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13+ Hour Road Trip: PSP or DS?

H

haunts

Bacon of Hope
hey whats up, I am taking a road trip up to Philly at the end of the month and I think it will be about 13 hrs so I want to keep myself entertained at least part of the way. I don't want this to turn into a VS thread or anything, I just need some input form people who actually own the systems here. I'm just a bit torn on which system to invest in..

My main conflict here is movies vs. games. I would like a PSP for the movies, but DS has some games I think may hold my attention a little better in the car... Since the PSP is about 150 bucks more, I want to make sure it will be worth it..

How does the whole movie thing work with PSP? Do you transfer AVI files to a memory stick or can you throw them on a UMD? Or can you only play movies that you buy from the store on UMD?

Are there any good RPGs for PSP or any games that would take a good 10 hrs + to complete?

I also read somewhere about some device that can play AVI files on the DS. Is this for real and does it work? If I could buy that it would solve my problem right then and there.

Also, with the Nintendo WiFi thing, could I play people in the car with my DS or is that real sketchy depending on area?
 
movies are pretty easy on PSP, but for anything decent you need to drop an extra $100 on a 1GB mem stick.

IMHO the DS has better games and more of them. 13 hour road trip and a copy of advance wars should tide you over.. maybe Castlevania also to switch things up a bit.
 
Advance Wars and Castlevania looks fun for DS. If you can dot he WiFi thing id like to get Mario Kart as well..

PSP, I dunno, GTA? I dont really know too much about the games on the PSP or what is good.

And someone please tell mea bout this movie player! If I were to watch movies it would probably be fansub anime or some crap I downloaded off usenet.
 
Mad Hatter said:
DS + Mario Kart DS + laptop + cell phone + wi-fi dongle = MK:DS online!

:P
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Oh yeah thats right you need an internet connection yourslef for the WiFi to work. haha. duh..

for some reason I thought the DS was magic and you oculd jsut turn it on anywhere.

well we will have a laptop but I doubt we'll hook it up to our cell phones (roaming!!).
 
Mario Kart will be nearly impossible to do wifi.. you will literally have to do as the other poster stated. laptop+cell internet (phone tether or cell card)+nintendo dongle. also I don't know how gprs/edge/evdo/cdma connections work.. if you roam between towers and your ip address changes you will probably drop connection.
 
How many people are riding in the car? For the price of a PSP, you could basically get 2 DS units and play some Mario Kart with a friend. The hours will evaporate away. :)
 
The DS has two game slots, longer battery life and costs a lot less. In terms of ergonomics I'd go for the DS (but when you get the chance/money definately get a PSP because the game/movie/mp3 functionality is very very nice)
 
I don't know, haunts, buying one of these just for the 13 hr road trip? Have you ever really had an interest in portable gaming before this?
 
Must have PSP games right now are:
GTA
Socom
Burnout
Hot Shots Golf
Lumines (although I don't own it, I'd say it should be a safe purchase)

If you want the PSP for movies, definatly invest in a 1 gb memory stick or get the gigapack unless you plan on buying UMD movies (which isn't a bad idea by any means, very high quality)

For a long roadtrip? I'd have to say splurge for the PSP if you have the means. You'll easily be able to watch high quality movies, play games, and listen to music with just one system. Also invest in a car charger ;)
 
Depends on what you want to play, but imo DS. I'd take a DS with Mario Kart, Sonic Rush, & Castlevania just to name a few.

haunts said:
I don't want this to turn into a VS thread or anything
Click to expand...
:lol
 
jarrod said:
How many people are riding in the car? For the price of a PSP, you could basically get 2 DS units and play some Mario Kart with a friend. The hours will evaporate away. :)
Click to expand...
You're actually suggesting that if he HAS the money to buy two DS units, he should do so? Come ON. </GOB>

kaching said:
I don't know, haunts, buying one of these just for the 13 hr road trip? Have you ever really had an interest in portable gaming before this?
Click to expand...
That's an on-point question. Either system is going to be a major investment, so you want to be sure that you'll use it beyond a couple of trips.

I'd vote for a PSP with a car charger, personally. There are plenty of games which will provide entertainment for many hours at a time on that system -- Lumines wouldn't be a bad place to start, and Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee and Burnout: Legends both offer MANY hours of gameplay. You can do research elsewhere on GAF for other good PSP games -- no need to rehash it here.

If you're concerned about price, or think you won't do much handheld gaming, then a GBA SP+ or a GBA Micro is the way to go. Both will easily offer enough battery life to last the trip, and there is a wealth of good games for them.
 
-jinx- said:
You're actually suggesting that if he HAS the money to buy two DS units, he should do so? Come ON. </GOB>
Click to expand...
Why not, if he's willing to invest what it costs to get a PSP ($249.99 to $299.99)? Multiplayer gaming is a comparatovely affordable option with DS given the low unit price and widespread single card multiplayer option.
 
you know, I said advance wars and castlevania, but really with Mario Kart and Advance Wars, you will actually run out of time with the two on the way there and back. to be entirely frank I don't think you can find 2 psp games that will have you putting as many hours into without resorting to playing through a second time.
 
kaching said:
I don't know, haunts, buying one of these just for the 13 hr road trip? Have you ever really had an interest in portable gaming before this?
Click to expand...


