Favorite Handheld System...

[The Fat Bioware Nerd]

What's your favorite handheld system? Mine is the DS Lite.

[Slothy]

GBA SP or GB Micro. They play Game Boy and Game Boy Advance games which gives it the best handheld library of all time.

[Captain Maxx Power]

The original GBA was a very sexy shape. Due to the massiveness of my hands I find it hard to hold onto square-shaped controllers. It pisses me off that the Wii and DS are both block-tastic. The best controller in the world ever is the PS1/PS2/PS3 controller. I've yet to use a better controller.

[Aerith's Knight]

GBA i suppose.. i only play the ds now.. but GBA with pokemon was something i spend many hours on.. ow and classics of course

[NeoCracker]

DS owns your soul.

[Aerith's Knight]

DS owns your soul.

thats an awfully bold statement to say to someone.. to say it about your own soul ok.. but to condemn other people :p.. tisk tisk :)

[NeoCracker]

DS owns your soul.

thats an awfully bold statement to say to someone.. to say it about your own soul ok.. but to condemn other people :p.. tisk tisk :)

What Can I say? Compared to other Hand Helds, it kicks that much ass.

Not many GB and GBC games worth playing anymore, and GBA can be played of the DS, so the actual GBA isn't that useful anymore.

Plus, PSP sucks.

[LunarWeaver]

Besides Dragon Quest IX, my interest in DS titles has simply dwindled. I'm not into any of Nintendo's three heavy hitters and their many titles (except Mario Kart, but I can live without it), or Pokemon. The FFXII title didn't turn out like I wanted, and the upcoming Crystal Chronicles will probably not rub fun lotion on me either. That poses a problem, buckaroos! To be honest, the PSP's Metal Gear: Portable Ops, Silent Hill Origins, GTA: Liberty City Stories, FFVII: Crisis Core, the FFT port, and the upcoming God of War game all hold my interest and I would love to play them (and maybe I could finally play Disgaea).

There really are just no DS games I can see keeping interest for longer than 10 minutes. I'm not saying the DS has bad games or anything, as that's clearly not the case. I'm obviously the odd ball and not the majority, and I'm cool with it all.

[Aerith's Knight]

DS owns your soul.



thats an awfully bold statement to say to someone.. to say it about your own soul ok.. but to condemn other people .. tisk tisk



What Can I say? Compared to other Hand Helds, it kicks that much ass.



Not many GB and GBC games worth playing anymore, and GBA can be played of the DS, so the actual GBA isn't that useful anymore.



Plus, PSP sucks.



amen to that

ds with M3 rulezzz.. already have 100 games

[KentaRawr!]

Gameboy Advance SP, obviously. If only the DS could use GBC Carts. Then, it would definitely steal that crown of absolute awesomesauce.

[CimminyCricket]

I'm stuck between both the PSP and the DS to be honest. The DS has the majority of my SRPGs whilst the PSP has games like Valkyrie Profile, Silent Hill and all those other ass kicking games. If I had to throw both of them out the window, I'd be good with the original game boy and some Super Mario.

[Slothy]

Besides Dragon Quest IX, my interest in DS titles has simply dwindled. I'm not into any of Nintendo's three heavy hitters and their many titles (except Mario Kart, but I can live without it), or Pokemon. The FFXII title didn't turn out like I wanted, and the upcoming Crystal Chronicles will probably not rub fun lotion on me either. That poses a problem, buckaroos! To be honest, the PSP's Metal Gear: Portable Ops, Silent Hill Origins, GTA: Liberty City Stories, FFVII: Crisis Core, the FFT port, and the upcoming God of War game all hold my interest and I would love to play them (and maybe I could finally play Disgaea).

There really are just no DS games I can see keeping interest for longer than 10 minutes. I'm not saying the DS has bad games or anything, as that's clearly not the case. I'm obviously the odd ball and not the majority, and I'm cool with it all.

I agree with you completely on the DS. I have little interest in it's (very) few non-casual games, and as for the over abundance of casual games, well, I'd rather cut off both thumbs and jam them in my eye sockets than play them. I'd agree that the PSP is coming out with the better games lately, but it sure took long enough.


