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[FStubbs]

I mean, given the specs below the PSP destroys the Dreamcast, but in the real world, did it really? (I remember Gamecube being theoretically way behind PS2 and Xbox but in the real world Gamecube was close to Xbox and PS2 was a distance behind those two).

Specs

Dreamcast:

• CPU: 128-bit Hitachi SH-4 RISC processor (200MHz 360 MIPS)
• Graphics: NEC CLX2 processor.
• RAM: 16MB, 8MB Video RAM, 2MB Sound RAM.
• Colors: 16.7 million.
• Polygons: 3 million per second.
• Game Media: 1.2GB GD-ROM, 12x access speed.
• Resolution: 640x480 pixels.
• Sound: Yamaha 64 channel.

PSP:

• Widescreen, backlit 4.3-inch (10.9 centimeters) TFT LCD monitor with 16:9 aspect ratio and 480x272 resolution
• 32 MB RAM (64MB in later editions)
• MIPS R4000-based 222-Mhz CPU (later firmware increased to 333-MHz CPU)
• Graphics sub-system running at 166 MHz on a 512-bit bus with 2 MB of DRAM, rendering 664 million pixels per second and 35 million polygons per second
• Media processor using another 2 MB of DRAM
• 3-D graphics processing using NURBS (Nonuniform Rational B-Splines) as well as conventional polygon rendering
• USB 2.0 port, Memory Stick port, Universal Media Disc slot, stereo headphone jack and WiFi wireless LAN port
• Built-in stereo speakers
• 1.8 GB UMD

 

[SlashBringingHasher]

about the same should be. PSP was a bit weaker than PS2 and DC is a bit weaker than PS2.

maybe DC slightly more powerful. maybe PSP slightly more powerful.

 

[BootsLoader]

I really have no idea but from my little technical knowledge I think the Dreamcast was better.

 

[A.Romero]

Architectures are different but DC was most likely more powerful for practical scenarios.

Not by much, though.

 

[DiscoJer]

The PSP was a beast. Vice City Stories. Test Drive Unlimited. the Syphon Filter games. God of War.

 

[HaveButOneLife]

The PSP was a beast. Vice City Stories. Test Drive Unlimited. the Syphon Filter games. God of War.

Why is Sony more lenient when it comes to their handhelds? It's like the entire PS1/2/P library is on the Vita but the PS4 gets a select amount of old PS1 mobile port Final Fantasy games and PS2 BC.

 

[Bonfires Down]

PSP was 480x272 resolution while Dreamcast was generally 640x480. So that’s already a huge disparity.

 

[diffusionx]

I think they were pretty comparable, given the difference in resolution. There weren't many games on both - but those that were (Crazy Taxi, Powerstone, Virtua Tennis, ???) had pretty much the same experience if I recall.

It's pretty impressive that a handheld released only six years later could do that really.

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

Not a perfect comparison, but look at the Dreamcast games that got ported to PSP. They are awful. Didn't Power Stone run at 30fps or something shitty like that?

Anyway, Dreamcast rox, PSP sux, system warz, etc. etc. Actually, that's really how I feel. Guess I'm still a 12-year-old.

 

[polybius80]

AFAIK the PSP GPU has lot of hardware goodies that allows effects way more easily than PS2, being more modern I think it surpasses DC capabilities for lot of effects, but lets not forget that PSP is made to be portable so battery time is very important and who knows how much restrict games, that said I think daxter, the 2 god of war games, jak the lost frontier and soul calibur broken destiny are really impressive compared to the best DC games and I think are above them in general

soul calibur vs soul calibur broken destiny?

star wars jedi power battles vs lethal alliance?

difficult comparison

 

[Caffeine]

its not a perfect comparison each does something better than the other. it also a time gap in comparison. psp renders more polygons into a smaller screen res, and uses software techniques that didnt exist back in the day. However I do think dreamcast still handles textures, anti ailising. and image quality better.

spec wise psp is better, but visuals dont always need the best hardware.
ps2 struggled with textures and image quality. I believe the psp also has this flaw. another flaw the psp has is they have to accommodate for battery drain so it could cause limits to what could have been achieved.

if you created dreamcast games today with techniques they learned you would have some crazy never before seen shit. on that system I dont think it was fully taken advantage of because no one thought outside the box. Like a lot of games would load maps with models in them and the models accompanied with the scripts and they didnt call the models into location. this could have saved resources for other things. sometimes things would still be rendered even not in view. a lot of quality of life stuff.

 

[Endless Fluff]

The DC had more VRAM than even the PS2, so it really depends on the games. Sprite heavy games looked best on DC, a game like Shenmue wouldn‘t run on a PSP wihout sacrificing lots of texture quality, the same goes for the PS2. The DC>PS2 ports were mostly downgraded because the PS2 was lacking VRAM.

