Nintendo DS vs. Sony PSP: An Objective Analysis by John A. D'Adamo

Introduction Ah, yes. The comparison between the two best-selling handhelds of all time.  Nintendo has had the most experience in the area of the handheld console, releasing the Gunpei Yokoi-developed Game Boy in 1989.  This machine, although it was not the most technologically advanced, won out over anything other companies could throw in Nintendo's path.  The Game Boy lasted over 11 years before the Game Boy Light (Japan-only) and Pocket came out.  Game Boy Pocket played the same games as the original in four colors of gray, black, and white, but was so small and versatile it could fit in your pocket.  Game Boy Color was its successor, which, as the name suggested, played games in various hues of red, green, and blue.  This system turned out to be just a placeholder, like Bob Schieffer is to Katie Couric, for the Game Boy Advance, released in 2001.  This system played both legacy Game Boy games as well as new handheld games that were unrivaled.  Game Boy Advance SP was soon to follow in 2003, turning out to be the first of Nintendo's handheld consoles to receive a lit display, although it was front-lit.  Nintendo DS, originally proclaimed by Satoru Iwata to be a "third pillar" to the Nintendo consoles and Game Boy line, was released in November 2004.  It features two backlit screens, a first for Nintendo, one of which is a touch screen which can be utilized a bunch of different ways.  It has now sold over 16.73 million units to date worldwide.   Fig. 1.1. The Nintendo DS. Sony, on the other hand, is fairly new to the handheld console business.  PocketStation was released by Sony in 1998 as a Japan-only peripheral for the PlayStation, and featured an LCD display, sound, a real-time clock, and infrared communication capability.  This was the only console released by Sony Entertainment before their newest venture, the PlayStation Portable.  The PlayStation Portable was released in March of 2005 in the U.S.A., featuring one 4.3 transreflective TFT display, a D-Pad, ABXY (triangle, circle, square, X buttons), plus an analog "nub".  This analog "nub" is significant in that it is the first analog device of any kind to be placed onto a handheld console, stick or nub.  The Sony PSP has shipped over 17 million units worldwide.   Fig. 1.2. Sony PlayStation Portable. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Design Just to get this out of the way, let it be known we are comparing the original DS to the PSP, not the DS Lite, as it has sold a mere 2.5 million copies, not even close to either the DS Original or the PSP.  A DS Lite comparison may be added at a later date. Both the Nintendo DS and the PSP made their debut at the 2004 E3 Expo, held in Los Angeles.  In terms of actual appearance, the PSP, with its gorgeous black shining plastic and its beautiful screen is waves better-looking that the DS clamshell design, from a vain standpoint.  Of course, the clamshell design is also more functional, protecting the screen and all the innards of the DS when closed.  It really comes down to "the coolness factor", however, as we are talking from a visual standpoint, and it is quite obvious the PSP is the winner here. Figure 2.1: In terms of visual appeal, there really is no comparison. Winner: PSP __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Display The entire point of the DS is its two-screen design, featuring something different on each screen, like the action on the top and a map on the bottom.  Plus, they are fairly well-lit in comparison with the GBA SP's old frontlit design, however the DS's major downfall is its lack of a backlighting customization.  There are two settings- On, and Off. The PSP's major selling point is its 4.3" transreflective TFT display, which takes up the majority of the PSP: but even on its lowest setting the PSP kills the DS in terms of brightness and clarity: Fig. 3.1. On its lowest setting, PSP destroys the DS in terms of clarity in its backlit screen. At its HIGHEST setting, only available when charging, the PSP even defeated my laptop in terms of clarity: Fig. 3.2. Even my Toshiba laptop was no match for the PSP at its highest level of brightness. Winner: PSP  ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Controls The controls of the Nintendo DS are very simple:  you have a D-Pad, ABXY buttons, L and R, plus the ever-popular touch screen.  Obviously the touch screen and its innovation allow you to be that much closer to Mario as he's getting that 150th star in Super Mario 64 DS or feeling the gun Samus is using in Metroid: Prime Hunters: Fig. 4.1. It's like I'm actually Mario! The PSP, on the other hand, went with the analog "nub", which is of great assistance in first-person shooter genres and racer games, but it just doesn't give you the same sense of actually "being there" that the DS gives you.  