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#1
03-24-2005, 11:47 PM
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PSP and DS now out - pick your pony
Well the PSP was released today, and from the looks of it at the store I visited today, it has a hefty array of games launching with it. More than the DS has out right now, and it's been out since November.
So now I wonder which one will take the lead. I don't think one will neccesarily deliver a crushing blow to the other, but I believe one will be more popular than the other in the long run. DS is innovative by incorporating two screens, one with touch screen functionality, making for some interesting and unique games. Also, from my experiences, the battery life is pretty damn good. On the downside, it's been out for 5 months now, and still only has around 10 games designed specifically for it, even though the GBA library is also at your fingertips. The PSP, on the other hand, has a bigger screen, though it still only has one. Apparently it also allows you to play music and movies(?). The complaints I've heard about it so far, though are that the battery life is very short, and the button closest to the screen has a tendancy to stick. From what I've heard, this is due to the size of the screen, and the developer refused to fix this, saying that it would take away from the experience. Also, the PSP is much pricer, costing you $250 (plus, you need a memory card which will cost you more). I'm hoping the DS will win out since I've already shelled out the $150 for it. I also have a feeling more people will like the two screen design better than the one big one that we've seen everywhere else. What does your gut tell you? Which is going to become more popular? 
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#2
03-24-2005, 11:56 PM
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I'm a DS fan, and I do hope it wins, however, I must concede that the PSP looks pretty damn sweet. But thing it, I can play most of PSP's games at home on a bigger TV with better graphics and sound.
On the contrary, the DS offers new gaming experiences. However, as the OP mentioned, the amount of worth while games for the DS is still low. Hopefully that'll turn around. Anyways, regardless of anyone's thoughts on the matter, this will surely be an interesting duel, as both are worthy opponents.
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#3
03-25-2005, 12:23 AM
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I picked up my shiny new PSP yesterday. I looked into the DS, but was turned off by what appears to be a pretty slim selection of games.
And speaking of games - I was on the fence on whether I needed a PSP until I started reading about "Lumines." I love puzzle games anyway, and this one is from the creator of two of my old favorites, Space Channel 5 and Rez. Anyway, I'm very impressed with the PSP. It just feels like a quality piece of hardware. I'm not really seeing the button problem that you mentioned, and I've heard conflicting reports on whether whatever that problem was has been corrected for the North American release. The fact that you can play movies is kind of cool, but I can't see it being a big feature for most people. I know I'm not going to buy two copies of every movie I pick up so I can have one for the PSP. The launch batch comes with one of the Spiderman movies to show off the playback, and I admit that it's pretty freaking awesome. It's cool though that you can copy movie files to the PSP's memory stick. I just have the 32 MB stick it came with in there now, but once I get my 1GB stick, I'll be able to load this sucker up. You can use apps like PSP Video9 to encode files correctly for the PSP, or you can download files that are already in the correct format from PSP Connect (not that there will likely be anything of interest there, but it's a good place to test out the functionality). You can copy MP3s to the PSP as well and play them on the go, but it's a pretty standard setup. Nothing that'll threaten my precious iPod anytime soon. It also has a photo gallery option that's pretty cool. You can organize pictures by folder and flip through 'em manually or slideshow style. I've been experimenting with various text>jpeg converters trying to find a good one to transfer documents into PSP-sized pictures so I can read posts from here and TWoP on my PSP when I'm stuck somewhere waiting around. I used to do this with my iPod, but I loves that big beautiful PSP screen.  Rumor has it that there will eventually be functionality to read documents on the PSP without the trickery, so I'm excited about that if it's true. I've read that they're contemplating a news download type feature too, so let's hope there's some truth to that.  Anyway, the most important thing for me personally is the games. I love a good puzzle game, and there are going to be three available within the next couple weeks. There's Lumines that I already mentioned, one called Mercury, and another called Smartbomb, the latter two of which look very very cool. After I saw the videos for these three games and found out there will be a Final Fantasy game available eventually, I was sold.  I'm looking forward to checking out the multiplayer as well. Almost all of the launch games have some multiplayer aspect to them, and there are (I think) five titles currently playable over the internet (MLB, NHL, ATV Offroad, Twisted Metal, and NBA I think). The PSP communicates wirelessly with other PSPs around it or through your wireless router out to the internet. I need to get my brother over here to try it out. My wife isn't interested and my daughter is a little too young (three weeks and two days old). Anyway, I think the DS is pretty cool, but I was definitely wowed more by the PSP. I think it's a great little device. And considering its "cool" factor (every geek I know is lusting over it), good selection of games, additional functionality, and eventual interfacing with the PS3 I think the PSP is going to be tremendously successful. And now if you'll excuse me, my daughter has decided it's time for her 1:00 AM scream.