I used to own a gameboy and loved advance wars. I love Castlevania too but never tried many of them on the gameboys.

I mean, that is one thing I am considering too.. which sytem will I get use out of AFTER the trip? lol. :)
 
jarrod said:
Why not, if he's willing to invest what it costs to get a PSP ($249.99 to $299.99)? Multiplayer gaming is a comparatovely affordable option with DS given the low unit price and widespread single card multiplayer option.
Click to expand...
Why would he buy two units when he can only use one at a time? I don't know about you, but I don't carry around spare toys for my friends.
 
borghe said:
to be entirely frank I don't think you can find 2 psp games that will have you putting as many hours into without resorting to playing through a second time.
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If you're saying that there are not two PSP games which take longer to play than his time spent on the trip, I think you're incorrect.
 
How much is that movie player for DS? Does anyone actually have one here? It dosent split the image up between the two screens does it?
 
-jinx- said:
If you're saying that there are not two PSP games which take longer to play than his time spent on the trip, I think you're incorrect.
Click to expand...
no, I meant as much time into as MKDS and AWDS.
 
-jinx- said:
Why would he buy two units when he can only use one at a time? I don't know about you, but I don't carry around spare toys for my friends.
Click to expand...
I bought a DS for my BF. We plan to make sweet Mario Kart love together on our 10 hour flight to Paris next weekend... that's more fun than rewatching Family Guy again on UMD and it costs roughly the same amount. :)

Extra platforms tend to come in handy, especially if you've got a boyfriend or girlfriend or roomate or sibling or anyone really around a good amount of time. Going into a 13 hour roadtrip, he could probably even convince his friends to buy their own DS units and they could all play Mario Kart DS for hours.
 
PSP.

You can play new games, watch movies, TV shows, listen to music, read books, comics, play Megadrive games, play Scumm adventure games - the screen is easier to see outdoors in sunlight and you can get a cigarette lighter charger to keep you going past the 5hr mark.
 
BlackSalad said:
For a long roadtrip? I'd have to say splurge for the PSP if you have the means. You'll easily be able to watch high quality movies, play games, and listen to music with just one system. Also invest in a car charger ;)
Click to expand...

Seriously, if you haven't bought either one up to now, than I dont think it's all that wise to invest 300$ for a handheld, + 50-100$ for a memory stick if you want do get any use of it's functions + another 50$ for atleast 1 game. Now Lumines, GTA: LCS and Metal Gear Acid are great games which I would recommend to anyone (if you like the genres), but there are atleast just as many great games on DS, and this without the high-price, the low battery, the loading times (sorry but they piss me off, everytime I want to play a little bit of GTA on the bus, it's like atleast 1-2 minutes of loading). The DS is a simple, straight-forward, get-me-to-the-fun-now system with a good library. If you're interested in the DS's library more than the PSP's, than your question is answered. For The price of a bare PSP you can get a DS with Castlevania, Advance Wars and Meteos or Pheonix Wright, or Mario Kart.

However if you wanna watch movies, than go for the PSP. Personnally I don't like watching movies on the go.
 
haunts said:
Anyone think there will be enough McDonalds along the way to get some good Mario Kart games in?
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if driving through america you will likely have a harder time finding a gas station than a mcdonalds.
 
Fusebox said:
PSP.
the screen is easier to see outdoors in sunlight
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Without a DOUBT no. PSP is the worst sunlight handheld I have ever played.

DS doesn't work well in sunlight that well either, but PSP is impossible to see.
 
jarrod said:
I bought a DS for my BF. We plan to make sweet Mario Kart love together on our 10 hour flight to Paris next weekend... that's more fun than rewatching Family Guy again on UMD and it costs roughly the same amount. :)

Extra platforms tend to come in handy, especially if you've got a boyfriend or girlfriend or roomate or sibling or anyone really around a good amount of time. Going into a 13 hour roadtrip, he could probably even convince his friends to buy their own DS units and they could all play Mario Kart DS for hours.
Click to expand...
But you bought it as a gift, which makes perfect sense. I don't see how anyone else would honestly buy a spare unit to keep around as a just-in-case for ad hoc travel partners. If his companions on this trip already have a DS or PSP, that might be a factor in his decision, though.
 
borghe said:
no, I meant as much time into as MKDS and AWDS.
Click to expand...

GTA, Hot Shots Golf, Burnout: Legends, and Untold Legends all beg to differ. I'm sure there are others as well, but those are the ones that jump to mind for me as all of which are long games, with plenty to do, that I have personally played.
 
Zeo said:
Without a DOUBT no. PSP is the worst sunlight handheld I have ever played.

DS doesn't work well in sunlight that well either, but PSP is impossible to see.
Click to expand...

I agree. Both are not that good, but the PSP is a mess in the sunlight. When I'm at UCF I have to stay in the buildings because the sunlight on the screen doesn't let me see a darn thing.

The DS isn't MUCH better, but I can still see things to play games.

I say go with the DS.
 
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