iPod Touch Compared to Sony PSP-3000 and Nintendo DSi
posted by Blake Patterson on October 2nd, 2008 9:22 AM EDT in NewsIn August, Sony officially announced the PSP-3000, a mildly enhanced version of of the current PSP (the PSP-2000). Just hours ago, Nintendo officially announced the DSi [photos], an upgrade to the current DS Lite that features larger screens, dual digital cameras, and a WiFi-based online game store.
Given the recent activity surrounding these (current…) kings of mobile gaming, Joystiq has posted a timely comparison of the iPod touch, the PSP-3000, and the DSi. Have a look.
In July we ran an article, "Under the Hood: The iPhone's Gaming Mettle," that takes a close look at the iPhone / iPod touch internals with an eye towards gaming performance. It should be noted that the new units from Sony and Nintendo do not feature performance enhancements to their CPU cores or graphics processors.
Wow, those processors on the Nintendo are straight out of the mid-90s!
Yes, and Mario Kart runs much smoother on it than Nitro Kart 3D on the iPhone. Ferrari Challenge just frightens you, while you fall asleep playing GTS. iPhone gaming has a long way to go, too match what the DS is able to do.
Wow. When I bought my iPhone I had no idea it was that powerful and had that kind of resolution. Apple really needs to take more advantage of that.
With way fewer pixels to pump the DS does not need quite as much raw horsepower, but due to the low resolution graphics can look very blocky. Nintendo and other developers do manage to wrangle some incredible performance out of it though.
It's too bad RAM is not on this list of comparisons.
If you're dealing with games, it probably has more to do with graphics handling and CPU speed. To my surprise, the iPhone does amazing in that category.
I bought my iPhone mainly or other reasons. If I new it was this powerful I would have been willing to pay more for it.
@Oliver: The DS has some very solid titles. Look at these videos of Ferrari Challenge on the DS:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKTbAUuz4UE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lzANB7qjSs
Impressive, noting the relatively meager nature of the DS' hardware.
@Galley: After a fair bit of digging into specs, I concluded that the DS is a bit less powerful than the Nintendo 64 (94MHz 64-bit NEC VR4300 (MIPS) processor). Bit it's worked well for Nintendo. The Wii follows the same formula – modest hardware with innovations elsewhere.
I prefer my DS Lite to my PSP, for what it's worth.
I have an iphone and really like it, but the PSP is a proven polygon cuncher according to joystiq and i agree. The games are really good on psp and the framerate.
b
@blakespot I have Ferrari Challenge and Create and Race on my DS and regarding the graphics quality, framerate, detail an feel of speed these are absolute remarkable racers.
Graphics don't make the difference in handhelds like they do in home consoles. If they did, the original Gameboy wouldn't wiped the floor with Sega Game Gear and Atari Lynx.
The PSP is a great machine on paper, but apart from Loco Roco and God of War I'm hard pushed to think of anything I'd bother to play. Friends of mine that have PSPs spend most of their time playing emulators – which does nothing for Sony. The DS is king because it plays Nintendo games.
The iPod Touch / iPhone's tactical advantage is that it's a *stealth* games console. That is, iPods and iPhones are selling like crazy to people for other reasons. Music lovers. Facebook addicts. Business people. People who could never be convinced to buy a DS or PSP because they don't consider themselves gamers.
Give those people something to amuse themselves while on the bus, that doesn't cost a lot of money, and they'll play too.
Actually, iPhone has a second tactical advantage. Irrespective of your plans, you take your mobile pretty much everywhere. I had a DS – I thought it was great but ended up selling it simply because it never occurred to me to take it anywhere.
@Alex
The lynx is a great example. I never met anyone who even played one of those, even though by the standards of that day it was super powerful.
Apple is only very recently advertising games on the iPhone iPod Touch. It's shaping up to be Wii, meant more for casual gamers. I'm fine with that. As long they're well done and fun, casual games are great. I'm currently loving the amazing puzzle and strategy games available (Imangi, Reign of Swords, Enigmo, Galcon, etc).
