Will I be left in the dust if I buy a PS2 or PSP in the next couple of months?

[Hostile Dialect]

I have been uninvolved in the gaming culture for quite a while. I was a proud SNES and Game Boy owner back in my day and followed all of the developments in the videogame world, as I did when I owned a PlayStation and later a Dreamcast. But I haven't really participated at all or owned any videogames whatsoever since about the time of the Dreamcast's fall, for familial reasons. However, I plan to move out fairly soon, and once I save up a little bit of money I'd like to get myself a nice (but affordable) system and some new games.

I know FIFA 07 (probably the first game I'll buy) is coming out in October for the PS2, PSP, DS, etc. in October, before the secondary version releases with the coming of the PS3 in November. I really can't see myself being able to afford a PS3 any time soon. I don't want to have an expensive videogame habit, but I want to be able to keep up with the new games. Should I wait for the PS3's price to drop, or should I get a PSP or something? How much will the PS3's price drop in the next year, two years, etc., based on the patterns seen in other contemporary systems? How does the PSP compare to the PS2/3? Are there plans to replace the PSP? If I bought a PS2, how long would it take for me to get left in the dust WRT new game releases? That is, how long will PS2 games keep getting released before I won't be able to get my fix anymore?

And please feel free to tell me anything else new in the world of games since 2003. :D

[THespos]

My advice would be to get the PSP.

Don't tell my fiancee this, but I thought I had lost my PSP a few months ago. While I thought it was lost, I decided I couldn't live without the damned thing and I bought another one. (Turns out I left the first one in my car's glove compartment and forgot I put it there.) I think the PSP is that good.

Over the past couple years, I've completely changed my mind about waiting for better tech. If you're worried about buying something that might be "next best" in a few months, don't be. Otherwise, you'll be in a state of perpetual waiting as new, cool stuff comes out every couple months. I bought a Mac Mini knowing full well that the Intel Macs were coming out in just a few short weeks. And I love that machine. I'm not at all sorry I bought it. Product cycles are just too short to worry about this kind of crap anymore.

YMMV.

[Hal Briston]

Don't tell my fiancee this, but I thought I had lost my PSP a few months ago. While I thought it was lost, I decided I couldn't live without the damned thing and I bought another one. I did the same exact thing with my PS2. Wanna trade spares? :)

[Capa84]

is there any particular reason you want FIFA over Winning Eleven?

[Hostile Dialect]

Over the past couple years, I've completely changed my mind about waiting for better tech. If you're worried about buying something that might be "next best" in a few months, don't be. Otherwise, you'll be in a state of perpetual waiting as new, cool stuff comes out every couple months.

Sure, but isn't the cycle on videogames much slower? The PS2 came out in 2000, and the PS3 won't come out until late this year. That's why I'm asking how sharply the price drops in the first year or two; seems like if you catch it in the second year you can still get 4+ good years of new stuff out of it.

is there any particular reason you want FIFA over Winning Eleven?

Licenses. Its Wiki page says WE 10 has the licenses for pretty much all the good European leagues, which is excellent, but only 6 national teams, and I can't find what licenses WE 9 for PSP has. If there are enough club licenses on WE (La Liga and EPL are musts; Serie A, Bundesliga and Eredivision would be nice too), maybe what I'd do is get WE to play clubs and FIFA World Cup 2006 for international as I'm really digging on the idea of "redoing" the World Cup.

[Rachael Rage]

Well, I'm far from an expert. Until this year I hadn't owned a videogame system since Pong. But a few months ago I bought a used PS2 and a couple of games. I don't play it all that much, but when I do it provides plenty of entertainment. There are a lot of PS2 games, and you can get them used at a good price if they've been out for a few months. If you don't feel it necessary to be on the cutting edge, a PS2 is a perfectly fine investment. Also, it can double as your home DVD player.

As for PSP, I know people who love them. If portability is important to you it sounds like a good choice, but you should research the price and availability of the games you want. Also, the PSP doesn't give you home-DVD-doubling functionality. You can buy a few movies in the PSP format, though, so that's kind of cool.

[Hostile Dialect]

I'll have to check out the number of movies that come out for PSP. Although I'm not watching (heh) for it, it seems like a good number of new movies are coming out for it. Since I spend a lot of time on busses and trolleys I certainly wouldn't mind being able to play my games and music and watch a movie in the meantime.

I really do like to be on the cutting edge of videogames. I don't mind waiting a few months for the price to die down, but I'd like to have the games everyone else is playing, because then I can invite them over and play with them! :D But it's not that incredibly big of a deal, which is why I can stand to wait a year or two after the PS3 comes out. (I'd probably need most of that time to save up for it, anyway.)