Not many GB and GBC games worth playing anymore, and GBA can be played of the DS, so the actual GBA isn't that useful anymore.

Matter of opinion. If you ask me, there are a lot of classics on the Gameboy and GBA that beat everything on the DS by a longshot. The DS doesn't play GB games though, so I could never put it up as best handheld, even when counting another handhelds library.

[Roto13]

You're about the least hardcore hardcore gamer I've ever seen. Honestly.

[Raebus]

DS has mario kart DS, which has an online mode that I'll never get sick of. I go with ds lite.

[Karellen]

The DS is the first handheld to break away from the 'like a console yet not as good' syndrome that plagued the earlier generations. There are so many things I like about it I wouldn't know where to begin.

[Sam250]

The DS is the first handheld to break away from the 'like a console yet not as good' syndrome that plagued the earlier generations. There are so many things I like about it I wouldn't know where to begin.

Exactly- why play a PSP when I already have a PS2? Does exactly the same thing but with better graphics, sounds, and a bigger screen. Yes, I understand the quite obvious "Its a Handheld" arguement, but so is the DS, and thats also somthing origanal.

Loads of games coming out soon to keep my interest- Pheonix Wright 3, Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, Final Fantasy 4 ect ect ect.

[KoShiatar]

I have both a PSP and a DS, and I can say both systems are definitely worth having if you find games you like, once you've chosen what kind of approach you want to go with.
The DS is smaller, as much user-friendly as possible and with software made to be different from previous gaming experiences and lure old and new gamers alike. And it's got the biggest library ever, because everybody wants to develop stuff for the DS since it's so successful and it can use the immense GBA library as well.
The PSP is graphically much better, with a lot more things you can do with the basic setup and crystal clear sound (well, if compared to the slightly rusty sound of the DS at least). But it's also much more complicated to use, more fragile (just think about the unprotected screen) and basically aimed at hardcore gamers more than at families or the like. Oh, and not to mention expensive (games have more or less similar prices though). If you modify it you can run PSX games, but modifications are dangerous stuff if not done properly. However, if you have a PSP Slim, you can see your games on TV with the righ cable.
It's your choice.

[Aerith's Knight]

also something to take in mind is that if you want to modify your ds to play roms.. you dont have to do anything to your DS itself.. its just a card called the M3 or the R4, and you can use a flash card to put the stuff on there.. and even then.. its not illegal, because its legal to have a back-up ROM..

so in short.. you wouldnt have to pay for games(you would have to.. but.. you know..)

[blackmage_nuke]

Tamagotchi

[Storm San]

:cry: game boy colour
i was easily impressed , and up to this day, i never experienced a happier feeling for a present that when I got Pokemon silver back in 2001

[Vermachtnis]

DS is just awesome. And it plays GBA games and when it came out they still kept releasing GBA games too.

[Bolivar]

Well I would have to say the original Gameboy defined the handheld market to be what it is, and it had a ton of games that can destroy most of the ones coming out today. the original pokemon, warioland/mariolands, links awakening, harvest moon, it had plenty of great titles. And the GBC perfected it, allowing even more great games to be made, I especially enjoyed the 2 Zeldas made for it by Capcom.

This sums it up great though:


The DS is the first handheld to break away from the 'like a console yet not as good' syndrome that plagued the earlier generations. There are so many things I like about it I wouldn't know where to begin.

Every console since has been an re-invention of the NES. And like Karellen said, handhelds are weaker versions of the NES-derived consoles. The DS, in addition to "Dual Screen" is also referred to as "Developer's System". It really challenges developers to make games that they otherwise couldn't with the traditional NES standard. There's a long list of games I enjoy on it, and look forward to: New SMB, Final Fantasy III, FFXII: RW, Rune Factory, FFIVDS, FFTA2, Phantom Hourglass, and more. Not to mention access to the GBA library gives it quite an impressive list of traditional games, if that's more your thing. The games on the DS seem to be alot of fun whereas the PSP is just simplified versions of console games.

[The Fat Bioware Nerd]

The PSP plays DVDs but who'd wanna watch a DVD on that tiny screen?

