GameBanshee Forums

I'm seriously considering buying a portable systems, but I don't know which one.
The reason I posted this here: which system has the best/most RPGs? That's a deciding factor for me. It could negate the price difference for me.

Neither of them have too many RPGs outside of Japan, I'm afraid.

I bought PSP purely because I wanted to play legendary Suikoden Iⅈ I must say it was worth every penny (well, yen, as I bought them in Japan). I have also played Valkyrie Profile, Tales of Eternia, Jeanne D'Arc, as well as a few other non-RPGs, such as Gurumin, Me and My Katamari, and Patapon. My next buy would be Phantasy Star Portable, Disgaea and FF Tactics, and download to play Xenogears.

In the mean time, DS has the Dragon Quest series. Fire Emblem series are also released on DS, as are Pokemon. I cannot say much about DS games, because I have never played them. I have chosen PSP because PSP had more games I was interested in playing, and I have not bought DS because it does not offer enough games to tempt me.

I have no regret for my choice. However, those of my favourite games are not necessarily what you would like. I suggest you to find what games were released and would be released in the near future for both platforms; if either of them have more than 3 games you want to play, then buy the one which has.

If both platforms offer more then 3 games each you want to play? Then, get them both!

From your experiences, it sounds like there are more enjoyable games on PSP. FF Tactics alone makes me drool. That's the one with all the jobs, right?
Getting both of them is a tad of a waste for me, though.

Thanks for the advice, I'll certainly keep it in mind!

I have a DS myself, and it does have some RPGs, some tactical based, others combat driven, no solid balance. Then again, there are certain mods availible for your DS which would make it worth your while, but for that you'd have to send me a private message.

Also, GTA: Chinatown Wars is supposed to be coming out this winter for the DS.

Most on DS are of Japanese origin, though translated to English.

Also, with the mod I mentioned, you can play Gameboy, NES and SNES games on your DS, without any risk of messing with your firmware as PSP requires you to do in order to achieve the same thing.

PSP games seem to be more action driven though, but that's changing.

I don't know about the PSP, but you can also get a browser ad-on for the DS, as it supports WiFi, which also means that you can (if your router allows it) play with people from around the world.

The network play doesn't really matter, since it would see its most usage on the train home.
I should explain what I mean with Japanese RPG. I rather mean the genre than the country of origin/language. (But, the name has its origin somewhere, ofcourse. ) For me, these are all those RPGs with a fixed protagonist, no real story choices, turnbased combat, very few character-level up choices, etc. I.e.: Final Fantasy and the like.
I do not find these games bad; I play them a lot. But I'd appreciate it if the range of games included some other RPGs as well.

The PSP seems to have that film-feature, but I can't imagine me buying films in that format just for my PSP.

The mod I previously mentioned allows you to listen to music, watch movies and even run Linux, among a bunch of other features.

Most of the games for the DS do not allow you to create your own character and have maybe one or two choices that you can make. I think the main advantage that the DS has over the PSP is the homebrew content as well as the ability to support multiple platforms.

I guess that further increases the odds in favour of the PSP. The touchscreen on DS probably isn't so suited to use in a bumpy train/bus ride.

I never had a problem with it as I play it on the train ride home. I only encountered one game on the PSP that allows you to create your character, Tales of Eternia, but it's very combat driven in my opinion. Also, you should be aware that the PSP is pretty fragile.

Hhmmm, I'm pretty clumsy. It's a wonder how I manage to paint Warhammer. The fragileness is a good point.
Making a list of pros and cons.

Crenshinibon wrote:I never had a problem with it as I play it on the train ride home. I only encountered one game on the PSP that allows you to create your character, Tales of Eternia, but it's very combat driven in my opinion. Also, you should be aware that the PSP is pretty fragile.

Fragile? I have never known it is fragile.

Crenshinibon wrote:Also, with the mod I mentioned, you can play Gameboy, NES and SNES games on your DS, without any risk of messing with your firmware as PSP requires you to do in order to achieve the same thing.

Err, what you are suggesting is not officially allowed....
Do not try tempting him with something which could put him in difficult position. "Any risk of messing with your firmware as PSP requires"? That is a prohibited use officially, and Sony has rights to refuse any repair if the PSP was messed in that way, even though a psp only got a scratch on the screen which was nothing to do with the firmware.

You do not need to mess with firmwares or mods to enjoy both PSP and DS.

I don't have / plan on getting either, but I noticed the DS supports / emulates older (s)nes games. Something to consider, if you like certain older RPG's. That Chrono Trigger remake looked quite good, and there's the Final Fantasy series to consider also. Nintendo was always bigger on RPG's (well, JRPG's) than Sega or.. actually, I don't know about Sony. I was just a kid when I was still interested in console games. Sony came much later. Heh, anyone remember the Lynx?

Hm.. I'm not sure if my advice was very helpful. Oh well.

I have a PSP and my girlfriend has a DS. Both a good handheld consoles but out of the two I prefer the PSP. This is mainly due to the games it offers as I prefer them to those of the DS, although I don't really play RPGs on handhelds so I'm not sure what they are like. I only ever really play on my PSP when travelling and there are some fun games to pass the time, such as various sports titles, games like Worms Open Warfare, and stuff like Sims 2: Castaway. All in all I don't regret getting my PSP but my girlfriend prefers her DS as she likes to play games where she has to use logic to solve crimes etc. and there seem to be a few story based games like this for the DS, plus she loves the brain training types of games for that platform.

I guess it really depends which has the most games that you'd be interested in getting - when I was deciding which to get I just went to my local games store and had a look at the games selection and used that to make my final choice about which console to buy.

PSP..... hands down

Personally I'd go the PSP. I think it's got a better range of games and feels good in my hands.

However, the DS is good when you want to interact with the games a bit more. The use of pen thingo really immerses you in the games you play.

Skorm's Reaper

Im gonna tell you straight up, both are good, and offer some awesome RPG's, and if money isnt a problum, thats perfect! I got myself a PSP with 5 games for $150, a good deal. The PSP can play music like an MP3, the ds cant, the ds has the pen that scratches the screen, the psps has a screen guard sticker. the psp cant be snapped in half, it might not have 2 screens, but the 2 screens is annoying, belive me. my friend has the DS, and i play his Final fantasy 3, and i love it, but the PSP has final fantasy 1, which is way better, plus tactics advance 2. So PSP is what i gotta tellya.