Handheld Advice

So, I'm planning on buying a handheld this year, and I'm looking for advice and people's experiences with the Nintendo DS and the Sony PSP.
I like the look of the DS, with the two screens, stylus control, that it's bright enough to play in daylight and that it can be closed so as to protect the screens and controls. What keeps me back is the sheer amount of anime-styled games (I loathe anime with the hate of a thousand million suns), I want to stay clear of that art style in my games. However, the DS seems to have more strategy games, which would be my main game interest on a handheld. I know it's got Age Of Empires and Anno 1701 already (the latter I may have to import however), and Civilization: Revolutions is coming out along with Warhammer 40k Squad Command. The DS Brain Age titles also look really good (and heaven knows I need all the help with my memory I can get!).
The RPGs for it however, and some of the strategy titles, seem to be all anime styled crap like Final Fantasy. The PSP seems to have less of that, and has D&D Tactics, the Grand Theft Auto games and the Warhammer title will be for PSP as well. There were a couple of other titles I cannot recall at the moment, but I remember being intrigued and they were PSP-only.
The PSP though by all accounts is difficult to see in daylight even with the brightness settings maxed, and the screen and controls have no protection other than a separate carrying case.

So, those of you that have one or the other, or both, what do you recommend? As I said my main interest is strategy, followed by RPGs and I like fun silly stuff too (but no anime!).

To me, the DS looks like it has the most jRPG type of games including both DS specific ones and GB Advance ones.

The PSP doesn't look to have very many RPGs at all, and most of the ones that I'd seen look more like ARPGs in the vein of Diablo. IOW seeming more western style action RPGs, and a better likelihood of some of the better psx games being ported to it.

More recent console RPGs seem to be steering clear of the heavily anime looking characters, IMO, or at least when compared to back in the early-mid '90's.

In any event, I'd wait for the response by txa1265 as he has both, and seems to have quite an extensive title library and should be able to point you in the completely correct direction, or at least, more so than I am capable of doing. (I'd go with a DS lite myself, as I prefer jRPG type RPGs on my consoles, and not some consolejacked PC game...)

txa1265 is our resident expert but every time this topic comes up (here and elsewhere) the general consensus seems to be DS over PSP by a wide margin. Many PSP supporters seem to like the movies/music/internet functions rather than the actual gaming.

The DS does look as though it has more Japanese styled games, which I hate, but it also strikes me as having the greatest potential for handheld strategy games as well as other types of games. The dual screen and stylus interface just seems capable of so much.
The DS is also a lot cheaper, and both me and the missus are wanting to buy a handheld so price is certainly a factor. The DS also supports a wifi connection via a USB plug-in "router", so that's a plus. She loves strategy games do the DS again looks good here, and we can MP together.

Internet function would be nice, but it's a tertiary concern.

If you want to get a feel for using the internet browser on the PSP, try typing a complete paragraph on your phone ... in letter mode ... using your nose.

Seriously, the PSP has many other features but each is fairly half-baked. Music cannot have playlists or nested folders. Photo viewing is limited. Movies are the best thing aside from gaming.

As to which you should get, it is a pretty tough call. My first home is shooters and then RPG's, and therefore I put a lot of time into the PSP. If you look at my review archive at GamerDad I've done ~90 PSP games and ~45 DS games. Part of that is there are games others have reviewed on the DS, but some of it is that there are more PSP games that appeal to me.

That said, if I had to choose one, it would be the DS. That is because the breadth of game experiences on the DS includes *everything*. The best adventures - DS; strategy? DS. RPG? DS. Shooters ... pretty much a toss there ... PSP wins tactical and DS gets run&gun. Puzzles? DS. Quirky games like Elite Beat Agents - DS, DS, DS ...

RPG's:
- Puzzle Quest is great and available on both.
- Etrian Odyssey DS is the answer to your dungeon crawling dreams - it is like Wizardry meets Bard's Tale meets 2007.
- Other great DS games like Izuna, Lunar Knights and so on - but those have a definite Japanese feel.
- The PSP is home to a huge collection of very average Final Fantasy clones. It also has some generic action-RPG's with long load times ... and the 'best' of those is the Dungeon Siege game, which is very average with some real issues.
- The best PSP RPG yet is Brave Story, which I just finished, but is cut from a very Final Fantasy cloth. Compare that to Etrian Odyssey ... there just isn't any comparison. Western RPG fans would choose Etrian Odyssey 10 out of 10 times.
- The new Jeanne D'Arc game is coming out next week, and is a strategy game in the 'Final Fantasy Tactics' tradition, and is one of the best games for the PSP I have experienced even after just a few hours. (yes I get it pre-release - lucky me ... this time!)

Then there is D&D Tactics.

This is *NOT* a system seller. Long load times, really dark dungeons, and clunky controls and interface mess up a pretty good experience. And the story doesn't really grab you too much. The nice hardcore D&D feel is good, but ... it pales in comparison to every good D&D PC game I have played.

Either choice will give plenty of good games, but it really depends on looking at the whole of your gaming wants and your liking or aversion to cute & quirky games.

A belated thanks for the information, Mike!
It looks like it's going to be the DS for me. Not that there's a ton of games for it that interest me, but it has mostly the games I want for a handheld, plus the potential for more of them given the DS' system set-up.
I have a huge aversion to cutesy games, and the sea of DS games appears to be made up of those, but there are a few potential gems out there that are just not on the PSP.

No problem - you can check out the new handheld article and there will be another one in a couple of weeks.

Took me forever to remember where this thread was.

So, what's the feel on the DS Lite unit? Looks like all you lose is the second screen, but it sounds like that might be a big deal. Thoughts?

dteowner said:

Took me forever to remember where this thread was.

So, what's the feel on the DS Lite unit? Looks like all you lose is the second screen, but it sounds like that might be a big deal. Thoughts?

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DS Lite? Here is a picture of the original DS vs. DS Lite.


The DS Lite has a brighter screen, more ergonomic feel, better buttons, and so on. I gave my 'Phat' to my younger son when the Lite came out.

Or are you asking about the new PSP Slim? I'm working on an article for that one (not for here) and will post a link.

Hmm. The box made it look like the DS Lite only had one screen. Color me retarded. With all the delays on my Dell, I've been thinking...

Thanks for clearing that up for me, Mike.

... that's why they pay me the big bucks here

dteowner said:

Hmm. The box made it look like the DS Lite only had one screen. Color me retarded. With all the delays on my Dell, I've been thinking...

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DS means "dual screen" so it'd be a bit silly to release a DS with one screen

And the DS does come in a variety of colours, but I'm not sure retarded is one that's available.

Hey, we all have our "dee dee dee" moments. Mine was just a little more public.

dteowner said:

Hey, we all have our "dee dee dee" moments. Mine was just a little more public.

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Hehe.. I think most of my moments are "dee dee dee" moments, with only rare moments of actual clarity popping up between here and there!