[Yar]

The GBA is not only my favorite handheld system but favorite between handhelds and consoles. Arguably the greatest game library ever, with GBA originals and NES/SNES rereleases. I have so much fun with GBA. And its battery capacity is wonderful. I'd rather have a GBA than a Wii/360/PS3 right now.

I can't be convinced the DS is better, it is too big for me.

GBA "pwns" all.

[Ramza Beoulve]

The GBA is not only my favorite handheld system but favorite between handhelds and consoles. Arguably the greatest game library ever, with GBA originals and NES/SNES rereleases. I have so much fun with GBA. And its battery capacity is wonderful. I'd rather have a GBA than a Wii/360/PS3 right now.

I can't be convinced the DS is better, it is too big for me.

GBA "pwns" all.
Pretty much my opinion. That's the only reason I got a Game Boy Advance, a Game Boy Micro and a Game Boy Advance SP 2 (Super Screen :))

[Ashi]

Although I also have both a DS Lite and a PSP (and have owned GBAs and Gameboys over the years), I would have to say that my DS Lite is my favorite.

Not that many games struck my fancy on the PSP, and besides that - I found the grip a little strange and uncomfortable. It's probably not that different with the DS lite but on that system, I found more games that are to my taste so the discomfort factor could be ruled out.

It was very weird to play one of the Katamari games on the PSP :( it was a lot of fun on the PS2.

[DK]

The DS is one of the best consoles I've ever owned, the game library is awesome and the touch screen and just having two screens has made for some real awesome gaming, imho. I love it.

[Shoeberto]

I love my DS Lite so much. I had an original GBA, a GBC and an old grey Game Boy but this is better than them. I have a card (Games 'n' Music) so I can just emulate my GB/GBC games. The library is full of slick games and it just feels awesome to hold.

[Skyblade]

Meh. The DS is ok, but not great. Having the dual screens and stylus are good, but, like the Wii-mote, it seems to be putting too much pressure on game developers to use them. I've been using single screens controlled with buttons for as long as I can remember, and I've found very few instances where a game benefits from useless addons. Sure, for some games, it works beautifully, but for others, it's painful and there is clearly no reason behind it other than "it's there, so we're gonna use it".

I'm not a huge fan of the DS Lite, because I would much rather have kept the system the same size and had extra hardware stuck in to allow GB and GBC games to be played on it.

The GBA or GBA SP wins the award for having the largest library of quality games. Maybe it is a remake of the consoles, but less powerful. So what? Consoles rock. I want a quality game system with quality games, not a handheld that I only have because it's "trying something new".

[iostiogic]

DS owns your soul.
Quoted For Truth.

[Hazzard]

PSP of course. Getting it customized and modified is the rage these days, I also have my valued sources which can import games over to the PSP from an unknown site, they can also transfer Xbox 360 firmwire over to the PSP, and that means I can play Xbox 360 games from my handheld gadget.

Nice setup, huh?

[The Fat Bioware Nerd]

The PSP isn't worth $250.00 in my opinion...I'd rather own a DS Lite because Bioware is making a Sonic RPG and I love Bioware RPGs!:D

[Mr Cactuar]

DS for all the reasons stated. PSP is not worth my time or money and theres so many problems I have with it. The whole thing is held together by magnets, so if you drop in on say a carpeted floor, it can very easily break.

And with people saying the DS isn't as 'hardcore' as the PSP I laugh at you. Play MPH against some of the top players on the GameFaqs forums (or me, I used to be up there), play some of the top snakers at Mario Kart, go to Smogon.com and play some of them at Pokemon and play the new Contra 4. The DS isn't less hardcore because it doesn't have as many 'mature games' in its library, in fact I'd say its games are far more hardcore because of the easiness to have fun, but the easiness to find a really difficult challenge.

Or just micro up some CnC :D

[KoShiatar]

...and that means I can play Xbox 360 games from my handheld gadget.

Nice setup, huh?

That sounds so unlikely to me. Does the PSP have the graphical horsepower to do such a thing?

[Yar]

Let's face it, Nintendo is the king of handhelds, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Unless the PSP get some serious changes (battery life, game library, etc), we may not be seeing a PSP2.

P.S. NGage is a poser.

