Nintendo Ds Vs Gp32


Actually the size is pretty significant. I doesn't look as dramatic in those pics because the black frame on the DS screen fakes you out a little with an optical illusion that the screen is actually that size. While the DS has that black frame the GP32 is all screen.
 
Man.. let me tell you, I tried to be really open minded about this thing. I've had my DS since release day now... I was very excited to get it when they came out. But now after having it for a while let me say I am NOT thrilled. Yeah, playing mario again, and on the go, is nice, but otherwise... I really am not happy with it at all.

After a week with it I have very little doubt in my mind that the PSP will utterly destroy this thing and Nintendo will finally lose their grip on the handheld market. I don't think even the hardcore nintendo fanboys can save this one. I just ordered a BLU as well and will bet money that THAT ends up travelling with me more than the DS does.

Oh and if you think the DS screen is 'small', have a look when you're playing gba games on it... nice black border on all four sides making it even smaller! SO glad I held onto my gba sp!

Maybe it's just me, but I think the touch screen is the worst thing ever invented, and a poor substitute for real analog control (which seems to be the main thing it will be used for other than displaying maps). It's a waste of battery life, and isn't as scratch resistant as Nintendo made it sound. That they released them at all without releasing a seperate screen protector really sux. I tried using PDA protectors but they are a pain in the ass to cut to size to fit the bottom screen. Yes mine is already pretty scratched up, but if you knew me you'd be apalled... I LOVE my handheld systems and always take extreme care with them, so that even *I* have ended up with several scratches really is a bad sign.

I'll say right now the only reasons I'm holding on to the DS at all are a) metroid, B) the castlevania game which is due to come out who knows when, and c) in hopes that someone does hack it and make a flash cart and I will get 100% perfect snes, genesis and possibly even better emu's to take on the go.
 
bast525 posted on Dec 4 2004 at 04:30 PM said:
....c) in hopes that someone does hack it and make a flash cart and I will get 100% perfect snes, genesis and possibly even better emu's to take on the go.

How are you going to do genesis which has 320 x 220 resolution on a DS screen that has only 256 x 192? and still have it look good :blink:
 
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[RANT]
like everything, i think that the one that comes out first is going to sell the most, like for instance when the sp was released perhaps 2 days later children aged 6-8 were seen up and down the country, trundling after their parents, clutching the crappy console in their warm sweaty mitts, if a greater console came out a day later, it wouldnt matter because MOST parents, wouldnt let them have that too, coz of the price of getting the two. therefore, children have no idea of the benefits of each console, so theyll get the shinier one or the first one out, rather than waiting for the two to compare.

[/ENDRANT]

BTW ill be getting the psp
 
there is no question that out of the 2 new systems, PSP will kick ass for emulation
We will proly get good PSX due to hardware like the GBA did the SNES
and 64 shoudl do well also
Played some more DS today, damn that screen is small
If I had only a GBS and didnt know sbout the PSP ( like thats the case for anyone ... ) then the screen would be huge ( like when I went from Game Boy Large to GBA, the differance was crazy ) but, because I know better, the screen is just to small, and no, the DS does not rock for first person shooters
I think it will be just the same as the PSP , but less good looking by a long shot, smaller screen, and better sound ( I had sound problems on metroid, it sucked )

~Octavious

PSP 4 life ( well, after the GP32 that is lol )
 
Just my 2 cents:

The Nintendo DS is a fine handheld. The touch screen may not be the best analog substitute (although works great for Metroid), but that misses the point. Anyone who's played any of the mini games from Mario 64 DS or Feel the Magic realize the enormous potential of a touchscreen. The games are incredibly interactive and addictive. With the addition of voice recognition capable micriphone, the possibilities become close to limitless. In fact, Feel the Magic has you blowing out candles and blowing the sails of a boat as part of their mini-games, which may make you seem little silly on the subway, but is really a lot of fun and incredibly innovative.

I love my GP32, and it does have a great homebrew market, and the commercial games aren't terrible (I've bought almost every single one), but the DS is just the better portable game system. With the ability to play GBA games right out of the box, you got a surefire winner. Plus, you can get a blank 512Mb (that's 128 Megabytes) GBA cart from Easybuy2000.com for $89, so you can do pretty good homebrew and emulation (including spot-on NES) for just a little more.

