Nintendo DS or Sony PSP?

[MasonMarxx]

i'm looking to buy a portable console sometime in the near future but unsure what to get.

in the past i bought a PSP back when they first came out and was hooked on it, playing game online all the time and driving my boss crazy at work (threatened to stamp on it).

but i later sold it when i was short of cash and i'm now looking into buying something again.

Now, my girlfriend wants a DS, well, i thought it would be a good idea for her, more her gaming style and we've got a Wii that she likes to play on (she hates the games i play). Now i dont know whether to get 2 DS's, one for her and myself or buy her a DS and get myself a PSP again. from what i've heard a lot has changed on the PSP since i last played.

primarily, i want to play Final Fantasy games. i'm not too worried about the graphics quality as i've been through a fair amount of different styles!

one thing that really puts me off with the DS is all the brain training crap and "cooking mama" rubbish which i see my little sister playing on constantly.

I've been playing games for years now, and feel i'm a relatively serious gamer who likes serious storylines, nothing tacky and too hack n slash, i would rather know what i'm killing and why ^^

any suggestions as to what i should get?

Also, i'm in England so not sure if some games are out in the States/Japan and not the EU.

[meSchnitzel]

Re: Nintendo DS or Sony PSP?

What a great question, and a debat that any gamer can join in on from either side!

Personaly i own both, and I play my DS a lot more often that I do my PSP.

In terms of quality games on the PSP I can really only think of around 9, and very few of those were recent releases.

The DS, however, has a much more robust and varied game cataloge, filled with both shitty and amazing games.

If you like the Final Fantasy Titles I would say go with the DS. With the ability to play both DS games and GBA games, that opens up your Final Fantasy games availability. You can play Final Fantasy 1 and 2 with origins on the GBA, along with the remade FF3 on the DS. You can play the GBA FFIV or the new revamped FFIV on the DS. You'll also be able to pick up FFV, FFVI, and FFTa on the GBA with FFTa2 on the DS. And lets not forget (or do) FF Chocobo Tales and Crystal Chronicles.

On the PSP you have the remastered FF1 and 2, FFtactics, and FFVIII Crisi Core. Crisis core is a blast, and the original Tactics beats A or A2 any day, but its up to you which you like better

Now that is just the Final Fantasy titles, like I said both consoles offer some great games, my suggestiong would be for a DS however because the cataloge is much larger, and there really are a lot more quality games there... and you can buy portable Chrono Trigger.... FACT

[Durahansolo]

Re: Nintendo DS or Sony PSP?

Final Fantasy III, IV, Tactics A-2, and Crystal Chronicles:EOT(Not out yet) are on the DS. Final Fantasy VIII: Crisis Core, Dyssidia(Probably spelled wrong), FF1 & 2, and Tactics are on PSP. FFVII: Crisis Core is more of a hack-n-slash game but it has a backstory on Final Fantasy VII if you've played it, and Dyssidia is basically a fighting game. I don't know about Chrystal Chronicles because it isn't out, but I think the one I played on gamecube was mostly hack-n-slash, I don't think it was turn-based and I don't even remember what it was about. I'm planning on getting a DS myself, I bought one for my mom this christmas and she's been hooked on that damn brain age. I now have her hooked on "The New Super Mario Bros's Mini-Games." I also bought her the Namco Museum with a bunch of the old games on there and she plays Pac-Man lol.
I own a PSP and I don't even play it, I think I've played the DS more than the PSP.

[Kailea]

Re: Nintendo DS or Sony PSP?

It is really a hard choice, now that the PsP 3000 is out, its alot better, I had a DS but it was eaten (yes not joking here) by my dog -.- and the lack of quality lately on DS/Wii... I decided to try a PsP and have not regretted it (yet) ;p

DS is good, and so is PsP, you just need to look at both libraries of games, that are out, and coming out, and go from there.

[Feba]

Re: Nintendo DS or Sony PSP?

Their libraries are so different, they're almost incomparable.

And not in the way that it's hard to compare a PS360 to a Wii; in the way that it's hard to compare Disney World and Universal Studios.

Disney is clearly more popular, and there's tons of fun to be had there; but there's lots of good stuff over at Universal too, and they appeal to somewhat different tastes.

[TheGrandMom]

Re: Nintendo DS or Sony PSP?

How about this.......get one of each. That way when a game comes out on DS that you want to play you can and vice versa. There will be plenty on either system to entertain both of you and both of you will be happy.

I use both my DS and my PSP on a regular basis. I watch a lot of videos (anime/tv shows/movies/etc) on my PSP because I spend a lot of time in the hospital and at meetings. I also hate carrying a lot of seperate things so I have my music on my PSP also. I love just grabbing it, popping it in my briefcase or purse and off I go knowing I've covered all the bases in my entertainment. (I also have older PSP's so they play all the old school rpgs!)

The DS is great for times when I know I don't have time for a long game of anything. A lot of DS games can be quickly saved and I can play in short bursts. I personally didn't think I was going to like the quirky little games that were on it but then I tried a few and found them to be pretty entertaining. Even my FPS son likes Cooking Mama for a short burst of fun! LOL

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: Nintendo DS or Sony PSP?

DS has lots of good games.

PSP has a few good games and is generally hacked to play Nintendo stuff and watch ripped movies so we don't have to waste money on silly concepts like UMD movies.

So either way, you'll get a Nintendo fix, but with DS you'll spend more time actually playing games.

[ShepardG]

Re: Nintendo DS or Sony PSP?

