Difference Between Nintendo DS & PSP

History

• The PSP has many features (such as the control scheme and graphics engine) and games (including "Metal Gear Solid" and "Ape Escape") in common with the company&'s PlayStation and PlayStation 2 consoles. Initially priced at $249, it was Sony&'s first attempt at a hand-held console. By comparison, Nintendo&'s DS (the name has no official acronym, but is often understood to denote the machine&'s Dual Screens) followed the Nintendo Game Boy and Game Boy Advance, and was first priced at $149. Many games on Nintendo DS are continuations of series that started on the earlier consoles.

Physical Features

• The DS&' folding clam-shell design gives the machine the appearance of a laptop or cellphone. Inside, the machine uses two 3-inch screens, a feature inherited from the company&'s early "game and watch" single-game machines. Sony&'s PSP has more of a traditional design, with D-pad and action buttons flanking a single 4.3-inch display. It is reminiscent of Atari&'s Lynx, Sega&'s Game Gear, and Nintendo&'s own Game Boy Advance.

Controls

• Both machines use a basic control layout of "Start" and "Select" buttons, a left-situated D-pad for controlling characters, four action buttons on the right side, and shoulder-mounted "L" and "R" buttons activated by the index fingers. The PSP uses a sliding analog thumb-pad, while the Nintendo machine employs a touch-screen for analog controls, point-and-click game-play and drawing onscreen. This makes action games featuring fine-tuned movement (sports titles, first person shooters) easier to play on PSP, whereas many DS games, such as "WarioWare" and "The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass," feature touch-based control schemes unseen on previous consoles.

Games

• All of the Game Boy Advance games can be played on the Nintendo&'s DS. Games can only be played from cartridge, or by downloading temporary demos from stations installed in some gaming stores. Sony&'s PSP can only play games released for PSP itself, but the machine&'s internal memory means that games can be downloaded from the company&'s PlayStation Network and saved to the console via USB. Neither company has released figures on how many games are available for the devices, partly because major third-parties such as Konami, Capcom and THQ are constantly releasing new titles for both platforms.

Hardware

• PSP contains a single CPU capable of operating at speeds of up to 333 MHz (MegaHertz). Early releases of the console carried 32 MB (MegaBytes) of memory, but redesigns such as PSP-Slim and PSP-Go upgraded this capacity to 64 MB. The screen is capable of displaying images of 480 by 272 pixels. Nintendo DS has two central processors, one 67 MHz and one 33 MHz, and 4 MB of memory with both screens capable of a 256 by 192 pixel resolution.