Plus, most games on the PSP, due to the lack of a second analog stick, just play weird and have a tendency to make your hand cramp up.  I declare the DS the winner for innovative controls that really make the system easy to use. Winner: DS _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Graphics / All Around Capablities The Nintendo DS has two processors, one ARM7, one ARM9, and it is capable of pulling off 2D and 3D elements on either screen at the same time. Nintendo's website has put the Nintendo DS somewhere just above the Nintendo 64 in 3D capabilities, having the ability to pull off as many as 200,000 polygons on-screen every second at a frame rate as high as sixty frames per second. This is being quite modest, however, as games such as Metroid: Prime Hunters, at least in my opinion, show off graphics almost up there with the PS2 or even the GameCube.  The Sony PSP has been confirmed to be about as powerful as the PlayStation 2, pushing out 32 million polygons per second at a maximum, with most games pushing 3 million at a frame rate of 60 frames per second.  Seems like the PSP is winning so far, eh?  Not so fast.  Battery life of the DS ranges from 10-12 hours depending on backlight and volume conditions.  The Sony PSP's battery life clocks in at around 6 hours, and that is if you are playing a puzzle game such as Lumines.  With a graphic-heavy game like Grand Theft Auto, the battery life is about 4 hours.  If the PSP has a flaw, this is it.  There are accessories to extend PSP battery life, one of which is the third-party "gaming grip", which has its own battery.  When fully charged, the "gaming grip" attaches onto the PSP, also fully charged, allowing double the PSP battery life, putting it up there with the DS. Regardless of battery life, though, there is no question that graphically the winner of this category is the PSP:     Figs. 5.1. and 5.2. A PSP game, SOCOM, received a 6.0 graphics rating from IGN on the PSP.  Metroid: Prime Hunters, a DS game, received a 9.5 graphics rating from IGN.  Which game do YOU think looks better? Winner: PSP ______________________________________________________________________________________________ Media To have a handheld console, you need a format for the game disks.  Nintendo went old-school with cartridges for their DS machine.  There are two slots: the DS cartridge slot, for which a cart can only hold 128 MB of data, tops.  Games like Metroid: Prime Hunters carry the top amount.  The other slot is of course a GBA slot, which can be used for Advance games and also as a future expansion pack. The Sony PSP, on the other hand, went with a proprietary disk format, UMD.  This format can hold as much as 1.8 gigabytes of data with room for improvement in the future.  Also, the PSP uses a memory card, Pro DUO.  These can go up to 4 gigabytes at present.  There are pros and cons with each system's format.  Cartridges are more expensive and can't hold as much "stuff", but are durable and have no load times.  The UMD disk system can hold more stuff and looks cooler, but you have to wait 30-45 seconds before starting up your game.  This is a tough one, but I have to go with cartridges.  You can get into the game in a matter of seconds, and handhelds need that pick-up-and-play factor.  The UMDs are definitely good as well, as they can hold games plus high quality media.  It comes down to personal preference. Winner: DS ______________________________________________________________________________________________ Price I used to berate Sony and their PSP for its high price, $249.99 originally, especially when DS dropped the extras and laid their price down at $129.99.  When Sony dropped the price, however, to $199.99 by dropping the "Value(less) Pack", I was sold.  $199.99 is peanuts for everything the PSP can do, including playing high-quality and high-poly games, movies, and can double as an excellent mp3 player.  I know, I have 50 songs on it- they play much better than on any iPod I know.  DS is down to $129.99, but honestly if you haven't gotten a Nintendo DS yet and are willing to pay the money, wait for DS Lite.  It improves everything in pretty much every way possible.  If you are going by what's on the market right now without DS Lite, at only $70 more, the PSP is the better value for everything it can do.  If the original system drops off the map in favor of DS Lite, you'll be able to get one for $40 or $50. Until then, however, PSP is the victor. Before $250-$199 PSP Price Drop: DS After PSP Price Drop: PSP _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ How About Those Third Parties? The majority of games produced for the DS are first and second-party games such as Nintendogs, Mario Kart DS, Metroid Prime Hunters, and Animal Crossing: Wild World.  