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Video Game Thoughts - DS vs PSP
18 years ago
General
Since I can't draw anything, and haven't been writing any stories, I thought I'd just spill some thoughts that have been floating around in my head. Feel free to leave any comments and such.
So, the two main portable handheld gaming systems... The Nintendo DS and the Sony PSP. I personally own a DS. I've thought about getting a PSP, and probably would have one by now if I had the cash. I will try to be fair and unbiased, but I admit I do prefer the DS.
However, I'm a little confused. How does the PSP stick around? The DS is cheaper, the PSP's commercials are absolutely terrible ("Cluster bomb! Cluster bomb! CLUSTER BOMB! ...Cluster bomb."), and nearly everyone I've seen with a PSP cracks the firmware and pirate the games.
Granted, a lot of the DS games are quirky as heck. I never thought I'd say, with a straight face, stuff like "In this game, you play as a defense attorney and have to defend your clients in court. You can press testimony, present evidence, and raise objections." Or play things like Elite Beat Agents, or Cooking Mama, or Trauma Center: Under the Knife. (Puzzle Quest almost counts, but there's a PSP version as well.) But they're still fun as heck.
...to be honest, I forgot what I was trying to say while I was typing this. Mostly, I wanted to complain about the horrible PSP commercial with the two guys on the plane. GOD I hate that commercial...
So, the two main portable handheld gaming systems... The Nintendo DS and the Sony PSP. I personally own a DS. I've thought about getting a PSP, and probably would have one by now if I had the cash. I will try to be fair and unbiased, but I admit I do prefer the DS.
However, I'm a little confused. How does the PSP stick around? The DS is cheaper, the PSP's commercials are absolutely terrible ("Cluster bomb! Cluster bomb! CLUSTER BOMB! ...Cluster bomb."), and nearly everyone I've seen with a PSP cracks the firmware and pirate the games.
Granted, a lot of the DS games are quirky as heck. I never thought I'd say, with a straight face, stuff like "In this game, you play as a defense attorney and have to defend your clients in court. You can press testimony, present evidence, and raise objections." Or play things like Elite Beat Agents, or Cooking Mama, or Trauma Center: Under the Knife. (Puzzle Quest almost counts, but there's a PSP version as well.) But they're still fun as heck.
...to be honest, I forgot what I was trying to say while I was typing this. Mostly, I wanted to complain about the horrible PSP commercial with the two guys on the plane. GOD I hate that commercial...
you get a DS for fun games.
I did recently look around for homebrew stuff on DS, since I got a flash card now. There's a MSN Messenger client, an OS-like shell, and a version of ScummVM for the DS, and probably quite a bit more as well.
And that's jut official, non-cracked versions.
As a multimedia Platform, the PSP is a pretty neat piece of kit. The main problem is Sony pushed too hard on the UMD Movie format, which was a gamble that didn't pay off (Which is no surprise: They're more expensive than DVD's, have a lower quality, only play on one device, and, if you know what your doing, you can buy the DVD Movie, then rip it to PSP memory stick)
Other than that, Sony made a drastic mistake by underestimating the DS: From day one, Nintendo had a clear strategy for the DS, which they really needed, with such a radically different idea. Sony's Intentions with the PSP have never been as clear, drifting between games, Multimedia, web, and UMD. Now, Nintendo have shown their machine to be cheap to produce games for, and have mainstream appeal, they've won the developers over to their side. PSP Has lost all momentum at the moment; Sony were going to hype up the whole PSP/PS3 connectivity thing to er-engernise it, but we all know how well PS3 is doing....
I own bot a PSP and a DS: The DS Has had much more usage over the last year, but I'm glad I picked the PSP up; Lumines, Loco-Roco, Megaman: Powered up, and Outrun 2006 have been immense fun, and I have the entire Lord of the Rings Extended Trilogy ripped onto it for commuting, too.
...Then again, if I did get a PSP, the first thing I'd do is crack it anyway, so cost of games doesn't really mean much to me... ^_^;;
Now, cost of memory sticks... Now you're on to something.
Another thing is, I've yet to see anything good come out of the UMD format. Even the little cartidge-case thingies break constantly. I work at a Gamestop and it seems like 90% of the stuff we get for trade is cracked in half.
As for the DS, you can get devices like an AceKard or an R4. Even easier to use than the old GBA flash carts.