My word of advice is to spend an extra $12 and get the DS Nerf Armor (don’t know if it fits the DSi). The DS is rugged enough in terms of still operating but both my son and his cousin managed to break the hinge on theirs by dropping it. The armor not only protects the DS but holds it together should anything happen to the hinge.
There is DSI Nerf Armor. And it comes in colors, so you can tell whose is whose at a glance.
Probably the DS for young ones. I think it’s friendlier for them. My wife and I own both and get more use from the PSPs, but part of that is the interaction they have with our PS3. Since you’re going on a trip go with the DS.
Another thing worth considering, the PSP has absolutely pathetic battery life - the low end of the currently available DS systems is about 9 hours (for the DSi, which has the lowest battery life of the 3), which is about even with the PSP’s high end. All 4 systems have ranges of battery life depending on a bunch of factors - particularly the backlight level, so extended travelling (when you’d want the backlight on high to combat the sun) would tend to kill it a lot faster. You don’t want it dropping out when you’re still an hour away from your destination, and the ability to charge it.
There are cigarette lighter chargers for the DS series. (And the PSP series) which will work just fine for travel issues.
Childless, mid 30’s. Own both systems, something I never thought I would two years ago (DS Lite and PSP 3000 - the last one before the download-only one). Play them both a lot and wouldn’t feel right without either.
My main rap against Nintendo is that ever since the SNES, they’ve had by far the most limited systems of what was available at the time, from the original Game Boy to the N64 to the Wii. I’m not going to mince words here: The DS is friggin’ small. Pad, buttons, speakers, and, most unfortunately, the screens. I occasionally have trouble following what’s going on because the figures are so tiny. On top of that, it’s cartridge-based and therefore has pretty serious hardware limitations; play something like Dynasty Warriors Fighter’s Battle or Deal or No Deal and you’ll see. All those family-friendly, pick-up-and-play titles? A matter of sheer necessity.
The games are skewed toward famly-friendly and part-style far, but not overwhelmingly so. There are point-and-click adventures (Time Hollow), fast-paced platformers (The Chase), sports/competitive quick players (Guiness World Records, Mario vs. Sonic), and the always popular “job” games (Touch Mechanic), along with game shows, mystery adventures, RPGs, etc. you’ll find on the Wii. The touchscreen is VERY heavily used, and a lot of games are geared specifically toward it (Elite Beat Agents is one of my favorites). In all, there’s not a great deal of depth to most of them; you’ll want to build up a sizable library, like with the Dreamcast.
The PSP is a sleek, powerful system, comparable to the PS2, in fact. I don’t think most people here realize the kind of quality Sony puts into its systems, how many, many gamers think they’re totally worth the price, and that it’s good to sacrifice short-term sales for systems that players are going to keep for many years and never regret buying. Anyway, the PSP is just really good. Much larger, brighter screen than the DS (no touchscreen), more ergonomic (especially the shoulder buttons), better colors, sharper sound, and I immediately noticed that the quality of the games was considerably higher.
It does eat up the power, something I learned the hard way during a lengthy Metal Slug Anthology session. Don’t panic; it’ll save your place if it shuts down on you or you turn off the power yourself. It tends to attract grease easily, and doesn’t have a cover, so you defintely want some wipes for those road trips. It takes longer to load than the DS, but not tremendously so. (It does freeze up on me occasionally in Metal Slug Anthology, but I haven’t noticed this in any other game.) I absolutely recommend the carrying case, and you’ll need a memory card as well (unlike the DS where everything is saved on the cartridges).
The games skew more “serious”, and there isn’t a whole lot for little kids. So far I have DJ Max (Beatmania-esque music game with typical Korean animation), Castlevania X Chronicles (upgraded version of two Castlevania games), Work Time Fun (a bunch of mindless minigames, most of them 1-player), Ultimate Ghosts 'n Goblins (horror-themed platformer) and the aforementioned Metal Slug Anthology (slightly cartoony military platformer). I’m going to get Metal Slug XX, Dead or Alive Paradise, and Dynasty Warriors in the future, probably Assassin’s Creed: Bloodlines as well. Be warned that some of these are really difficult, and even the simpler ones, like Work Time Fun, require a fair amount of dexterity.
One last note: DO YOUR HOMEWORK. Get recommendations, look through websites, talk to store clerks, find out what games are available and what’s best for you. This especially important for portable systems because they’re a niche market that doesn’t get a lot of publicity.
Just get the DS. Your kids will thank you.
If they like puzzles, I heartily recommend the Professor Layton games. They’ll be occupied for hours on those alone.
Get a DS and use sites like Metacritic to find the better games for the system. The DS has a ton of shovelware that you’ll want to avoid but its good games, and there are quite a few, are absolutely fantastic.
I bought the first Layton a few months back, still haven’t opened it. Then again, I bought it at the same time I bought Scribblenauts.
I would strongly recommend the DSi over the DS. I’ve got both, and the DSi is a much more capable device. And for the extra few bucks it costs, it comes with some applications built in and two cameras, along with some fun photo editing software for distorting pictures and an audio editor for the microphone for making fun changes to audio.
FlipNote studio is an absolute blast if you like cartooning, and it comes with the DSi.
Also, the online app store and local storage of downloadable apps means you don’t have to keep swapping cartridges. The apps themselves are much cheaper, with some really good titles available for under ten bucks.
I got the DSi XL, which is a bigger version better suited for adult hands and eyes, but otherwise it’s identical to the DSi.
I have a PSP that I won in a drawing. If I’d paid for it, I’d feel like I wasted my money. So far, I’ve found two games worth playing and neither of them is a kiddie game. Not unless your kids are into Final Fantasy and Silent Hill, anyway.
My daughter has a couple versions of the DS and it is a far, FAR better choice.
Get some reading glasses, grandpa. The DS Lite is a bit too brick-shaped for my liking (hurts your hands after a while, though this is mostly a problem for folks with larger hands) but I’ve never had any trouble seeing the screen. I guess if you think it’s a problem you could always get a DS XL, but if you ask me that thing is ridiculously huge.
So, what did you do, Jonathan?
I don’t think there’s any contest, especially when you throw in 2 small children. The DS is much more kid-friendly and has games that will appeal to them. A lot of them have quite innovative uses for the stylus. The PSP is like a mini-Playstation, so the games you’re going to get may be fun, but are for older kids and people who tend to more solitary play.