Nintendo DS & Sony PSP

[Chilly Willy]

Just out of curiousity, do you work in a game store?

Nope! Which of course means that my experience in the matter is rather limited, which means that even my own ideas about what percentage of adults have DSs is skewed. Oh well.

[InternalPrimate]

As to percentage of 18+ folk playing a DS... I don't know (in real life) a single person over 15 who will admit to even owning one. Every DS I've seen purchased in a store was immediately passed to a 7-10 year-old kid. I do know a couple people online who are SUPPOSEDLY over 18 who claim to play a DS, but they're heavily outnumbered by the ones who don't.

Really?! Wow. That's nutty. I'm 23, and honest-to-god, almost everyone I know owns one. And I don't usually hang out with a bunch of teens Maybe it's just a different atmosphere I live in? I remember people making a bigger deal about Playstation and GTA and Halo when I was in high school, no one wanted to be seen with something fun like Super Smash Bros. Yet now, everyone I know doesn't give a fuck. It's all about having fun. You'd be shocked to see some of my friends have there time of their life with something as simple and unsophisticated as Wii Sports.

[MrMatthews]

Yeah, I've never really come across the "no self-respecting gamer would be caught dead with a DS" mentality before. The Wii, sure.

Oh well - some people just can't get past the family-friendly Nintendo stigma. Their loss.

IP, if I put a gun to your head, what would you say the best game for the system is? I'd still have to go to New Super Mario Bros, but there are quite a few runner-ups.

[InternalPrimate]

Ooooooh, I don't know. I've been in love with Kirby's Canvas Curse ever since it was the first MUST OWN DS game, and I've played Mario Kart DS, New Super Mario Bros., and Tetris DS to death (I'm a beast online), but if you put a gun to my head....

[MrMatthews]

You know, I had Canvas Curse for a while, but Kirby and I couldn't see eye to eye, for some reason. Maybe one day our paths will cross again and things will be different.

I just recently bought Elite Beat Agents myself (I broke down after hearing so many positive reviews). Haven't had a chance to play it, but maybe after Chinatown Wars!

New Super Mario Bros got great reviews (for the most part), but even then I don't know if it got the acclaim it deserved. This game has some of the best level design of any side-scrolling Mario game . . . and that's saying a lot. The power-ups and the difficulty, maybe not so much, but everything else is just about perfect.

[InternalPrimate]

I'll just say that I love Elite Beat Agents so much, that I just imported Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan.

New Super Mario Bros. is an incredible achievement though for a lot of reasons. It combines the best of the sidescrolling games with the 3D games, and just plays sooooo beautifully. By the way, do you have Yoshi's Island DS? I can't understand why I haven't gotten it yet, it's a sequel to one of the best platformers ever!

[Flygon]

Why don't people mention Mario Kart DS as a great game?

I broke my DS lites R button I played it so much.

Than again, the lite has some crappy build quality, my DS phat has a perfectly working R button and better D pad. =P

[Chilly Willy]

Why don't people mention Mario Kart DS as a great game?

I love racing games, so that would be one of the first games I'd get IF I got a DS.

Been playing Motor Storm lately. Awesome game.

[MrMatthews]

By the way, do you have Yoshi's Island DS? I can't understand why I haven't gotten it yet, it's a sequel to one of the best platformers ever!

That's what everyone says. I don't know why I didn't like it more. I think I'm broken.

Why don't people mention Mario Kart DS as a great game?

I broke my DS lites R button I played it so much.

Than again, the lite has some crappy build quality, my DS phat has a perfectly working R button and better D pad. =P

Sounds like somone needs a DSi.

And Mario Kart DS gets a lot of respect - just about every review I've read said (in so many words) that it was the best Mario Kart of them all. And while it is excellent, for some reason I'm just more invested in the first three games (particularly the original and 64) that I can't bring myself to give it the crown just yet.

Maybe I'll just play it safe and choose Crash Team Racing

[jesus.arnold]

It's quite funny, a more realistic statement would be that the PSP only appeals to teenagers, there's only one person I know that owns a PSP over the age of 20 and I know literally 18 people from 20-30 who own DS' hell I know some 50 year olds who own DS' and these are people who have never been interested in owning a console in their entire lives.

Saying that most DS owners are children is naive and quite frankly ludicrous, it's one of the only consoles out there that targets pretty much every demographic sucessfully.

[MrMatthews]

It's equally naïve and ludicrous to believe that the one or two DS systems you happened to have witnessed being sold were indicative of all the systems sold.