[audiobottle]

I bought a PSP the day it came out. And I just got a PS2 in the past year. I think I should have waited on the PSP, or just not bought it ever. It doesn't have any good games of type I like, so I bought a DS (and got burned on that since they just released a newer, thinner, brighter, all together better in every way one), but the games are sooooo much better. More inventive, more interesting, and even the old standbys are better (like the new Super Mario Bros). The PSP has been collecting dust. Hell, the last time I played it was when I put some emulation software on there and fired up some old Nintendo classics. The movies (UMD) are roughly the same price as a DVD, except you can't watch them on your TV and they don't have the same amount of content. If you're going to get the PSP and plan on watching any movies, get a 1 GB memory stick and rip movies on to that.
Every time I see my PSP I mentally kick my own ass for shelling out the big bucks for it.

[Hostile Dialect]

Interesting. Personally I was turned off from the DS by that Wario game where you do all kinds of weird stunts like swinging on a rope and urinating at a statue or something. But I have friends who have DSes and love them. Just out of curiosity, what kinds of games did you want on the PSP that weren't available, and what kinds of games do you especially like the DS for?

[tashabot]

There are a ton of video games coming out for the PSP, including a lot of really good remakes and a lot of the Final Fantasy older stuff.

A friend of mine works for got-next.com and Advanced Media Network (in their PSP section). She says the PSP is definitely worth owning - and she's sold me. I'm getting one next payday after playing with it.

Definitely worth it, especially since they're supposed to be developing an external hard drive that clips onto the back for it, so that you can put more music, videos, and e-books on it (with a mod) than the memory card things let you do.

Don't know much about the PS3, except that Candice came back from E3 with pictures that were awsome.

~Tasha

[Kiros]

I just had a bunch of Best Buy gift cards to blow and had to choose between PS2, PSP, and DS... and I went with the DS lite. Extremely satisfied so far. I find that as I get older I have less and less time to play console games because I'm doing computer stuff or actual work/life, so I wanted a handheld... and in the game selection for the type of stuff I like, DS has it WAY over PSP (especially when you include the GBA library I already have, but can now play on a backlit LCD with a rechargable battery). PSP just doesn't have it right now for RPG and strategy, at least not on the North American release - I'd basically be buying it for Lumines and media, and I already have an iPod. I've got Mario Kart and New SMB for the DS, and both are pretty awesome (though, what I wouldn't give for the ability to turn those damn cheapass blue spiky shells off). Trying desperately to get my hands on Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, since I hear it's excellent. May or may not do Advance Wars DS - not sure if it's a little too anime-ish for me or not, though I'll probably do it when I run out of other stuff to buy. FF3 remake, Star Fox, Lego Star Wars II, Mega Man, and Dragon Quest Heroes among the other titles I'm extremely interested in that are coming out in the next few months, and some other intriguing stuff has been announced.

If I decided to go console, I'd have done a PS2 without waiting for a PS3 without a second thought. There's a huge library of stuff for the PS2 I haven't played yet, and the price on the PS3 is going to be prohibitive to my budget when it comes out.

[rinni]

If you buy a PSP, get Need for Speed: Most Wanted. Because I'm in the credits. :D Hee!

I love, love, freaking love and adore my DS, though. Mmm. I love Mario and Pokemon, though, so for me it's a no brainer - I didn't previously have a GBA so now I can catch up with the Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire series. The New Super Mario Bros. is brilliant for anyone who grew up on side-scrolling Mario platformers. It is a classic. Also, you can put a DS game in one side and a Game Boy Advance game in the other, and carry two games with you without needing to bring a separate case! Awesome!

So New Super Mario Bros. and Final Fantasy IV Advance get to come with me!

[Hostile Dialect]

If you buy a PSP, get Need for Speed: Most Wanted. Because I'm in the credits.

Really? How did it happen? We need details! :D

This PSP/DS thing seems to be a tough split for me. It seems like it would be so awkward to control things on the DS, though, especially in sports games.

[rinni]

The details are short: I worked at EA as a quality assurance tester for that game. :) Best job ever! I also worked on NBA Live 06 for XBox 360 but I'm not in the credits on that one, I was just kind of moved over near the end as they needed some more people.

Hmm, the touching aspect of the DS seems to be pushed a lot in the ads, but some games don't use it at all. For example, New Super Mario Bros. doesn't use the touch screen as a control, you just use the buttons like normal, except in the additional minigames. Super Mario 64 DS took me some getting used to, but it was OK in the end. You can use either the buttons or the touch screen to control Mario.

If you're curious about any games in particular you could always check www.gamefaqs.com for the controls. I'm the least coordinated person in the universe and I have no problem playing any of my DS games! Haven't tried any sports games, though.

You should probably automatically discount anything I say about Nintendo, though - I'm one of those pathetic Nintendo fans. :)

[rinni]

You can use either the buttons or the touch screen to control Mario.

Or Yoshi, or whoever. :smack: Hehe.

[audiobottle]

Interesting. Personally I was turned off from the DS by that Wario game where you do all kinds of weird stunts like swinging on a rope and urinating at a statue or something. But I have friends who have DSes and love them. Just out of curiosity, what kinds of games did you want on the PSP that weren't available, and what kinds of games do you especially like the DS for?