This is all good and fine, but it also stunts the number of games coming out for the system and really completely alienates the GBA, kept on life support only by a trickle of third party and kiddie games.  Most of the big-namers, like EA, Square Enix, and Activision have only given the system raw ports like Madden, and spent most of their handheld budgets on developing PSP games.  This will help their library in the long run. Winner: PSP _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Current Library Both systems have a very decent library of games to cap off the seventh videogame generation.  Nintendo DS, even though the company was trying to stray away from the "kiddie" image, contains a lot of SpongeBob, Fairly OddParents, and badly done Yu-Gi-Oh games (I have no problem with YGO games but when they are done horribly an excellent manga and TV series is shamed).  There are some games worth getting on the DS, however.  Metroid: Prime Hunters is, without doubt or debate, the best DS game made to date.  The graphics are up there with the PS2 in some spots, and the Online support is fantastic for DS standards.  Mario Kart DS is another excellent game, Animal Crossing really shines in its WiFi support, and those Nintendogs are just darn cute. The DS also has a one-up on PSP: the GBA slot.  This allows thousands of games to be reborn on the DS, backlit for the first time. PSP tries to cast an adult image on their games.  While DS only has one Mature-rated game so far (Resident Evil), PSP has many.  Yes, the PSP has the Maddens, the FIFA Soccers, and all that you have come to expect from every console and handheld known to man, but it also has brilliant racers and shooters that are unrivaled on the handheld plane and one (Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror) that could even go toe-to-toe with some console greats such as Halo.  Plus, you have the Grand Theft Auto handheld series.  This really helps the PSP sell.  If you think there isn't any variety and that PSP only has dark, adult shooters, you'd be wrong.  Various light-hearted games such as Loco Roco are also available to satisfy all types of gamers. Fig. 9.1. LocoRoco- Lighthearted, addicting, Nintendo-esque fun adding variety to the PSP's library. Winner: Tie _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Internet Capabilities- Nintendo WiFi Connection vs. PSP WiFi Infrastructure The Nintendo DS and the PSP both have free Internet play, and both shine and fall in various areas. The Sony PSP contained WiFi out of the box when it was released in March 2005, but only a handful of games supported it, Twisted Metal and Wipeout Pure come to mind.  The Nintendo DS did not originally contain WiFi but did have the capability to go in that direction sometime in the future.  In November of 2005, Nintendo WiFi Connection was born with Mario Kart DS.  Like the PSP, WiFi support is only in a handful of DS games.  PSP's online play is much like online play on a PC or on XBox Live.  You boot up your game, you select the online option, and get into a room with the map of your choice.  For example, in SOCOM: US Navy Seals, a chat box is available before and after matches, and VoIP headset support is available all the way through the match.  There are leaderboards available on the SOCOM website and also available right on your PSP for access.  Up to 16 people can play at the same time on the PSP, but more will probably be availiable in the future. DS's WiFi Connection is different in that there is a Friend Code system.  You have to get with a friend and share friend codes with that person before playing.  That's right, folks.  You can't just play against a random Mau Hisaki in Japan anymore, although Nintendo was touting seamless worldwide play.  Many message boards allow friend code swapping, though, so it's all good (except Nintendo's own, for some odd reason).  Also, the WiFi functions are different depending on whether playing with people at random (totally random, not picked by you) is how you play people or if the games feature the Friend Code function exclusively.  For example, Animal Crossing: Wild World has a chat function, but you can only play with people using Friend Codes.  Metroid: Prime Hunters has VoIP, but you have to get Friend Codes before playing.  Mario Kart DS and LostMagic allow you to battle people at random, but there are no chat or VoIP options.  I'm assuming this is to eliminate pedophiles from attacking minors using Nintendo's software, but it sure as heck sucks the fun out of Internet play, as far as I'm concerned.  To top all this off, you can only play with 3 other people, tops, no matter the game.  