PSP or Nintendo DS?

Question

Which is better?
PSP or Nintendo DS?
Explain your answer.

Answer 1

I think the psp is.

A Brief Overview of the Two Systems:

* Nintendo DS: Known as the Nintendo Dual-Screen, the DS is a handheld game device with two screens, a stylus pen, and the ability to play both Nintendo DS and Gameboy Advance games. Equipped with wireless technology, a touch sensitive screen, and a microphone, the DS has many characteristics similar to a specialized PDA, but with awesome gaming ability. It was released in the U.S. in November of 2004.

* Sony Playstation Portable (PSP): The Playstation Portable is Sony’s answer to Nintendo’s handheld market dominance. With a large wide-screen display, more powerful innards than the DS, and a media type capable of storing 1.8 gigabytes of data, the PSP is well positioned to change how we think of portable gaming.


Price:

* Nintendo DS: $150.00
Check current Prices

* Sony Playstation Portable: $200 – 250
Check current Prices


Detailed breakdown:
Technically, the PSP dominates the DS in terms of horsepower. With far superior hardware under the hood, the PSP is capable of pushing out graphics that fall somewhere between the PS and the PS2. This means that the PSP has about the same graphical advantages over the DS that the original Playstation used to dominate the Nintendo 64 when it was released back in 1994. However, other hardware differences make this a different story than that of the Playstation and Nintendo’s doomed N64. Whereas the PSP is basically a portable version of the current PS2 home console, the Nintendo DS includes a number of features that have never been seen in a handheld gaming unit. The PSP’s strength lies in its graphic ability, and the DS’s strength lies in its additional features and creativity. Let’s compare the two units point by point.

Screens:

* PSP: The PSP has a 4.3-inch screen, which is gigantic in terms of handheld systems. The screen uses a letterbox resolution of 480 x 272, and has 24-bit color, meaning that it’s capable of displaying millions of colors with a quality that is unparalleled in terms of portable game units.

* DS: The DS has two separate screens that run simultaneously depending on the game you’re playing. While both screens are smaller than the PSP’s single display, they can be used in tandem to provide varying information, such as a map on one and your playable character on the other. Additionally, the bottom screen on the DS is touch-sensitive, so in addition to being a display device, it can be an interface. The included stylus pen allows for a great deal of variety in approach to game design and control.

* Comments: The screens on the DS and the PSP are equally cool, in my opinion. The PSP is certainly going to have more wow power with its wide-screen gaming, but the DS is going to be capable of more in the long run. This is a good example of the difference between Nintendo and Sony’s approach to the market; Sony offers the current home console experience on the go, while Nintendo offers a different approach all together.
A Brief Overview of the Two Systems:

* Nintendo DS: Known as the Nintendo Dual-Screen, the DS is a handheld game device with two screens, a stylus pen, and the ability to play both Nintendo DS and Gameboy Advance games. Equipped with wireless technology, a touch sensitive screen, and a microphone, the DS has many characteristics similar to a specialized PDA, but with awesome gaming ability. It was released in the U.S. in November of 2004.

* Sony Playstation Portable (PSP): The Playstation Portable is Sony’s answer to Nintendo’s handheld market dominance. With a large wide-screen display, more powerful innards than the DS, and a media type capable of storing 1.8 gigabytes of data, the PSP is well positioned to change how we think of portable gaming.


Price:

* Nintendo DS: $150.00
Check current Prices

* Sony Playstation Portable: $200 – 250
Check current Prices


Detailed breakdown:
Technically, the PSP dominates the DS in terms of horsepower. With far superior hardware under the hood, the PSP is capable of pushing out graphics that fall somewhere between the PS and the PS2. This means that the PSP has about the same graphical advantages over the DS that the original Playstation used to dominate the Nintendo 64 when it was released back in 1994. However, other hardware differences make this a different story than that of the Playstation and Nintendo’s doomed N64. Whereas the PSP is basically a portable version of the current PS2 home console, the Nintendo DS includes a number of features that have never been seen in a handheld gaming unit. The PSP’s strength lies in its graphic ability, and the DS’s strength lies in its additional features and creativity. Let’s compare the two units point by point.

Screens:

* PSP: The PSP has a 4.3-inch screen, which is gigantic in terms of handheld systems. The screen uses a letterbox resolution of 480 x 272, and has 24-bit color, meaning that it’s capable of displaying millions of colors with a quality that is unparalleled in terms of portable game units.

* DS: The DS has two separate screens that run simultaneously depending on the game you’re playing. While both screens are smaller than the PSP’s single display, they can be used in tandem to provide varying information, such as a map on one and your playable character on the other. Additionally, the bottom screen on the DS is touch-sensitive, so in addition to being a display device, it can be an interface. The included stylus pen allows for a great deal of variety in approach to game design and control.

