need some input - Which Portable to Get?

[Howie6925]

I am thinking of getting a sony psp or a nintendo ds, but I am unsure which I should get. So I am wondering what is the better of the two, and given the choice what would you choose.

[Yago]

Well, that is easy. Look at each system specs. Then, more importantly, look at the game library for each system. Then, see which one you would be more interested in regarding the games that are out for it. What games interest you the most.

[Snapple]

It depends on what you're looking for as far as games.

If you like Playstation games and would like to play scaled down versions of them on a really nice, big portable screen, go with the PSP. If you like longer, console-style games, go with the PSP.

If you want more EXCLUSIVE titles, go with the DS. If you want more arcade-type games that you can pick up and put down on a whim without devoting a whole lot of time if you don't want, go with the DS. If you want the system with about 1/20th of the load time as the other, go with the DS. If you like sillier, more colorful games, go with the DS.

I have both systems. I think there are positive things about both systems. However, I much, MUCH prefer my DS. At first, I scoffed at the DS. I didn't want it. I thought it was gimmicky. I saw that the PSP was more powerful. But the GAMES. The DS just has a lot more good games, in my opinion.

[njiska]

Well, that is easy. Look at each system specs. Then, more importantly, look at the game library for each system. Then, see which one you would be more interested in regarding the games that are out for it. What games interest you the most.

That should just be the De Facto standard response to any question of this nature. Well said.

[Chrome]

I own a DS, but not a PSP and have no intrest in a PSP, but here is my viewpoint on the DS.

At first, I thought the touch screen was a gimick, and to a certain point I still feel this way. If the game wasn't designed around the touch screen (e.g. Feel the Magic or Phoenix Wright) it does feel like a gimick to me. However, I have played a few games where the touch screen was a good addition and utilized effectively (e.g. Tony Hawk and touch screen specials).

On the issues of loading times, I've never had any issues with load times on my DS. I have seen the videos on the net about PSP loads, but I have little experience with it and can't really address that end of it.

As far as the game quality goes, its all about your taste in games. I use my DS on trips and while waiting for the bus, class, or whatever. I prefer short games that I can pick up, play for a while and put it back. There are MANY titles like this on the DS (e.g. Tony Hawk and Bust A Move).

At first I was a little unhappy with the DS as Nintendo was slow with comming out with good games, but now that they've got the ball going, there are lots of great games I'm looking forward to and I couldn't be more happy with my descision.

Later,
Chrome...

[Sothy]

http://img460.imageshack.us/img460/5894/shortcircuit69ub.jpg


NEED INPUT STEPHANIE!

[Snapple]

NO DISASSEMBLE!

DISASSEMBLE = DEAD!

[jdc]

I've owned both and played nearly every game for each.

The PSP does a wonderful job of being a miniature portable Playstation/PS2. You can take you favorite gaming franchises with you. The system does many things besides play games.

The DS shines in the area of unique games that can be played in short bursts. If you love puzzlers it's your system even though the PSP has the incredible Lumines. The touch screen is brilliant. I like the added durability of the DS due in part to the clamshell "lid".

I have arthritis in my hands and found the PSP to be too difficult to play when the thumbnub was needed. The DS was more comfortable for me to play for extended periods.

There is no wrong choice. Both systems kick equal amounts of ass and in a perfect world we'd each own both of them.

[hezeuschrist]

There is no wrong choice. Both systems kick equal amounts of ass and in a perfect world we'd each own both of them.

So the DS is the better value?

I personally prefer the DS, I don't own a PSP and have no desire to until they drop the still way too high price.

[Howie6925]

There is no wrong choice. Both systems kick equal amounts of ass and in a perfect world we'd each own both of them.

I know that is my problem in choosing. I want a DS for Metriod Prime: Hunters and I would like a psp for GTA and being able to play movies. I like what people are saying about the DS in the fact I can play it in short bursts because I would like to be able to play it at work during break. Hopefully I can make a decision soon. Thanks to everyone that replyed.

And sothy that was pretty funny. LOL ;)

[slip81]

I'm a DS owner so I'll recommend one of those. I have no interest in the PSP. For me when it comes to portables what I want is a portable system with it's own games, not a portable version of a big system.

The DS is cheaper, as has a load of original good games, so that's why I went with it.

[Howie6925]

So I decided to go with a DS, futureshop a pretty good deal. NintendoDS, metroid prime hunters and a wifi adaptor for $200.

