What's the best handheld?

[ukdane]

What's the best handheld games machine to get?
Nintendo DS or PSP?
Are Gameboy games compatable with nintendo DS?
Is there a decent site anywhere  giving the low-down on these two?

[IndigoPrime]

The DS can run GBA games. As for which platform is best, it depends what you want. For my money, the innovation and fun-factor of the DS pisses all over Sony's offering, which is mostly "more of the same" that you already have with a PS2. And although some DS games border on tech-demo territory, the stylus can be excellent (for example, Zoo Keeper will make you never want to play any Bejeweled-style game with a mouse again, and Kirby: Power Paintbrush simply wouldn't be anywhere near as good if done any other way). The DS Lite is also cheaper than the PSP.

Ultimately, what do you want from a hand-held console?

[WoD]

GameBoy Advance games play on the DS.  The DS is a great machine with some innovative games and I love it.

The PSP is a great multi-media piece of kit, which I use to play ripped movies, music, photos, and I play games...but not that many.

So, for gaming (at the minute) the DS wins.  For full-funtionality and upgradeability (with software patches) the PSP is brilliant.

[Something Fishy]

agreed, at the moment the DS is the better gamin g option.

It has the GBA compat which is a big bonus for us with all our sons older games.

[ukdane]

I only have old BW gameboy games-

I was looking for a handheld games machine.

What about games-wise, what's around- what's hot, what's not?

Footy games(both player and management), strategy, rpg, platform, retro?

[The Amstor Computer]

Unfortunately, the DS can't play Game Boy or Game Boy Colour titles, which is why I picked up one of the new model GBA SPs.

As for games on the DS:

Footy games -- not much, I'm afraid. There are a couple of rather duff titles out, but you're best waiting for Winning Eleven DS which should be out in the next few months. It looks to be a good handheld version of the Winning Eleven series.

Strategy -- Advance Wars: Dual Strike is a must, one of the finest turn-based strategy games of the past few years. Age of Empires: The Age of Kings is good, but there's a bug with the software that has caused some problems for some players - though it can apparently be worked around. The Settlers is coming to DS soon, as is another turn-based strat title called Daisenryaku: Great Strategy, which looks like a more realistic version of Advance Wars. I believe a version of Panzer Tactics is also coming soon.

RPG -- The big titles are taking a while to cross over from Japan, and as typical with RPGs it's taking a wee while to get a decent library going, but over the next few months you should be seeing:

Final Fantasy III DS - a stunning remake of the NES original, complete with 3D graphics and CG sequences.

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates - another FF title, but this one is supposed to be a multiplayer title. Think Gauntlet meets Final Fantasy and you're close to what this should be.

Contact - a quirky little RPG from the studio that made Killer 7, similar in tone to SNES classic Earthbound.

Magical Starsign - a cute RPG, the sequel to the GBA classic Magical Vacation.

Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time - a witty, fourth-wall smashing action RPG starring the two plumbers.

Pokemon Diamond/Pearl - the latest in this massively popular series. It looks to be an evolution of the Pokemon series, implementing features like Wi-Fi battling, so if you like them you should love this.

Tales of the Tempest - another gorgeous 3D RPG.

Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker - a Pokemon-like title set in the Dragon Quest world.

Children of Mana - a nice, old-fashioned dungeon crawler in the classic Mana series.

Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime - an odd little action RPG set in the Dragon Quest world.

Platform -- Simply put, buy New Super Mario Bros now. A mix of classic & new, and one of the best platform games of the past five years. After you've blasted through that, pick up Kirby: Power Paintbrush for a new take on the platform genre ("paint" your own platforms with the stylus) and Super Princess Peach for a bit of old-school fun. Kirby: Squeak Squad and Yoshi's Island 2 are both due soon, and they look like being good old-school fun. If you want to stretch the definition, you could also include the stunning Mega Man ZX and both Castlevanias - Dawn of Sorrow and Portrait of Ruin - here as well.