[Roto13]

The PSP is still the best non-Nintendo handheld ever. :P It's not doing horribly in sales and stuff. I'm sure there will be a PSP 2.

[Mr Cactuar]

The PSP is still the best non-Nintendo handheld ever. :P It's not doing horribly in sales and stuff. I'm sure there will be a PSP 2.

I doubt there will be one. Sure the PSP isn't doing too bad in sales but the PS3 is, and we all know that they're selling them at a loss.

If something doesn't happen soon, Sony may be goooooooone.

[Slothy]

The PSP is still the best non-Nintendo handheld ever. :P It's not doing horribly in sales and stuff. I'm sure there will be a PSP 2.

I doubt there will be one. Sure the PSP isn't doing too bad in sales but the PS3 is, and we all know that they're selling them at a loss.

If something doesn't happen soon, Sony may be goooooooone.

Traditionally, every company with the possible exception of Nintendo on a few occasions has sold their consoles at a loss for the first few years. What's your point?

[Zora]

GBA. Has my favorite games on there. Like Mother 3 and Final Fantasy IV-VIA, Golden Sun, Fire Emblem 7, and that is just the tip of the iceberg.

[Mr Cactuar]

The PSP is still the best non-Nintendo handheld ever. :P It's not doing horribly in sales and stuff. I'm sure there will be a PSP 2.

I doubt there will be one. Sure the PSP isn't doing too bad in sales but the PS3 is, and we all know that they're selling them at a loss.

If something doesn't happen soon, Sony may be goooooooone.

Traditionally, every company with the possible exception of Nintendo on a few occasions has sold their consoles at a loss for the first few years. What's your point?

That the loss Sony are having with the PS3 is far greater then any of the ones you can probably mention, that ended up succeeding as consoles.

I'm not saying I want the PS3 to fail, hell no FFXIII looks insane, I'm saying that if they don't get their act together, the entire company's sales, they may be goooooone.

[hhr1dluv]

I'm not saying I want the PS3 to fail, hell no FFXIII looks insane, I'm saying that if they don't get their act together, the entire company's sales, they may be goooooone.

I'm kinda secretly hoping that the PS3 continues to do poorly, since I seem to be entertaining the idea that Square won't keep FF XIII an exclusive title if no one has a PS3. If they release for XBox360, I won't need to get a new console. ^_^

[Mr Cactuar]

The thing is, PS3 sales will definitely skyrocket when FFXIII gets released and the fact that, there will eventually be a FFVII remake, most likely on PS3 considering that its a 20 year compilation project (ends 2017), they will eventually sell. Plus Metal Gear Solid.

The thing is, they have to do something inbetween these releases.

[Slothy]

That the loss Sony are having with the PS3 is far greater then any of the ones you can probably mention, that ended up succeeding as consoles.

I'm not saying I want the PS3 to fail, hell no FFXIII looks insane, I'm saying that if they don't get their act together, the entire company's sales, they may be goooooone.

What you neglect to realize is the fact that Sony is constantly reducing the manufacturing costs of the console, the 40GB model is now fairly competitively priced with the 360, and the PS2 and it's games continue to outsell every other console on the market, including the Wii, by a large margin. And given some of their biggest titles are hitting the streets this year, you'll likely see the PS3 picking up a lot of speed.

Sony aren't going anywhere, and given how successful the PSP has been in reality, I expect they will make a PSP2, and for all we know, it could surprise us all and start being a real threat to Nintendo. People can say I'm crazy, but I don't think anyone who looked at the performance of the Xbox would have ever expected the 360's relative success. But Microsoft did get a foothold, just as Sony has in the handheld market.

[JKTrix]

Also what people neglect to realize is that "Sony" is not just PlayStation. If PlayStation is failing, they have potential resources from other branches of the company to pour back into it if they really wanted to. It's different from Nintendo and Sega, who are 'just games' companies. If they lose too much on their game systems, they don't really have a backup option.

I really don't think PlayStation in all its incarnations is going to just fail and disappear. PSP2 is an inevitability.

Anyhows, here's some Japanese numbers for the folks!
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/u318/cheesemeister07/s_20071210.png

I just thought it was interesting that the DS will soon overtake the PS2's lifetime sales in Japan (the 'LTD' column is 'Lifetime to date'). Quite possibly before the end of the year. Wii has already overtaken its big brother--but this is a handheld thread!

