Well, just thought we needed a thread about these two handhelds that are coming out soon. Plus, Zelos said he would save his thoughts on these two for another thread, well Zelos, you got your wish, here it is.

I would say I am getting the DS for now, I will write my reasons later on. Let the chat begin, Canute out.

I like the PSP because it's better. It has a built-in mp3 player, DVD player and cell phone. It kicks the DS, the DS should bow before the PSP.

I'm not planning on getting either handheld, but if I were able, I'd get the DS because it's a Nintendo product.

I hate it when companies put lots of useless features on consoles/handhelds though. It only jacks up the price tag, and the more features on something, the worse they get. Is the PS2's DVD player better than a stand alone DVD player? Nope. I don't need the crap that is added to the PSP or the DS and there are other people who'd agree with me. I just want the stupid games.

It's quite possible the PSP will beat Nintendo in sales though. They've managed to beat them in the console race, so they might do it again in handhelds. Then again, the GB has beaten every other handheld in history so far, even though they were more powerful.

Okay, now, here we go. And don't complain about spelling, do you really expect me to look over this all? I'll try to be as unbiased as possible.

Nintendo DS
Pros
-Dual Screen and Touchscreen give Developers more chance for inovation.
-Built in Microphone allows for easy voice chat and voice sensitive games.
-Nintendo has been in the handheld industry for years, they know what they're doing.
-Nintendo's products have alwasy been higher quality then Sony's, and durability is importnat in handhelds.
-Card based medium means no laod times, no skipping, and can save right to the card.
-Cards are easier to carry around then disks inside cases.
-Cheaper then PSP, will be anywhere from $130 to $180 probably.
-New redesign looks much better then before (Better then the PSP IMO)
-Has the series most gamers know and love, such as Mario and Zelda.
-Built in rechargable battery
-Screens are lit (front, side, or back is not known at this time)
-Built in wireless capability for up to 100 Feet without additional equipment.
-Built in WIFI compatibility if near a wireless router.
-Near N64 graphics.
-Cards hold 1 gigabit of data and can grow over time (More then enough IMO)

Cons
-Nintendo has promised that the touch screen will be durable, but after years of use it WILL get scratched up.
-Cards don't hold as much data as PSP's disks.
-Casual gamers may dismiss bnecause of inferior graphics and "Kiddy gameplay" (Not me though).
-No extra features besides gaming (I don't mind though).
-No Analog Stick for 3D gaming.

Sony PSP
Pros
-Good graphics, near PS2 quality.
-Big Screen.
-Analog stick.
-Those "Mature" games that casual gamers like so much, like GTA.
-Plays Movies and Music
-Promises lots of neat peripherals.
-UMDs can hold alot of data, about 1 gigabyte.
-Good Sound (It even has support for surrond sound, I believe)
-Design is good, but it's looking worse the more I look at it...
-Built in Wifi.

Cons
-Low battery life is a given.
-Durability issues, Sony has already been bad with this.
-The disk drive will be prone to breaking.
-Load times, skipping, and DREs.
-Uses memory sticks to save.
-Most of it's games are ports of current PS2 games, ports of future PS2 games, ports of old PSX games, or games heading to both DS and PSP.
-That large screen will probably be scratched VERY easily.
-Likely to be expensive, around $200 to $300 at start.

Opinions
To me, the DS is an almost perfect gaming machine. Portable, good battery life (rumored to be 10-18 hourse), inovation, good games, durability, and a developer I trust. To me, the N64 graphics are fine, peopel are being blinded by the PS2 quality graphics of the PSP. The GBA uses 2D sprites, but not many people are complaining about it. Also, people are saying the DS' carts are small (data wise) compared to the PSP, what about the GBA, it only has a quarter of the space of the DS cards. The touch screen is awesome and will work great for strategy games. The dual screens are new and to me that's a plus to. Also, now it looks awesome, better then the PSP to me. I don't mind the lack of entertainment functions as I wouldn't even use them anyways, and the analog stick I can live without.

The PSP doesn't look so great. The battery life doesn't look to good (unless you wear this extra, wrist mounted, battery pack), the extra features are useless to me, the screen is nice but prone to scratching, memory sticks and disks are not convienent in a handheld system, and so on. Plus, there's really only one game for it I'm interested in, Tales of Eternia (a port of PSX's Tales of Destiny II which was actually ToE in Japan).