Retro -- Not sure quite what you mean by this...

[ukdane]

Retro= Space Invaders, Tetris, Pac-Man, Asteroids etc etc

How does the psp measure up games-wise, how do the graphics, sound, controls etc compare

[IndigoPrime]

:: the DS can't play Game Boy or Game Boy Colour titles

Well... not quite. If you grab a flash cart, you can run the likes of Goomba (which plays practically every GB mono game) and Goomba Color (which is less good); yes, it's emulation, but it works!

Footy games: Pro Evo's on the DS soonish. The GBA game Total Soccer Manager's basically Player Manager from the Amiga.

Platform: I agree with everything Amstor said. NSMB is fun, and Kirby: Power Paintbrush is excellent.

Retro... The new Tetris is all right (and Zoo Keeper should keep fans of old-fashioned puzzlers/arcade games engrossed). The revamped Rainbow Islands and Bubble Bobble are, on the other hand, both total shit. Your best bet?if you get a DS?is actually to scour the GBA bargain bins. There are some fantastic retro games and compilations for that platform, including: Boulder Dash EX, Bubble Bobble, IK+, Konami Arcade Advance, Namco Museum, Pac-Man Collection, and Speedball II. Most of those should be ten quid or less these days. And if you get a flash cart, there are homebrew remakes of 1942, Arkanoid, Android 2 Android, Berzerk, Bruce Lee, Bust-a-move, Cauldron, Chip's Challenge, Llamatron, Nebulus, Space Invaders, Thrust, and more!

Control-wise, both consoles have their plusses and minuses. The Lite's d-pad is meant to not be great, but the PSP has issues with button placement. In terms of sheer grunt, the PSP is a far more powerful system, which means technically superior graphics (although not necessarily "better"), but, for me, this is outweighed by the DS's touch-screen. Also, the clam-shell design means your screens are safe, unlike the PSP's thumbprint attraction screen.

Personally, I'd say to get a Lite, a flash cart, and some cracking, innovative games. Or you could just buy a PSP and play the same old shit you've got on your PS2. It's telling that pretty much everyone I know is raving about the DS (despite initially being very sceptical about it), but the only people raving about the PSP are talking about its multimedia capabilities, and not the games.

[The Amstor Computer]

The Lite d-pad hasn't given me any trouble, though I have heard there may be issues with a couple of batches. I've found the d-pad and buttons on the Lite a vast improvement over the DS Fat, with the shoulder buttons being a particularly nice improvement.

I must admit I haven't had enough experience with the PSP to comment fully on its control setup, but the little time I did put it left me feeling that the analog nub wasn't particularly great. There's also the issue - perhaps overcome by now - of developers wanting to basically dump across their PS2 titles which led to what I felt was a lot of pretty shovelware.

[WoD]

Get a DS quick and go to your nearest COMET to see if they have a bargain bin...mine STILL has Advance Wars DS for ?12!!!!!!

And get Mario Kart too...it was with this that I fianlly 'got' Nintendo.

[JOE SOAP]

A cock.

[The Amstor Computer]

Oh, Mario Kart DS... what a fucking blinding game. Even with the limited matchmaking for online play, it's still a blast - and it looks gorgeous on my DS Lite.

[WoD]

garageman...?

the online on the DS is nice...

[Something Fishy]

With Amstor on all of that.

I guess i would also add Animal Crossing (hard to explain but just ace.. my wife is addicted to it).

Nintendogs.. my son loves it.

Brain Training... not a game really but great for keeping me occupied.  Son enjoys testing himself too.

PSP: it is more powerful but aside from the media capabilities jusrt seems to offer teh "same old same old" for games..  justget the fully functional on PS2.

[Wils]

yes, it's emulation, but it works!

Are these emulators just restricted to the DS? I'll hopefully be getting a Micro at some point, and I know there's no support for original/Color Gameboy games. I'm not really bothered about playing any Color games, but there are some cracking mono puzzle games I'd still like to play.