be well catered for by the simple interface and drawn in by the quirky, easily-grasped games. For teenagers and media junkies we’d lean toward the PSP: its integration with the PS3 is fantastic, the games on offer are nicely biased toward those willing to invest time and effort, and it certainly has the power to see it supporting top titles for some time to come.
Which handheld would you recommend, and why? Let us know in the comments - but try to keep it focused on the hardware, and not let it get personal!
Do as I did, Get both ;-)
Sadly play none, due to lack of time :-(
i am really invested in the thoughts of our readers in this topic, i had a PSP once, and i am looking to get a new handheld gaming console, so its either the PSP or the DS and i can’t seem to decide for myself
i may wind up getting both, but i doubt it.
so help me decide.
If you already have a PS2 or a PS3 then I suggest getting a psp. If you have a wii, you’ll probably be better off with a DS.
I have both, but I spend more time with the PSP. Homebrew!!!
well i have both a wii and a ps3 and a ds and a psp
The psp is wayyyy better than the ds! and the ps3 is wayyy better than the wii!
unfortunatly my psp got stollen in september:( but im getting a slim for xmas:)
SONY PWNS! NINTENDO SUX! XBOX SUX! (l like mircrosoft tho)
See, I don’t totally agree with this article. I don’t believe you give the Nintendo DS enough credit. (Bare with me, I own both the DS and PSP and love both.) The Nintendo DS has an extremely wide variety of games such as Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass and Metroid Prime Hunters to keep teens busy. I do agree that the PSP has most of the teenager geared games but the DS has some too. Also, this article mentioned that the PSP’s integration with the PS3 is fantastic. But that means you need a PS3 to get those features.
I personally would recommend the DS Lite overall. Yeah, the PSP Slim and Lite is awesome and I love Daxter and Ratchet and Clank: Size Matters, but the DS Lite has an extreme variety of amazing games that will keep your fingers busy.
I would personally go for the DS.
I have a PSP, DS Ps2, Wii, Gamecube.
My brother has a Ps3, PSP
And my dad has a PSP Slim, the darth vadar one or whatever
We’re a gamer family :)
Well anyways, we have homebrew on our regular PSP’s and it’s fun for a while but it just gets boring. I have had 3 games for the past half year on my DS and I still find my self playing those same games for hours each night. I get bored and tired of the PSP games after several days and I just find no point in downloading any more games.
I hope I helped :D
I myself have both a PSP and a DS and I would actually have to say I enjoy the innovation and just plain fun games of the DS over the PSP. As has been said by a previous person who commented, the variety of games that the DS offers is simply astounding. I find myself coming back to play the DS more than the PSP perhaps simply just to marvel at the idea’s that are intergrated into the DS games via the touch pad.
I think that regardless of graphical differences no portable console can beat just plain fun games.. Often enough I will find that alot of the PSP games lack fun and depth and perhaps exchange that for the graphics. Another thing that has no been mentioned yet is the ability to customize your DS.. I would love to show people here my own customized DS. On the other hand the PSP is incredibly difficult to customize due to its large middle screen. Overall in my opinion DS > PSP.
I really like PSP because of the graphics and then those who have owned PS1, PS2, or PS3 lots of the same games are located on the PSP or are coming to it.
i have a ds and love it
p.s. my brother had a ds but battery blew out in 8 months
Well I thought about it.. and no harm done if I show people what my/a DS looks like when its customized..
http://i23.photobucket.com/alb.....32/DS1.png
http://i23.photobucket.com/alb.....32/DS2.png
http://i23.photobucket.com/alb.....32/DS4.png
http://i23.photobucket.com/alb.....32/DS3.png
Its called ‘Red Orchid’ for obvious reasons. The glitter isnt normally as shiney as that but because of the camera flash it sparkled heaps.
I think that the ds is much better because pokemon and mario are more popular than the game that the psp has.Also the ds is lighter than the new psp , and the psp barely fits in your poket.And the ds fits much better in your pocket.Well thatas just my opinion I hope you think the sames as me.
