Sony PSP v Nintendo DS
Discussion
P7 TUS said:
I would like to buy my son a hand held games unit this christmas but not sure on the one to get.Any advice would be great.
Ask him which he would prefer? Kids normally have a preference which one they want as they are different beasts. I know when I was about 10 (in 1990 so well before these consumer marketing times) I wanted a Sega GameGear rather than an Atari Lynx or the original Gameboy. I'd have been quite pissed off if I'd have got the Lynx though would have smiled sweetly on the outside!
eyebeebe said:
P7 TUS said:
I would like to buy my son a hand held games unit this christmas but not sure on the one to get.Any advice would be great.
Ask him which he would prefer? Kids normally have a preference which one they want as they are different beasts. I know when I was about 10 (in 1990 so well before these consumer marketing times) I wanted a Sega GameGear rather than an Atari Lynx or the original Gameboy. I'd have been quite pissed off if I'd have got the Lynx though would have smiled sweetly on the outside!
I would like it to be a surprise
For a true games handheld with innovitive games then I'd buy a DS.
For more of a media centre device where the games are the usual Sony franchises then get a PSP. The thing that's always concerned me with the PSP is that it's trying too hard to be a portable PS2 but failing. It just doesn't (quite) have the raw power to pull off PS2 like games so the developers miss the mark a bit. Apart from Outrun 2006: Coast 2 Coast which is excellent!
how old is he??
DS are mostly child friendly games (no real violence)
PSP have more adult games eg GTA
they are completly different, if he is a teenager then I'd guess he'd go for the psp. if he is around 10 or younger then the DS.
PSP is by far the better bit of kit, with online games, internet, mp3 and movie player etc. But the DS has more games and a better variety of games, there are only a handful of really good psp games.
DS are mostly child friendly games (no real violence)
PSP have more adult games eg GTA
they are completly different, if he is a teenager then I'd guess he'd go for the psp. if he is around 10 or younger then the DS.
PSP is by far the better bit of kit, with online games, internet, mp3 and movie player etc. But the DS has more games and a better variety of games, there are only a handful of really good psp games.
smilerbaker said:
how old is he??
DS are mostly child friendly games (no real violence)
PSP have more adult games eg GTA
they are completly different, if he is a teenager then I'd guess he'd go for the psp. if he is around 10 or younger then the DS.
PSP is by far the better bit of kit, with online games, internet, mp3 and movie player etc. But the DS has more games and a better variety of games, there are only a handful of really good psp games.
DS are mostly child friendly games (no real violence)
PSP have more adult games eg GTA
they are completly different, if he is a teenager then I'd guess he'd go for the psp. if he is around 10 or younger then the DS.
PSP is by far the better bit of kit, with online games, internet, mp3 and movie player etc. But the DS has more games and a better variety of games, there are only a handful of really good psp games.
He is 6yrs old
speedeight said:
It just doesn't (quite) have the raw power to pull off PS2 like games so the developers miss the mark a bit.
Hmm. Tekken, GTA and WipeOut all feel very very PS2 to me. Excellent versions indeed.
And if you like "quirky", LocoRoco is one of the oddest things I've played for a while.
DS has some wonderful games also.
P7 TUS said:
smilerbaker said:
how old is he??
DS are mostly child friendly games (no real violence)
PSP have more adult games eg GTA
they are completly different, if he is a teenager then I'd guess he'd go for the psp. if he is around 10 or younger then the DS.
PSP is by far the better bit of kit, with online games, internet, mp3 and movie player etc. But the DS has more games and a better variety of games, there are only a handful of really good psp games.
DS are mostly child friendly games (no real violence)
PSP have more adult games eg GTA
they are completly different, if he is a teenager then I'd guess he'd go for the psp. if he is around 10 or younger then the DS.
PSP is by far the better bit of kit, with online games, internet, mp3 and movie player etc. But the DS has more games and a better variety of games, there are only a handful of really good psp games.
He is 6yrs old
My 7 yr old has a DS that he cannot be parted from, certainly meets with his recommendation. Good selection of games too, Harry Potter, Scooby Doo etc.
Mr E said:
speedeight said:
It just doesn't (quite) have the raw power to pull off PS2 like games so the developers miss the mark a bit.
Hmm. Tekken, GTA and WipeOut all feel very very PS2 to me. Excellent versions indeed.
There are a few frame rate issues with all of those games though aren't there?
Now we know the young lad is only 6, like others have said, it's got to be a DS (lite).