On Nintendo's WiFi website, they do offer leader boards and some statistics, but who cares about that when you can't play with people that you don't already know and can't anticipate their skill level ahead of time?  Where is the fun? Winner: PSP _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ JD's Final Verdict- Updated January 20, 2007 Both the Nintendo DS and the Sony PSP offer loads of fun, and quick, powerful handheld gaming at a pretty good price.  This, ladies and gentlemen, is the first generation where Nintendo isn't easily dominating the handheld field.  Before when thrown at them technologically advanced systems like Game Gear, Nintendo just counterattacked with their Game Boy and obliterated all competition.  Now, Sony has finally offered Nintendo a real challenge.  With new designs and colors coming out for each system and new, exciting games, both systems are sure to have a long lifespan into the seventh generation of gaming, with the XBox 360, Sony PS3, and Nintendo Wii at their side.  Although Sony PSP is definitely the better system when it comes down to its design, brilliant screen, WiFi and third party support, DS fights back with a great media format, controls, and price.  If you are on a tight budget, get the DS.  If you have about $300 though for the ultimate handheld gaming and media experience, get the PSP.  It does it all: Movies, Music, and brilliant handheld gaming.  It succeeded where the Nokia N-Gage went wrong: better controls, screen, media capabilities, and excellent gaming.  Both sides, Nintendo and Sony fanboys need to calm down.  Their system is not ten times better than the other.  If you are a Nintendo fanboy saying the DS is leaps and bounds better than the PSP, you have never played the PSP.  Same deal for the Sony camp.  Even with my review, you still should play all the systems: PSP, DS, heck, even Game Park 32 and Gizmondo.  If N-Gage floats your boat, go that direction.  It is all about personal preference, and in the end, you decide how you are going to spend your money.  Now, my verdict: Tie That's right, folks.  While the PSP can do pretty much everything including function as a camera and GPS in its current format, plus talk to the PS3, DS will soon be able to talk to the Wii, and with the DS Lite, Nintendo has jumped back into it.  Price is still an issue, and if the PSP drops the price again I may have to change the ruling again.  A PSP and a DS Lite at the same price range is no contest, however with the PSP system still slightly higher, and with the variety of games the DS Lite can play, I have to give a tied vertict. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Alan Tse's Take: ______________________________________________________________________________________________ Here's a condensed layout of my opinions on the two handhelds: Nintendo DS Pros: 1. Price: Let's face it, not all people would be willing to spend $250 on a handheld, especially a parent buying it for their child. The $130 price tag of the DS is a much more reasonable price in consumers' eyes. 2. Never-before-done features: Nintendo has always been stressing innovation above all, especially in the game market where so many games have become obscure and derivative because of similarities, trends, and how the cost of game development is in the multi-millions now, so developers really want to make games that they know will sell. People often like to describe game development as an art form, but art is all about creativity, and there isn't a whole lot of that in today's game market. That's where Nintendo is hoping to make a difference and explore new grounds in how games can be played. The DS's double screens, touch sensitivity, and microphone are features that have never been seen in any other system on the market, and most of all, it encourages creative thinking in game development. This creates new experiences for gamers and, as some developers have said, is downright fun for developers to do, as it challenges them to flex their brain muscles and approach game development in ways that they have never thought before. To a truly creative mind, the DS and all that it allows is something of a new world of possibilities. 3. Nintendo's expertise: Aw, come on, admit it. Nintendo has had nearly two decades of handheld dominance for a reason. The games that they make for their handhelds are masterpieces, what with Mario Land, Kirby, Legend of Zelda, Pokemon, Advance Wars, Mario Kart, Warioware, Fire Emblem, Metroid, Mario & Luigi, Brain Age, and much more. They really know what makes a good handheld game, and unlike competitors like N-Gage, Gizmondo, and even PSP, Nintendo's handhelds don't try to pretend to be anything more than a game machine. It's their focus, and the games that their handhelds support reflect that dedication to making it all about the games. 