I'd get both if you can.

If you can't, and you want one in the first 2/3rd's of 2009, get a PSP, because the nintendo DSi is coming out in late 2009.
By then, you'll probably have saved up some dough, and you'll be able to get both.

[MasonMarxx]

Re: Nintendo DS or Sony PSP?

wow. Thank you so much for all your input! Clearly i lot of different views! With the psp i noticed games weren't as big as i had hoped because they'd, by my idea, gone more for the 'next generation portable graphics' idea rather than gameplay.

I'm starting to consider the DS more now :-) the DSi from what i.ve seen doesn't look that much different apart from having a camera on it. What else is there?
______________________________
wow. Thank you so much for all your input! Clearly i lot of different views! With the psp i noticed games weren't as big as i had hoped because they'd, by my idea, gone more for the 'next generation portable graphics' idea rather than gameplay.

I'm starting to consider the DS more now :-) the DSi from what i.ve seen doesn't look that much different apart from having a camera on it. What else is there?

[meSchnitzel]

Re: Nintendo DS or Sony PSP?

DSi doesnt play GBA games so I dont really care for it. All it really offers is a DL service like WiiWare (no word on what games will actually appear on this DL service mind you,) a touch screen on top (who knows how often that will be utilized) and a camera... but you probably already have at least a phone with that feature.

Overall I'm no impressed with the DSi and I doubt I'll get one.

PSP has some great games for sure, but just not that many ^.^

[Durahansolo]

Re: Nintendo DS or Sony PSP?

DSi doesnt play GBA games so I dont really care for it.

I was gonna get a DSI, lol since it doesn't have GBA compatibility I guess I'll get a regular one then. As of late, Best Buy can't keep them on the shelves. I wonder if there'll be a price drop (Drop from 129-99.99) when the DSI comes out, or will they just phase them out altogether.

[Clever Ninja]

Re: Nintendo DS or Sony PSP?

DS has lots of good games.

PSP has a few good games and is generally hacked to play Nintendo stuff and watch ripped movies so we don't have to waste money on silly concepts like UMD movies.

So either way, you'll get a Nintendo fix, but with DS you'll spend more time actually playing games.

I have my PSP hacked and the only emulator on there is Genesis, I played enough SNES homebrew back in the day <_<.

Anyway, I own both, although I won't offer a major opinion on DS as I haven't bought a game for it in 1-2 years(just due to sheer money problems and such, nothing about the system). From what I did play from it, games like Advance Wars DS, Megaman Battle Network 5 DS, Phoenix Wright etc were all really fun, and only thing I regret about upgrading to my sexy black DS Lite is the GBA cart sticking out. Not a super big deal, but I've had the cart move out while it's been in my pocket, and the DS doesn't go into sleep mode while playing GBA games like it does for DS games. If I was really into the GBA still tho, would just buy a micro to avoid this dilemma.

For the PSP, I have it hacked mostly to avoid firmware updates to be able to load my own PS1 games on to it. Using some programs, you can put your PS1 games in your drive and burn a disk image of it(or download 1, but I owned alot of PS1 games so it was easier to burn my own) and then convert it to play on the PSP. On the PSP library itself, it started off VERY weak, I will admit. The library was why I purchased a DS in the first place back then, but since then it's gotten alot better. Games like Crisis Core, Megaman Maverick Hunter X, Metal Gear Solid Portable Ops, Monster Hunter Freedom, God of War, etc etc. It's certainly gotten a whole lot better compared to back then.

In the end, just buy whichever 1(if you must have 1, but as TGM said its better to have both)that has more games you'd probably enjoy more for the price. You can't really go wrong with either one honestly.

[Kailea]

Re: Nintendo DS or Sony PSP?

wow. Thank you so much for all your input! Clearly i lot of different views! With the psp i noticed games weren't as big as i had hoped because they'd, by my idea, gone more for the 'next generation portable graphics' idea rather than gameplay.

I'm starting to consider the DS more now :-) the DSi from what i.ve seen doesn't look that much different apart from having a camera on it. What else is there?
______________________________
wow. Thank you so much for all your input! Clearly i lot of different views! With the psp i noticed games weren't as big as i had hoped because they'd, by my idea, gone more for the 'next generation portable graphics' idea rather than gameplay.

I'm starting to consider the DS more now :-) the DSi from what i.ve seen doesn't look that much different apart from having a camera on it. What else is there?

The handheld's screens have been enlarged, and will now be 17% bigger
now include a .3 megapixel (640x480) camera (there are two, one on outside, and one on inside)
SD memory card slot
512 MB flash mem like in Wii
both screens are touch (unconfirmed)
system is alittle thinner
"sound improvements"
Shop channel like on Wii

[Feba]

Re: Nintendo DS or Sony PSP?

where are you people getting this 'two touchscreen' stuff? It's been out in Japan for months. We'd know about it by now.

OP, see Nintendo DSi - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[meSchnitzel]

Re: Nintendo DS or Sony PSP?

The handheld's screens have been enlarged, and will now be 17% bigger
now include a .3 megapixel (640x480) camera (there are two, one on outside, and one on inside)
SD memory card slot
512 MB flash mem like in Wii
both screens are touch (unconfirmed)
system is alittle thinner
"sound improvements"
Shop channel like on Wii

The memory slot and on board memrory are only used by the camera and the WiiWare-esc stuff from what i've read about it. I guess we will have to wait and see what is actually available on the store before i can gauge how worth it it really is.