Portable Game Sytem

orrey45

orrey45

Joined
Jan 11, 2008
Messages
1,825
I am looking to get a portable game system for use while traveling (I have 4 traveling days a month). I figure my options are the Nintendo DS Lite, DSi and Sony PSP. I am leaning to the DSi at the moment but do not know a whole lot about any of them other then a few minutes of internet research. Do any of yall have have experience these system? Thanks for the replies.

Also, I am an avid reader but flying makes me brain dead so I need to blast aliens, race cars or collect some coins to calm me.
 
I have a PSP and it is great for killing time on planes and what not. I think it has better games than the other systems, but there are people who like the DS line better it really just depends on the person.
 
I own both the ds and the psp. i am a huge nintendo fan but the psp blows the ds line away. Both in graphics and entertainment. I would definately go for the psp. And while you're at it pick up socom: fireteam bravo (not the second one). I'm pretty addicted to it.
 
I'd look into the Ipod Touch. I have one, and it's great. I have maybe 10 video games on it...from Tetris to puzzle games and so on. It's growing into a better and better gaming platform every day.

Plus, it comes with the added benefit of being able to store music, connect to the internet when you're in wifi range, store photos, schedules, etc.

Just a thought to consider.

A quick edit: I'm looking at "Fireteam Bravo" on youtube, and i think I have to toss a quick disclaimer out there: the games are no where near as advanced as this looks!

Some games to consider for the touch: rolando, eliss, geo defense, zen bound.
 
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i agree i have a touch and although it is a handy gadget for pure gaming the psp wins hands down
 
I had one of the first generation PSPs, they are very good, they blow the Nintendo and ipod away from the point of view of performance and in depth gaming. Driving games are good on the PSP, shoot em ups are good too. Ridge racer was great on my PSP.
 
My son is a serious gamer. In fact, he's going to college next year in a computer gaming design program. He has pretty much every game system other than a PS3 and now the only ones he uses are the XBox 360 and the PSP. The graphics are are a huge amount better than the DS.

I prefer a paperback book, but I'm a technoidiot.
 
hmmm... I'll go against the flow here, but I like the DS better. Sure, the PSP has better graphics, but there are very few games that interest me. I'm more into puzzle games and old school Final Fantasy type RPGs and there's more of that on the DS.

It was uncomfortably hot lastnight and my girlfriend was flopping around all over the bed and I couldn't sleep, so I turned on my DS and started playing Zelda: A Link to the Past, best Zelda game ever (and damn near 20 years old)! THe only complaint I have about the DS is that while you can play Game Boy Advance games, you can't play older Game Boy games. That makes no sense because the GBA could play ALL Game Boy games... why the DS can't I'll never figure out. Which sucks because I bought my first Game Boy way back in 1989 and have a lot of great old games that I'd like to play (I have the original, non-back-lit Game Boy Advance).

Military games and first person shooters bore the hell out of me after about fifteen minutes, except Doom... I'll sit and play the first two Doom games for hours. I do like historically based real time strategy military games though.
 
In my opinion the DS is MUCH better then the PSP, And I have 1 psp and 2 ds, The DS just has much better games. The PSP has better graphics but that dosn't matter if most of the games aren't as good, plus the PSP uses UMD discs with really sucks, I think the build quality on the DS is much better then the PSP as well.
 
I have more than one of both.

The answer will definitely depend on what kind of games you like.

If you want to play scaled down console games, go PSP.

If you want to play games really intended for the mobile gamer, go DS.

I love both and play both often. The DS is better for me personally, just due to the fact it has more games I like (I love Castlevania and a few other old-school style games).

The DS is definitely the safer buy right now. The PSP "2" should be coming out in a year or less.

One more thing to consider is that the PSP is a full on PMP. A serviceable MP3 player and video player ready to go, with a....well...less than stellar web browser, but if your phone doesn't have one, it can do the job in wifi locations.

But I suppose the catch is that the main reason that console-esque games (in general) don't get brought to handhelds is because they just don't play well in the mobile environment. Mobile gamers often have short play sessions, often as short as 5 minutes at a given time, so it's helpful to have a library of games that can be picked up and put back down again without losing your place. With the DS, you simply close the lid and it automatically goes to sleep with your place frozen safely. When you're ready again, just open it up, and there's no load time or anything, you're exactly where you left off. The PSP is similar, with a switch on the side, but you'll probably want to put it in some sort of protective case to take care of its screen, the on/off (out of sleep) isn't as fast, and in between levels (Etc) there are short load times, all of which chip away just a little bit at its capacity as a purely mobile game system.
 