4. Massive third-party support: Of course, not all of the best games for Nintendo's handhelds were made by Nintendo. Third-party developers have put their support behind Nintendo and their handhelds, and that history continues on Nintendo DS. Some notable examples are Castlevania games, Sonic games, a new Tales game, new Mega Man games, new Pac-Man games, new Yu-Gi-Oh! games, Final Fantasy games, a Harvest Moon game, a Viewtiful Joe game, a Seiken Densetsu game, and new titles like Lunar Knights, Contact, Trauma Center, Phoenix Wright, Feel the Magic, and countless more. 5. Backwards compatibility with GBA games: For people not ready to let go of their GBA and its games, or want to keep on playing them, or even have yet to get a GBA, the DS serves as two systems in one, being able to play both DS and GBA games. Nintendo DS Cons: 1. Potential gimmicks: With the design of the system, it's really easy to just use the new features as simple gimmicks ingames. Poor games like Lunar: Dragon Song, Burnout: Revenge, Need for Speed: Underground 2, Tao's Adventure, and Sprung are some of the biggest offenders. Even though the DS has tons of potential for creative games, that doesn't mean all developers will actually make good on that potential. 2. Graphics and size of games: In terms of maximum graphics output and possible game size, the DS is only second on the market to PSP games. With their 1.8 gigabyte UMD discs, PSP games can rival 128-bit console games in size and look, while DS games are more comparable to 32-bit games. 3. Can't play GB or GBC games: While it does support compatibility for playing GBA games, the DS strangely doesn't do the same for any Game Boy game that came before the GBA. This is a shame, so you'll need at least both a DS and either a GBC or GBA if you want the ability to play all of the games for Nintendo handhelds. 4. Poor games: Let's face it. Nintendo's past handhelds were home to literally thousands of bad games that you had to shift through to get to the good stuff. These games are really easy to make and cost next to nothing to develop, so just about any movie and cartoon related game on a handheld often turned out bad, and there are too many of these to even start naming. 5. The look of the system itself: Um... well, I hear people going on and on about how "sexy" the PSP looks compared to the DS. I personally don't understand how a piece of hardware can look "sexy," but this is something that a lot of people say, so there you have it. 6. Ports: While as not as big a problem as the PSP has, the DS certainly has its share of ports of old games. The fact is that some developers would rather avoid the task of making new games and just port their classic games to the current handhelds, now that they are powerful enough to support them. Super Mario 64, Rayman 2, Puyo Pop Fever, Animal Crossing, and Diddy Kong Racing, for the most part, are simply their N64 and GCN versions in handheld form. Playstation Portable Pros: 1. Graphics and size of games: With 14 times the amount of storage capacity and comparatively high resolution screen compared to the DS games and screens, PSP games can not only look amazing by handheld standards, but can even be comparable to modern consoles games in size and expansiveness of their game worlds. Look no further than Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories to exemplify this. 2. Analog control: Although far from ideal, the PSP analog nub is much better than any other attempt at analog control on a handheld, such as the Gizmondo circular pad or DS touch movement. 3. Sony support: People have had tons of faith in Sony and their marketing expertise for the past decade, earning them indisputable market leadership on console gaming ever since the original Playstation. These same people still hold the same faith in Sony in their handheld venture. Some of the most dedicated supporters of the Playstation and Playstation 2, like Konami and Square-Enix, are also the biggest supporters of the PSP. Metal Gear Ac!d is among the PSP's best offerings, and Square-Enix will soon add to the mix. 4. Multimedia: The PSP isn't just a game machine; it's a movie-player, mp3-player, camera, web browser, and more. As long as you have this, you may never need a iPod, mini DVD player, digital camera, or what have you, as you can have all of them in one tidy package. Plus, with all the downloadable firmware updates currently available and coming up, the PSP's capabilities can only get more diverse. 5. I forgot the name, but the PSP will soon have a feature that will allow you to download and play classic Playstation games. This alone opens the library of available games for the PSP dramatically. 