okay, i think the DS games suck...

[sony_man]

but before switching to a different console, bring attention to quality not only in the graphics departement but the case and body. ive heard that it is just as horrible as an ipod 3rd gen.

 

[Aman]

It's obvious that the "dual screen" and "touch screen" were even thought-of to have a better market share. What a gimmick

The games right now are dismal for both systems, but the PSP at least has a MUCH better design, more features, and better hardware. I think the PSP is the clear winner here. Kind of dissapointing.

 

[TrevorNetwork]

It's funny how many people seem to ignore the gross oversights of the PSP. Things like weight, battery life, and ruggedness. The PSP suffers great losses in the three most critical parts of a portable gaming system.

 

[MikeB06]

Honestly, I cannot understand how anyone could think the DS's graphics are only a minor improvement over the GBA's. If you were just able to play the system in the store, Metroid Prime alone is more than a N64 could do. Compare that to the GBA-- it's rated as a 32 bit system, and can barely pull off rendering 3D environments (see Tony Hawk series and the few FPS's that came out for it). As far as the two screens go, the games don't require you to simultaneously look at both screens for gameplay...one is for the action, the other shows supplemental stuff like maps, etc. I completely agree that the games out now are lackluster, I only have Mario 64DS and the Metroid demo. However, in the next year there are plenty of games coming out that will likely bring the same type of successful titles the GBA "suffered" from. Some titles coming up in the next year include Goldeneye, Wario Ware, Bomberman, Sonic, Rayman, Animal Crossing, Mario Kart, Advance Wars, Final Fantasy III, Harvest Moon, Zelda, and most importantly Metroid Prime: Hunters. These are the types of games that keep Nintendo successful and made the GBA even more successful than any of the other Gameboys of the past. You don't have to be wowed by the graphics to enjoy these types of games, I personally feel like the PSP is going to need its extra graphical power and media features to be able to compete with the DS and GBA, its release list is full of racing and sports games, and PS2 type action games. It really seems to me that the PSP isn't trying to play to the gamers that made the GBA successful, but more to a general gaming audience, not the established portable gaming audience Nintendo has its grip on.

 

[HiGHFLYiN9]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TrevorNetwork It's funny how many people seem to ignore the gross oversights of the PSP. Things like weight, battery life, and ruggedness. The PSP suffers great losses in the three most critical parts of a portable gaming system.

Gamespot recently weighed the systems and the DS and PSP were about the same from what I recall, The DS weighing 282g and the PSP weighing 276g w/battery and memory stick. They also mentioned when concerning weight that the DS needs to be held with one hand while using the touch screen wheras the PSP does not. http://hardware.gamespot.com/Story-ST-11721-1274-x-x-x

A full battery on the PSP lasts over 4 hours according to info found here: http://psp.ign.com/articles/572/572563p1.html

You do bring up a good point in regards to ruggedness considering it's optical media with a delicate laser inside of a device prone to being dropped a few times.

 

[TrevorNetwork]

Four hours is terrible.

By "ruggedness" I am also referring to the exposed screen. Piss-poor design imho

The PSP was a horrible idea, and is typical of Sony's "glitz approach" to many things. I suspect it will fail miserably. Bare in mind, I'm a fan boy of no gaming system. This is just the way I see the facts.

 

[MD1032]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TrevorNetwork Four hours is terrible.

That just about sums it up for me. I was going to post something about battery life, and I had no idea it was this horendous. Seriously, how is the device even usable with four hours of battery life?

Ruggedness, yes, I think it's more convienient to be able to fold the DS and put it in my pocket alone, but I guess the PSP would be perfectly portable with a case of some sort, but it's still not as portable.

 

[Konranjyoutai]

I dont get how you people are calling 4-6 hours on a portable gaming device with the graphical capabilites of the PSP to be crap. I mean cmon, how many of you actually sit around (NOT by an outlet) for over 4 hours playing a videogame? Even if your in a car i am almost positive they will sell an inverter to plug into the car. Not only this..if you look at the battery life. The only part of the battery i find to be crap is when wifi is on, which is around 2 1/2 hours. Of course..the best thing on the psp is the battery life with MP3's, which is around 10 1/2 hours. I am sure later on games will disable certain things they dont need to use and not take full task on the processor and increase battery life (not to mention the revisions that sony will release, probly even a bigger battery to fit into the system instead of an entire redesign). I've looked at the DS, havnt played it yet, but considering the games..they look like crap, dont seem very fun (other than mario, which i loved). The console has an ugly bulbous cheap plastic look to it, cant play mp3's, is HUGE in an awkward way and you have to get -use- to the stylis (spelling) which you shouldnt have too..If i am EVER going to buy a DS it will be when they release a new design of it.

Edit: Oh and if a Apple Ipod's screen can stay well with minimal scratches a PSP can probly do it as well.