* Comments: The screens on the DS and the PSP are equally cool, in my opinion. The PSP is certainly going to have more wow power with its wide-screen gaming, but the DS is going to be capable of more in the long run. This is a good example of the difference between Nintendo and Sony’s approach to the market; Sony offers the current home console experience on the go, while Nintendo offers a different approach all together.

* This serves the same function as the wireless in the DS. The PSP is also capable of connecting to existing Wi-Fi hotspots, and may be able to download firmware upgrades over the Internet when they're released sometime in the future. While the Japanese units are not capable of surfing the Internet at the moment, there is a possibility such features will be included with updates or additional software that comes down the road.

* Comments: Online gaming for the DS and PSP are both equally possible, and just a matter of time. How they are implemented is pure speculation until it happens. What is concrete is that the DS is built to allow at least some wireless gaming with a single cartridge; you don’t need four friends with the same game in order to enjoy the experience, just four friends with one DS each. The DS’s touch pad and stylus also allow users to send text and graphic messages back and forth wirelessly, which the PSP can’t do for lack of an easy way to input messages. Based on what the systems are capable of doing at this moment, the DS is better designed to let the user do more with the system’s capabilities.


Controls:
The only significant difference between the controls, besides the DS’s ability to use the touch screen, which opens all sorts of possibilities, is that the PSP has an analog stick as well as a traditional directional pad. Since most games on the home consoles use analog sticks for control now days, it’s a good bet the PSP’s will see a great deal of use. However, it’s a specially designed analog control that doesn’t extend far from the front of the unit, and it may or may not be really useful. We’ll see when the PSP launches how this feature works.

Game Media:
The PSP and DS utilize different types of media for storing games. Games for the PSP come on what’s called Universal Media Discs, basically miniature DVDs created with a certain type of laser, and can store up to 1.8 gigabytes worth of data. This is substantially more than the Nintendo DS, which clocks in at a maximum of about 128 megabytes per card. In short, the media capacity for the PSP is an order of magnitude greater than the DS. To give you a comparative idea of how much memory 1.8 gigs is, keep in mind that the Xbox version of Morrowind IV: Elder Scrolls, one of the most complex games ever made, is roughly only 900 megabytes (less than one gigabyte), less than the 1.8 gigabytes of the UMD. In fact, so is Beyond Good and Evil, GTAIII, GTA: VC, Soul Calibur 2, Time Splitters 2, The Sims: Bustin’ Out, and The Urbz. At that size, the PSP discs are fully capable of holding pretty much anything the PSP is capable of playing.

Battery Life:
The disadvantages of having a DVD-style media device is that accessing it is more power consuming than the card-based media of the DS. As a consequence, the battery life of the DS is substantially greater than that of the PSP. According to reports on the actual Japanese version of the PSP, the system runs for roughly 3.5 hours per charge, depending on what you’re doing with the system. The DS, on the other hand, lays claim to between 6 to 8 hours worth of gaming life on a single charge.

The PSP and the Nintendo DS will both have great games, each with their fair share of exclusive titles. The DS will have Zelda, already has Mario, and the PSP will tout Sony exclusives. Though I’m cheering for the touch screen capacity of the DS (see below), only time will tell which system wins out in the software war. There is, however, a huge advantage that goes to the Nintendo DS: backwards compatibility. With the PS2 and the GameCube, the home consoles, Sony’s system has hundreds of more titles than the GameCube when you include both PS and PS2 games. In the handheld market, though, Nintendo has the situation reversed. The Nintendo DS is capable of playing Gameboy Advance games, which are about as good in terms of graphics as the old Super Nintendo game system.

At this moment, two months after launch, this gives the DS around 800 announced titles, 63 of them designed from the ground up for the DS, compared to the PSP’s 75. These titles include classic games that are amazingly addictive, with games like Zelda: A Link to the Past, Four Swords, and Minish Cap. Not only is Mario 64 available for the DS, but you can also play versions of Super Mario World, Mario Brothers 2, and Mario Brothers 3. There are tons of good games that can be picked up for cheap, and they’re all available right now, off the shelves, for the Nintendo DS. It’s an advantage that simply can’t be ignored.

Features Unique to Either System:
Here is where the direct comparison has to end. There are certain features that the Nintendo DS has that the PSP simply does not, and vice-versa. There are things that the PSP is designed to do that the DS never will. It a lot of ways, these features here are the deciding factors between the systems.

