Birdhouse In Your Soul

The debate of the year!

This was quoted from ChaoKiller
about the Nintendo DS and the Sony PSP. If you can't decide on which to get, read this first. I personally am not that pleased with the outcome.

It be war! War I say! Why? Because I own both a PSP and a DS at this moment in time. So to while away the boredom as I wait for my next uni lecture, I will now present my opinions (hopefully not as biased toward Nintendo as one might think) on the two bits of hardware. Enjoy! :3

Looks

Nintendo DS: When it's closed, the DS looks the sex. Though it is a bit chunky. Open, it looks a bit reminisent of the old Game and Watch handhelds...but chunky. This gives it a nifty retro look, but it isn't to everyone's taste. Can look a bit tacky in some ways. Would've been nice to have the whole unit silver, but oh well. Did I mention it's chunky?

PSP: Woooow. First impressions indicate this is sex in a handheld. Of course I wouldn't go that far. It's SHINY. So shiny the screen attracts fingerprints and other crap like a flippin' magnet. Other than that, a nice symettrical design (though I don't like the fact it looks like a corner was chunked off the right side). Too bad people go for this more than anything.

Feel/Comfort

Nintendo DS: Despite the chunkyness, the DS is very comfortable to hold in one hand while you use the other on the touch screen. Holding it in both hands is also quite comfortable, but I found after an hour or so the corners dig into your hands a bit. Ouch. Feels very weel built though, I wouldn't fear for it's safety if I dropped it down the stairs or something...

PSP: Oh dear. That's all I have to say. The buttons feel extremely flimsy. The L and R triggers feel like they're stuck on with glue, and the face buttons tend to stick. A lot. As for comfort, it's not all that bad. It's a pain to reach the analogue stick (which slides, not tilts...), and after an hours play, my hands went numb. It physically hurt to play the thing. Oh, and if you drop it, you've broken it. Simple as.

Graphics

Nintendo DS: I was pleasantly surprised by them really, imagine above par N64 graphics and you're just about there. Mario 64 can be a bit pixelated up close, but this is a 1st generation game. Things can only get better.

PSP: Wooooooow. Comparable to the PS2, easily. Eye candy, and the screen only makes it look sexier. The screen you can compare to one of those plasma LCD jobs.

Games

Nintendo DS: The DS has better games. It has to be said. Wario Ware Touched is GOD, and a hoot and a half to play. I'm looking forward immensely to Yoshi's Touch and Go, Mario Kart, and also the full version of Metroid Prime Hunters. That feels so natural as a FPS to play with the touch screen.

PSP: ...PS2 ports, as far as I know...yawn. Ridge Racer is Ridge Racer. Yawn.

Battery Life

Nintendo DS: 6 hours officially doing nothing but Wireless play, 8 or so for your average DS game, and about 10 when it comes to your GBA play. Very good for a handheld. Almost on par with the GBA.

PSP: Not too bad, and very few of the rumours are true. I can average about 4-5 hours out of it on a normal game, 7 or 8 for MP3 playback. Wireless play? 20 MINUTES. I'm not joking.

Features

Nintendo DS: The touch screen and Pictochat are about it at the moment, and they're very good for what they are. Other than that, hopefully Nintendo will have the sense to release that GBA Media Player for it over here. Full Mp3 and AVI playback would be awesome on the DS.

PSP: MP3 and MP4 playback, sounds good on paper. MP3s are simple enough since the PSP can be used as a portable hard drive, essentially. MP4s, they don't even include conversion software. Which is a pain. On top of that, if you want to take advantage of it, you'll need to spend at least £100 extra on a decent 512MB memory stick. You're totally restricted to your memory card.

Possible Faults

Nintendo DS: Absolutely no trouble from it at the moment. A few scratches on the touch screen, but hey, that's to be expected. No dead pixels or anything, which is nice.
PSP: Ahem. Read this first. Now. After two weeks, my square button doesn't work. I'm supposed to "adapt to it?" Screw you, Sony. On top of that, I have over 10 dead pixels on the bottom right of my screen. Not very good for a £250 piece of kit, is it?
Don't ever question Sony's authority.

Overall final thoughts? My PSP is on eBay. I'm sorry I ever doubted you, DS. *hug*

posted by Baren @ 5:13 AM