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#4
03-25-2005, 01:27 AM
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Here's my comparison:
Screen: The DS has two, but that's mostly a gimmick, and it doesn't look like developers are going to take advantage of it. The DS also has a touch screen, and I thought it wasn't necessary, but when I play the PSP I kind of miss it. The PSP has one screen but it's bigger and more beautiful than the DS's. The DS folds up when not in use to protect the screens, while the PSP's is unguarded and requires an (included) case. Battery life: DS has a longer battery life I hear, which isn't that much to begin with. Controls: I absolutely despise the PSP's analog stick, and I recently wrote an OP about it here. I've always hated the Playstation's 4 button style d-pad as well. The DS has a touch screen which offers neat game innovations and pretty decent analog emulation. I think the DS has much better controls. Games: Frankly, they both have a poor selection at this point. Nintendo always tries new stuff though, which is a plus for me. Too early to tell, really. Functionality: The PSP can play MP3s, but I think anyone who's has the slightest interest in that has bought an iPod by now. It also plays movies, but I could care less. The DS just does games and wireless chat, which is refreshingly simple and non-pretentious. Eh, I dunno. If the PSP didn't have a crappy analog stick I'd like it more. So far I like the DS more, mostly because of that.
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#5
03-25-2005, 01:27 AM
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Don't forget that the DS also has Wi-Fi functionality, too. It can currenty communciate with other DS's, and it wouldn't take much more for it to interface with your computer, or a router.
Really, I think the main problem with the DS is it was released without all of its functionality being utilized. Hopefully, developers will take advantage of its potential fully soon, before the PSP trumps it, though.
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#6
03-25-2005, 01:37 AM
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#7
03-25-2005, 07:42 AM
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I don't buy hardware at release. Ever. I wait for at least one price drop.
That having been said, I'm leaning towards the DS. Right now, the only PSP game I'm interested in is Darkstalkers Chronicle; which is essentially all of the Darkstalker games in one. And Final Fantasy: Advent Children is a movie, which will also be released on DVD. On the other hand, the DS has two games out now I'm interested in: Wario Ware and XX:XY. There's also a few interesting games in the pipeline, including the first American release of the Hanjuku Heroes series.
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#8
03-25-2005, 10:07 AM
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Marc
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#9
03-25-2005, 11:51 AM
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#10
03-25-2005, 12:47 PM
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DS
I'm extremely frustrated by both of them. DS for the lack of games, but everything available and in the pipeline for PSP makes me yawn upon mention. There's never been a game for any Playstation system that has interested me much, but Nintendo consistently wows me.
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#11
03-25-2005, 02:32 PM
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I happen to have both -- here's what I think:
I saw a keynote presentation by Nintendo's President Mr. Iwata at the 2005 GDC, where he discussed upccoming games for the DS as well as other plans Nintendo has. Then I tried the DS and Wario Ware on the expo floor, and I was immediately sold. The DS's interface is so flexible and easy to use -- I loved Wario Ware on Gameboy Advance, and I love it more on the DS. The way both the touch screen and microphone have been used in Wario Ware is really impressive -- it's novel, so that might be contributing to why it's so fun, but the input system seems really varied. More exciting though, Nintendo apparently intends to be very experimental with games for the DS. There's a game called Electroplankton coming out, which is essentially a collection of sound experiments. You can remix oldschool Nintendo music in one 'mode', and record your own sounds to be played back as part of a rhythm in another. In the title mode, you can organize plankton who make little noises in an order that depends on their position on the screen. Pitch changes as the plankton grow. The DS is an interesting system, and the way that Nintendo is exploring the limits of it, and focusing on innovative gameplay and experimentation rather than simply re-hashing exisiting concepts is a really great idea (and I wish it would spread to the rest of the gaming industry). My PSP was won as part of an award, and arrived a day before the N.A. launch -- it has a few dead pixels and an irregularity on the plastic covering the screen, and it unfortunately didn't come with any games (the DS came with a demo of Metroid). But aside from that, it looks beautiful -- it's design is slick, and the screen is huge. I really liked the way the analog control felt when I moved it around -- it almost feels like it moves farther than it should, intriguingly. But so far I can only turn it on and set up the system (which doesn't provide a very good indication of what the PSP can do). I think I'd buy Wipeout, and maybe Lumines, but that's it so far. It may have more games than the DS does right now, but there are about the same number of games for each system that look like they're really worth playing. I think both systems have potential in terms of what they can do aside from being a game system -- the inclusion of Wi-Fi on both is especially cool for multiplayer, and for connectivity to other systems. The only disappointment is having acquired these things so early in their lives -- there's so little out there for either platform right now! Anyway I vote for the DS.