It‘s like Sega understood that having Lots of VRAM was the way forward instead of massive CPU and GPU upgrades.

So no, the PSP isn‘t generally more powerful.

 

[Zambatoh]

DC: 3 million polygons per second
PSP: 35 million polygons per second

Hm...it really is a mystery.

 

[SlashBringingHasher]

PSP was 480x272 resolution while Dreamcast was generally 640x480. So that’s already a huge disparity.

a lot of dreamcast games ran at low framerate tho.

 

[petran79]

The DC had more VRAM than even the PS2, so it really depends on the games. Sprite heavy games looked best on DC, a game like Shenmue wouldn‘t run on a PSP wihout sacrificing lots of texture quality, the same goes for the PS2. The DC>PS2 ports were mostly downgraded because the PS2 was lacking VRAM.

It‘s like Sega understood that having Lots of VRAM was the way forward instead of massive CPU and GPU upgrades.

So no, the PSP isn‘t generally more powerful.

I doubt psp could handle model 3 games better than the DC either due to the porting complexity

 

[Nethernova]

I remember Gamecube being theoretically way behind PS2 and Xbox but in the real world Gamecube was close to Xbox and PS2 was a distance behind those two)

In what memory or real world was the GameCube behind the PS2? The GameCube is more powerful in every sense and does everything better apart from maybe particle effects.

 

[V4skunk]

Isn't the 3ds more powerful than a psp?
I don't think even 3ds would run Shenmue or Skies of arcadia.

 

[FStubbs]

In what memory or real world was the GameCube behind the PS2? The GameCube is more powerful in every sense and does everything better apart from maybe particle effects.

DC: 3 million polygons per second
PSP: 35 million polygons per second

Hm...it really is a mystery.

Nintendo claimed Gamecube had about 12 million polygons per second. Sony claimed the PS2 was 70 and the Xbox was allegedly over 100. But in the real world Gamecube was above the PS2 and close to Xbox in performance.

Which is why, to the other point, the polygons for DC vs PSP don't really tell the full tale.

 

[01011001]

Isn't the 3ds more powerful than a psp?
I don't think even 3ds would run Shenmue or Skies of arcadia.

yes, and it has a more modern GPU capable of shader effects the PSP isn't capable of

 

[JordanN]

It's such a hard comparison.

Dreamcast should theoretically be faster, but when I held a PSP in my hands, I got the impression the games looked better.

It's something about the textures. I always hated how the Dreamcast looked blurry and almost N64 like.

PSP could do this:

Dreamcast could do this:

Sorry man, there's something about Dreamcast that just looks like ass. It was basically the half step console but true next generation started with PS2 so graphically, it was left in the dust.
It's basically what the N64 should have been.

 

[01011001]

It's such a hard comparison.

Dreamcast should theoretically be faster, but when I held a PSP in my hands, I got the impression the games looked better.

It's something about the textures. I always hated how the Dreamcast looked blurry and almost N64 like.

PSP could do this:

Dreamcast could do this:

Sorry man, there's something about Dreamcast that just looks like ass. It was basically the half step console but true next generation started with PS2 so graphically, it was left in the dust.

that was mostly because of the timeframe it was released in not because of its hardware.

game devs were still exploring the new hardware and many games were ports of games running on PS1 quality hardware.

even Shenmue was basically a Saturn port. the game was originally developed for the Saturn and was then shifted to the Dreamcast.
it also died early so nothing on it ever had the chance to look as well optimized as say God of War 2 was on the PS2 or Ninja Gaiden was on the Xbox

 

[JordanN]

that was mostly because of the timeframe it was released in not because of its hardware.

game devs were still exploring the new hardware and many games were ports of games running on PS1 quality hardware.

even Shenmue was basically a Saturn port. the game was originally developed for the Saturn and was then shifted to the Dreamcast.
it also died early so nothing on it ever had the chance to look as well optimized as say God of War 2 was on the PS2 or Ninja Gaiden was on the Xbox

The launch titles for PS2/GC/Xbox were a complete gen ahead of Dreamcast.

I just don't think Dreamcast was powerful. It was an N64 on steroids.

Dreamcast launch title:

PS2 launch title:

Gamecube launch title:

Xbox Launch Title:

Sorry breh, Dreamcast games just looked god awful that even the PSP looks like a beast next to it.

 

[alabtrosMyster]

a lot of dreamcast games ran at low framerate tho.

But a lot ran at a locked 60fps too (shenmue ran at 30).

 

[hunthunt]

Both had their bottlenecks and both had a very good library that took advantage of their respective attributes.

I dont think it was possible a pixel.pefect port of something like Shenmue but neither could have Dreamcast ran at 640x480 stuff like God of War, Burnout or even Ratchet and Clank.