There're a lot more games on their way that look pretty impressive, though. NFS is coming soon and the people who made Toy Robot Diaries made a FPS that they're likely to release soon. It's starting a little slow but it seems that there are a lot of big games on their way.
Another @Galley: HALO runs on the DS…
@Alex: Props for the Lynx mention. I love my Lynx.
@NotYou: Don't forget – MYST is coming to the iPhone soon. I love MYST, too.
@blakespot
I always fancied a Lynx…
Now that the NDA is history I reckon the graphics, performance and stability of games will improve dramatically. Check out the lack of scenery pop-up in EA's Need For Speed for evidence.
Two features were left off the checklist:
Has games *gamers* want to play
Has enough physical buttons for rich gameplay
answer in both cases: yes, yes, no
I *love* my iPod touch, spent > $50 on games for it, have a lot of fun with them, but it will never be a gaming device to rival DS or PSP.
It's the *games*, not the tech specs.
As I recall, back in the day when Playstation, Dreamcast, and N64 were the big things, the N64 constantly got poor reviews because it only had a few games, even though it had superior graphics. In time, it caught up.
I wouldn't rule anything out yet.
who cares about specs? wow, so the iphone has some great specs….just look at all the sudoku, solitare, poker games we get to play now! whoop-dee-do
I kind of prefer playing on my phone than carrying around an extra thing, like the DS.
Just wait till the DS Phone
The big plus with the iPhone as some have said is that you always have it with you because it is your phone. I hate having extra devices in my pocket. But this also brings in another problem. How much do you want to play on your iPhone draining your battery when you have it with you as a phone. No one wants to play games and the run out of battery when you need to use the phone.
The iPhone's lineup will certainly mature as developers learn how to wring more and more performance out of the platform. Look at the DS' launch lineup. It was horrible save for Super Mario 64 DS, which was a port of the N64 original, so it doesn't even count, really.
The App Store's only been here about 3 months…
If Sega made OutRun 2006 for the iPhone, in the same quality as the PSP version, then I'd be very happy indeed.
I grew up with Sega's arcade racers, OutRun, Power Drift, Super Monaco GP, Daytona USA, Virtua Racing…
@blakespot Well said. I remember thinking the DS launch was pitiful. Mario 64 was a clumsy (without the N64 stick), re-heated port of a game we'd played in 1996. No thanks.
It took ages for game developers to figure out how to create something new and interesting with two screens and a stylus.
So the iPhone doesn't have a d-pad. Boo hoo. It will be the job of iPhone developers to take those lemons and make lemonade. To make games with tap and tilt that surprise us and wouldn't work on anything else.
You are just forgetting the BIGGEST difference between game devices and computer(like) devices. Computers unlike gameconsoles( and such) do NOT run a complicated OS. These complicated OS bullshit takes away a lot of the power, combine this with the architecture and dedication to gaming and everything related. And you simply put got a article here made out of bollocks. There is nothing to compare here, till you get exactly the same game on the 3 devices.
Also Apple DID NOT design the touch as a game device, but something more, something that can be sold to everybody, not just gamers.
@M
You nailed it.
Here's my 2 cents, the iPhone and iTouch beats any of the of the other consoles on the number of pong, breakout. sudoku, match 3 and trivia clones. So WE'VE WON PEOPLE!
@Gregz0r Well, you will have to do with the sega genesis emulation of outrun for now if you know what I mean :p.
It's not the hardware that limits the i-thing(phone-pod). It's the platform. The i-things are considered mobile platforms for mobile gaming just like any other mobile device (cell phone, smartphone). They are not considered gaming consoles and gamers are not their target group. The DS and PSP are considered handheld consoles. They are aimed at gamers first and foremost.
