I picked up a DS lite over the weekend.
When they originally came out, I scoffed at the relatively low graphics capabilities and childish games and waited for the Sony PSP. Having a PS 2 in your hand that can play movies and connect to the internet was a huge pull.
Fast forward from September 2005 to now and I’m slowly getting disillusioned with my black gaming brick. I’ve collected around a dozen or so games and I’ve hardly played ten of them. The PSP really lacks ‘new’ games. It has a bunch of relatively poor ports from the PS 2 that don’t translate well on the smaller screen and one thumb stick. Indeed, most FPS games (Splinter Cell, SOCOM Navy Seals, etc) really suffer with just one thumbstick. We’re used to using one thumbie to look and one to move and PSP designers haven’t really found a neat way to overcome that. Splinter Cell has an awful camera system where you have to stop and hold down a shoulder button to turn the thumb stick into ‘move camera’ which means you’re stopping every five seconds to adjust the camera angle. It makes the game virtually unplayable. SOCOM fares a little better but ends up with a vague auto-aiming system which takes the skill out of the game and you often find yourself shooting at things you can’t really see. It’s just not fun. At all. Actually, it’s boring.
The DS lite caught my eye because of the original games. OK, it can’t push out a trillion polygons a second with high quality surround sound and it can’t display a billion colours and it can’t really compete with the pure power of the PSP. And that’s where it wins, hands down. The DS and the forthcoming Wii have some really cool innovative games which are fun because they don’t rely on pretty graphics alone.
I really can’t state just how much fun they are. The DS touch screen is genius, it’s like having a mouse back. Metroid Prime Hunters is a FPS and it works because you use the stylus to move the camera and use the directional pad to move - just like using a keyboard / mouse combo on your computer. Brain Training is another innovative title; you’re asked various questions (such as basic maths, memory tests, etc) and you write the answers using the stylus or say the answers aloud. You can set up your profiles and train every day and graphs show your progress.
On top of that is that Nintendo ‘get’ multi-player gaming. A lot of the titles have ’single-card multiplayer’ mode where you share a game with up to 15 other players. Debbie and I have calculation battles on Brain Training (no, listen, it really is fun) and spent an hour playing Boggle last night (she keeps winning). I know the PSP offers ‘ad-hoc’ mode but you both have to own the UMD game to play which is great if you have PSP owning friends and get together now and again for multi-player matches but not so much fun for couples who don’t want to buy a single game twice.
The DS may not do internet browsing and it may not play movies and it certainly doesn’t do amazing next-gen graphics but it does put the fun back into portable gaming. You’ve got to feel for Sony. Falling interest in UMD movies, falling interest in the phenominally expensive PS 3 and the stupidity of trying to push another media format (betamax or mini-disc anyone?) doesn’t bode well.
Nintendo is Wii-ing on Sony from a very great height.
13 comments
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June 26, 2006 at 11:30 am
Matt
Edit: Stewart tells me that Opera for the DS is being released soon: http://my.opera.com/organicchunkysalsa/blog/show.dml/309706
June 26, 2006 at 11:58 am
Lewis
Ah, another PSP fan converted. You won’t believe the arguments I’ve had with people about how much better the DS is, only to give up and for them to change their mind and buy a DS a few months later. I don’t think I need to even mention the PS3, that dugg its own (and Sony’s) grave itself.
June 26, 2006 at 3:14 pm
Peter Goodman
I’m really looking forward to the wii.. I don’t know if I will buy it (because I might not have a tv next year) but it looks amazing! Otherwise, the DS lite might just be my other option.
June 27, 2006 at 11:30 am
Peter Schrijver
I just got my DS-Lite last week and I love it.
Nintendo is all about gameplay and less about graphics.
I’m not interested in hyperdyper graphics.
Ive got:
- Super Mario 64 DS (Wow!)
- Pricess peach (looks girly but great fun to play)
- Tetris DS
- Mario Kart DS (Superb)
and waiting for New super Mario Bross comming 30 june in Holland
June 29, 2006 at 4:24 am
Jaiden - ScribbleTown Productions
I got the original DS when it first came out, and it is so fun :D. I also make games for gameplay, and not graphics, and I think thats what games should be about on portable consoles. I can’t stop playing Mario Kart DS, and Super Mario 64 is pretty fun too.
