Need a handheld

[Murgos]

DS or PSP?

I'm doing a lot of traveling in the near future and think I should get myself a handheld for X-Mas.  From what I can tell the DS has a longer life between charges but the PSP is more versatile overall.

I'll probably want to get a strategy game or an RPG and something action oriented right off the bat.

Any suggestions?

[Strazos]

If you keep the screen at the dimmest setting, and don't use the WLAN function much, I think the PSP has plenty of life in the battery.

Aso, I like the games better.

RPG/strat = FF Tactics, Disgaea...etc etc

[Rasix]

The PSP's game library is still pretty crappy.  I traded in all but 3 of my games and I haven't bought a new game since (in the time between though I did buy a PS2 and 360, so, budget's been tight). Of course, it can also play PS1 titles given the right setup.  For strategy games though, you've got some great options in Jean D'Arc, Disgaea, the FF:T refresh, and Field Commander (underrated, great title).  The RPG offerings are still pretty much bad jRPG ports.  X:Men Legends II (RPGish) was enjoyable, but the loading times were pretty bad and that can be a running theme for most titles.  There's a bunch of decent puzzlers, although I think Lumines still stands out for those. Action titles aren't bad, I hear the Rachet and Clank for it is pretty decent and the Siphon Filter got good reviews.  Loco Roco looks like an interesting, quirky title, but I never played it.

Given the chance to purchase again, I might go with the DS. There's some titles on it I would really like to play.  Although the media options are nice on the PSP, I don't use them much; other's might.  Of course, the ability to play PS1 titles with that amazing screen would be hard to give up for me.

[caladein]

If you're looking at TBSs, you really have to go with the PSP. The rest of its library is so-so as Rasix mentioned, but about the only games I play on handhelds are TBS and platformers so it's got me covered there.

[Murgos]

I saw that the PSP has a Warhammer 40k game out now.  Anyone play that?  IGN gave it a crap score but I sooo don't trust them.

[Jain Zar]

The DS is your best, almost only choice.

The PSP has a couple solid games, but the machine itself is a pile of shit.

(And for Turn Based Strategy it has about 5-10 times as many if you add in GBA backwards compatibility.)

The PSP is a fair second choice system, but the DS wins overall.

[Murgos]

The PSP has a couple solid games, but the machine itself is a pile of shit.

Why's that?

[schild]

The PSP slim isn't nearly as bad as the original which had an intangible Un-Fun to play problem.

Here's my take. The PSP has higher high points than the DS, but the DS is far more consistant.

In terms of SRPGs, short of Advance Wars, there's nothing I really liked on the DS. For the PSP you have the games mentioned by Rasix - all of which are great. Not to mention if you know someone who can hack it, PS1 stuff galore.

For RPGs, the DS really fails quite hard. Unless you count Zelda an RPG instead of an ARPG. The PSP ain't that great either if you can't deal with anime stylings. Oh, but the DS does have Etrian Odyssey. Then, the PSP has Dungeon Maker. Both of which are just goddamn excellent.

For action games, the DS has NSMB. The PSP has a whole slew of stuff, not to mention upcoming things like God of War. It's a pretty long list actually. Crush and Exit are great - particularly if you like your games infused with puzzles.

99% of my time I'm on the DS I'm playing Picross. Once in a while I'll put another game in, beat it, and be done with it. DS games tend to last 3-5 hours. PSP games tend to last 5-10 hours.

Really though, it's a case where owning both is the best scenario.

[Murgos]

Thanks Schildy.

I'm leaning towards getting the Daxter pack PSP, Disgea and a game to be named later (Monster Hunter???).  And maybe a movie or two.

[fnddf2]

In addition to NSMB, The DS also has some Castlevanias.  It also has Contra 4 which is awesome if you like Contra, and some Mega Man platformers, although I don't know how good they are.  The Gameboy Advance had some decent platformers too, if you count those.

[jlwilli5]

  I prefer the PSP if I had to choose. I think they are both fun but as I travel alot (i live in hotels year round) soI also use the other features quite abit music, video and especially the wi-fi.
I do prefer the games on the PSP , the screen  feel and size. (I
wear size 9 gloves )

[schild]

In addition to NSMB, The DS also has some Castlevanias.  It also has Contra 4 which is awesome if you like Contra, and some Mega Man platformers, although I don't know how good they are.  The Gameboy Advance had some decent platformers too, if you count those.

Mega Man Powered up and the X remake are both better games than the DS Mega Man titles.

[Strazos]

How is Field Commander, really? How does it hold up to Advance Wars on the DS (which I loved, btw)?

[Rasix]

How is Field Commander, really? How does it hold up to Advance Wars on the DS (which I loved, btw)?

