EGM votes PSP over DS 5-3

[James]

I won't retype the entire article, but I wanted to share the strengths and weaknesses listed for each system. I used that title because I figured hinting at some sort of fanboyism would get more attention.

GameBoy DS:

+ Plays old GBA games, which gives it a huge library of favorites right out of the gate.
+ Cart-based games mean no loading times and a long battery life.
+ Nintendo has ruled the handheld market for more than 15 years, so they know it better than anyone.
+ Nintendo makes the best first-party games in the business, and a few million people will buy anything to play a new Pokemon game.
+ It's possible to play multiplayer games across multiple DSes with only one cart of the game.

- Front and shoulder buttons are too small (and they don't have the same satisfying give of the GBA's buttons), and a lack of an analog stick is a step backward for 3D gaming.
- Cart-based games also mean worse sound and less storage space for things like speech and video.
- Big and, well, pretty damn ugly-- won't win any beauty contests, unless those "minor tweaks" become major.
- The touch screen seems prone to scratches, especially when you're rubbing a stylus over it all day (Nintendo says it is working on a solution).

Also mentioned was the speculation that Nintendo is really going to be the only company to not only make use of the features the DS will have. And so far, the second screen function really hasn't been used very impressively (almost every game shown uses it for a map).

Sony PSP:

+ Disc-based media can hold entire movies or excellent-quality audio and costs a fraction of the price of cartridges. This also means better audio and video for use in games.
+ Analog stick is a must for many 3D games, as experience with the very first Playstation controller taught us all.
+ Gorgeous design: Sleek and sexy, the PSP will be a easy sell to the gadget fetishists.
+ Wide third-party support-- as with their consoles, Sony isn't trying to make all the games themselves. Some big-name third-party game makers are already on board, including EA and Konami with a Metal Gear game.

- Disc-based media also means shorter battery life, although Sony claims the system will last around 10 hours when playing games, eight hours playing music, or two-and-a-half hours playing movies.
- Will it break? Sony doesn't have the best track record as far as dependable hardware, and optical disc drives tend to bust easily.
- Cost: Although Sony hasn't mentioned anything about price, most analysts are expecting it to come in at around $300 when it first goes on sale, with the price then decreasing gradually.

Other mention was that while PSP will have a lot more support than Nintendo, you don't know how good the games will be with this being their first time working on such a format. And the UMD video format seems like a silly addition.

My personal opinion is still in favor of the PSP. I've never had a problem with the hardware, so I can't take that negative into account, and battery life can be dealt with via an adapter and/or extra battery pack (Personally, I tend to play handhelds at home, so a power adapter would be logical). The only thing I would be concerned about is the speculated price, while the DS gives me more reason not to be interested in it just yet.