But which one plays Shining the Holy Ark?
Ars Technica fires another shot in the PSP/GBA DS handheld war.
It is often said that when competition begins, the primary winner is the consumer, and Nintendo has ruled portable gaming unopposed for too long. While I've enjoyed every Game Boy product and I love my DS, there is no doubt that they aren't pushing any real technological barriers with their systems. They lay back and play it safe with rehashed software and underpowered systems. Why? Because they can. No one is trying to eat their lunch. On March 24, 2005 that changed, in a big way.
I have neither a PSP nor a DS. I've been interested in both. This review goes a long way towards delineating the differences between the two consoles. Both have their pros and cons, and I'm not sure either has dealt a death blow to the other.
Still, it makes things a lot more interesting. Nintendo has beat the pants off of all comers for decades, even when their machines might not be the most technically interesting of their generation. I suspect that their backwards-compatibility may be the reason. For example, one of the reasons the PS2 was such a success is that at launch, in addition to new titles, it already had a couple hundred PSX titles. Sony keeps making noise that the PS3 will not be backwards-compatible, but I think they do this at their peril.
Older games are still fun to play. Heck, I spend time on the Visor playing Sub Hunt, which is basically a port of an 80s arcade game. Only without the funky case design that made it look like you were peering through a periscope.
The DS does play all the GBA games. Whether people really want to play Tetris Plus on the DS is a matter of some conjecture. On the other hand, if you wanted to play anything on the PSP besides the $50 launch titles, you're SOL.
The PSP is aiming at a different market, of course. There are already a bunch of software packages for ripping DivX movies to USB media so you can watch it on the PSP. Personally, I'm not sure I'd want to spend half a grand to watch TV on the bus. But I see the appeal.
Super-busy lately, so I'm mostly playing Wind Waker when I'm not working.
