So, my son was very upset last year that Santa did not bring him a DS. He'd just gotten a Leapster, and Santa wanted to see how he did with that before going to a more advanced system.
Thus, this year, Santa decided the nearly-7-year-old was old enough for a DS, and had planned on providing one for Christmas. All of a sudden, however, at DS is not what it being requested, ad PSP is!
Santa is not very good at figuring out the differences between the systems. There are obvious differences, like no stylus on the PSP, but I'm not sure about the rest of it. What are the differences? Which one is better for a 7-year-old?
So far, Santa rather likes the fact that the PSP seems simpler to use. There's no stylus, and it looks like it's sturdier and less likely to break. However, Santa is concerned about game choices. Does the DS offer more educational and kid-friendly games? It seems to have a larger selection than the PSP, but maybe Santa isn't looking in the right places.
What are your thoughts on this?
Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
I've found that Nintendo's library of kid friendly games is superior to Sony's. But perhaps you should find out why your son wants a PSP. He might have a specific game in mind. Or he might have a friend with a PSP he got to try out and fell in love. Just ask him and let me know what he said.
Posted by Herblay (Member # 11834) on :
The DS is far sturdier. I have family members that have bought both -- every kid in our extended family has a DS. The handful of times that PSP's have been bought (mostly for older teenagers), they have broken.
The PSP has many more teen / adult friendly games. And if your child is playing other children's games at school, the PSP opens the door to Grand Theft Auto and many other mature titles.
Most of your son's peers will have the DS. If they want a PSP it's only because one other kid has one or one specific game is available.
Posted by 0range7Penguin (Member # 7337) on :
Nintendo has always focused on putting out more kid freindly games that either Sony or Microsoft.
If your looking for any kind of system that is guranteed to have games that you will feel ok with a kid under 10 playing I would say look to nintendo.
Posted by Nighthawk (Member # 4176) on :
Does the DS have the Internet and media services that the PSP does?
Posted by Geraine (Member # 9913) on :
Get him a DS. There are so many kid friendly games out there for that system, and a TON of value games you can pick up at Walmart or Kmart to build his library.
If your child wants a PSP, wait until next year. Rumor is the PSP2 will be coming out in time for the holidays.
Posted by Stephan (Member # 7549) on :
quote:Originally posted by Nighthawk: Does the DS have the Internet and media services that the PSP does?
You can get an Opera browser.
Movies and music basically require an Acekard, which I have and it does video wonderfully. You just have to convert the video.
Posted by Herblay (Member # 11834) on :
And though I certainly wouldn't recommend it for piracy purposes, there are other cards such as the SuperCard that allow you to backup your games.
Of course I wouldn't download them (like some lawbreakers do), but I can backup quite a few games that I purchased to my son's SuperCard. He can then take the single card with over 50 games installed and go on road trips, or what have you, without having to take an armload of cartridges.
Posted by MattP (Member # 10495) on :
quote:Originally posted by Herblay: I can backup quite a few games that I purchased to my son's SuperCard. He can then take the single card with over 50 games installed and go on road trips, or what have you, without having to take an armload of cartridges.
This is exactly what we do. Purchase games, backup to card, give card to kid.
Regardless of that, the DS is a no-brainer. I know very few people, kid or adult, that prefer the PSP to the DS and the DS has an immensely superior library of kid friendly games. That many of those games are also very fun for adults is a bonus.
We have 7 DS in our family and no PSP. We are avid gamers, also having 2 Xbox 360s, a PS3, and a Wii. I'd buy a PSP today if it were compelling to me, but it just isn't. None of my kids have expressed any interest either.
Posted by DDDaysh (Member # 9499) on :
Hmm, looks like everyone is leaning DS. I know that my son was really wanting the PSP because a kid at daycare had one, so maybe I need to figure out what the game was and see if DS has an equivilant. I'm just so new to this video game stuff. The last thing I ever played with was the clunky gray game boy!
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
The PSP is technically superior in most ways, but you will get far better value out of the DS.
Posted by fugu13 (Member # 2859) on :
Plus, Nintendo put some serious thought into how to make a system with better handheld gaming. The dual-screen system is used to great effect by a lot of games.
Sony decided better gaming mostly meant better graphics -- which are nice, but not enough to make the PSP anywhere near as good for gaming as the DS.
Posted by DDDaysh (Member # 9499) on :
So, as it turns out, Star Wars was the draw. I'm pretty sure if Santa can find a Star Wars came, the DS will be just fine!
Posted by Stephan (Member # 7549) on :
Lego Star Wars is a blast.
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
it's a fun game. I messed around with it a little in a store. Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
quote:Originally posted by DDDaysh: So, as it turns out, Star Wars was the draw. I'm pretty sure if Santa can find a Star Wars came, the DS will be just fine!
Good detective work. I'd say go DS and find a solid Star Wars game for it then. But be careful your son might already have it in his head that he wants "THE PSP STAR WARS GAME!"
Posted by MattP (Member # 10495) on :
I'm guessing it's Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, which is a better game on the PSP than on the DS. Something to consider if he's really set on that particular game. Though after a few weeks he'll be done with it.
Lego Star Wars is good on either platform.
Posted by C3PO the Dragon Slayer (Member # 10416) on :
I'd avoid Lego Star Wars II for the DS. I got that game for Christmas one year and it was so glitchy I couldn't finish it. I don't know if The Complete Saga version fixes this or not; I've played the Wii version which does not suffer as much from glitches. Same goes for The Clone Wars: Jedi Alliance, which I did not play myself, but my brother informs me it is also very glitchy.
There is apparently a Battlefront game for the DS, but it has been critically panned. I don't know if the critics care about the same things that a seven-year-old would, though, and since the Battlefront games are probably what your son is interested in on the PSP, you might consider looking at it.
That said, the Revenge of the Sith game is surprisingly good for the DS, with a fun lightsaber-fighting system and a unique space combat mode. I had lots of fun with that game when I first got it.
Posted by Sterling (Member # 8096) on :
I have a DSi, and like it a lot. It's essentially a DS with a pair of low-resolution cameras and additional internal memory, which enables it to do things like download new games and applications from Nintendo's store ("Flipbook Studio" is a really neat free app they offer for beginning animators.) It also offers a version of the Opera web browser, though I'll warn it can easily run out of memory on graphics-heavy web pages.
I'll certainly grant that the PSP is a more powerful piece of hardware. But the DS is pretty unequivocally the better choice for a seven-year-old: better games for kids, better interface, better support.
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