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#12
03-25-2005, 04:58 PM
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I've played with both of them briefly. The DS struck me as cool, but large. The screens are relatively small for the size of the unit. And the quality of the images is okay but not great.
The PSP, on the other hand, took my breath away. The screen is huge and high-quality, and the unit itself is physically less imposing. I think that both will succeed in the market, but I think that the PSP will outsell the DS by a fairly considerable margin. The crossover potential of it is not its ability to play MP3s (although that's a good thing) but its ability to play movies. As the co-worker who let me play with his PSP said "The screen on this is better than any portable DVD player I've seen." I don't think movies on UMD are the killer app, but I think movies converted and dropped onto Memory Stick will be. It'll be interesting. I think the DS will produce more innovative games, but the PSP will have higher production values. Plus, the PSP just looks cooler.
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#13
03-25-2005, 06:04 PM
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Can somebody post a legend of some type? Contextually, I'm getting the impression that you're talking about video game platforms, but I'm horn-swoggled if I know what PSP and DS are.
I suspect that GBA stands for Game Boy Advanced.
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#16
03-25-2005, 07:21 PM
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I went by Toys 'R Us to look at the PSP, but all they had were boxes; needless to say, I wasn't quite ready to plunk down $250 just to play-test the console.
But I admit I was sorely tempted to get one right there...Instead, I went online and got a Nintendo DS instead. But it's a gift for a relative, so I won't get to play that, either. 
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#17
03-25-2005, 07:31 PM
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RJ, my advice to you: do not handle the PSP. You will instantly desire one with a burning passion. It's better not to know, really. I was a happier man before I had held one in my hands and seen the screen for myself.
Unless, of course, you actually have the wherewithal and permission to buy one. In which case, g'head. Handle it. Just don't blame me if you then want one.
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#19
03-28-2005, 02:38 PM
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Does anyone know if the North American PSP fixes the "accidentally eject the disc if you flex it too much" the initial units had?
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#20
03-28-2005, 02:55 PM
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Even though I don't play games much anymore, I would definitely have to spring for the PSP if I had a choice. Being into consumer hacks is what sells it for me. Short battery life? Make a usb (or whatever else) battery. Have to buy two movies so one plays on the PSP? I'm almost positive you could jerry-rig a system up where you could PNP a DVD player.
Plus, I'm a diehard fan of Playstation. Through N64 and the latest models, PS is the way I swing.
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#21
03-28-2005, 04:42 PM
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DS.
Reserved mine back when I found out that they where taking pre-orders for it. I see the Logic in waiting for a Price-Drop from not being on the Bleeding-edge of tech/ Early Adopter. My situation was one where, when I began to think about buying a GBA in earnest, I knew of / heard of the DS, and its abillity to play GBA carts. (I had the Original 1989 first Gen GB, a Pocket GB, and a GBC). If you follow this line of logic, It essentially makes the DS 75 dollars.... (for the DSness part of the system) I recomend people read "Game Over" http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...glance&s=books And you will understand how much Nintnedo worked to revive an all but DEAD 'fad' of the early eighties. Also, you we learn of Nintendo's Efforts to get the ORIGINAL 8-Bit NES Online in America... back in the Eighties. How it brought back the industry after Atari Demolished it. (And how it continues after SEGA died) Also, you will read about Sony's pull out from Nintendo's deal to make the Playstation tech. Into the next SNES. Case in Point; You can't cut your teeth on Mario, and then go running to Master Chief. or Crash Banidcoot.... No wait, Crash isnt Exclusive.... uh..... You can't cut your teeth on Mario and go running to <insert Sony only character>. Am I a Nintendo Fan? SPOILER:
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#23
03-28-2005, 05:11 PM
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I've got both. I intended to wait a while before getting the PSP, but I made the mistake of checking out a friend's and immediately had to buy one.