Psp was obviously the most impressive system overall.

 

[JordanN]

By the way, did anyone notice all the launch titles I posted were 60fps? Games back then still took advantage of the hardware while offering smooth gameplay.

Too bad the same can't be said about today.

 

[Bonfires Down]

I just don't think Dreamcast was powerful. It was an N64 on steroids.

That's false. It was a massive relief to leave the blurry ass IQ and the sub 25 frame rates of the N64 behind. I can't imagine that anyone who was there could deny what a huge difference it was.

 

[SLoWMoTIoN]

Daily reminder we had portables back in the 90s that had similar power to current or last gen consoles then

 

[StreetsofBeige]

PSP can do this?

(original game was lower res, while YT video is 720p)

 

[JordanN]

That's false. It was a massive relief to leave the blurry ass IQ and the sub 25 frame rates of the N64 behind. I can't imagine that anyone who was there could deny what a huge difference it was.

The frame rates were better but look at the above screenshots and Dreamcast games had that notorious "chunky polygons" plus "shit smeared textures" look.

The best looking N64 games honestly didn't feel that far away from it (although admittedly, they did have to use the additional memory pack to get there).

 

[xellos2099alpha]

I dunno, does psp have game that look bettere than soul calibur and Sky of Arcadia?

 

[Astral Dog]

By the way, did anyone notice all the launch titles I posted were 60fps? Games back then still took advantage of the hardware while offering smooth gameplay.

Too bad the same can't be said about today.

Its not too bad really framerates are smoother on consoles compared to last gen (specially the later years) and next gen they are even introducing 120fps

 

[SLoWMoTIoN]

I dunno, does psp have game that look bettere than soul calibur and Sky of Arcadia?

It has Sega games after the Dreamcast died! Does that count?

 

[EDMIX]

I'd say PSP easily. Consider one released in 1999 and the other released in 2004.

I think folks need to stop getting this whole shock of "oh its a handheld" all they need to now is its a device that released years after another device. I'm going to side with the younger device. PSP in many areas was more powerful then the PS2, but that is sorta to be expected when they are YEARS apart. That is like saying a cell phone today is more powerful then PS3, 360 or even a PS4. Its just moot considering how tech works.

 

[Lionel Richie]

I dunno, does psp have game that look bettere than soul calibur and Sky of Arcadia?

I think the God of War games looked better, but could be my memory playing tricks on me. Those games looked fucking fantastic for their time.

 

[hunthunt]

PSP can do this?

(original game was lower res, while YT video is 720p)

Pretty sure that Ridge Racer, Burnout or Gran Turismo looks equally good and probably better than that emulated at 720p.


Lets stop with the fanboyism, Psp was an incredible console that had an insane amount of first and thid partt suppory just like the Ps2, its completely normal that had better looking games.

 

[Otterz4Life]

Which was more powerful: the SNES or the GBA?

 

[JordanN]

Which was more powerful: the SNES or the GBA?

Definitely GBA.

It was officially a 32-bit system, and it could do actual 3D graphics without needing special chips like SNES did.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Definitely GBA.

It was officially a 32-bit system, and it could do actual 3D graphics without needing special chips like SNES did.

Looks pretty similar to PS1 visuals.

 

[Otterz4Life]

Definitely GBA.

It was officially a 32-bit system, and it could do actual 3D graphics without needing special chips like SNES did.

Ugh. The 3D on the GBA is hard to stomach. It was even back in the day.

But, yes, I agree. Also the PSP was more powerful, but it seems like a silly comparison.

 

[Bonfires Down]

The frame rates were better but look at the above screenshots and Dreamcast games had that notorious "chunky polygons" plus "shit smeared textures" look.

The best looking N64 games honestly didn't feel that far away from it (although admittedly, they did have to use the additional memory pack to get there).

I suppose if looking purely at the assets they might be somewhat close. But Dreamcast needs 4x the GPU power of the N64 to compensate for the higher resolution. For games running at 60 fps that would be another 2-3x for a total of 8-12x as much power just to run at the higher frame rate and resolution.

 

[godhandiscen]

They are about the same, but the PSP benefited from better development tools as it gained more support.

 

[Starlight Lotice]

The PSP was designed to be a multimedia device also, so being able to play games at DC quality and being able to do all that makes it win in my eyes.

 

[JordanN]

The PSP was designed to be a multimedia device also, so being able to play games at DC quality and being able to do all that makes it win in my eyes.

Oh yeah, I remember that. Being able to play games and then instantly switch to the internet to look for walkthroughs/guiswa was mindblowing at the time.

I tried doing the same thing on the Nintendo DS but it just couldn't compare (far too slow). I ended up downloading text from websites and reading them instead.