So let's discuss it again, now that we have more information
First of all, the release date for the Nintendo DS is November 21st. The release date for the PSP is December 12th.
Okay, category 1: graphics.
The Nintendo DS has two screens, each one slightly (a few pixels) larger than the GameBoy Advance SP's screen. They're backlit (better be
), and the bottom screen is a touch screen.The PSP has a single screen, larger than one of the DS's screens.
The PSP has better graphics, equal to the Playstation 2, while the DS's graphics are better than Nintendo 64 but falls short of GameCube.
Winner IMHO: PSP. The DS has more total viewable space, I think, but the PSP has better graphics and a pretty screen.
category 2: Controls
PSP has standard playstation controls. The D-pad, buttons on the right, and L and R 1 and 2 on the top. No joysticks though. The DS has all the buttons of a Super Nintendo controller (D-pad, four buttons, L and R), and a touch screen. The touch screen looks awesome for gaming. At first I didn't think so, but it's growing on me after watching some of the IGN videos. You can wear a thumb glove to safely touch the screen without leaving fingerprints
The best videos are here http://media.ds.ign.com/media/704/704627/vids_1.html
http://media.ds.ign.com/media/704/704627/vids_2.html
Check out the second video down on the second link there, that shows you how well the controls work. Very impressive.
Plus I've seen a racing game that lets you literally put your hand on the wheel and turn it on the touch screen.
Winner IMHO: DS
category 3: battery
Both have a Lithium Ion rechargeable battery. The PSP's is removable/replaceable (point to PSP), while the DS's is built in.
The PSP has, to quote:
"Sony said the 280g PSP will run for between four and six hours on a single charge; four to five hours if you're watching movies rather than playing games."
I recall reading another one that said the six hour figure was with screen brightness and volume turned down, four with everything turned up. And the four to six hour figure was with wireless OFF- that'll take it down further.
The DS has an 8 to 10 hour battery life. Twice that of the PSP. Excellent. Unfortunately, it is nonremovable.
Winner IMHO: DS- although its built in, it's got double the battery life. Definite winner. The PSP's 4 hour battery when playing at full brightness frankly sucks, and it'd probably hit 3 hours with multiplayer.
category 4: Extra features.
With the PSP, you could put music on the memory cards and play it on the PSP. Since the PSP uses minidisks, it can hold a lot more (1.8 gigs) stuff than the DS's cartridges, and can play movies you buy on the disks.
With the DS, the cartridge lets you save directly, and additionally you can download the entire game between several DS's and play multiplayer with a single game pack. Whoo. Additionally, you can send chat messages with PictoChat (built in), and drawings with the touch screen. The touch screen gives you a keyboard, so its better for typing online. The DS can also play GameBoy Advance games (it has dual slots, for DS and GBA games). And since we know the GBA can play videos, so can the DS, though it will be limited by the smaller cartridges.
Both the DS and PSP have 802.11b wireless, can play multiplayer wirelessly, and even connect to the internet for online play.
Winner IMHO: PSP, barely. Music and video capabilities from bigger disks are great. I don't know if it supports single-disk multiplayer, but I HIGHLY doubt it considering the size of those disks.
category 5: Extra cons.
The PSP requires you to buy a memory card seperately, because it can't save on disks. Frankly, this sucks, IMHO. Additionally, the aforementioned battery life sucks worse. Also, it's not as easy to stick a DISK in your pocket as it is cartridges.
The only real big con on the DS is that your thumb will smudge the touchscreen, so you should wear a thumb shoe that comes with it or use the stylus.
Winner IMHO: DS. The PSP has a lot more cons.
category 6: Price.
The DS is set for $149.99 in 10 days. Yay.
The PSP is unknown. It is selling in Japan for $185 (converted from Japanese currency). That means it's probably selling in the US for $200...but it MIGHT hit $149 like the DS (which would make Nintendo drop the DS price, most likely).
Winner IMHO: Unknown, but probably the DS. If the PSP hits $149, it's a tie, otherwise, DS wins.
This is what I think about it. What about the rest of you guys? Would you take the DS or PSP?
BTW. http://ds.ign.com/articles/564/564540p1.html Nintendo is already shipping the DS to reviewers. Very sweet.
). It's just how I am.
