Next month I’ll be spending many hours on a plane by myself (Baltimore to New York to Paris to Istanbul, then Athens to Paris to New York to Baltimore), so I’m probably going to end up buying a handheld to pass the time. Can I get some opinions as to whether I should buy a Nintendo DS or a PSP? What are the pros and cons of each? Which has more games? Which has better games?
Thank you.
Adam
PSP graphics are better, but all the games are pretty conventional ports of other games. DS games are much more innovative and interesting.
HOWEVER… a lot of DS games also feature voice recognition. If you’re planning to play your DS in a public place, this may be a limiting factor, unless you have no sense of shame or embarrassment.
For instance, there’s a game called something like “Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney,” in which you need to constantly shout “OBJECTION!” into the DS.
Or Nintendogs, in which you teach your virtual puppy various voice commands and its name by repeating them over and over into the microphone.
You might feel a little funny about doing this on a plane. Or maybe not. I decided not to buy a DS basically for this reason, since I was planning to play it on public transit.
Oh, and PSP also allows you to play videos, but the last one I saw advertised on PSP was “Hitch,” so I don’t really see this as a positive feature.
I believe there are programs that allow you to rip your existing DVDs into Sony’s UMD format and put it on a Sony memory card. However, they might be considered violating some kind of thingy or other, so I won’t link to them.
I own only a DS, but I see you’ve been offered no other opinions, so I’ll offer what I can and hope it helps.
The DS is a very nice little system. Its hardware is not as capable as that of the PSP, but it is considerably cheaper ($250 vs. $150), and many of the PSP’s capabilities are iffy at best (it won’t win awards as an MP3 player) and rather stoopid at worst (good luck finding new film releases for it). I can’t say much else about the PSP other than that many of its games are half-baked PS2 ports.
The DS does have some very nice games - you could spend a lot of time on Nintendogs and Animal Crossing, which are fun for a while but tend to leave a saccharine test in your mouth. Metroid Prime Hunters is great, as is Mario Cart, but half the fun of those games is battling other people over the Nintendo Wifi Connection. I don’t suppose you’ll have that while jet setting.
Those are the only DS games I own, but you can browse Gamespot’s reviews for most games available in America here: http://www.gamespot.com/games.html?type=games&platform=1026
If price is no issue, on the other hand, I’d recommend a laptop, some DVDs, and a few extra batteries.
Blast!
(bolding and editing mine)
'Nuff said. 
Either PSP or DS, if you’re going to be trapped on a plane/in an airport and you are a gamer it will be a godsend!
I’m a PSP owner myself, and having essentially PS2 games that I could take with me wherever is exactly why I bought it. (I LIKE PS2 games!) My most recent purchase was actually based on an old PC game called “Worms” and it’s an absolute blast, especially multiplayer. It actually has a solid library now – if you can find a place that rents games you will be in even better shape.
One of the coolest features of the PSP (the DS might have this as well) is that it holds the game state in memory when you turn the power off. So when the flight attendant announces that all portable electronic devices must be turned off 20 minutes from landing, you don’t have to pause and save. Just turn it off. When you power back up, the game picks up right where you left off. I wish dedicated consoles could do this! Got just a couple minutes in line to play? Power back on, play, and then shut it off again when it’s time to move or talk. Got another couple minutes? On, play, off. It’s brilliant!
The screen is big, bright and beautiful and the graphics are just half a step below the console versions. Real 3D on a handheld – it’s a beautiful thing. UMD movies are a rip off though – $29 for a movie with no extras that you can only watch on a PSP? No thanks. Charge $9 for them, maybe. If Netflix carried them, that would rock… But for now UMD is just another busted play by Sony. On the plus side, there are plenty of free utilities out there that will help you rip DVD video to your PSP. Before going on a trip I put a couple movies on it or 6-8 episodes of a TV series to help pass the time. As soon as the price drops, I’ll pick up a 2 or 4 gb memory stick and really be in business.
The MP3 player is no ipod but it’s good enough. It basically copies the folder sructure from wherever you copy your music from. You can play, shuffle or repeat and that’s about it. It has the ability to make playlists but I’ve never messed with it. I’m happy just to put the tunes on random and let it go.
Battery life is about 3 hours full use (bright screen and lots of disk access) so if you’re on a long haul get an extra battery or an adapter. Just listening to music or watching video from memory card you can go 3-5 hours.
It comes with a 32mb memory stick for saving games but if you go PSP you really ought to plunk down another $60 for a 1GB card. It’s totally worth it (and necessary) if you’re going to be putting music or video on the psp.
It also has a built in web browser for the wireless, so if you’re lucky enough to pass by a free hotspot you can surf. There’s no keyboard, though, so I wouldn’t plan on emailing. But for surfing (even reading the dope) on the run it’s perfect.
The last trip I took I decided to leave my laptop (gasp!) and carried only my PSP. The keyboard, mouse, DVD player and big screen I missed. But…
Honestly if I were on a LONG trip like yours I’d go with a laptop. But the PSP has become my best travel buddy. I don’t leave home without it – even on those trips where I do take a computer along.
EZ
I own a DS myself, and am currently mega-addicted to Advance Wars: Dual Strike, an incredible little tactical-simulation game, if you’re into that sort of thing. It can chew up and spit out hours of your life, leaving behind nothing but bitter memories and broken dreams. It’s great! Also, you don’t need to talk at it, so you can sweetly suffer in silence.
The DS opens up like a clamshell. If you’re in the middle of a game and you need to stop, just flick it closed. It will still be consuming energy, but all gameplay freezes, and a little flashing light on the front reminds you of it’s standby state.
Mario Kart DS is a wifi game, allowing you to play head-to-head with people around the world. This is especially interesting if you’re kicking your heels in an airport terminal that has free public wifi broadband (e.g. JetBlue at JFK has it in their departure lounge), but you can’t use the network functionality while the plane is in flight, so you can’t beat your fellow DS-totin’ passengers into submission with your mad DS skillz.
Animal Crossing is one of my favorite games ever on the GameCube, and the DS version is WiFi compatible, meaning you can now trade fruits, seashells, old boots, etc. with people everywhere! It’s a great game and wonderfully addictive.
I second this. I actually bought the spouse his own DS so we could play Animal Crossing together (we were both addicted to the Game Cube version, so being able to visit each other’s towns while the other is actually there is pretty cool). And if you play in close proximity, you don’t need to mess around with all the WiFi issues.
It sounds like kind of a boring game on paper, but I assure you, it’s quite addictive (and oddly peaceful, given all the hyperfast, hyperviolent games that are popular nowadays).