The psp sucks .quote comment=”31971″]I think that the ds is much better because pokemon and mario are more popular than the game that the psp has.Also the ds is lighter than the new psp , and the psp barely fits in your poket.And the ds fits much better in your pocket.Well thatas just my opinion I hope you think the sames as me.
I don’t think a good oppinion can be made without trying and owning both for a set period of time because those that own a DS are going to favor DS if they like it and just the same for PSP, if you own both then you may have a better opinion.
psp all the way !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
haha, yea I have always owned a PS system so I like to stay with them because they tend to make the same kind of games universally through their systems.
PSP all the way.
PSP any day - Daxter, Ratchet & Clank, Metal Gear Portable Ops Plus, Silent Hill, Disgaea, Socom, Killzone, syphon filter, tekken, ace combat, oh yeah definietly the psp and more great games to come - God of War, Agent Clank, Jak, Sly Cooper Origins.
DS only if they release a more relistic zelda then I may give it a shot but otherwise I am good.
The PSP doesn’t have an R4 chip. That’s all that needs to be said.
I’ve owned both systems since they came out and have extensive software libraries for each. They’re both really nice little boxes and I highly recommend getting both if you can. I truly like both…. That said, if I had to pick one over the other, I wouldn’t even have to think about it: PSP wins. By a landslide…
For the most part, the comments about the target market and age range that people cite are correct. The DS tends to target younger players and the PSP tends to target more sophisticated players (adults).
As an adult, there are WAY more advanced and appealing titles for me on the PSP than the DS. In fact, the claims people make when trying to advocate the DS about the quality of the software titles on the PSP are just ridiculous. I’ve never gotten this at all. Absolute numbers do not mean anything. For a grown up, the GTA series, Syphon Filter series, Metal Gear, Navy SEALs, Silent Hill, Ratchet and Clank, X-Men Legends, Untold Legends series, and others are much more compelling than *anything* I can find on the DS. Mario and the gang are fun (especially if you’re 9 ;) ), but I can play ported SNES platform and RPG games on the PSP all day if I want to anyway, already, and there are tons of retro packs for the PSP if you don’t want to go homebrew for your cutesy platform game fix. Virtual Pet and Barbie games are basically landfill for me, so raw number of titles is just pointless to talk about. So, really, in terms of the meaty games for the grown up, the the PSP has WAY more high quality titles than the DS, and in cases they DO happen to exist on both they tend to be way better on the PSP (more on that below).
If you are buying for a younger person, the DS becomes a stronger contender. But for me, Super Mario 64 DS is enjoyable if I have a bit of time to kill but will in no way ever engage me the way Syphon Filter could or the on-line Navy SEALs or GTA or whatever.
Another aspect of the debate that I get tired of is the touch screen. A lot of people talk about the DS touch screen being so amazingly innovative, etc, but really, I think it’s a double edged sword in my experience. When it is used correctly, it can be innovative and open up a lot of possibilities. But, it seems like so many games use it simply because it’s there rather than it being the right device for the game design. This makes control on a lot of DS games ridiculously clunky (take any FPS game for example). Really some of them are simply compensating for lack of an analog control stick like the one the PSP already has…. The touch screen also really is a mixed blessing for me in particular, being a left hander. A lot of games that really REQUIRE the touch screen can be a PITA for the left hander and not work well, some developers have realized this and are coming up with “keft handed” modes, etc, which is much appreciated… So, personally, I don’t think of the touch screen as this amazing feature. Like I said, some times it can be used to really good effect and I think the PSP could benefit from having one, but really, when it comes down to it… I think I’d actually rather have an analog stick if I could pick only one of the two controls.