[Cmtz]

If you buy the DS you can get this cool stylus.

http://ds.qj.net/uploads/articles_module/12568_dsstylus.jpg

[c0ldb33r]

LOL where did you find that stylus???

Howie,

Do you already have a wireless router? If so, check to see if it's DS compatible before you buy the wireless dongle thing. I got the wifi dongle in my christmas stocking, and it's kind of useless because we've already got a wireless router. AND, I'll let you know, the wifi dongle was a bitch to set up. It seems that there are two camps. (1) It's a breeze! Simple and easy way to get online, (2) it's like pulling nails. Mine was #2. I tried everything to get it working, I finally did, and it works well, but I don't use the thing. It IS neat though seeing something plugged into the computer with a nintendo logo on it.

I think you made the right choice getting a DS. The PSP is a beautiful piece of hardware. The screen is GORGEOUS and it's got a healthy homebrew dev community. But the games just aren't there. There are some great PSP games, but the DS is unstoppable. I can't remember the last time Nintendo had a system with such a slew of impressive games. One after another, and I want them all (that's not true - there's a lot of crap, but the number of killer apps is amazing). The PSP has a few killer apps, like wipeout, GTA and Lumines, but when it comes to software, the DS wins. The DS especially wins when it comes to battery life and price too (plus two screens mean twice the value right?) ;)

The following is a list of must-have games. There are a lot of other fantastic games, but no DS collection is complete without these:

1. Mariokart DS
2. Tetris DS
3. Castlevania
4. Advance Wars: Dual Strike
5. Meteos

One thing you should know before you make your purchase is that the DS Lite is coming down the pipes. I don't know if you want to wait for it, but it improves over the regular DS in a couple of ways, including adjustable screen brightness which gives better battery life and a brighter and clearer screen, a better positioned microphone, and a smaller and more attractive design. I'll likely end up getting a DS Lite when it comes out.

[THATinkjar]

Something I never thought I would say... while the DS has about a dozen must-buys, and another dozen very good games, the rest are VERY average/poor/rubbish. The PSP, I would say, probably has more games above average than the DS.

Something to consider. Third party support is proving quite lacklustre on the DS. I'm praying for a good E3.

[Howie6925]

Well,I actually bought the DS when I posted. So I went out today and picked up Tetris DS and Lunar: Dragon song.
I was going to pick up Castlevania but it was like $50(im cheap). Coldbeer I to am having trouble connecting to the wifi system how did you get it to work, do I need to enter my ip address and such to get it or what else so I need.
(i am using to wifi connector not a wireless router).
Thanks,
Howie

[cyberfluxor]

Haha, nice sylus! But good choice anyway you go. I prefer the DS over PSP due to prices and choice of titles. I've seen people playing awesome DS titles wireless in 1 room and it's so easy to do. Also I have favoritism towards it due to all the titles I love that fall into it's library. I turned away from the PSP when all the movies were being released it to. It was as if its market was turning over and didn't care as much about gaming. But there are some great titles on it worth getting, so by the end they are pretty equal in my eyes.

[diskoboy]

I don't even have a DS, and I'm voting for it. I play my friends all the time.

I sold my PSP a while back. Games are pretty craptacular...

[c0ldb33r]

I was going to pick up Castlevania but it was like $50(im cheap). Coldbeer I to am having trouble connecting to the wifi system how did you get it to work, do I need to enter my ip address and such to get it or what else so I need.

What exactly is the error / problem? Can you get the driver software installed? My problem was that the install would halt, and give a terrible error, almost when it finished. I tried a million times, install the software then plug in the dongle, install the software, plug in dongle, software, dongle.

The solution? This is going to sound crazy, but it worked, was to plug in the dongle, then install the software. The exact opposite of nintendo's instructions, and of the custom when installing any USB devices (which is why I didn't try earlier).

But if this isn't your problem, I'll point you in a couple of places:

Nintendo's connection support (http://www.nintendowifi.com/consumerservice/showTopic.do?topicId=Home_USB_Install&catId=USB)
The Average Gamer - solving the DHCP issue (http://www.theaveragegamer.com/2006/01/11/nintendo-wifi-dongle-installation-solution/)

I'll try to help more once you let me know what the problems are. :)

[Howie6925]

I took me a little while to get it to go but I finally figured it out. I used the cd at first but it was out of dateso I downloaded to new update from nintendos website, uninstalled it but i did not do the "devremov" part of the uninstall, that was my problem. So im online now and got my ass handed to me in metroid prime hunters and tetris. Thanks Coldbeer for tyring to help me out. my last question is how do I get a friend code ?