Ipod touch..


Movies, games, music

There really are some great very unique games due to the tilt and touch controls. Mostly puzzle games play best, lots of tower defence games, a lot of cool ports of java and flash games, the 1st person shooters are not great, as well as most of the racing titles.

But games like doodle jump, bubble head, icopter, flight control, zen bound, Eliss (best games ever!!) and Galcon (srsly a GOOD game!!!) are all great games. Most run around .99cents-$1.99 :thumbup:

Honest I have not played the Ps3 in months due to all the "unique games" the iPhone/itouch offers :cool: (and I'm a die hard gamer ;)... Might be a phase? But really look at some YouTube reviews of the games above and see if you might like them?

Plus movies, plus music.. All should keep you awake. Just keep it away from the Mrs. Because she will want to take it!
 
Also surfs bladeforums well :D

iPhone will surf 3G fast anywhere, and the touch will surf only in a wifi area. They will not play flash websites or flash based movies sites (read... no porn sites,) but most all of YouTube runs great, and most all other sites run great.

Plus its thin enough to throw in your pocket! I thought about a PSP when they came out and I know I would never have it with me when I wanted to play it. That and if I was home, I would fire the PS3 up to play console games. Not the PSP so I passed on it :cool:
 
PSP Gets my vote for a few reasons.

I love my PSP for the ability to play emulated games (Roms). For those who aren't familiar - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ROM_image

With my upgraded storage on my PSP I can carry around 900 SNES and NES and Gameboy (Classic, color, advance) and PS1 games. Now granted I only usually carry around 2-300 of my favorites but to have that selection without carrying any disks or whatnot? Its great!

The ability to play movies. I'm not talking about buying those BS discs for the thing, but you can add your own movies and clips to it and watch them at your leisure. For me this is excellent as I have a great deal of movies and clips that I enjoy watching. Worst case scenario I can borrow a DVD from someone and rip it (converting it while ripping) and toss it on my PSP.

The ability to play music...Ok so movies/games/music all can be done on a iTouch and tons of other stuff but for me it works out just fine. I keep a stack of 40-50 of my favorite songs with me on the PSP and I also keep my trusty iPod with me. Either or I have songs to listen to no matter what.

Finally and most importantly for me I can charge the damn thing using AA batteries...I may not have access to a plug in but I always have enough AA and 123 batts to power a small city. Granted you can get one for a iTouch or DSi but as I already have a PSP it works out just fine.

But I'm going to toss out one more option...Just because you get cool points for it and it has a massive amount of games to choose from....The Gameboy Micro

gba-micro-ds.jpg

"Classic DS" vs Gameboy Micro
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_Boy_Micro

Its the size of a credit card basically (2 inches x 4 inches) and it plays game boy advance games...Best part is it can be had for $20-40 on ebay.
 
PSP hands down. Get one that can accept custom firmware and you can play tons of old console games too.

You can also get a ton of free games and applications for it then.
 
I love my iPod Touch 2G(i jailbroke it also). I get so bored with the games and you have to buy them which means you need to get a gift card or put a credit card on your itunes account. I, which i am not proud of, installed a program which gives you cracked apps, but what else am i supposed to do when theyre all 10$ a piece and i bought it for the apps! But yeah, i would still recommend the PSP, it's way better. Graphics wise and features wise. The DS's touch feature is cool, but the games just get boring. I however do not recommend hacking it, as someone previous said they downloaded ROMs, which requires you to make a magic memory stick, cut a trace in the battery or buy a specially modded battery and hack it. Sometimes you brick them. Just keep it normal. I just wanted to let you know before you bought it thinking you could play nintendo games on it. You can add portals which are fake versions of say windows xp or whatnot which give you cheesy little games or applications. But they require the internet. if you do buy one, make sure you get the 3001 version (built in mic, "better" screen). It's just newer. Buy the console seperate and get at least a 2 gig memory stick. Buy a game and go play. What i do is i buy them used (if there are any fingerprints or scratches on the game request another one) and just beat that one game until i get another one. Also, i recommend a case because that pretty little screen scratches easy.
 
Iphone/touch > DSi > PSP :p

I have an Iphone, DSi, and PSP. The PSP is the most powerfull but power does not always translate into entertainment. I could spend hours every day on my Iphone with mobile internet, phone, email, games, music, tv, and movies... its the whole package. If you decide to get a PSP you should know that there is a new one coming soon, you can check out an article on it here.
 
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