If they were direct competitors, then the PSP would completely trounce the DS, no contest. The PSP is basically a portable Playstation 2 with less memory and a screen that is absolutely astounding. The DS is a hobbled Nintendo 64 that can play GBA games and has an extra touch screen. But they're not direct competitors. Nintendo's is a good bit cheaper, it's aimed at a younger (or at least, more wide-ranging "family") market, and the games are designed around the touch-screen gimmick. Sony's is aimed right at the PS2 audience -- late teens to twenties; racing, sports, and music games. Nintendo's aiming for novelty and "fun"; Sony's aiming for slick and "cool." It all comes down to the games, of course, and I predict we're going to see the same thing happen on handhelds that has happened on the bigger home consoles -- Nintendo's going to have a smaller library with some standout games that are just brilliant (e.g. WarioWare Touched), and Sony's going to have a much much larger library with a few standouts that are flashy if not "classic" (e.g. Lumines and Wipeout Pure). The PSP's just easier to develop for, because you can just treat it like making a PS2 game -- you've got more to work with and don't have to incorporate the touchscreen/Dual Screen gimmick. I didn't think much of the movie-playing capabilities of the PSP at first, but I'm impressed now. I ripped a few music videos and an episode of "Firefly" from DVDs last night, synced them over to my PSP, and can watch them here at my desk. It almost makes me wish I had to take public transportation to commute. And Miller pointed out the other night that UMD movies (the disc format that the PSP uses) aren't compelling enough to warrant buying a whole movie collection to replace your DVDs, but they've already announced the prices for movies at 10-20 bucks. So you could conceivably just go to an airport and pick up a copy of House of Flying Daggers or some such, just to watch on the plane, much as you would a hardback novel.
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#24
03-28-2005, 07:37 PM
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I will be surprised if you can't rent movies on UMD through Netflix or at airport kiosks within a couple of months.
SolGrundy makes some great points -- I think both will be successful. I think that overall sales for the PSP will be greater than the DS, but I won't mind if I am wrong.
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#25
03-28-2005, 08:05 PM
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#26
03-29-2005, 04:33 PM
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I picked up a PSP last week, and so far I think it's pretty brilliant, and revolutionary. Not for the games themselves, but because you can now take these games WITH you. The GBA SP was pretty cool when I was out and about and needed a quick gaming fix. But whenever I was at home, I always turned to the PS2 and the PC for gaming goodness. Playing with a GBA, I always would find myself wishing I was playing a "real" game. The PSP has changed that. The graphics, sound and gameplay are near-PS2 quality, and I can take it anywhere. I can game lying down on the couch or in bed. I can play during lunch at work. I can take it to the mall while I'm parked on the bench as the girlfriend goes and shops her heart out and be playing a game that ordinarily would have me chained to a console and TV set. Wi-fi, internet play and movies are just gravy. I can now play Twisted Metal with eight other people while sitting at my desk. If that ain't cool, I don't know what is!
PSP for me... EZ
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#27
03-29-2005, 06:00 PM
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The thing about the PS2, and I see its extending over to the PSP as well, is that for all the GTAs and constant iterations of sports games and such, there are still gems like ICO and Rez and Katamari Damacy and Disgaea. It's a hell of a lot more hit-and-miss than, for example, the Sega Dreamcast line-up, but sometimes the shotgun approach yields some great stuff. And I can't explain how excited I am at the prospect of the first Final Fantasy game for the PSP. Quote:
And I hate to keep harping on it, but I'm still impressed with the thing's capabilities as a video Walkman. I'd expected that it'd require a 1GB or higher memory stick to get video of any decent quality or length, but I can fit a full hour's worth of good-looking video onto a 256MB card. I can totally see the demand for and prices of memory sticks going down and the capacity going up to where 2GB or more is actually affordable.
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#28
03-29-2005, 07:04 PM
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#30
03-31-2005, 10:08 PM
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#31
04-01-2005, 10:00 AM
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#32
04-02-2005, 06:51 AM
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On the games side... if you're talking about the whole Playstation line, I would like to point you to the SSX series, which is neither dark nor ultra-violent. Or perhaps Katamari Damacy? Parappa the Rappa? Dance Dance Revolution? Even in the launch titles for the PSP, we can find titles that are neither dark nor ultraviolent -- Lumines springs to mind. I think you may be letting your preconceptions cloud your thinking.