Another thing no one ever seems to mention on the PSP/DS debate is the format of the games. This has a dramatic impact on the production values of the games. A UMD can hold 1.8Gb of data or so, more if compressed. On the DS, given the fact that it’s a cart, a 128Mb game is considered HUGE and most are in the 32/64mb range. This gives the PSP developers a huge advantage when developing or porting to the PSP in terms of production values and retained features. Try playing a Madden football game on both systems. The DS feels and looks like a retarded joke compared to the PSP. Again, no bias, I have both. It’s just that one is a goofy little toy version and the other is nearly as good as a full-blown PS2. Whenever I have a game available for both machines, the PSP version is almost always preferred, more featureful, and has a better presentation.
Another thing people gloss right over in these dicussions: The PSP’s multi-media features are astounding. It is a much more powerful system in terms of GFX processor, CPU, sound, and capacity. It is made to do more than just play games and has support for lots of different activities right in firmware. With the DS on the other hand, everything but games feels like a complete hack. I have the R4 cart and putting Videos and Music on the DS is really clunky and the overall experience is nowhere as good anyway since the PSP has much better video and sound. I tend to think of my DS as a gaming only device. Even something as basic as internet browsing: the PSP has an integrated browser whereas on the DS: good luck, hope the homebrewers can do something for you.
I’m not even going to go into to detail on the oher things the PSP’s CPU and Grpahics processor bring to the table (or the ability to play PS1 games, etc).
As stated earlier, I like both of my systems and will not be shelving one any time soon. But really, as someone who has lived with both for a long time, I continue to be astounded by what the PSP is capable of and really cannot say the same for the DS. Given this feeling I get tired of seeing so many people parrot the same bogus points and ignore certain things about this amazing little box. As you can tell, I really do enjoy it more than the other and as a result feel strongly about the topic.
That said, my youngest child (daughter) is getting a DS for Christmas and my oldest (son) will get a PSP, he’s ready for the more advanced capabilities it provides, will appreciate the killer sports games and it’s a better overall system for a more advanced user. My daughter will enjoy the plug and go simplicity, drawing with the touch pad, and Mario and Princess games on the DS.
Wow, Elric.
Thanks for your wonderful and long response it is very detailed. I personally appreciate it a bunch as well as those employees of SlashGear.
Well, I just got a PSP Slim for X-mas and i might say that i’m quite happy.It is a little bit longer than a DS but i can forgive it for that (the large screen is apology enough).I dont quite like the new glossy pannels on the Slim version,I myself like mat paint better instead of glossy one (seriously i would prefere it over gloss anyday on anything),mainly because it leaves a lot of greecy fingerprints no matter what.Although I’ve seen the DS and it has a glossy paint too.But when I saw a DS live a few weeks back i was amazed at how small and cute it really was.It was the Lite black version (I love black when it comes to consoles) and it was so small and thin that I now see why there are a lot of people who love it,but I’m a PS man so i got the slim mainly because of *see Erlic’s comment*.
But i have to say that the new PSP Slym is a lot better than the old one (exept for the fingerprints) it’s a lot lighter and thinner,ya know,you can really feel the difference when you hold and use it.The larger cash memory also is awesome it loaded my game a lot faster the second,third,fourth and fifth time after I died in “Killzone”.The battery life is the same but for the smaller capacity battery it is amazing.The screen really is brighter tha the old one and the direct TV-out is so helpfull.But i really gotta complain about the fact that there is no USB cable in the box and that you have to buy it aditionally.THAT SUCKS!!!
But overalll i have to say that it’s up to the buyer to decide which one to get-the simpler (as in the games),smaller cheaper DS or the more complicated(as in games),intriegen,better graphics(yes that is why i wanted it),more realystic(the games),a little bit larger and more expensive(just by a few dollars…ok 20/30) PSP.
p.s. i’m not english,I’m bulgarian so i have a lot spelling mistakes so dont make a fus about it please.Although for a 16 year old I think I did very good myself. ;)
The problem I find with my PSP is that it tries to hard to be as good as a console and that tends to let it down in the creativity part. It grabs with graphics and the whole “Console on the go” but it lacks compared to the actual consoles. The DS on the other hand is not trying to be a console so it makes up for that in its stylistic graphics and gameplay.. Dont get my wrong I mean there are good games for my PSP but in the end I find that alot of the games have better versions on the Playstation..
