Nintendo DS

[jhollas]

For Christmas, I received a fairly large amount of cash from all my relatives, because they don't know what to get me. So, what did I do with this? Save it as emergency money for University? No!
I live in the UK, so I spent my Christmas cash on importing an NDS from the US, along with a copy of Mario DS.
I have only a few things to say about this piece of kit: Buy it. Buy it now!
Seriously, it is a great handheld, for loads of reasons: Graphics, sound, touch screen, etc. Ok, so the launch titles weren't great, but I suspect that the NDS is actually superior to the PSP. No doubt we'll be having some NDS vs. PSP wars on this board, when more people have acquired one!

 

[mentalmenteinstabile]

i prefer ps2

 

[skysthelimit]

PSP will rock the DS! Just kidding. I played the DS in Best Buy and it's actually pretty good. However, I was never really into handhelds much so I'm probably going to wait for a while to get one of these.

 

[jhollas]

i prefer ps2

Right... But the PS2 isn't portable.

 

[Colabomb]

For Christmas, I received a fairly large amount of cash from all my relatives, because they don't know what to get me. So, what did I do with this? Save it as emergency money for University? No!
I live in the UK, so I spent my Christmas cash on importing an NDS from the US, along with a copy of Mario DS.
I have only a few things to say about this piece of kit: Buy it. Buy it now!
Seriously, it is a great handheld, for loads of reasons: Graphics, sound, touch screen, etc. Ok, so the launch titles weren't great, but I suspect that the NDS is actually superior to the PSP. No doubt we'll be having some NDS vs. PSP wars on this board, when more people have acquired one!

I WANT A DS!

But alas I am poor!

 

[Lando_T]

"NDS is actually superior to the PSP"

I have both. Imported my region free PSP from Japan on the 14th and got it for Christmas. I must say I feel it is better than the DS. I like the DS, the touch screen is cool, but the PSP just sits so well in your hands and the presence of the analog stick is great. Given that they are both great systems I prefer my PSP. Not saying that everyone will feel the same way, but I dont think that the PSP will fail as other rivals of Nintendo in the handheld world have. Really you cant fully appreciate the PSP until you have tried it. It is just way better looking at it in person than a screenshot of it. It is worth every bit of the money I had to pay for it.

 

[Overtime_man]

I also have a PSP, and while I don't have a DS, I've played with a display model in one of the big electronic stores. I'd have to say that I prefer the PSP. With the USB port and the potential for full-length movies on UMD, there's just a lot more you can do with it. Of course, the graphics are much better than the DS as well.

One thing that I don't like about the PSP is the weight...it's a bit on the heavy side. As well, the battery drains down to nothing in about 5 hours, which means that you need to take the charger with you if you're going on a 2 or 3 day trip. I'm not sure what the battery life of the DS is like, but I would imagine it's more than the PSP.

 

[Lando_T]

Yes, thats also another great advantage for the PSP, the USB. It has already come in handy for me.

 

[jhollas]

Yeah, I see what you mean. They're developing media capability for the NDS, but obviously this will require extra hardware, whereas with the PSP it's built-in. I don't know... I was swayed towards the NDS because of it's battery life (I've managed to play for about 10 hours - not straight, of course! ), and also because I heard of a lot of issues with the PSP, such as crashes and incompatability.

 

[JesusRox]

I'm looking forward to getting NDS sometime, and not looking forward to getting PSP I really want to wait until they have a bunch of NEW games and things I already have on other systems.

 

[Lando_T]

All the defects of the PSP are played out. There really arent that many. Its no worse than the problems people had with the NDS when it was first released. My Japanese PSP is perfect besides 1 dead pixel. I didnt even notice that until today because the pixels are so small. I just really look forward to the library of games coming for the PSP. Over 225 games in development with other developers evaluating the system to decide if they will make a game or not.

 

[Breetai]

The DS is compatible with GBA games and it has a good battery life. Those two points will keep it in compatition with the PSP I think. If it wasn't for those things, the DS would be like another N64 competing against the PSone. Actually, it probably will be like that anyway.

 

[jhollas]

It just seems to me that the Sony has tried to cram as many features as possible onto the PSP, and I'm inclined to believe that this may mean the gameplay will suffer. Because, in the end, that's what it should be: a handheld games console, and not a fully-fledged media PDA/Pocket PC, which is what it increasingly looks like.
Oh, that and I picked up a mate's PSP, and was genuinely afraid to touch it, because it looked and felt very, very delicate!

 

[Lando_T]

The gameplay suffers in no way. You really have to try it to appreciate it. If there is ever a display model on display try it out, its very nice.

 

[MarkSmith79]

Lando - How much did it cost for you to import the PSP? I'm really intersted in getting one for my nephew for his birthday in a few months.

 

[Overtime_man]

The DS will likely prove to be more sturdy than the PSP in the long run, but that's just because it's a much simpler machine, and as such, there's far less that could go wrong with it. One thing that Nintendo does well is making stuff that lasts. I'm sure that a lot of people still have NES systems or Gameboys that are in good working condition! But as for the actual quality of the games, I'd have to say that the PSP wins hands down. To me, it seems like the graphics on the DS aren't that much of an improvement over the GBA, whereas the graphics\sound of the PSP are at least as good as that of the PS1, and actually look a bit better because of the condensed, sharp screen.

 

[Colabomb]

The DS will likely prove to be more sturdy than the PSP in the long run, but that's just because it's a much simpler machine, and as such, there's far less that could go wrong with it. One thing that Nintendo does well is making stuff that lasts. I'm sure that a lot of people still have NES systems or Gameboys that are in good working condition! But as for the actual quality of the games, I'd have to say that the PSP wins hands down. To me, it seems like the graphics on the DS aren't that much of an improvement over the GBA, whereas the graphics\sound of the PSP are at least as good as that of the PS1, and actually look a bit better because of the condensed, sharp screen.

The DS is running fully 3d game environments....

The DS is a major improvement over the GBA...

Now, PSP may have better graphics, I haven't seen one yet in person so I can't comment, but overall the DS wins in my book.

 

[Lando_T]

"Lando - How much did it cost for you to import the PSP? I'm really intersted in getting one for my nephew for his birthday in a few months."

It cost me over $400 with everything. In a few months it should be out in the US though. I heard Sony is making an announcement about the North American PSP launch Wednesday at CSE.