I stand corrected :) I knew the DS screens had the same resolution, so I assumed they were in fact identical and both touch sensitive. Every time I saw videos of Kirby or Zelda where you had to draw the trajectories of characters I always assumed they were on the upper screen - I suppose I always thought of it as the "main" screen for some reason.

Let me re-state my previous thought, though: while the PSP->NGP transition seems to be in the direction of more natural controls and gesture based interfaces, with DS->3DS N. chose 3D over touch or other new control methods (3D doesn't mix with touch, I suppose, plus in the PO incarnation it also mixes badly with tilt controls) for the "main" screen, and they even avoided multitouch if I understood correctly.

The NGP and 3DS are actually closer than the DS and PSP in this regard, but the trends about experimenting with controls seem very different to me.

 It was a pretty unexplained statement on my part. I just don't view the audiences of the things as the same to begin with (Albeit it's hard to judge before we get a full grasp of NGP's software). From what I've read Sony are gearing the NGP up to be aimed direction at the HD console owners, aimed directly at the people who buy a gazillion COD's every year, who buy GTA in their droves, put 100s of hours into online gaming and are all, typically, some 26 year old male.

 On the other hand I think 3DS is more aimed towards that Nintendo market that the Wii has. Not the Just Dance / Carnival games type market but the SMG, Zelda, Smash bros just typical Nintendo Fan market. They'll appeal to kids as Nintendo have always had control of that market. 

 Both devices are priced (Or going to be priced) to high to hit the mainstream / extended market in any meaningful way and that'll come later. Just in terms of (As much as I hate this word) the 'hardcore' market they're aiming at, I think they're different markets. NGP is going for the 20m XBL subscribers / 15m (Or so) PSN online gamers, whereas 3DS the Nintendo fans and the younger audience.

 At the moment I guess I just view the 26 year old guy who buys Madden every year, plays COD online with his 'bros' and bought Dead Space 2 cause his mum hated is being far more targeted by the NGP. Whereas the guy who has a Wii and plays Smash Bros and SMG alot more in line with the 3DS. I don't care for 'hardcore' and 'casual', just with what I perceive as both handhelds initial demographics are pretty different with little overlap. They'll cross at some point but not in their first year or so.

Definitely, and come to think of it, I'm surprised by how little Nintendo is actually bringing to the table in terms of controls with the 3DS, when both the Wii and DS became huge successes with their new interfaces. The gyroscope is the only thing where it seems they're trying to do something modern, but both the NGP and iPhone 4 has that as well to my knowledge, so it's not all that. And at the same time, they're only bringing one analogue nub, which the PSP took a big beating for. And finally, you are correct in that Nintendo are not doing multitouch with the 3DS.

But Sony is bringing the rear touchpad and dual analogue sticks. Sony is actually doing more with their interface than Nintendo is. Who would have thought?

So PS Suite won't be included?

Nah. I figured the PS Suite means the NGP can play small games designed for portability, which is pretty much what every handheld in the history of gaming has been designed to do.

I think you are missing the point. With PS SUit, devs can make a game directly for all mobile devices AND NGP...this will give small devs a huge incentive as it will cut down costs of making multiple versions. There is a reason why SOny announced it at the same event. We haven't seen anything like it on portables before, none as far as I know in history of portable gaming.

I understand perfectly what it means, and I stated in the OP that I would be focusing on subjects affecting the end user, not developers. For the end user, this means you have access to more games of the portable kind, which goes back to my original argument.

It means the end user can get to play many games that previously would have only been for phones. It's a plus for users as they won't need multiple devices just to play different games.

but yea nvm, I'm not interested in debating why this is an important feature ngp, it's your thread, as you see fit.

3DS still utlizes the resistive touchscreen which requires a stylus while the NGP goes with capacitive touchscreen which works with a simple touch of a finger.

I honestly think that needing a stylus is a con in this day and age. Not easy to swap from face buttons to touchscreen on the fly when not using capacitive.

Another nice thing is that rear touch pad because it is multitouch if I am not mistaken, easily enabling each side to simulate L2 and R2 for shooters like Call of Duty. I also think it can be pressed inwards as well, which gives it the "pressure sensative" feature found on home console gamepads as well as the other buttons on the device.

NGP just brings so much more possibilities to the handheld space.

to me overall:

NGP turn out to be much upgraded from its predessecors, but 3DS...

can somebody tell me what 3DS so different from its predessecors beside the naked eye 3D screen?