I'm not big into sports games and racing games, so the PSP just didn't have anything for me. Plus, it seemed like all developers were doing with the PSP were dusting off their old games and porting them over, often with nothing added. It may be that the library is getting better - I haven't really checked in months. I was looking forward to some good platforming, maybe a nice RPG... but I couldn't find that.
The DS also has its share of remakes, but developers seem to be spurred on more by having to incorporate the touch screen. Most of the time it's pretty pointless, and the game would be just as good without it (Castlevania DS, I'm looking at you), but at least they're trying.
I should probably look at the PSP game selection again. They've actually already released a harddrive addon for the PSP (by a company other than Sony), but it costed $199 or something ridiculous. They're releasing a small eyetoy for the PSP which is intriguing, so maybe some good stuff is in the works.

[filmyak]

Before you buy a game system, figure out why you want it/what you want from it.

Any portable -- as good as they have gotten -- will be a weaker system than a larger console. Not as good graphics, gameplay, smaller screen, limited controllers, etc. They have their upsides, of course. Specifically portability, and they've come a long way in the past few years. So that's the first decision you need to make.

As for a new console like the 360 or PS3, they cost small fortunes to develop and need to last 5-7 years to be worth making (the product cycle before the next system, not your individual unit). Manufacturers lose money on them, no matter how much they sell them for, and make up for it by getting royalties on the games instead. So don't expect a price drop until the demand for the hardware goes down significantly. Early adopters will pay full price for a good year+.

If you want to focus on new games,

[filmyak]

Before you buy a game system, figure out why you want it/what you want from it.

Any portable -- as good as they have gotten -- will be a weaker system than a larger console. Not as good graphics, gameplay, smaller screen, limited controllers, etc. They have their upsides, of course. Specifically portability, and they've come a long way in the past few years. So that's the first decision you need to make.

As for a new console like the 360 or PS3, they cost small fortunes to develop and need to last 5-7 years to be worth making (the product cycle before the next system, not your individual unit). Manufacturers lose money on them, no matter how much they sell them for, and make up for it by getting royalties on the games instead. So don't expect a price drop until the demand for the hardware goes down significantly. Early adopters will pay full price for a good year+.

If you want to focus on new games, PS2 will have new ones coming out for maybe a year after the PS3 is released. Things will slow down a lot around then. However, you'll have a huge library to choose from and game prices will drop significantly around then. Just don't expect FIFA 2008, certainly not 2009 to come out for it. =) But by then, PS3 prices should be lower.

As for the difference between PS2 and PS3? About 6-7 years of new technology. Not life changing, but certainly better graphics.

[filmyak]

Oops, sorry about the double post. Not sure how to delete the incomplete one...

[asterion]

Also, the PS3 is going to be insanely expensive for a while. $500 to $600 where the big deal is supposed to be the included Blu-Ray. Now, if you're like me, you have no plans to "upgrade" from DVD now, if ever. And the launch titles for a PlayStation of any type have never been all that good. I'd say get the PS2 now, as that will give you the entire library of both the PSX and the PS2, which includes a ton of good games. For the price of a new PS3 and a couple games you could probably get the PS2, 10 games (more if you get older PSX games, especially used), the controllers, memory cards, and so on. The same would be pretty much true with the new Nintendo Wii when it comes out, if you prefer Nintendo's games. Plus, unless you have the TV for it, the hi-def pictures and the like won't have any effect. Let's see: $100 for a new PS2, $40 for most new PS2 games, $20 for the greatest hits versions or older games, probably $10-20 for most PSX games. Maybe $100 bucks for extra controllers and memory cards. That's an awful lot of gaming you can do for the price of a PS3. (Disclaimer: I've had my one PS2 ever since launch day.)

Also, saying what kind of games you like to play would help.

[rjung]

The PSP is on the way down, IMO -- game sales are flat, there aren't any (as far as I know) compelling titles on the horizon, and even the UMD movies aren't selling. People are apparently buying PSPs and using them as media players, but I don't know anyone who actually owns one.

The Nintendo DS Lite, on the other hand, kicks so much portable gaming ass it's not even funny. The screen is hands-down the best I've ever seen on a portable, and the DS game library is starting to really pick up steam -- between tried-and-true mainstays like New Super Mario Bros., Mario Kart DS, Tetris DS, and StarFox Academy, and "adult-oriented" games like Big Brain Academy, Phoenix Wright, (lawyer-based RPG) and Trauma Center (surgery simulation) makes it more original, IMO. The built-in Wi-Fi makes it damn easy to start impromptu multiplayer games, and now that more games are coming out with internet play means it's even more viable.

I've only acquired a NDS about a month ago, but I seriously think this machine is set to take the world by storm in the near future.

[Hostile Dialect]

Also, saying what kind of games you like to play would help.

I like action/adventure games, some racing games (generally, the less realistic, the better), FPS, fighting games, and pretty much all sports games (though I wish EA didn't hold exclusive or near-exclusive licenses to everything; IMO the best sports games were Sega's 2K series, NFL Blitz, and its massively underrated hockey cousin). Basically your standard 18-30-year-old-male type tastes. I like some RPGs and "thinker's games", but not enough that the quantity of them would affect my decision.