It's pretty much a complete knock off.  The air/sea/land/stealth balance is excellent.   Looks great too.  I don't know if AW has  any deformable terrain, but this one does. Only knock is that the plot is straight out of a bad B war movie and the voice acting quality is of similar quality.  The cheese can be both a positive and a negative at times.

I don't see how you could not like Field Commander if you liked Advance Wars.  I haven't played the DS AW, but I prefer Field Commander over the GBA one. 

[Strazos]

So I take it Field Commander has more of a serious tone, compared to the light-hearted banter and the kid commanders of Advance Wars?

I've been eying this one on the shelves for awhile, that's why I asked.

[Trippy]

Unless you want to mod your PSP the DS can play GBA games including all those JRPGs. DS does hold a charge longer than a PSP, however the PSP is much more multimedia friendly as jlwilli5 said if you want something to watch movies (has a really nice H.264 implementation, far better than Apple's crappy iPod/iPhone stuff) or play music. Unfortunately the PSP movie player doesn't recognize MPEG-4 chapter marks which makes jumping around in a movie a pain. It even has a Web browser you can use in a pinch. Though I've never travelled with my PSP I have with my DS and the clamshell design would seem to be much more convenient than the exposed screen PSP design unless you keep the PSP in its own case.

[Prospero]

I'm a pretty big fan of the DS. The Phoenix Wright games are pretty amusing, Mario Kart DS is great if you like kart racing, and NSMB is solid fun. I think one of the big reasons I lean towards the DS is I know a lot of folks who own one, which makes for fun, networked gaming. There are some decent puzzle games, some decent platformers, and a number of unique titles. I still greatly prefer Trauma Center on the DS over the Wii version.

[voodoolily]

Cooking Mama, Lost in Blue (and part 2) and Rune Factory: A Fantasy Harvest Moon all gave me hours and hours of entertainment (well CM maybe 5 hours but the others 20+). Also, Animal Crossing. Also, Legend of Zelda Phantom Hourglass. Also, Electroplankton.

Heh, forgot to mention those are DS titles.

[Jain Zar]

So I take it Field Commander has more of a serious tone, compared to the light-hearted banter and the kid commanders of Advance Wars?

I've been eying this one on the shelves for awhile, that's why I asked.

I'm nearly done with Field Commander.  I picked it back up after a long hiatus.
Its inferior to even the GBA Advance Wars games.  Its full 3d, but this just means it plays slow.  (The PSP can do 3d, but many games run at a slow framerate.)
Every time it has to access a commander power it takes a few seconds as the UMD drive accesses it.  Hell sometimes it accesses it and has the delay when you pick a unit to use.
The terrain is NOT deformable.  All you can do is have certain units turn heavy trees to light trees to no trees.
The battle cutscenes are not fun, the unit design is generic sci fi RTS, the COs are all enemy only and most of them have no personality whatsoever.  Except the one with Rick Hunter from Robotech's voice.
The enemy AI isn't all that good with some REALLY dumb choices.

Its not bad, but when compared to Advance Wars its really found wanting.

(Though the reason its practically a charmless Advance Wars with a couple of annoying stealth units is apparently because Sony TOLD the developers to make Advance Wars and any serious deviation was shot down.  At least some dude who claimed to have worked on the game at Something Awful said.)

OMG EDIT!:

Update: Finished it after work.  Final level was really easy.  Either Advance Wars has made me a master at this sort of game given the fuckload of time I spend playing it and its cousins, or the AI is really meh in this game.  Probably a mix of both, given the fact I saw it do some incredibly dumbass moves and many people complain the first DS Advance Wars was incredibly hard and I found it easier than 2.

Oh yeah, and for people who complain Advance Wars isnt HARDCORE enough, the new one due this January, Days of Ruin is all serious and dark.
You fuckers just HAD to whine for the Frank Millering of the series didn't you?
And it probably won't be glorious All Star Batman and Robin mental breakdown parody of himself Miller either. 

I LIKED kicking cartoony villain ass with a geeky 12 year old as my army commander.  Colin fucking ROCKS.
Now we are gonna have an FF8 like OMG SO SERIOUS AND DARK cast.

Cocksucking fuck yet!

[Xanthippe]

The DS Lite is extremely well-engineered.  It's a marvel, really.

Very sturdy, too.

[Murgos]

I'm leaning towards getting the Daxter pack PSP, Disgea and a game to be named later (Monster Hunter???).  And maybe a movie or two.

This is exactly what I ended up getting.  I went with the PSP over the DS for a couple of reasons.  1.  Patapon previews.  2. 8 and eventually 16 and 32 gig mem sticks, can you say movies, music and games on one device and one stick???  3.  One of the homebrew things I saw was a tty app and putty fireworks went off in my head.  4.  I plan to eventually get a PS 3 and I want to check out the interconnect stuff.

Thanks everyone for your input.