Nintendo 3DS vs. Sony NGP (PSP 2): specs and features
- — 24 March, 2011 10:23
The Nintendo 3DS at its Australian launch party.
With Nintendo's Australian 3DS launch only a few days away on March 31, we thought we'd give you a quick refresher on it, and the device that's going to be its main rival for the next little while — the Sony Next Generation Portable, or NGP. That's the official name for the next-gen handheld console from Sony that everyone was calling the PlayStation Portable 2.
Hardware
Read our preview of the Nintendo 3DS.
The Nintendo 3DS is an evolution of the Nintendo DSi, DS Lite, original DS — despite a bit of extra processing grunt it's still a dual-screen handheld gaming console, with a touchscreen down the bottom and a set of thumb-friendly controls. The big difference is the top 3.5in LCD screen, which achieves an autostereoscopic 3D effect — you don't need any 3D glasses to see it, and you can control the intensity with a side-mounted slider. To be honest, the only other big difference is the addition of an analog joystick.
Check out the unveiling of the Sony NGP.
The Sony NGP is a big step up from the original PlayStation Portable and its revisions. It's got plenty of processing power, and graphics performance that's purported to be on par with the Sony PlayStation 3. Its 5in, 960x544pixel touchscreen display uses OLED — like the screen of Samsung's Galaxy S II smartphone, though we're hoping it's even closer to the Sony XEL-1 — so we're expecting excellent clarity, contrast and viewing angles. Battery life for such a powerful machine is a worry, though.
The NGP definitely excites us more when it comes to hardware. We did like the 3D effect from the Nintendo 3DS, but we expect it'll largely be a gimmick that doesn't add a great deal of playability to games. The NGP's superior power should allow for more versatility in game design, as well as the advantage of nicer graphics — yes, we're shallow, but we think nice graphics do improve an already-good game.
Features
The Nintendo 3DS has front- and rear-facing cameras, though they can only take 640x480pixel photos — which makes them little more than a gimmick. The cameras' potential for augmented reality gaming is interesting, though. It uses the same game cartridge as earlier DS models so there's a massive back catalog to play through. Download Play will also be available for Game Boy and Game Boy Classic games, as well as DSiWare games in the future, via the Nintendo 3DS's integrated wireless networking.
The NGP is the undisputed leader in features — it can do augmented reality as well, it has two touch control surfaces, and two analog joysticks — with one critical exception. It won't be able to use the PSP's old UMD format, leaving dedicated Sony fanboys out in the lurch — instead, Sony is opting for a new flash memory-based format. Don't let this get you down, though — the NGP will have Bluetooth, 3G and Wi-Fi which should make it as versatile as a smartphone when it comes to getting hold of games off the Net.
Conclusion
We're going to talk about games offerings in a separate article, so this comparison is just down to hardware and included features. The Sony NGP is clearly superior, as long as you discount the 3DS's 3D screen. It's more powerful, has a larger screen and a more accomplished control interface. We wouldn't be surprised if it was twice the price of the $349 Nintendo 3DS, though.
Comments
Crane
Sun 08/05/2011 - 11:21
Please excuse salehin, he is an idiot. We have purposley trained him wrong, as a joke.
-nintendo
Mitch
Fri 13/05/2011 - 13:35
I have the 3DS and I love it also im looking forward to the NGP but it comes down to software and whil the original PSP was more powerfull than the DS it was the DS that sold over 100k also had more and better games etc also I prefered the DS it was more fun then my PSP though the PSP is good but not up there with the DS
GT500R
Tue 24/05/2011 - 19:31
as a playstation fan and owning a psp 3000 the 3DS with the black screen of death and reported horrible battery life is inferior to the NGP. they ported out Meatal Gear Solid 4 from ps3 to the ngp and it ran fine. to make matters simple the 3ds is a little kids toy with games that only attract a young audience or the 25+ age group, but fails to attract the teens which are the most imprtant age group in the market. this is why it sold better was they aimed for a wider market compared to the psp which had little advertising but sold exteremly well considering that
mac
Tue 07/06/2011 - 18:08
3DS will be the winner as usual, sony can't make anything that lasts more than a year, drop it once, it's stuffed.
olivero mero
Sat 16/07/2011 - 20:59
some people say psp is for teens when i ussaly see kids playing psps s they are ussaly fat american kids or other people that don t have a life i have psp 1000 it s realy good but the ds beat s the gameply and for some idiots there is residen t evil for 3ds and that s more of a teen s game to me and think probaley the nintendo will release call of duty for the new 3ds soo for people out there i think ngp wont sell as much as the 3ds
24Angel
Thu 05/01/2012 - 06:46
I choose Nintendo 3ds as well theres alot of things that I like bout the 3ds like it have a letter box where u can send letter via spot pass or street pass. It have longer fun playing with games as you get to explore more features. I give ten thumbs up for the Nintendo 3ds ;-)
super
Wed 25/01/2012 - 02:30
Is PcWorld owned by sony !!
All reviews are biased. I'm so disappointed.
Hammad
Thu 22/03/2012 - 17:12
nintendo 3ds is excellent gaming console it has 3d cameras as well as 3d gaming it will rule the gaming world!
Salehin
Sun 08/05/2011 - 00:06
In my opinion,3DS is better.NGP isnt bad but 3DS has 3D support.And also many new features like spot pass which allows players to play through wireless connection and has WI FI.also street pass.Its good when u use it for everyday lives if u pass someone who has 3DS,it takes some datas about that 3DS's games and lets them connect together.And theres so many things new....So its better