So, I can't imagine how developers would ever start making real console-quality games with great visuals, performance, gameplay, depth, duration, sized of 1-2 GBs or more each for a mobile platform and selling them 30 to 50 $ without knowing if they are ever going to get their money back.
Would a casual gamer spend 50$ to buy a game for his ipod to play it on the bus?
I would really like to see Myst and Myst-clone adventures on my touch
I own a NDS, PSP, and iPhone and I believe the iPhone is the best for mobile gaming. The iPhone has innovative, entertaining games that are stored on the device and not external media (such as UMDs or cartridges). The iPhone has alot of sensors that help the games become more interactive (multi-touch, microphone, accelerometer, camera, hell even proximity and light sensors) and it has alot of power under the hood allowing for amazing visuals that will suppress all the other handheld gaming systems once developers learn to better code games for the iPhone.
@Thom-22
If it's all about the games, how can you say the iPhone will never rival the DS or PSP? The App Store have only been online for < 3 months. How many DS & PSP games were available within 3 months of release?
The important point is – the iPhone now has an impressive list of big-name game studios/publishers (id, EA, THQ, Atari, Sega, Vivendi, Gameloft, Namco etc) while there's already a growing list of small, innovative game designers.
I can't wait to see what games are available in a year's time.
CPU power is only one aspect for a mobile gaming device. The most important thing by far is developer support. DS due to it's huge success has the full support of the likes off Square-Enix, Capcom, Konami, and many others. PSP has a little less but the big guns are still there producing pro-quality fully fledged games.
The iPhone on the other hand is filled with little but total shovel-ware made by bedroom coders. There is simply no comparison.
Quoting @M: "You are just forgetting the BIGGEST difference between game devices and computer(like) devices. Computers unlike gameconsoles( and such) do NOT run a complicated OS."
?? Modern "computers" run much more complicated operating systems than game consoles, in general. The iPhone runs a more complicated OS than either the DS or the PSP–OS X (UNIX). The iPhone is a multifunction device that is not only positioned as a games machine. Does this add overhead to the iPhone as compared to the DS or PSP? Almost certainly. But with a fast processor like that in the iPhone and an efficient OS such as OS X, the effect on a running game will be small.
Hmm very interesting..
the psp 3000 is great because you can update it every month, and get awsome stuff like internet radio and rss (free demos and shows). The psp also has a memory card, so you can download as much crud as u want, and u can just get a new memory card. the psp 3000, unlike the other versions can run complex web pages like youtube. the ds sucks because it cant have vids songs and pics. the iphone is easy to use, but it cant be updated.
It's kind of annoying to have to go out and buy a memory card for the psp, they are exspensive and carrying them around is no good. Psp can run YouTube but it can't play the videos. The iPhone and iPod get big overhauls with there firware updates, so they are upgradeable, in my opinion the iPod touch does everything more and better than the psp will ever be capable of.
I owned an Atari Lynx, waaaay back in 1990 or so. Cost me 200 bones, which was A LOT of newspapers delivered. I loved that thing. When I played it in public places, people would gather around just to see the widget, it was SO far ahead of its time. Too bad the games were only OK. Todd's Adventures in Slimeworld was awesome, but most games, especially the launch titles (with the exception of CA Games) weren't good enough to carry the day for such a spendy toy back then.
You look at a PSP side-by-side with an Atari Lynx, and you can definitely tell there was some inspiration there. PSP is an analog to what I thought the Atari Lynx would be by 2000 or so back in the day. Naive waif I was, I just assumed Atari was never going away despite some of their recent setbacks. The Lynx was too cool not to sell I thought, and besides…it's Atari! Too big to fail! Live and learn…
It\'s kind of annoying to have to go out and buy a memory card for the psp, they are exspensive and carrying them around is no good. Psp can run YouTube but it can\'t play the videos. The iPhone and iPod get big overhauls with there firware updates, so they are upgradeable, in my opinion the iPod touch does everything more and better than the psp will ever be capable of.