On the other hand the DS has many games that instead of trying too hard to be like their Cube counterparts they go with what they have and add other features that directly link to the uniqueness of the handheld itself.. rather than a lacking version of the console version thats on the PSP.
The PSP is a way better system than the DS the DS sucks a PSP rocks!!!!!!!!!! with a PSP you can do internet and watch movies and listen to music and also photos the DS can not.
PSP is the new winner over the DS
you are wrong. the DS can use the internet even the computer one by using DS extreme card. i do not thing that ds and psp should be fighting because they are for different people. the ds is for kids and the psp should be for adults.
I’d go for DS. I think games are all about fun and DS has it. FYI for others who don’t know, Nintendo DS can also play mp3s and videos. Face the reality, PSP only has graphics to offer and it lacks one of the important key factors that the DS managed to have, GAME LIFESPAN.
i am getting a DS or a psp but i decided to get the DS because i am 11 and the psp are for teenagers and i think the nintendo DS is wayyyyy more better than the psp i mean it has 2 screens you have internet and you can verse people if they have a run between the psp and the DS i would definintly go for the DS also i have a wii and it rocks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! sony sucks go DS!!!!!!!!!!!!
FU*K!!!!!!!!!!I just did a nasty thing.You know that in the slim psp there are 2 failsaves in the umd drive for it to be running.well i usually like to push them so the drive can run when it is open with no disc for fun,but one of them broke off!!!!I dont know what i did but my guess is that i was pushing a “little” hard and it broke or maybe just got out,because it doesnt seem broken in any place,but i can’t tell cuz it’s so small!!! it is the one by the end of the umd door,the end from where you open the door.
If anyone could help me with that(tell me if it might be broken or that it can come out)or tell me how to fix it,because now it wont read any discs because one failsafe isnt…well safe!! Please HEEEELP!!!!! :(
I think DS is better. It can still play music and go on the internet with a few extensions. The games are all good too, I hate to see how you make it sound like a toddler toy. Its not an age one to 7 console, I have seen some pretty “out there” games. Its more portable and overall its a big leap. PSP is basically just a portable version of PS2, where DS is something upgraded and different to its older models.
ok frist of sony kinda sucks BALLS and the wii sales more then the ps3 and i have to say the ps3 has like no good games i had a psp and it sucked i hated it sold it to buy gh3 for the wii and that game rocks!I must say with matroid prime 3 and super mario galxiy and ssbb the wii is looking GREAT!
psp gets real good graffics but comes out with less new games. while nintendo is just whipping out tons of new games. but since s=they whip em out so fast the games just plainly suck. so i have both, but prefer a psp based on games. the ds also is a lot cheaper and has a lot more multiplayer games
The truth is you can’t go wrong with either system.
I own both.
When i had niether i looked all over the internet to look for sites to tell
me witch was better… nothing really helped me.
So i decided to buy the ds (first)
it was nice for a bit but really doesn’t have that good of game variety for teens/adults and the graphics were not quite up to snuff.
But, the ds does include many games with online (wifi) play and has (as u know)the dual screen with one a touch screen (which are both great features).
The PSP however you can’t go wrong with.
Sony offers many Child and Teen-Adult games.
The PSP also gives music, video and internet browser capabitlities.
The graphics are quite astonishing but the battery life is quite short compared to that of a ds.
The overall truth is you can’t go wrong with either so pick whatever one YOU feel is right.
Hope this Helped
Cheers
i have a psp and a ds and i actualy refer the ds. most of the games for the psp are dimmed down sports games.
the psp has many over rated features…
internet browser - is almost useless to anyone with a computer
mp3 player - psp is to big to use as a mp3 player just get a i-pod
videos - just get the dvd and watch the movie at home instead of the psp video umds
( dvds actualy sell for less than the psp video umds do anyway )