The Sega Game Gear? Pffft. It was as much a challenge to the then reigning king, the Nintendo Gameboy, as a local football club in Tibet would be when pitted against the Reds of Manchester United. The truth is, Nintendo has remained unchallenged in the handheld gaming department since it released the very first Gameboy, and it has continued to rule the roost with the current dominance of the Nintendo DS.
That is, until now.
With this generation of portable video gaming consoles, the Nintendo DS is facing stiff and unwavering competition from the Sony Playstation Portable, or PSP for brevity. The battle isn't really neck-to-neck, but the Sony PSP is winning in certain regions in the world, something that Nintendo never had to endure with its previous handhelds. Surely, the Nintendo DS must realize that the Sony PSP wouldn't just vanish in the night like the defeated Sega Game Gear.
The question in many people's minds - particularly those who are planning to buy a portable gaming system for themselves - is this: which among the Nintendo DS and the Sony PSP is the better investment?
Let's answer this important question by breaking it down into 4 important sub-questions that will ultimately tell us the handheld that will define this generation of portable gaming.
1. Which console is more powerful? This is a no contest, really. The Sony PSP is designed for power, with two 333MHz processors rendering game play and fantastic graphics. The screen of PSP alone is built for widescreen gaming. And its games consume more digital space than Nintendo DS titles. A Nintendo DS game is usually less than 100MB. A Sony PSP game ranges from 300MB to 1.5GB. WINNER: Sony PSP.
2. Which console has more games? Many experts say that software creates hardware and not the other way around. What would you do with a highly powerful handheld if you won't have any games to play with it, right? When it comes to depth of gaming library, the Nintendo DS is the runaway winner. Its releases outnumber the releases of its competitor by a ratio of almost 4:1. There are many development companies focusing only on developing games for the Nintendo DS. WINNER: Nintendo DS.
3. Which console has more multimedia functions? It's true that there are so many gadgets these days that perform a specialized function. Ipods play music.
PDAs allow mobile browsing and data mining. Digital cameras take pictures and videos. Cellular phones serve as personal organizers aside from being communication devices. However, the trend these days is for a gadget to at least attempt to become a Swiss knife of sorts for the technology-crazy market.
Handhelds are no different. The more functions they serve, the better they will appear for potential buyers. The Nintendo DS play limited audio and video files. The Sony PSP can play many audio formats and an accepted MP4 file type for videos. The Sony PSP can also surf the web, store a variety of data, act as a TV (with the aid of a TV tuner), and serve as a remote controller for the Playstation 3, even if the console is in another continent. WINNER: Sony PSP.
4. Which console has more exclusives? No doubt, not a single company can compete with Nintendo. The Nintendo DS is the home of original properties like Mario, Zelda, Metroid, Pokemon , Donkey Kong, Kirby, Animal Crossing and many more. These are the biggest selling points of the system. WINNER: Nintendo DS.
So we're tied, 2-2. Which system is better: the Nintendo DS or the Sony PSP? It really depends on what you expect from the handheld machine. If you're going for functionality and raw power, then choose the Sony PSP. But if you're looking for a memorable, an exciting, and most importantly, a varied gaming experience, then the Nintendo DS is a better choice.