[Question] NDS Lite vs PSP?

My vote goes for the PSP as well, but not for homebrew reasons.

I never owned a handheld gaming system before until the PSP. I bought it for it's multiple uses -- MP3 playback, UMD movies, wireless web browsing, etc. -- but I've grown to love it for the games as well. There are a lot of really great games for it and I've gotten plenty of use out of mine over the two and a half years I've owned it.

The DS admittedly has a larger number of games, but honestly (and strictly for my gaming tastes) I haven't found a single game that'd make me buy the system. If you're gonna buy one of the two, look to each system's library of games and weigh their pros and cons for yourself, since you're the one buying the system, not us.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Lix says the DS has way more games he'd buy, and I disagree with him entirely. I can't think of a single DS game I wanna play, much less buy. But then that's the type of gamer I am -- I'm not really interested in having my choice of two dozen puzzle games and brain-training games, which comprises a hefty portion of the DS's library. Not necessarily a bad thing if you're into those sorts of things. From my perspective, the DS doesn't have many games with what I'd consider "substance" -- it's mostly pick up, play for a bus ride and put down, not picking it up until you get back on the bus.

The PSP, on the other hand, has games I'd sit down for hours and play; Valkyrie Profile, Ratchet and Clank: Size Matters, both of the Mega Man games, Dragonner's Aria, Brave Story, Kingdom of Paradise, Jeanne d'Arc, Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops, the two FF remakes (though you can get those on the GBA), Tales of the World, and (import only) Breath of Fire 3 and Tales of Eternia.

I've purchased many more games than just those listed, but the PSP is not just an emulation system. I've never used my PSP for emulation, and I've been way more than satisfied with it. To this date, I haven't seen a reason to purchase the DS. I might when/if the Dragon Quest remakes are released in the US, and probably when DQ9 gets here, but then that'd be it. 3 games versus the 14 I listed above.

Again though, this is my taste in gaming. I'm not big on casual games cuz I find them boring and lacking, but if that's what you're into, then yeah definitely get a DS -- you'll find more to purchase and you'll get more out of it. If you want games that are more comparable to console games, I'd say go for the PSP.

Edit: But really, saying that one system is built for games is....inaccurate. Both systems are built for games. If the PSP's only purpose were multimedia, then that statement would be dead-on, but it's not. It was built as a gaming device with MP3 playback, video playback, and wireless Internet access included. If it wasn't built for gaming in mind, it'd have a library like the N-Gage's.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

The Nintendo.com Master Game List came back with 47 results with the category "Puzzle" included, and they've missed several since they categorize as well by "Mental Training." So it's closer to 60, really.

I'm not really trying to be negative or anything, but whereas the DS does have a lot of games, considerably more than the PSP as well, that doesn't necessarily mean more of their games are better. Maybe it does for you and other DS owners, which is perfectly fine. Hell, it's fantastic, because you have a lot to choose from.

I, as a PSP owner, may not have that much to choose from, but what I do have is product I consider to be (and please don't take this the wrong way) of higher quality. I'm a much bigger fan of Metal Gear Solid than I am of Phoenix Wright, and both games are popular on their respective handhelds.

For the purpose of the thread though, I don't think I'd recommend looking at the systems to determine which one to buy. Rather, look at the game library -- I can't say that enough. Working at a GameStop, I see far, far too many people getting mad because they bought a system without knowing the games that were currently available and about to be available.

For the record, Sony had commercials for Ratchet and Clank: Size Matters, Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops, Jeanne d'Arc, Madden '08, Final Fantasy II, DBZ Shin Budokai, and several other Japan-only games, including Bleach: Heat the Soul.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by Qwarky

If you're going to claim "DS only has puzzles and brain training" based on finding 47 (or 60) games listed as puzzle (if you think the likes of Ultimate Mortal Kombat and Rainbow Islands count as puzzle), then using that logic one would claim "PSP only has bad games" because a good number of its titles are ports ill fit for a portable console and/or rated poorly.

But...I never said it only has puzzle and brain-training games. I said it comprised a good portion of the DS's library, both currently available and coming soon, but I didn't say only. Saying that would, indeed, make it look like I have no idea what kind of games are available on the DS. So, I agree with you there.

If it came off like I said that, my bad. Not what I meant.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?