Mario, Super Monkey Ball, Tetris DS, Nintendogs are all Triple-A titles.
speedeight said:
Mr E said:
speedeight said:
It just doesn't (quite) have the raw power to pull off PS2 like games so the developers miss the mark a bit.
Hmm. Tekken, GTA and WipeOut all feel very very PS2 to me. Excellent versions indeed.
There are a few frame rate issues with all of those games though aren't there?
Now we know the young lad is only 6, like others have said, it's got to be a DS (lite).
Mario, Super Monkey Ball, Tetris DS, Nintendogs are all Triple-A titles.
no real frame rate issues with GTA LCS but its pretty bad on GTA VCS
Depends how old he is - The PSP has more street cred, but there aren't as many games and they are aimed at the 16-34 yo male demographic, the DS is more for the 4-15 and 34+ yo both sexes group.
If he's aged 9+ I'd get him a PSP, if he's younger then the DS.
ETA - just saw he's 6, I'd go for the DS, unless he's very mature for his age and you want to the scarier aspects of his character to develop Though I have noticed some more generic games coming out and stuff aimed at kids recently (there was only really Ape Escape before).
If he's aged 9+ I'd get him a PSP, if he's younger then the DS.
ETA - just saw he's 6, I'd go for the DS, unless he's very mature for his age and you want to the scarier aspects of his character to develop
Though I have noticed some more generic games coming out and stuff aimed at kids recently (there was only really Ape Escape before). Edited by MTv Dave on Tuesday 21st November 13:49
plasticpig said:
I would buy the PSP. The only reason for me saying that is that GT4 mobile is due for release in January.
2008? 2009? 
Seriously, get the PSP. Not only is it a good mobile games platform, but a good handheld media player as well. My stepson has both - his dad bought him the DS for his birthday earlier this year. The DS is *okay* for games, but thats all it does - games. It has wi-fi but only peer to peer, and thats DS to DS. The PSP has true WLAN installed, so we had it connected to our house network in less than one minute. Coupled with that, the PSP is built like a brick outhouse, and has expandable storage in the form of memory stick pro duo cards, currently at 4GB capacity. Thats a lot of film or tv shows ripped to it.
The DS is clunky, non expandable, and feels plasticky. Its only redeeming feature I am aware of is the backwards compatibility with other Nintendo handheld consoles, although don't quote me on that.
I hope this helps.
I've had no issues with frame rates compared to the PS2 versions on any PSP games I've played.
The hardware is almost 100% a PS2, with slightly different GPU pipeline for the bespoke screen, and the screen itself. The biggest problem the unit has (which the DS also has) is the refresh rate of the LCD isn't good enough to keep up with the rest of it. You don't see these artifacts with the DS as it runs so much slower anyway that only a few of it's games have had issues (those that are based on old sprite based techologies that render very fast on Nitendos).
I'd take a PSP any day, but that's because I appreciate what's inside it and what I can do with them that simply isn't possible on the DS. And I wouldn't play many things the DS has to offer me.
The hardware is almost 100% a PS2, with slightly different GPU pipeline for the bespoke screen, and the screen itself. The biggest problem the unit has (which the DS also has) is the refresh rate of the LCD isn't good enough to keep up with the rest of it. You don't see these artifacts with the DS as it runs so much slower anyway that only a few of it's games have had issues (those that are based on old sprite based techologies that render very fast on Nitendos).
I'd take a PSP any day, but that's because I appreciate what's inside it and what I can do with them that simply isn't possible on the DS. And I wouldn't play many things the DS has to offer me.
speedeight said:
Mr E said:
speedeight said:
It just doesn't (quite) have the raw power to pull off PS2 like games so the developers miss the mark a bit.
Hmm. Tekken, GTA and WipeOut all feel very very PS2 to me. Excellent versions indeed.
There are a few frame rate issues with all of those games though aren't there?
Now we know the young lad is only 6, like others have said, it's got to be a DS (lite).
Mario, Super Monkey Ball, Tetris DS, Nintendogs are all Triple-A titles.
What is the difference between the DS and the DS lite??
speedeight said:
There are a few frame rate issues with all of those games though aren't there?
LCS has some draw distance limitations, but apart from that it's bling bling.
Tekken runs at 60FPS, you don't do a lot better than that on anything to be honest.
Wipeout is a smooth as a very smooth thing that's known for being really rather smooth.....
If he's 6/7, buy the DS. It just works.
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