Verdict
For me, DS all the way. There's no way I could even offord a PSP, and my mom wouldn't buy it for me either. There's nothing about the PSP that interests me. If I want to play those games, I could buy a PS2 and one to three games for the same price as the PSP alone if I wanted to play those games, but I don't.

Another thing about the PSP is, yes it uses DVD's. However, it uses MINI dvd's, the system cannot play full-sized DVD's like you get in a store. In order to watch a movie you would have to burn it to a mini DVD. It also cannot use full-sized CD's, only mini CD's, restricting the amount of music (CDA or MP3) you can store. And don't forget you can buy an MP3 CD player that can play full-sized CD's and 700MB MP3 CD's for only $35, so paying $300 to play smaller, much lower capacity MP3 CD's or music CD's is really not that great.

And the DS touch screen does show the possibility of extra features besides gaming. They have already demonstrated a wireless picture/text chat system called pictochat (I think that is the name), and I am sure there are more unusual features that will be released in the future, things only a touch screen can allow the system to do. Also, another benefit of the DS is it is reverse compatible with the GBA and the GBA cartridge slot allows the possibility for extra perhipherals to be used with the system, or even somehow combining GBA and DS games by having them both in the system at the same time.

Actually, the PSP uses UMDs, Sony's lastest media format. And to make matters worse, Sony is the ONLY place that has burners for them. Not even game developers have UMD burners. For them to burn games, movies, or music to UMDs, they have to send the code to Sony and PAY them to burn it. Sony may let people send files to memorysticks, but otherwise UMDs are out of the question.

Oh, and did I forget to mention it doesn't have MP3 support? It uses the ATRAC format, meaning you would need a converter to convert MP3 files to ATRAC. Simple, but annoying.

You people made me not want the PSP, damn you.

No just kidding, I'll most likely get them both.

Wow, you guys sure make a great point on why to get the DS and not the PSP. So far, this is pretty much a one sided argument. I would make argument on why I would take the DS, but I wouldn't be saying anything you guys haven't already said. Oh, and nice long post by you Zelos, you really gave both sides a good chance. Well, that is all, Canute out.

I just realized I forgot the WIFI for the PSP, so I edited it in ^_^

DS for me I just feel that it's better

youve seem to have forgotten that the DS is also able to still play the older GBA and GBC cartridges....

i cant seem to find that one DS video i showed to you guys a few months ago....oh well...

DS doesn't play GBC games, only GBA, so you better hang onto your GBA/GBA SP/Game Boy Player if you still want to play those.

eh? that's strange, the GBC cartridges were able to fit into a GBA, i wonder how they'll prevent it from being played on the DS...

GBA and GBC games would work on the DS because the DS uses a totally different type of cartiage. Also the DS isn't to replace the GBA, it's to be a different thing all together.

I am the one who made the 5,000th post!!! yippee!!!!!.....anyway...i vote for the PSP...just because you guys seem to hate it and i have no idea what DS or PSP means

Then you really shouldn't bother posting.

DS (if I'm any guess...Don't have my Nintendo Power handy) stands for Dual Screen, and is a multi-screen handheld Nintendo is planning to release. PSP stands for PlayStation Portable if I remember correctly, and is a handheld to be released by Sony around the same time as the DS.

I woulddent like PSP then.....becausse if it required a disk like the normal games...when you move around alot the game will skip and freeze......right?

Considering Sony's gaming system quality history, more than likely yes. They'll fix it eventually, but to start, it'll probably skip badly.

For those of you wanting some stupid PROOF that GB/C games will not work on the DS, read this paragraph from Nintendo's official DS website:

"Dual Slots: Nintendo DS makes a vast library of Game Boy® Advance games readily available. Developers could find ways to make new connections between GBA games and DS games. The GBA port could be used for new hardware, enormously expanding the functional expandability of the DS. "

As for the PSP, it doesn't use actual CDs. They're using their own format that looks basically like a minidisc, so there's less chance of it skipping on you, and it protects the actual data.

that was by far the stupidest reason to post..

also the paragraph didnt say anything about it NOT being able to run the GBC games...you cant assume these things...

Bloody hell, I dare you to find ONE interview or article that says the DS can play GB/C games.

Q: The Game Boy brand is the most powerful in handheld gaming and the DS is a handheld system. Are you really not going to call it Game Boy?

