Which Is Better Nintendo DS Or Sony PSP
Sega Game Gear? Ha! It was about as much a challenge to the reigning king in its day, the Nintendo Gameboy, as a beer league football team would be against the Steelers. Fact is, Nintendo has been pretty much unchallenged in the handheld gaming arena since the original Gameboy, continuing right through to the DS.
That is, until now.
With the latest generation of handhelds, Nintendo is facing some strong competition from the Sony PSP, or Playstation Portable. It’s not exactly a neck-and-neck race, but the PSP is winning in some parts of the world. This is something that Nintendo has never had to face with previous generations of handheld systems. Sony’s PSP is not going to disappear like the Sega Game Gear and most other competitors from past years.
The question in many people’s minds – particularly those who are planning to buy a portable gaming system for themselves – is this: which among the Nintendo DS and the Sony PSP is the better investment?
Let’s answer this important question by breaking it down into 4 important sub-questions that will ultimately tell us the handheld that will define this generation of portable gaming.
1. Which console is more powerful? There’s really no contest here. The Sony PSP was designed to be a powerful unit, with two 333MHz CPUs rendering both gameplay and amazing graphics. The screen is built for widescreen gaming, and has a much better resolution than the DS. PSP games take more space as well, because there is so much more to them. Most Nintendo games are under 100MB. PSP games range from 300MB to 1.5GB. WINNER: Sony PSP.
2. Which console has more games? Many experts say that software creates hardware and not the other way around. What would you do with a highly powerful handheld if you won’t have any games to play with it, right? When it comes to depth of gaming library, the Nintendo DS is the runaway winner. Its releases outnumber the releases of its competitor by a ratio of almost 4:1. There are many development companies focusing only on developing games for the Nintendo DS. WINNER: Nintendo DS.
3. Which system has better multimedia capabilities? Many of today’s gadgets perform specialized functions. Ipods play music.
PDAs let you browse the web and manage data. Digital cameras take photos and in some cases, video. Cell phones can act as personal organizers as well as communication devices. However, many device manufacturers are trying to make their hardware do multiple tasks from a single unit.
Handheld game systems are no different. The more they can do, the more attractive they are to potential buyers. The DS has limited audio and video playback functions. The Sony PSP can handle many audio formats and can play MP4 videos as well. It can also surf the web, watch TV (with a TV tuner add-on), store data, and even act as a remote control for a Playstation 3. WINNER: Sony PSP.
4. Which system has the most exclusive game titles? Here again, it’s pretty hard for anyone to compete with Nintendo. The DS has many original properties, such as Mario, Pokemon, Zelda, Donkey Kong, Kirby, Animal Crossing and a number of others. This is one of the biggest selling points of the DS. WINNER: Nintendo.
So we’re tied, 2-2. Which system is better: the Nintendo DS or the Sony PSP? It really depends on what you expect from the handheld machine. If you’re going for functionality and raw power, then choose the Sony PSP. But if you’re looking for a memorable, an exciting, and most importantly, a varied gaming experience, then the Nintendo DS is a better choice.