 

[aeriyn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by highflyin9 A full battery on the PSP lasts over 4 hours...

For once, Sony didn't manage to get a bajillion hours of battery life out of a portable device. Whoa!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Konranjyoutai I dont get how you people are calling 4-6 hours on a portable gaming device with the graphical capabilites of the PSP to be crap.

I'm not calling it crap. I'm calling it pointless.

No one I know owns a portable gaming console except for my nine year old brother who has a GBA.

I mean, really, who has the time to make a portable gaming system worthwhile? Times when you had the time but could not use your PC or regular console?

Not many people have this time. I guess if you traveled a lot, but... laptop would be more economical for that. Does a lot more than plays games too.

I think the primary reason Nintendo owns the portable gaming market is because the GBA is a) cheap b) mostly made for younger people c) who have copious amounts of spare time and periods where they have to wait for a long time with nothing to do.

As a twenty year old, I find that I can afford stuff that's not cheap, but I never have periods where I have to wait and do nothing for a long time.

Honestly, I believe that neither the PSP nor the DS will do half as well as the GBA. They're designed for adults, the people with the least amount of time to actually use them. =P

 

[djgustashaw]

The whole DS/PSP thing reminds me of the GB/Game Gear battle ten years ago. As a Game Gear owner (yeah, I still have it), I can remember just how pissed I used to get when the batteries would go dead on me. It had a similar battery life to the PSP, about 5 hours or so. It seemed like I could never actually *go* anywhere with it, I usually just played it at home with an AC adapter or (gasp) had to take the adapter with me when I went places. Sure, you may not be able to play constantly for the entire duration of the battery life, but are you going to have access to chargers in between your gaming stints?

One point I'm NOT trying to make with this analogy, however, is that the DS will win the portable battle as the original Game Boy did back in the day. I'm just not sure how the gaming public is going to take to the dual screens, or how well developers will take advantage of it. I'm really worried that the whole concept is going to end up being too complex and abstract for 3rd party developers. I haven't gotten a chance to actually play one seriously yet, so I'm not going to comment on the controls of any of the games. But I will say that anyone who feels it's not more capable than the GBA is an idiot-- go play Metriod, as MikeB06 said. The graphics are awesome, and it only took me five seconds to realize that. I can't imagine how good they'll be on the PSP.

 

[aeriyn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by djgustashaw As a Game Gear owner...

OMG, you had one too? I got one for my twelfth birthday! Two hours and six dead alkalines later, my mom took it away from me until she got an AC adaptor for it so I didn't use all the batteries in the house.

I'd steal all the batteries out of the A/V remotes, my little brothers' toys, everything... XD

My game gear only lasted about 2 hours on six alkalines, actually.

 

[Konranjyoutai]

Quote:

Originally Posted by aeriyn For once, Sony didn't manage to get a bajillion hours of battery life out of a portable device. Whoa! I'm not calling it crap. I'm calling it pointless. No one I know owns a portable gaming console except for my nine year old brother who has a GBA. I mean, really, who has the time to make a portable gaming system worthwhile? Times when you had the time but could not use your PC or regular console? Not many people have this time. I guess if you traveled a lot, but... laptop would be more economical for that. Does a lot more than plays games too. I think the primary reason Nintendo owns the portable gaming market is because the GBA is a) cheap b) mostly made for younger people c) who have copious amounts of spare time and periods where they have to wait for a long time with nothing to do. As a twenty year old, I find that I can afford stuff that's not cheap, but I never have periods where I have to wait and do nothing for a long time. Honestly, I believe that neither the PSP nor the DS will do half as well as the GBA. They're designed for adults, the people with the least amount of time to actually use them. =P

Well thats also what i'm saying is 10 1/2 hours for an mp3 player, i think thats pretty good..and at 180 bucks is pretty cheap for an mp3 player that plays games that look like a ps2.

 

[djgustashaw]

Quote:

My game gear only lasted about 2 hours on six alkalines, actually.

Haha, damn, maybe I got lucky with my GG unit. But complete truth be told, I didn't take JUST the AC adapter with me everywhere... I took the whole carrying case complete with GG, AC adapter, all my games, and Game Genie. lol cut me a break, I was like 8 years old at the time.

 

[Rizumu]

the batteries melted inside my game gear and destroyed it. >< that was the end of a previously beautiful relationship...

 

[zachary80]

Quote:

Originally Posted by aeriyn I'm sure there's a lot of people in my position, but who buy these portables anyhow and make excuses to use them when they really either don't have time or don't need to. =P I know my boss at work, while he's waiting for a match to start in some FPS game he plays, he plays on the GBA SP. I mean, oiy... that's just a little much.

Original Tetris + Bathroom =

Personally I will go with the PSP. Nintendo games went downhill after Perfect Dark.

edit:
While 4 hours is pretty bad, do people really need to play games much longer than that?