I'm not saying pitch your GP32, just the contrary. They're different machines. But I think everyone needs to realize the enormous potential the DS has. Also, the PSP has only been proven to run 2 hours on its current battery (although its rate at 4-6 I believe). In fact, they've revamped Metal Gear Solid:Acid to have less disk reads since rumor has it that the game only ran for a little under 2 hours since it has constant disc access. I'll likely pick up the PSP anyway, but using optical disks to go I think is a mistake. And better hardware doesn't necessarily mean a better system. It really will be game dependant. And that is still yet to be determined... I think it will tough t make up for the huge headstart Nintendo has on 1) GBA games, 2) DS games - since they launched earlier and 3) price. $30 games on DS compared to $50 games on PSP, $149 vs. $199 for the system. It'll be a tough one. But the true winner in all of this is all of us. The more systems come out, the more competition there is, the better games we'll see and the more innovation we'll see. javascript:emoticon('B)')
smilie
 
You don't know if PSP games will be $50. DS game prices
can change. Right now, I'm too cheap
(read lazy and looking at different types of stuff for sell)
to buy any games, so I stick with the gp32_console .
 
True enough. One never knows for sure, just rumors. But that's about how much the Japanese PSP games will launch for, so I think its a good guess. The battery life on the PSP has me really put off. But like I said, I'll probably get one anyway since I love handheld game systems...

Every system has its killer app (s) and purpose(s). The only way to go is to own them all. Then you can play every game!

As a side note, I see someone had sound problems with the DS. I also had some minor sound issues with Feel the Magic. I called Nintendo and they just sent me a new one. I'm returning my DS in the PP box they gave me. No hassles, great service. Had the same great experience with Sony when I had problems with my PS2. Now if only Microsoft could just step up to the plate (I'm on my THIRD Xbox...piece of crap if you ask me, but I have to play Halo 2 and Knights of the Old Republic 2...)

Blah posted on Dec 6 2004 at 11:43 PM said:
You don't know if PSP games will be $50. DS game prices
can change. Right now, I'm too cheap
(read lazy and looking at different types of stuff for sell)
to buy any games, so I stick with the gp32_console .
 
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BTW, no need to bash the DS. It's not my fav, but its still a good system. Like I said before, more systems means more competition and more games for everyone. SO I say, bring em on!! Mario DS is awesome, and the mini-games are super addictive (great use of the touch screen).


And the PSP has terrible battery life (and yes, I will still buy one anyway).


wolly_wotsit posted on Dec 5 2004 at 01:14 PM said:
[RANT]
like everything, i think that the one that comes out first is going to sell the most, like for instance when the sp was released perhaps 2 days later children aged 6-8 were seen up and down the country, trundling after their parents, clutching the crappy console in their warm sweaty mitts, if a greater console came out a day later, it wouldnt matter because MOST parents, wouldnt let them have that too, coz of the price of getting the two. therefore, children have no idea of the benefits of each console, so theyll get the shinier one or the first one out, rather than waiting for the two to compare.

[/ENDRANT]

BTW ill be getting the psp
 
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Anyways why are you guys jumping so far ahead as to predict emulators for the PSP?

From everything I've heard hanging out on boards like this, PSP is going to be one tough nut to crack, if it's even possible at all. At the very least, the idea is that you will need to modify the PSP internally, similiar to how you modchip a ps2 or xbox.

However, the media is also supposed to be some really trick propietary stuff... no one will have the equipment to burn these disks themselves.

On the other hand, with the SD memory stick slot, who knows what they MIGHT be able to load in there. I am personally not crossing my fingers though.


Also, I wouldn't count on PSP emulating PSX or N64... remember that PS2 IS still more powerful than the PSP, and the PS2 is not able to emulate psx games or n64 nor will it ever be able to at full speed. As it stands, they can't even get SNES to full speed on PS2, and genesis will run full speed but only with frameskip. I think at best we might see a perfect genesis and snes emu, and maybe a good version of mame or neo geo.


And I wish guys would stop harping on the PSP battery life. A GP32 BLU is rated for about 5 hours isn't it? No one complains about that... PSP is rated for similiar battery life, and you can always buy the expansion battery pack to double it.