In 30 years, I've only seen one system being sold to someone other than myself (which, ironically, was a PSP being purchased by a parent for a 7-10 year old).

Nintendo's handhelds have always been solid, but I think the DS will be remembered as one of their best systems, both in terms of financial success as well as the depth and quality of its library.

[Chilly Willy]

It's quite funny, a more realistic statement would be that the PSP only appeals to teenagers, there's only one person I know that owns a PSP over the age of 20 and I know literally 18 people from 20-30 who own DS' hell I know some 50 year olds who own DS' and these are people who have never been interested in owning a console in their entire lives.

Saying that most DS owners are children is naive and quite frankly ludicrous, it's one of the only consoles out there that targets pretty much every demographic sucessfully.

Sorry, but that's the exact opposite of my experience. The older a person is, the more the PSP appeals to them. Older people want ONE thing that does everything they need, and they have the money to get it. Saying most DS owners aren't kids is naive and quite frankly ludicrous.

And MM, in the last three or four years, I've seen perhaps a couple dozen DSs sold and given to kids (at WalMart) - not two or three. When waiting for elementary kids to cross the street when school lets out, what are they playing with? The DS. When they're getting in your way at the mall, what are they playing with? The DS. Never seen anyone less than 16 even HOLDING a PSP, but you can't turn around without knocking over an 8 year-old with a DS.

[InternalPrimate]

Sorry, but that's the exact opposite of my experience. The older a person is, the more the PSP appeals to them. Older people want ONE thing that does everything they need, and they have the money to get it. Saying most DS owners aren't kids is naive and quite frankly ludicrous.

And MM, in the last three or four years, I've seen perhaps a couple dozen DSs sold and given to kids (at WalMart) - not two or three. When waiting for elementary kids to cross the street when school lets out, what are they playing with? The DS. When they're getting in your way at the mall, what are they playing with? The DS. Never seen anyone less than 16 even HOLDING a PSP, but you can't turn around without knocking over an 8 year-old with a DS.

I completely believe you, but I think it might have something to do with the atmosphere you're in. I mean, it's a mall. Whenever I go to a mall these days, I'm shocked at how many early teen kids are around. And since the DS is one of the best selling systems ever, it's not really surprising to see more people around with it instead of a PSP. I've honestly only seen a few PSPs in public, regardless of age, they're just less popular.

Also, people DO like an all in one gadget, but both the DS (which is also capable, and a main selling point for the DSi) and the PSP don't do all things particularly well. I don't know, nor have I ever heard of, a single person who uses the PSP as an mp3 player. Because of this deficiency, people choose one or the other based on one thing: games. DS appeals to the broader audience with innovative games, casual games, and traditional "mature" games, which is why it's the most popular system.

I don't know the actual numbers, but I'd be shocked if the DS doesn't have a larger instal base of 18+ year olds. In fact, I'll try to find those numbers.

[MrMatthews]

I myself have never seen anyone over the age of 12 playing a DS. I see kids with them all the time in stores, restaurants, and in the backs of cars that I pass on the road.

But keep in mind that when you see adults out and about, they're typically doing stuff. Kids are just being drug around by their parents, so they don't really have much else to do.

As a parent, I'd buy my son a DS over a PSP even if I weren't interested in video games at all. From the position of an educated consumer, I'd see that the DS has a greater library of family-friendly games and "productivity" software like Brain Age and Lisa Kudrow's cooking "game." As an uneducated consumer, I'd favor Nintendo's cuddly advertising over Sony's, and let's face it: Mario's appeal transcends age and gender . . . which is probably why more kids ask for the DS over the PSP in the first place.

Wow . . . the lines of this tiny debate are blurring. Let's just say that I agree with you that the DS appeals to kids more so than the PSP, but that's not to say that the DS is a "child's system" by any means. I think the DS appeals to most people in general.

[Chilly Willy]

Wow . . . the lines of this tiny debate are blurring. Let's just say that I agree with you that the DS appeals to kids more so than the PSP, but that's not to say that the DS is a "child's system" by any means. I think the DS appeals to most people in general.

It's been fun, but I think I'll bow out of this one. A credible argument can be made both ways, so nothing will be settled here. Both are fine handhelds, but I (and many of the older folks I know) prefer the PSP. Your experience may differ, and that's fine. That's why it's good that we have both. I'd hate to see a time when you didn't have a choice on the handheld or console you wanted.