Also, I too would like to see some manifestation of Hazzard's '360 on PSP' shenanigans.

[LunarWeaver]

And with people saying the DS isn't as 'hardcore' as the PSP I laugh at you. Play MPH against some of the top players on the GameFaqs forums (or me, I used to be up there), play some of the top snakers at Mario Kart, go to Smogon.com and play some of them at Pokemon and play the new Contra 4. The DS isn't less hardcore because it doesn't have as many 'mature games' in its library, in fact I'd say its games are far more hardcore because of the easiness to have fun, but the easiness to find a really difficult challenge.


Who said it wasn't hardcore enough? I could care less about games being rated M. The DS has a large library of casual games meant to appeal to the everygamer, and that's not me. That just makes it more casual-leaned, and there's nothing wrong with that. There are a few scattered in there I would want to play, but the PSP happens to have more. I also put a lot of importance on plot (not everything, but it keeps my interest), and Nintendo likes to make games without any. I don't like Pokemon or Mario, and it has nothing to do with not being XXXHARDCOREXXX. I'm a guy who openly sang along during the Atlantica stage in KH2 after all.

[CimminyCricket]

I have lost all respect for you, Lunar! ATLANTICA?! T_T

[LunarWeaver]

Under the sea, under the sea. :sebastian:

[CimminyCricket]

xD

[Roto13]

the PS2 and it's games continue to outsell every other console on the market, including the Wii, by a large margin.

... huh?

[CimminyCricket]

It does not! xD

[Rostum]

I love the DS, and the fact that it can play GBA games makes it even cooler.

I wouldn't mind getting a PSP though, because the FF7 game on it looks really good as does games like Ratchet and Clank.

[Zora]

the PS2 and it's games continue to outsell every other console on the market, including the Wii, by a large margin.

... huh?
I think he means software. If he means hardware, that is incorrect...

[Roto13]

I don't think it's really true for software either.

[Aerith's Knight]

ill clear up this confusion.. the ps2 has a very large amount that is sold, not that is selling.. big difference.

[Slothy]

I was talking software, but the PS2 is still selling respectably for a console that's 7 years old. More than respectably in fact; the Wii hasn't even been managing twice it's sales. I also have little doubt that the overall software sales will be higher for the PS2 than any other system. We are talking about a system that's sold over 100 million units worldwide. Nothing on the market right now comes close to that, not even the DS. In a year that saw the PS2 still getting some major titles like God of War 2, and not to mention being in the hands of more gamers than any system in history, with the possible exception of the Game Boy, I'd like to see someone explain to me how consoles that haven't even reached 1/6th it's sales, and have only been around for 1-2 years are going to top it.

[Mr Cactuar]

I was talking software, but the PS2 is still selling respectably for a console that's 7 years old. More than respectably in fact; the Wii hasn't even been managing twice it's sales. I also have little doubt that the overall software sales will be higher for the PS2 than any other system. We are talking about a system that's sold over 100 million units worldwide. Nothing on the market right now comes close to that, not even the DS. In a year that saw the PS2 still getting some major titles like God of War 2, and not to mention being in the hands of more gamers than any system in history, with the possible exception of the Game Boy, I'd like to see someone explain to me how consoles that haven't even reached 1/6th it's sales, and have only been around for 1-2 years are going to top it.

Your right, the PS2 has sold over 100 million units. You're right, that is alot. You're right again, the DS hasn't come close to that. But what you're forgetting is that the DS has only had roughly 3 years on the market, and accounting for both types, it has sold close to 55 million.

55 million in 3 years. 100 million in 7 years. Do the math.

But sales do not make a console better, and one is a console and one is a handheld.

As for the Wii, it got released 1 year ago. 14 million units sold. Considering this is just its first year, the shortages, the fact that its best games are yet to be released, I think that you'll find it will end up selling roughly equal to the PS2, if not more.

And what do you mean the Wii has not been keeping up with the PS2's sales? Where did you read this? 1Up?

[Brennan]

DS pwnes PSP