The DS... well... I am not thrilled with mine. I wouldn't say it's a bad system, just that nintendo dropped the ball pretty bad by 'only' making it up to par with ps1/n64 graphics, and I WISH they hadnt gone with a touch screen. Also there just doesn't seem to be much on the horizon in the way of good games other than nintendo first party stuff. And the DS doesn't get great battery life either, I'm averaging 4-5 hours a charge. Personally I think the PSP will have it beat hands down in just about every respect. I'm pondering selling mine.
 
the 33mhz psx machine would be doable for the psp IMO, but the 99mhz n64 - i dont think it would become playable somewhen on the psp....
however, on 12th december the psp comes out in japan, lets see what happens then, what the cracking groups try...
 
I dont know at what clockspeed the PSP runs, but remember, the 'rule of thumb' is you need a system 10x as fast than the system you want to emulate.


If they can run PSX on PSP I'll be very surprised. Again, they can't even get SNES or a good version of mame running perfect on PS2, and PS2 is more powerful than PSP.


It will be very interesting to see if the PSP can be 'cracked at all, or more so, if they can crack the UMD's.
 
Another 2 cents:

It's noted that a Sony rep at a trade show stated that the PSP will have about 2 horus battery life for moves (due to constant disc access). It's from the December Gamepro magazine. Just a side note, I don't think I would buy movies for a PSP anyway, why buy another disc if you have the DVD?

As for the DS, 4 hrs seems short. I'm running 5 hours play time with 14 hours wait/sleep time (still on but closed) without running out of battery life. Haven't needed recharge (i.e. no warning light), but after 5 hours I just plug it in to be safe. The DS is rated 6-10 hrs. If you're getting severely less than 6, I'd call Nintendo and get it replaced. It's free to get it replaced. The PSP is rated 4-6 hrs. I'd take the lower end of that as the closer to real, and I can live with 4 hours, if that's what the PSP will actually have. Regardless, even if it sucks, I'm buying it.

As for the DS touch screen, I think they did an excellant job. Just play Feel the Magic or any of the 36 mini games for Mario 64 DS and you'll see how well implemented it is. And the use of the microphone is also well implemented. Congrats to Sega for showing us how innovative the DS is (strange, never thought Sega would make the "killer app" for Nintendo!!!).

And I'll never give up the GP32. I just don't play it very often anymore. Doesn't mean it still isn't a kick a## system though!

'nuff said.
 
True, but sony also confirmed that you can use your own videos converted to an MP4 format, so you wont need to re-buy your movies, youll just have to convert them
exactly same thing we do today, but the quality of converted movies will go up due to screen size and better hardware
Ive got the 16:9 DVD for black hawk down just waiting to be converted....

~Octavious
 
I wouldn't say the DS is not innovative, though touch screens are nothing new, I can't say I've seen any Palm games that make good use of it. Then again, I've never even had a Palm in my hands :p


The problem with the DS touch screen, for me, is the utter lack of a good protection option for the touch screen being available at launch. I have so far only found three options for screen protection, and none of them were available AFAIK on release day. None of them are very feasible either:

1 - A DS specific screen protector available in the DS 'Starter Pack', a 3rd party set of accesories (headphones, car ac adapter, and screen protectors) retailing for about $15-20. Too much to pay considering I have no use for the other two items

2 - PDA screen protectors. You have to cut them to shape (a pain in the butt) and they make it looke pretty bad, all shimmery and weird and really kill the picture quality especially in the daylight.

3 - DS specific screen covers, available by themselves, from video game import companies. The 'good' ones, the ones liscensed by Nintendo, go for $10 a set. I've recently orderd some of these, and hope they are better than the PDA ones.


But none of these options were available AFAIK when I got my DS. And yeah I have played Feel the Magic and love it, and the Super Mario mini games as well. And since I didn't have a screen protector when I played them, my touch screen has quite a few scratches on it now. And trust me I go to EXTREME lengths to be careful with that stylus.

My point is, Nintendo should have made sure to have a nintendo liscensed DS specific screen protector available for the system right at launch. Now I have to pay them $40 to replace the touch film?

About the battery life... I did think maybe it was a little short, and considered calling Nintendo... I may have to return my DS anyways since it had some dead pixels on the screen right out of the box. Maybe I'll do some test to see really exactly how much play time I'm getting out of it. But I'd say I'm getting 6 hours max. Additionally, the second DS I bought for my wife, is getting about the same amount of play time, so I dont think it's just a defective battery in mine.
 
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