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#33
04-02-2005, 07:59 AM
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#34
04-02-2005, 12:56 PM
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I think the PSP is vastly miscalculating what kinds of games make good portable games. Or, more likely, they are trying to create a new market that may not ever materialize.
The PSP is putting it's bets on sports games and first person shooters. They are aiming for a young male gaming market and not a lot else. But I'm not sure this is the right route for portable games. Traditionally portable games are more oriented towards puzzle games, turn-based games of all sorts and recently tactics games. People traditonally want games that don't ask for a lot of immersions, can be put down quickly, and can be played without sound. They want something they can play on the bus, or quietly during class, or while they are waiting to meet someone. Do you really want to play a shooter on a bus? Portables also attract a wider market. Not everyone wants to sit at home playing console games, but everyone can see the appeal of having a game they can take with them. Cheap entry prices, unintimidating games, and games with broad appeal make portable systems popular among all sorts of non-gamers, including chidren. I'm not sure Sony's plan is going to work- and disappointing sales thus far bear this out. The low battery life implies that they expect gamers to do a lot of their PSP gaming at home, which I'm not sure that gamers really want to do. Their market of hard-core young male mostly-non-geek gamers is too narrow, and the unit is to expensive to really attract any new markets. Their sports games (except the racing games) lack in the actual game play and seem like hobbled verions of the console games. A few of the games seem spectacular, but not enough to make me want to shell out $250 when I've got a perfectly good PS2 sitting right here. Meanwhile, Nintendo is doing a lot better with the DS than I ever thought. I figured the touch screens were just a gimmick and we'd just be getting more of the same. But nearly every game really uses the touch screen and we are seeing entirely new game concepts emerge. The games are well-suited to portable play- I can't think of anything more brilliantly portable than Animal Crossing. I'm really excited about a lot of games on the horizon- Ninetendogs, Electroplankton, Pac-Pix...all games that will use the touch screen fully, be fun to play on the go, and have a broad appeal. I think the sucess of Katamari Damachi is inspiring Nintendo to finally start bringing out some of their wackier games in the US. Nobody does wacky and Japanese as good as Nintendo. It's a good market, and I think it's one that is going to grow. We are reaching a time when games have movie budgets without anywhere near the market that movies have. Something has go to give at some point, and I think Nintendo is recognizing that. We are reaching the point that the raw human code-writing power required to keep up with the best graphics and best systems is too expensive to make a profit off of, and certainly too expensive to take any risks with. Soon we will have a divide- between cookie-cutter sure-win games with the best technology and smaller, less-graphically intense (but perhaps more exquisitely designed) games with interesting gameplay. Nintendo and Sony are setting up their stakes. This is a bigger battle than just portable systems.
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#35
04-02-2005, 02:01 PM
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There's also Metal Gead Acid, an excellent turn-based tactics game, also easily enjoyable without sound (it got me though a very long conference call yesterday in fact). Coming this month are Mercury and Smartbomb, both puzzle games that look very interesting. I'm looking forward to Namco Museum for some old school gaming updated with wireless support too. And further down the line will be the inevitable Final Fantasy game (called Crisis Core - Final Fantasy VII). I'm sure we'll be seeing other RPGs and tactics style games as well. Regarding the focus on sports games - I think the market is probably there. They don't really interest me (I'd rather play 'em with 4 players on my friend's big screen) but the wireless multiplayer makes them somewhat compelling. I'd agree that they'd be the wrong thing to focus on exclusively, but I don't think that's what Sony's doing. They seem to be focusing on pretty much every genre, which would explain why at launch day they already had as many games available for the system that the DS does (meaning games made just for the DS of course). There's lots of potential for the PSP's memory stick too. There's an option to run games from the memory, and the rumor is that there will demos available to download soon. If they put out a few traditional mobile-style games (Bejeweled, Tetris, etc) I think they'll get a huge response. One thing they need not focus on is the UMD movies functionality. I can't imagine anyone really being sold on the system for that. I watched five minutes of Spiderman, and will likely never have another movie in there again. Don't get me wrong, it looks great, but I'm not buying copies of movies just to watch on the PSP. However, I am willing to copy videos from my PC to the memory stick. Sony is making the process surprisingly easy. I'm taking a few episodes of Arrested Development with me to the mall today for entertainment while my wife is looking around.
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