June 30, 2006 at 1:15 am
Tiago Rio
Well, I kinda have to agree with you, I have my own psp and everytime I see a new game out, I go check it on the internet and stuff, and most of them aren’t appealing enough, I think sony is releasing a lot of games that aren’t for the typical portable console, platform games and rpg’s are the best options I think, racing games aren’t bad either, but that’s where nintendo has focused alot, sony tries to port games like GTA and Metal Gear (even if it isn’t the same on the psp) I just think those games are far too complex, gameplay-wise to be put on such a small thing, best option might be to resort to homebrew, there are a lot of good free games around, plus there is always the people that play illegal stuff like SNES, NES, GBC emulators.
July 1, 2006 at 3:45 am
Albert
I also purchased a DS Lite recently, having owned a PSP for a long time before that. My PSP has been collecting dust for many months, and the improved DS Lite finally piqued my interest enough to check it out. I run a video game forum and was able to get some great recommendations on DS games. I now have a DS Lite and 12 games and love it! Time to sell the PSP..
I have no plans on purchasing a PS3 at Sony’s crazy price point, and I’m not interested in Blu-Ray or HD-DVD until this stupid format war is out of the way. I am very much interested in purchasing a Wii though!
July 2, 2006 at 6:12 pm
mck
I’ve had my PSP since Christmas and have sold all my games for it. I love the PSP as a media player, the screen is awesome and that’s all I use it for.
I’m not an extreme gamer by any means, but I love my DS Lite, Mario Kart, Brain Age, and Super Mario Bros. are just great games that are a blast to play.
July 3, 2006 at 5:13 am
Kennedy
I have neither, I used to have a Gameboy color (back in the days of Pokemon Red|Blue|Yellow) which was a LOT of fun. I don’t have one nowadays because I just txt or play a game on my cellphone if I get bored.
I like your new pic, Matt, looks much better that the last.
July 4, 2006 at 6:27 pm
Rikki
I finally got a DS Lite last week after waiting for New Mario Bros. to come out. My only critisism is that the DS is a bit *too* small (particularly depth-wise). Being so thin, it cramps my thumb on the D-Pad if I play for a while. Having said that, after getting used to it I hold it slightly differently and it’s better.
I got Metroid and New Mario Bros with it. New Mario Bros is brilliant, it is retro but feels fresh too. The whack-the-mole minigame is fun too lol. Metroid is good too, though the control system takes a bit of getting used to. I also bought Nintendogs secondhand just for the experience, and it’s a lot of fun.
I plan to get Mario Kart soon, and I can’t wait for Yoshis Island 2 to come out.
July 6, 2006 at 4:52 pm
Steve
Well said Matt…. I love my DS lite. I got rid of my PSP a month after I bought it, it just wasn’t enjoyable enough for me. Keep an eye for Labrynth, it’s going to be one of the next big hits for them also. Check out gonintendo.com as they are as diehard as fans get when it comes to Nintendo games.
July 7, 2006 at 8:54 am
Debbie Ruff
Well, he’s right about the fact that I keep winning, but I am afraid I still love my PSP.
I’m off to buy POTC for it today! Mini Johnny Depp running about my screen and I have FULL control of him. Arghhhh! What more could a girl ask for!
July 11, 2006 at 2:40 am
Motley
The PSP trumphs the DS for me hands down. The DS is looking better though, with Pokemon Diamond and Pearl in 2007 to relive old times… Animal Crossing is quite appealing too. GTA VCS is PSP’s upcoming killer app (just as GTA LCS was before it) but I dont know how long they can keep pushing out PSP GTA titles due to the small number of cities in the series (San Fierro, Los Venturas, Los Santos, Liberty City, Vice City, London)… Basically, they’re running out of Cities (as the Los duo with Fierro is a whole county) to use.
I was going to buy the PS3 regardless of cost, but it’s $600 for shit I can easily get on my 360, like GTA IV. Duh. Well, the $600 price point is Sony’s suicide.
I used to hate the Wii with a passion, then I saw Red Steel footage, rawr.