My SO and I are going on a trip soon, which will involve lots of airplane and airport time. I’m considering getting a couple of handheld gaming systems, but I know nothing about what is out these days.
Lightweight is good. I’d like a decent selection of games. Battery life is importent.
Is there anything out that allows head-to-head play? The ability to play with headphones or with the sound off is a must.
The Nintendo DS is by far the most popular handheld gaming system. It even has WiFi built in so you can play multiplayer games wirelessly.
No doubt others can give you advice on which games to get.
I bought my son a DS for his 8th birthday and I play the shit out of that thing. It’s great. 
If there are no chargers, see if you can buy multiple batteries. I do that with my cell phones and my laptop. Always good to have spare power in case you can’t charge. (of course even with two batteries, I am looking at only ~6 hours of use on my laptop.
I agree about the DS. I think the Nintendo DS is the pinnacle of handheld gaming- it is fairly compact, has a built-in rechargable battery, wi-fi capable, and has two screens, one of which is a touchscreen.
The touchscreen/dual screen configuration allows for a lot of variety in games. Wario Touched makes good use of it; so does Trauma Center. There are also plenty of games that don’t require the touchscreen/stylus.
It is also compatible with Gameboy SP games, so there is a decent library out there.
DS hands down. I can pass hours playing Club House Games (solitaire, backgammon, maijong) or Touchmaster (free cell, etc.).
I won’t go into all the good games for the unit but search past threads for the best games to get.
And yes, a lot of the games can be played head-to-head wirelessly with two units (do you have to buy the same game for both units though?).
We have two Sony PSPs (Playstation Portable). Not only do they have cool games but we can also watch movies and surf the Internet.
We originally got them for our kids, but we use 'em on planes too.
I think 2 years ago they were about $200 each.
I have a PSP, and have never watched movies on it and have spent little time on the internet, but I still love it just for the games.
I like RPGs so I have been into Jeanne D’Arc recently, but I also played a ton of Lumines (a puzzle game sort of like Tetris from the makers of REZ), Marvel Ultimate Alliance, and the Sega Genesis Collection.
Also, they are releasing Final Fantasy Tactics and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night shortly. So if you destroyed those games from playing them so much on the PS1 like I did, you can buy them all over again. Which kind of makes me sound like a chump, but like I said, my PS versions are no longer readable and they added some new content to each of the games.
They are also coming out with a white PSP. I can’t remember if it’s any different, though.
Thanks for the opinions folks. It’s off to my local Gamestop to see if they have anything used for sale.
Just don’t make the mistake of buying the older DS unit. I don’t know how anybody could play one of those things the screens were so dim.
The far superior DS Lite that replaced it is the only way to go.
Would airlines allow wireless enabled head-to-head gaming? I doubt it.
The typical restrictions are for electronic devices to be turned off during taxi, takeoff, and landing periods. I haven’t seen it specifically prohibited, and the wattage of the handheld game signal is much smaller than a cell phone left on during the flight would be. Many laptops are actively scanning wirelessly as well when running.
I have a friend who set up a wireless mini-LAN during a flight once between about 6 laptops for a gaming session. I wasn’t there, but it sounded like a great way to pass a flight.
I’m gonna add my vote to the Nintendo DS. We got the kids a couple for Chrisolstikwanzaakah last year, and now their mom and I each have one, their dad and his g/f have one…It’s nice that even with technology at this level, family game night isn’t a thing of the past, but it’s evolved.
Another vote for the DS for games (I use one frequently).
The PSP offers a wider range in movies and facilities though, but it is slightly more fragile - if you get one I’d suggest a carrying case to protect the screen.
I’m gonna buck the trend here and recommend a Palm Pilot – a game system and a whole lot more. Steeper initial cost but many good games are free or cheap. I love my T|X for gaming, multimedia, e-books, and more.
The DS is probably the way to go. A lot of the ports of SNES games released for the GBA are fun and classics in their own right. The only advantage a GBA would have over the DS would be backwards compatibility to the really old Game Boy games and probably being cheaper.
I’ve got a launch-day GBA. I can’t suggest that because, while I find it more comfortable to play on than a SP, the lack of backlighting makes it difficult to play at times. Even the little light in the airplane doesn’t always help.
Is head-to-head playing with a Nintendo DS only wireless? No way to connect via cables?
Yes, it’s only wireless. It’s set up so you can connect to the gameboys in a certain area, or to wireless internet.
Go for a DS. Ours gets played a lot. The interface is so easy that our kid was playing it well at 3 years. We modified the charge unit so that it can plug into the wall, or can charge off any USB plug, which means you can charge it anywhere there is a computer (even a laptop).