I am interested in buying a DS but from all the reading I'm doing it seems as though Nintendo is focusing all their attention to the Japanese market. There is an MP3 plugin that is also only available in Japan and now this too.

It kinda makes me think that the PSP might be a better route. Any thoughts ?

Is MP3 playback something you need? I find both systems too large for portibility as an MP3 player(Bought a NANO instead). If you must have MP3 playback there is the 4GB MAX Media Player for the DS: http://uk.codejunkies.com/news_reviews.asp?c=GB&cr=GBP&cs=%A3&r=1&l=1&page=1&p=17&i=8952&s=8 .

It may also depend on what genre of games you like to play. The PSP has better sports and action games whereas the DS has better puzzle and roll playing games.

I don't have either but this seems to be the general consensus.

Of course, the PSP will also allow you to watch movies, view photos, and sometime in the future connect wirelessly to the internet.

I am interested in buying a DS but from all the reading I'm doing it seems as though Nintendo is focusing all their attention to the Japanese market. There is an MP3 plugin that is also only available in Japan and now this too.

It kinda makes me think that the PSP might be a better route. Any thoughts ?

Both systems are region free so their focus shouldn't be a problem... just the matter of importing if necessary.

What are you looking for in a system? Multimedia player or an actual gaming console? The PSP is one good piece of hardware, unfortunately the software is lacking. Its a good mp3 player/movie player if you get a good memory stick. It already is able to browse the internet (I believe though a mod used though a memory stick... although I don't know if recent firmware update has restricted that).

DS is gaming oriented... but some folks might not like the controls or the use of the two screens. You can get a play yan, or DS movie player to play mp3s and watch video on your DS via a compact flash or SD card (the play yan should be coming to north America by the end of the year). Also recently released was the Opera browser for the DS... currently only being sold in Japan... a North American equivalent should be coming eventually as well.

As for the size/portability issues - Nintendo is already releasing a DS lite http://gonintendo.com/?p=895 which is a smaller and much better looking version edition of the DS.

At the end of the day, the best thing for you to do is get your hands on both systems and then make a decision. Good luck!

As a multimedia unit, a PSP is what you want. If you want portable gaming, then it's a DS. For me, whichever way I ultimately wanted to go, I would still buy a DS. And with the new stuff like the Opera browser coming, why would you want a PSP anyway? lol

I own a PSP and I love it. When I travel on the plane, I love the fact that I can watch a movie, play a game or listen to music. Surfing the web on the PSP is cute, but is not it's strong point. No hack needed as it is included with the later firmware's. I already carry a big Dell XPS laptop, and a cellular phone. With the DS, you would need a MP3 player and another device to watch movies. (yes that will change soon), but if you travel often, you really don't want to keep switching devices each time you are in a mood to do something different.

As for battery life, get a second battery as a back up.

If you are really into gaming, then the DS might be better. The PSP is lacking in games as well, although now that I have Suduki on the PSP, I don't need any other game.

Plus the DS has download play, so you only need one copy of the game to play with other people wirelessly.

The DS also has little if not no wasted time waiting for a game to load, where as the PSP can certainly test your patience.

Ds:Young crowd.
Psp:Older Crowd.

Ds:Young crowd.
Psp:Older Crowd.

Everybody I know with a DS is in their thirties.

Everybody I know with a PSP.... I don't know anybody with a PSP.

There is a thread her called "DS Appreciation" or something like that. From the looks of it a lot of people on this forum have a DS, and I hardly think they are "kids".

As far as movies go, there are a few movie houses that are stopping releases on UMD. Even Sony Pictures has reduced the amount of new titles coming out on UMD.

There is alot to be said of devices that do a bit of everything, a la PSP. Typically these devices only perform as good as needed and dont really do any one thing exceptionally well. I cant speak for the PSP as I have not used one.

Best bet, buy a DS and with the money saved buy an iPod Nano. I think it was in the Future Shop or Best Buy flyer they had a DS with Metroid plus the wifi adapter in a bundle for $199 !!!!!!!! good deal.

I have a PSP and I think it's great. I play games. I check my e-mail. I read my RSS feeds. Awesome.

I've owned the PSP for quite a while now since I do a lot of plane travel. It is the perfect travel companion because you can:

1) Play games with stunning graphics
2) Watch Movies (I transfer movies onto the 1GB memory stick)
3) Listen to Music

It is an all in one multimedia solution, and it does all three tasks with superb quality.

Battery Life is great too. I get around 4-5 hours of continued use.

There are more games coming out every day, and the quality of games is getting better as well.

I highly recommend Daxter and HotShots Golf.

I said when the PSP came out and I still maintain the position that I won't be buying one until they release a version that includes a HDD. The PSP is capable of so much but is handicapped by the flash cards.

I picked up a ds lite and 3 games at launch for $225 and love it (over 30 in age as well). The psp was just too expensive for what I wanted. The core package is $229, then a 1g memory stick is $60-70, so that means I would have dropped over $300 with taxes before I got any games. And then games are more expensive as well. Yes the graphics are nicer, but i would bet that the new Super Mario/Metriod hunters/Big Brain Academy/Super Mario 64 and so on are way more fun than any game on the psp. And the ds is also backwards compatible with the game boy advance so that gives you a huge library of games to choose from.

I have also seen that the 4gb drive is more expensive than the psp itself. too much cash for me. I couldn't imagine dropping over $500 bucks for a handheld and its hard drive.

I bought a PSP a couple of months back and found that I wasn't really using it as intended. Instead of actually playing games, I was using it as an mp3 and movie player, a photo viewer and an ebook reader. For some reason portable gaming doesn't really appeal to me and I much prefer playing on my ps2 or 360.

In the past week, I was sorely tempted to pick up the ds lite with toys r us' new super mario bros offer but just couldn't justify it to myself, cause I knew I wouldn't be using it all that much. It all boils down to what you want. An all round portable device - PSP. Portable gaming machine - DS lite. I'll say one thing though, having compared both I must say the screen on the PSP is far superior to the one on the ds, dual screen or not.

How about the new Nintendo DS Lite vs PSP? I might be in the market for a handheld system...

Battery life may be an issue for me...4-5 hours on a single charge for a PSP may not be enough for me...

And still no browser for the DS Lite (in Canada) right?