[segagamer4life]

If you buy the DS you can get this cool stylus.

http://ds.qj.net/uploads/articles_module/12568_dsstylus.jpg


LMAO... LOL LOL LOL LOL That is F---in Hilarious.... I don't have one, but I would want one....LMAO.

[fishsandwich]

a
a
Forget the DS AND the PSP.

Get an N-Gage!

Get a used one and some of the cheap games. Some of the N-Gage specific games are actually really good, especially the newer releases. There are still games coming out for it... maybe even four a year!!!

Or you could just buy a big MMC card for cheap, download the free Snakes game (excellent) and then load it up with emulators. I've got over 1500 games on my N-Gage now.

Of course, I'm damn cheap. Who the hell recommends the N-Gage anyway? Just ignore me. I'm going to play Gin Rummy on the GG/SMS emulator now. 1500 games plus all the new ones and I'm playing Gin Rummy? Idiot.

:dance:

[n8littlefield]

One recommendation I would like to give is to join Gamefly for at least one month with your DS as a focus. There are a ton of games on the DS that get average/mediocre scores that you might find you actually REALLY like.

For me, Battles of Prince of Persia, Yoshi Touch & Go, Zoo Tycoon and Sims 2 all were games that I really ended up loving, despite mixed reviews and little online hype from word of mouth. Gamefly is a great way to try a bunch of games before buying

[CrimsonNugget]

I'd have to say DS. I wanted a PSP at first, but the library for it doesn't look very appealing at all. My sister got me a DS for Christmas and I was surprised at how nice it was.

[lotus13]

DS... then the GP2X (http://www.gp2x.com/). Mainly because it's a beautiful machine and has good emulators that run on it.

[Muscelli]

ive gone through, and liked the PSP a lot better, pretty much hated my DS (even after getting the "good" games for it like kirby, phoenix wright, and many others) and don't see what other people see in it, well thats just my personal opinion on this though..

[Rev. Link]

There are two main reasons I have yet to buy a PSP. One is the price. I'm not paying $250 for a handheld game system, especially a Sony one. That's not a bash on Sony, it's just that their hardware has a tendency to be really buggy in its first generation.

The second reason is that there weren't many games that really interested me at all for the system. I can only think of three of the early batch of games I was interested in. THUG 2 Remix, Darkstalkers Chronicles, and Lumines, and two of those are basically ports. Now, there are starting to be more games released for the system. Capcom's stuff particularly has my attention. But it's still not worth the money, IMO.

I also have to say I have issues with any handheld that uses discs over carts, but I won't get all into that.

That said, I love my DS. It's been my favorite system for some time now. There are a number of good games for it, including a lot of original stuff. But like it's been said, you have to decide for yourself which system has more games you want. All I can do is tell you what I like, which in the end isn't going to help you too much.

[SNKFan75]

Well, I would recommend getting the DS first. The main reason why is the games for the platform are just fun to play. If you are into watching DVD's, then get the PSP.

The only think I did not like about the PSP is the fact that the screen is very fragile and gets scratched alot.

SNKFan75

[Ed Oscuro]

Sega Nomad. Played it a bit today. Good all through the states if you've got a wall adapter handy (and I'm thinking about trying out a car DC adapter that can plug right into it, if I can match the output, that is), and the price:performance ratio is through the roof. :D

[Juganawt]

DS all the way for me, more games available, better games available, plus the touch screen is a superbly innovative feature and works alot better than the PSP's analog nub.

PSP IS great for emulators though, and does have a few really good titles, but DS simply has more decent games available... the good to duff ratio on the PSP is astoundingly poor.

[GrayFox]

DS.

The game selection for the win.

Not that I hate the PSP, but most games I can already play in a better format, on a larger screen, with better controls, more features, better gameplay, better graphics, etc, and possibly cheaper. But damn, Lumines is so good..

[THATinkjar]

You guys realise the thread starter has since bought a DS, right?

[poloplayr]

DS. No debate.

[Howie6925]

You guys realise the thread starter has since bought a DS, right?

Thanks.

I bought the system thanks to everyone who responded because I had already written it off before hand but to my surprise that little system kicks some serious ass. One down side it cant play GB or GBC, because I bought Dragon Warrior 3 for the gbc a week before I bought the DS. I have GB player for my GC so no biggie.