Well, first off, *welcomes self back to the forums* ^_^
OK well, I've recently been playing my awesome DS and I just couldn't resist telling people the things I know... and i want to see an argument of what will become a better handheld system.
Let me say right now, I am hands down all for the DS, and there are more reasons for that than most people know.
First, the problems I see with the PSP.
Most obviously... the battery life... 3, 4 hours?? common sony >_>
Poor release date schedualing... not until march here... possibly not until next November.
The PSP, while it does have better Graphics... it has major overheating issues.
Another thing, the PSP will use a CD format that was created by sony, and these day... you can get much more data, and features on cartrige/card based games, than on CD ones...
And there is the cost dilema... if only sony could make it cheaper *sigh* but $350 is way too much for a handheld with lower graphics than the ps2.
Also, Sony doesn't want to release any decent specs on the PSP... keeping it a tight secret, so us fans wont know whats in store... its good for sony, to hide their plan from the competition... but not much fun for us.
As of now, the only games in developement are just PS/PS2 remakes.
I would love to get one... but there are serveral things that stand in my way... and although Sony has treated this with great business ethics so far... they have some strange plans for propriatery objectives on the PSP.
Well thats all I can remember about the downside to PSP for now. lol
On to the DS!
Well I will speak from first hand experiance... since I own one. And I will try to bring up some of the neat treats in store for the DS's future.
Well, I guess the first thing to state is that the price of the DS is much better than the PSP... at a mer $149 max, its a much better buy... and if you look at the past, you'll see (as with the SP) that the price can be expected to drop.
Now lets talk battery life. Nintendo says you'll get 10 hours of life on one charge... But don't let that foul you, thats the absolute min, it would seem. I myself have kept mine going for about 20 hours now... and I'm hearing rumors of an amazing 40 hour life from some people. Now while I can't support the 40 hours... I can say that 10-20+ is way better than 4.
Remember how I said that PSP has better graphics? Well, I lyed xD. PSP has a slightly wider screen... but the graphics are about the same. In fact, I've been hearing reports that the graphics of the PSP are PS1 at best. And so far the DS has proven to have graphics as good as the GameCube. Sorry, but it would seem not even sony is awesome enough to truly give us a PS2 hand held. But don't worry, on these small screens, it won't look bad at all. ^_^
Okay, its time to power into the best things about the DS.(to me anyway)
Hmmm lets see, you all know that the DS has 2 screens, and you may have heard that 1 screen is a touch pad. Now, does the PSP have that? 2 Screens allows for some of the most original game play I've seen in years and years! Some games will use it for a control, similar to a joystick without the actually moving a stick part. Others use it to move things around, or to select menus or items. Just to let you know, with the DS, your gonna use that touch screen FAR more often than the other buttons on the system. And its by far a better way to play, once you get used to it.
Another interesting thing I'd like to inform people on, is that everyone seems to be confused on the name of the DS... What do you think DS stands for? Dual Screens? As much as that may be true, the other intended name that Nintendo wanted DS for, was Developer System. This means that the system may hold some way for the average user to 'develope' games, or it may just mean its a flexable system.
There are other nice features about the DS, its got wireless! 802.11g to be exact. Which means it has a very decent wireless range and bandwidth. When sony heard about this, they threw in a 802.11b wireless... which is cheaper, and less bandwith and range. The DS will have a 30ft garenteed wireless range, and as much as 100ft is possible.
These wireless features on the DS allows Pictochat to work. Pictochat, for those that don't know, is a 4 chatroom, 16 person per chat room, wireless chat for the DS that lets you not only type messages to your friends in the area, but also draw them words or pictures. The 802.11g internet wireless standard also means that it could be simple to allow voice over IP at wireless internet points, and wireless internet games... so you can play (for free on nintendo's servers) with someone half way around the world.
Edit: Another nice feature of the DS's wireless, when your playing a multiplayer game with friends, only one of you has to have that game cartrige! and the other players can download the game off your DS to play with you! ^_^
Ok there is one flaw I found with the DS so far, but its not major. The DS is not backwards compatable beyond the Gameboy Advanced... so any older games than that, wont work on it... technically that is ^_~
I also happen to know a few smaller details about the DS that nintendo hasn't really made much noise about.
For one, the DS will have bios upgrades! These will come secretly packaged with new games, to allow those games to have new features. Or to give the DS itself new features, Like the Voice chat I mentioned earlier (currently in the works) or new PDA style like the calender (already in the DS) The upgrades will also save Nintendo the hassle of making new version models... unlike the PS2, with the many new model versions that came out over the years... cause of small flaws in the core software.
Ok now I will talk about a few things that Nintendo didn't exactly plan for (or maybe they did;)) Since the Nintendo DS has 2 game slots, one for Advanced games and one for the new DS card slot, there are several small groups out there, developing ways to actually make it a 'Developers System' so to speak... The new card format that Nintendo came up with is so small, its tough to hack... and its games will be even hard to emulate, due to the touch screen controls... but never worry, while you can't emulate the games on the computer, the DS will soon be able to Emulate other games on it!!! For example, you CAN play older GB games, cause of a device that will go into the GBA slot and have an emulator bult into it. It will let you use standard flash cards from your computer so you can load ROMs from GB or even NES and such. Now while this isn't an offically Nintendo sponsered hardware... it will still be obtainable online. ;)
But it doesn't end!! Nintendo may have plans (and if not them, then a private group) to develope a flash card of their own that will allow us to play MP3s and even movies on the DS!!
Now I wonder, what Sony could possibly do to compete with all that? ;)
How do I know all this you ask? Well, I have connections that have connections. xD But more importantly, I have press access to Nintendo's site, and a few others. People I know, know game developers (including japanese companies), and know more about video games than G4 lol. And one of my connections is a game hacker. Along with that, I can go to E3 if I want, and all I have to do is take pictures there (ok well the latter doesn't mean I know anymore, but still.)=P
Ok, ^_^;\ sorry to brag... but this is all true.
If I've forgotten anything, I'll post it later. ^_~ I'm sure there can still be a descussion on the PSP vs DS!
Edit: Did I mention the DS also has stereo sound (2 speakers), it has 2 game processors: the ARM 9 and the ARM 7, and it also has a power saving sleep mode: which means when you close the DS while playing a game, it automatically pauses and turns off the screens, to save a whole lot of battery power!
