PSP or Nintendo DS
 

Which handheld do you think is worth picking up?

I suppose it depends on your interests (and your ability to read Japanese) but I went with the DS and I've enjoyed just about everything about it so far. Aside from the fact that I'm a Nintendo fan, the DS allows for a lot more creativity with the stylus controls and the PSP doesn't seem to have much to counter it. Again though, this is only based on localized games; there seem to be a lot of interesting Japanese games and visual novels being released on the PSP. That Haruhi game got my attention >_>

I picked the DS because I'm more of a Nintendo fan than the other, plus the stylus + dual screen was very interesting.

I also heard that the PSP has a few problems like low battery life and glitches.

I think the PSP also has other capabilities other then game play, but I don't care or know much about that.

Admittingly, there seems to be some good anime games for PSP, but I'm not financially fit to buy it (PSP or game).

For me, there aren't any interesting localized games left to buy for the DS anyways.

If this question is asked about 5 months ago, I'd go with NDS.
Recently, too many good games are available on PSP, so I'd go with PSP. Furthermore, the PSP slim don't have many issue with battery anymore.

My NDS is for listening music nowaday....don't see many interesting title to me.

I have both systems and they get equal playtime. In terms of graphical power, the PSP is of course superior to the DS... but the screen suffers from some ghosting when there is rapid motion. It also has 2 features that are missing on the DS which I find very useful - in game viewable clock and battery meter. The DS has a longer battery life but the PSP has swappable batteries.

For me the DS stylus controls are a gimmick. Coming from a keyboard and mouse background, stylus based play doesn't really add much value other than for some novelty games. The touchscreen is far more useful when it's used for traditional touch input like a normal GUI.

You basically have to compare the games... DOn't listen to vague assurances that the DS has a ton of good games while the PSP has none.

Note that I'm a hardcore RPG collector... I own almost every non-action RPG in both the NDS and the PSP, and what I'm going to say is based upon my bias towards RPGs.

First off, lets go hardware. Definitely PSP is better in terms of graphics, and this isn't more obvious in any other game than Puzzle Quest (which I recommend btw, because despite its seeming simpleness, it's highly addictive). Battery life is on the NDS though, as the lite version just keeps going... and going... and going... I can use it up to three days at a time without charging, while the PSP I have to charge every day just so it doesn't die on me in the middle of a battle (most RPGs won't 'save state' in a lot of particular events, like battles for example).

From a games standpoint, I find the NDS to be far superior. Putting aside that it can play the GBA library, NDS still has better games. Better as in original... what does the PSP have? Ports after ports of RPGs. And of those ports whose originals haven't been in English yet, most suffer from major lag problems (NISAmerica games are particularly guilty of this). So much so that I went through the trouble of using custom firmware and ripping my bought UMDs to the stick just to decrease lag and load times.

And how about price? While the PSP is reasonable now, getting a decent memory stick will still kill you, especially if you want the biggest they have to offer. I got my 8 gig stick for as much as a PSP when the stick first came out, and my 2 gig stick for half a PSP when I first got my PSP. So already, I bought 1.5 PSPs just on sticks. Though to be fair, you can live without the biggest sticks, so you can skimp if you decide not to.

Customer service goes towards the NDS as well. If you're a perfectionist, if there's a dead pixel in your NDS, Nintendo will replace it no questions asked. My first NDS was repaired (or replaced? I forgot) within 2 weeks, and I spent at most 10 mins in the phone. Sony? Pfft... you're likely to jump through many hoops like I did with my first PSP. At a certain point, I figured out that the time I was wasting through their customer service would've been better spent earning money towards a new PSP, so I gave up.

My verdict? NDS hands down. Better bang for your buck, definitely, so if you're an RPGamer on a tight budget, go get the NDS. Not that I don't think a PSP purchase is not at all unreasonable; you get Jeanne D'arc, IMO better than anything the PSP or the NDS (or even the PS3!) has to offer, as its story and system are reminiscent of Tactics Ogre. Considering I'm a very big Tactics Ogre fan, I don't think I can give a game better recognition than that. You also have some ports that's great if you missed them the first time around, like Final Fantasy Tactics and Valkyrie Profile (just to let you know, getting the original VP in very good condition would probably cost you as much as a PSP lol).

But I LOVE my NDS. Remember the NDS I got repaired? It's already broken BECAUSE I used it too much even only after 6 months of use (I half beheaded the top half from the bottom half :heh:), and I had to get another one. Well worth the money though, and even then, I still spent less than I did for a PSP alone. GBA games like Yggdra Union and Super Robot Taisen, then you have NDS games like Phoenix Wright, Luminous Arc, Etrian Oddysey, etc. and now Front Mission, with FFXII:Revenant Wings coming in near future and Dragon Quest 9 coming in the not so near future for games. I really don't think an RPGamer can go wrong with the NDS.

Of course, there's the homebrew scene, in which if you decide to spend time on, you can have your PSP do things like emulate SNES and PS1 games. I myself haven't tried it despite custom firmwaring my PSP, since of course, I probably own those games and have beaten them already lol. Be aware though that homebrewing would probably need a big stick, so be prepared to spend some more dough.

*points to above post* YEAH PRETTY MUCH.

On-topic though: the PSP has recently been getting some awesome games. Many are ports or sequels, but most games I play for it are awesome. Ace Combat X and Final Fantasy Tacitcs: The War of the Lions are my current obsessions.

points to above post* YEAH PRETTY MUCH

The PSP slim is great, compared to the old one.

Well looking at the games, the PSP is for a more mature audience than most of the DS games.

The DS has a much larger selection of games available, there will always be something new and good to play.

Ds has many games of type that it abuses fast, the graphics is weak and it does not have many rpgs, Already psp beyond the varios good games and the good graphics has other functions: it can emulate psx, snes and others videogames, listen to mp3...

In January I Will probally buy my psp lite! :)

Ds owned ?


http://img87.imageshack.us/img87/2340/untitled1pj6.jpg
http://img61.imageshack.us/img61/3380/sddasdhs2.jpg

LOL

Do I need to justify myself?


http://img119.imageshack.us/img119/5633/pspgowjh7.jpg

If you consider CFW for the PSP, then yeah PSP all the way.

No.
Bullshit.
The DS has emulators and MP3 player functions, too. Even homebrew...

Nintendista detected tsc tsc.

Much horrible games and many games that nor had been launched yet.

I did not know this, error mine.

I bought a PSP Slim recently because there was enough RPG and TRPG that i found interesting on the PSP.

I want them both due to the fact the the new Kingdom Hearst games are comming out on them...Yea..Birth by Sleep, PSP...358/2 days, DS....And Coded is comming out on Cell phones but yea...I don't have any of them..bot even the phone..very sadening...I think I would get the PSP first though....

I own both a lovely pink DS Lite and a Crisis Core PSP, and I love them both.

Well, personally I'm enjoying Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth and Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions (both PS1 ports) more than any of the games I own for my NDS so take that however you will.

Why not just get both so you don't have to go through this grueling, decision process? xD