* DS: While graphically the weaker of the two systems, the Nintendo DS is still an excellent gaming system, and not just in a “when considered by itself” sort of way, either. Even when compared directly to the PSP, the DS is able to come away the winner on some very key points. Primarily, this has to do with its interface, meaning the touch screen and the microphone. Both have very real, concrete applications that make the DS a powerful system for games, and I’m not just talking about being able to “touch” Wario. There are certain genres on the PC that have been traditionally poor performers on any console unit, home or portable. Mainly, I’m thinking about Real Time Strategy games. These include StarCraft, WarCraft, and Command & Conquer games, among others. While many of these appeared on older consoles like the N64 and the Playstation, they’ve failed because console controls have been incapable of translating the PC experience into something that’s fun in the living room. Until now. The DS’s touch screen opens up genres that have been traditionally too complicated for use on a console controller. Selecting units, telling them where to go and how to behave has been too difficult without the ability to just point-and-click. Now, for the first time on a console, the DS has an interface capable of handling such things. Imagine playing StarCraft against your friend over the wireless DS network. It’s a genre that simply can’t be captured as well on the PSP.

Additionally, the touch screen gives the DS near PDA abilities. Just recently, Nintendo licensed the Palm operating system, raising the possibility of word processors that run on the DS, email programs, and Internet browsing software, which would be great if combined with a keyboard of some sort. While the touch screen sounds sort of gimmicky upon first hearing of it, there are really exciting possibilities that are just waiting to be developed.

Another feature is the microphone, which is built into the unit, including a plug-in for some sort of headset, maybe similar to a cell phone headset. Possibilities have been raised that the DS might be able to serve as some sort of an Internet phone, or be able to offer in-game chat features. When you consider how significant some of those applications may be, and suddenly the PSP’s, “I look really good” doesn’t sound nearly as hot as it did.

* PSP: While Nintendo is focusing on expanding the capabilities of handheld game systems, Sony is focusing on providing the user with a portable media center. Unlike the DS, the Playstation Portable uses a proprietary memory stick to store data in addition to the UMDs, which aren’t writeable. MemoryStick Duo cards come in sizes up to about 1 gigabyte, and can store everything from mp3s to movies. Because the format is one that is used by computers as well, the discs can be plugged into a personal computer, loaded up with music, or mpeg4 video, and then returned to the PSP for playback. This means that the PSP is not only a portable game device, but also a portable media center that plays music and lets you watch movies on the go. It can serve the function of mp3 player, game device, or child-distracter on long trips.

Depending on how you approach the industry, both the Nintendo DS and the Playstation Portable are tremendously exciting. The PSP has immediate spell effect; every person who touches it will want it. However, I actually predict that the DS, with its weaker processing power and storage space, but with expanded interface, has the potential for being the better gaming unit. Nintendo has and is addressing the primary limitations of gaming-on-the-go, and that’s control interface. Their innovations will allow far more flexible and unique games to flourish. That combined with the Nintendo DS’s backwards compatibility to GBA games, and it’s well positioned to move gaming in new directions. The PSP, on the other hand, will be able to produce PS2 level graphics, but have troubles overcoming the design problems; no matter how much they try, there simply aren’t as many buttons on the PSP as there are on the PS2 controller, and so compromises will have to be made in order to make certain games work well even if the system is capable of displaying it in full glory.

Pretty and fast, the PSP is fundamentally limited in what it can do. That doesn’t mean that we won’t see great games on it, or that it won’t sell like hotcakes, but it does mean that the PSP itself will never be more than an extension of the home unit in terms of games and the experiences that it offers. That said I’d pick up the PSP for its mp3, video, and multimedia capacity alone. First, though, I’d buy a Nintendo DS.

It’s a better trend for the industry.

It’s a better game system.

And ultimately, it’ll give you better gaming.

Answer 2

Nintendo DS is way more fun. But PSP has more to offer such as surfing the net. But the DS will soon have that feature. But I choose DS.

Answer 3

Psp-Twisted steel, steel of Honor, steel kit good..The funnest video games. Nintendo Ds-Pokemon(i be responsive to its infantile yet its relaxing), Legend of Zelda Phantom Hourglass(my admired game on the DS), and StarFox. I even have great Mario bros 2 and its very relaxing.

Answer 4

PSP, the graphics alone make a better mobile gamestation, plus you have the ability to surf the web, watch videos, and listen to music

Answer 5

Nintendo DS!!! I don't have it but it looks sooooo much more fun and it comes in cool colors!!

Answer 6

No contest PSP, better games and graphics, can watch movies listen to music, surf the net etc.

Answer 7

PSP:better graphics,better gameplay,better software,better hardware,better games.
DS:bad graphics,bad gameplay,meh games,bad design,low battery life etc...

Answer 8

ds because: mario and zelda

Answer 9

nintendo ds cause they make a pink one

Answer 10

PSP because you can do a lot more!!!!