6. The look: As stated above, people just can't enough of the PSP and how "sexy" it supposedly makes them look, however that can be. Playstation Portable Cons: 1. Cost of system and games (and memory sticks): $250 for a PSP, $40 to $50 or more per game, and $25 (the bare minimum of upwards to $99) per memory stick... yeah, enough said. 2. Cost of making games: For developers, the cost of making PSP games, I believe, actually costs as much or more than making a PS2 game. This would obviously limit their willingness to make games for the PSP, let alone new games, in favor of just making a PS2 game out of it. 3. Library of games: Oh dear, don't even get me started on all the ports and compilations that flood the PSP game library.... Oh alright, here's a few: Ridge Racer, Wipeout: Pure, any EA and 2K Sports game, NBA Street: Showdown, NBA Ballers: Rebound, Midnight Club III, X-Men Legends II, Silent Hill Experience, Guilty Gear Judgment, Prince of Persia: Revelations, Viewtiful Joe: Red Hot Rumble, James Bond 007: From Russia with Love, SSX: On Tour, Race Driver, Winning Eleven 9, Super Monkey Ball Adventure,  Monster Hunter: Freedom, Gradius Collection, Darkstalkers Chronicle: The Chaos Tower, Power Stone Collection, Tekken: Dark Resurrection... whoops, this list is getting too long. But anyway, I think you see what I mean. The PSP game library has far too many ports that people can simply play on their PS2's, and on a bigger screen, and without battery consumption. There are also some games like Lumines and Liberty City Stories that defy logic in how they get made for the PSP, and then get PORTED to CONSOLES! In the end, the PSP has scant few worthwhile games that can really be called original or exclusive to the system, and that's a bad thing to consumers. Why would you want to buy a system that has games that you can play on a system that you already own? 4. Battery life: The PSP eats up batteries like no other pocket-sized machine. I mean, 6-hour gaming time and 2-hour movie-watching before you need replacements batteries? With all that you could use you PSP for, this is a crying shame. 5. Malfunctions: There seems to be no end to the PSP horror stories of numerous dead-pixels and disc read failures and problematic square buttons. Then again, Sony products have never been the most ship-shape of consoles, often needing replacements after a few years. This is naturally pretty tough on those with small wallets. 6. The near complete exclusion of younger gamers: Before you wonder what's the big deal about this, take a minute to think about who legitimately plays handheld games, and why they do. Sony has often claimed how the PSP is meant to be some sort of "grown-up" handheld gaming machine. Well, the price and cost of owning one certainly exclude almost all younger gamers. Sony's approach to gaming is to appeal to the older age group, believing that age group to be the one that spends the most time gaming and/or has the most usable income to spend, which is true. But in the handheld domain, I think Sony is missing the point to handheld gaming in the first place. Handheld gaming isn't supposed to be some high-costing activity; it's meant to be a leisure activity that ANYONE, especially young kids, can get into, whether it be for a few minutes or occasionally a couple of hours, and the high cost of the PSP means that it certainly is not meant for just playing for a few minutes at a time if you want to get your money's worth. As it stands, the majority of people who are genuine handheld gamers are young people or casual gamers who don't have too much money or time to spend on games, and the PSP is very unattractive to both groups. 7. Multimedia: Yes, I know that I considered the multimedia capabilities of the PSP as a pro, but they can also be a con as well. Why? Well, remember what I said about the DS not pretending to be anything that it isn't. As a result, all efforts are concentrated on making it the best game experience it can possibly be. But with the PSP, Sony divided its focus on almost too many things, when in the end, people are going to want a PSP primarily for playing games*. There's nothing inherently wrong with giving the PSP some more features, but when you get to a point that you spend time and money to turn the PSP into a GPS for you car instead of spending the effort to make it a better game experience, then you know something is amiss. *Actually, it's been reported in some circles that the PSP's most successful feature that was put to the most use has been watching the UMD movies on it. You could argue this as a big pro for the PSP, but if that's so, then you're saying that it really is less of a game machine and more of a glorified UMD player, in which case it shouldn't even be compared to game machines like the DS.

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