Which Portable Is Right For You: Psp Or Ds

Posted on by Josephine

In the beginning, PSP launched with hardcore enthusiasm for its multipurpose multimedia capabilities; however, the PSP failed to deliver its promises. The portable movie platform, UMD, failed to impress the public. The games were merely PS2 games on smaller screen. Confusing ways to convert videos to acceptable format. Lack of support of media through networking. Lack of PS3 functionality, there was no PS3 at the time, but when PS3 launched, this feature was still broken.

The DS was another Wii story. It was proclaimed to be “gimmicky,” unnecessary, and underpowered. The DS was a weaker portable with only dual screen as its decent feature. The screen was not as bright or as colorful or as detailed as the PSP. However, the DS had an enormous amount of innovative games that used the dual screen/touch screen very well, and became the more dominant portable.

Now, however, the PSP is catching up in games, far surpasses the DS with functionality, but more expensive. So which is the right portable for you?

Before going into that argument, let it be known that this is merely an article based on objective comparisons without showing either PSP or DS in bad light but a small insight into the world of Pkv Games to get a better understanding of all genres. So let us analyze both sides:

The PSP: For hardcore gamers/techies with deep pockets.

Pros:

  1. PS3 connectivity is TOP NOTCH right now. You can turn on or off your PS3 from any Wifi location. You can play games that are saved on your PS3. You can Play videos or music from your PS3 anywhere inthe world. Your PS3 can also connect to a media server; therefore, you can Remote Play to access your PS3, then access your media servers to watch videos or listen to music anywhere via hotspot.
  2. Resolution: The videos and games on the PSP just looks good. It looks much better than DS. If you want near-PS2 (if not PS2) graphics on your portable device, the PSP is the way to go.
  3. Multipurpose, multimedia capabilities: Wifi for internet (this feature is quite broken, do not recommend using it). Share pictures via wifi with other PSP owners. Tivo compatible: download using Tivo pc, then transfer to PSP’s memory stick duo. LocationFree connectivity allows Live TV, TiVo, or DVD watching on the go. You need a LocationFree player connected to internet, TV, TiVo, and DVD for everything to work. Save downloaded music or movies onto the Memory Stick Duo (compatibility should be checked before doing so). You can use Skype to video chat with other Skype users (need camera). There are free Internet Radio stations (although the songs are not for me).
  4. PSP Store: This is similar to the Playstation Store for the PS3. You can download free game demos, wallpapers, videos, etc.
  5. Customizable: You can customize your PSP’s homescreen looks to be almost anything you want. You can change icons, sounds, and wallpaper.
  6. Firmware Updates: Your PSP is constantly being improved. These improvements comes in firmware updates to upgrade your multimedia capabilities and much more.

Gray:

  1. Games are starting to look very good with the recent launch of Crisis Core and God of War as well as innovative games like Patapon and Locoroco. The PSP really now caters towards the hardcore gamers with occasional casual itch. You get Killzone: Liberation for your “third-person” shooter, Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions or Disgaea or Jean d’Arc for your tactical RPG, God of War for action games, Metal Gear Solid Portable Ops for tactical action games, Crisis Core for JRPG, Street Fighters or Tekken Dark Ressurection for fighting, Burnout Revenge for racing, Wipeout Pulse for futuristic racing, Lumines or Crush for excellent puzzle games, Grand Theft Auto Vice City Story or LIberty City Story for open world sandbox, and MUCH MUCH more. If you are a hardcore gamer who wants to play games on the go or just like to play some of the best portable console games, PSP is the portable for you. However, even with such great games, the PSP doesn’t have as many games as the DS. But it’s Sony’s policy of “quality over quantity,” so it makes sense.

Cons:

  1. The internet function is EXTREMELY slow. It also doesn’t support the newest Flash player. It also doesn’t support many other types of online media.
  2. Price: it’s still more expensive than the DS so if you only want to play games, the PSP may be overpriced.
  3. Battery: For a portable gaming device, the PSP lasts only as long as your Macbook, around 6 hours of gaming. For other functions that doesn’t require too much video playback, the PSP lasts much longer.
  4. Almost every multimedia feature requires extra add-on, meaning MORE MONEY.

DS: Casual Gamers who just want a good time playing some short fun games or people who don’t like violence or mature content games.

Pros:

  1. Games: The best games on the DS (aside from a few notables) are from Nintendo themselves. With the DS, you’ll be able to play superb games such as New Super Mario Bros, Legend of Zelda, Mario Kart. There are a significant amount of third party games support including games like: Castlevania for action games, Elite Beat Agents for rhythm games, Animal Crossing for role playing simulator, Metroid Prime, and POKEMON! There are just such a wide variety of casual games and a large amount of games. The games are all family friendly (except for maybe a very few).
  2. Lite: A much better form of DS. This closes the gap between video quality between PSP and DS by having backlight to the screens. It brightens up the screens so you can actually…see.
  3. Built-in mic: this mic hasn’t been utilized very well yet, but I think it will in the future.
  4. Dual Screen/Touch screen: This makes “PictoChat” much easier and usable than typing on PSP. The Dual Screen with touch capability allows a lot of innovative games as proven by a lot of DS games.
  5. Price: if you get the old DS, it’s SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper than the PSP. The new DS Lite is slightly cheaper than the PSP, but it’s still cheaper.

Gray:

  1. Chatting: I have mentioned PictoChat. It’s basically a chatting program that allows you to use the touchpad to literally write your words and send them to whoever you’re chatting with. But this is an optional extra: you have to BUY the program. For a casual portable device, this seems a little excessive.

Cons:

  1. Games are not suitable for hardcore gamers. Don’t expect many M rated games on the DS. This makes the DS just a single-sitting portable where you enjoy the games at bursts when you turn it on. It’s not like hardcore games where it’s about the whole experience. DS is simple bursts of fun whenever you turn it on. So don’t play it for a long time or else you’ll get sick of it quickly, unless you are a hardcore _insert a DS game title_ fan.
  2. Besides games: there’s nothing much you can do.
  3. Updates: The DS doesn’t allow firmware updates like the PSP. This means that if Nintendo decides to upgrade, you’ll need to buy a whole new machine. They have already done this, from DS to DS Lite.

Future Outlook: The DS doesn’t have a lot of expectedly good games out for a long time. Unless NIntendo decides to release Mario Party for the DS, which might suck because all portable online multiplayer modes are jokes compared to PC or consoles, there’s not many compelling games on the horizon.