Answer (Mr. Tazuka) : The DS is not simply an expansion of Game Boy, it's an entirely new system with entirely new capabilities and for that reason we're not going to call it Game Boy. And that's actually why we didn't announce that the system would be backward compatible with Game Boy Advance software when we first announced the DS, because we wanted people to have a chance to see the system, understand the concept behind it, and accept the fact that it's not just a mere extension of Game Boy hardware.

Did he say anything about being able to play GB/C games? NO!

GB/C cartridges are often now referred to as GBA cartridges due to its backwards compatibility with said systems. It's a perfectly logical conclusion to assume that the DS can play any cartridge that GBA/SP can play.

ok...calm down...ill take your word for it for now...but just wait and see...you cant assume that just because it didnt say anything means that it wont happen....

like say for instance...i never said anything about changing my name from FuZNist to DrkXFuzion but it happened

ok maybe that was a stupid example.....

and im aware that the DS is meant to sell alongside the GBA...ive read all the articles too...

That quote was taken directly from the most recent issue of Nintendo Power (just gotten 2 days ago). As there will be a slot designed for GBA Paks, which include GB/GBC games, the DS will be compatible with GB/GBC games, giving us yet another reason to dish out the money for it.

Man, I was trying to get away from ZE for quite some time, but things discussing video games always make me HAVE to post >_<

The DS CAN play GBA game but CAN NOT play GB/GBC games. It's not the shape or size that has to do anything with it, it's the processors they contain.

The GBA/SP contains an ARM7 processor and some other Z80 proccesor. The ARM7 is used to play GBA games, and the Z80 GB/GBC games.

The DS also has two processors, and ARM7 and ARM9. They're both used to play DS games, as for full performace a processor can only work for one screen at a time. As GBA games use an ARM7, as long as the DS has the slot to fit them (which it does, hehe, it can also be called the Dual Slots) it can play GBA games as a side effect.

And that's the reason the DS can only play DS and GBA games.

And, just so you know,

ARM9= 3D, not sure how many bits, but most likely 64.
ARM7= 2D, 32 Bit
Z80= 2D, 8 Bit

Even if that is true, how do we know one of the DS processors can't emulate GB and GBC games?

It's unlikely, but even if DS can't play GB/GBC games.. it's hardly any big deal, that fact that DS can play both DS and GBA games is enough for me to want it, because I never got a GBA.

However all the other many things about the DS really make me like it, but mainly the gaming.

I don't need to go into it a lot, but for me, I don't care much about the PSP at all, DS all the way for me!

The processors wouldn't be able to emulate GB/GBC games themselves, you'd have to have software to do that.

It's very likely that sometime some hacker or third party will create a DS card that will play GB/GBC games that are inserted in the GBA slot, but knowing Nintendo they won't.

I have a question... Does this mean there'll be a new series of DS games that will in turn cause the disappearance of GBA games? I was quite unhappy with how fast GB/GBC games disappeared when the GBA came out. And since I'm always one step behind, I'm wondering if it's even worth it to buy a GBA/SP at this point in time with the DS coming out...

I would say just wait for the DS, that way you could play both DS and GBA games on it, while with GBA/SP you could only play GBA games and GB/GBC. I'm assuming you have a GBC, correct?

Yes, my best friend gave me her old GBC for Christmas the year GBA came out (since she got that). Which is fine and dandy, but because of the GB/GBC games virtually disappearing, the only plus for the darn thing was that I could play in color. 9_9 Never got any new games.

She MIGHT sell me her GBA, as she never plays that anymore. But I want to make sure that I have a system that's somewhat up-to-date. It'll be a while before I can afford either, just trying to figure out what I should shoot for.

Id go with DS, its most likely going to be cheaper, and it looks..how do I say this..."sexier"

Link

The DS is coming November 21st with a suggested retail price of $149 USD. The PSP apparently is going to be roughly $299 USD. The prices shouldn't be too surprising since we all expected the PSP would be very expensive anyway. Who'd be willing to pay 300 (350+ for me) for a handheld when you can buy a console and a couple of games for that price?

What is the DS? And, what is ther PSP? Are they gaming systems? Hand held or councels? What to theya do and what to the letteres stand for. I must be getting old or something. I don't knwo anything about this stuff.. hehe. Lycan

.....

you're kidding right???

Nintendo DS = Nintendo Dual Screen, a new handheld console, with two screens, one being a touch screen...being able to play both GBA and DS games, it goes where no handheld has gone before (N-Gage sux btw)

PSP = a PS2 that fits into your pocket...