Side by Side comparison.

Advantages PSP:

Does more than play games. You can watch UMD movies. Download and play music, hook it up to your computer and transfer files etc.

Has Better Graphics.

Does Racers and Sports games better.

Both PSP and DS has online support and both have good communities from what I have seen. So it's a draw there. Though the DS does have a built in Mic so this could be considered an advantage.

The downsides to the PSP are as follows.

Load Screens. Even on a newer PSP these can take a minute to load and in some games you are going to be seeing alot of tham.

Game Library. Technically the DS has an advantage here especially if you are an RPG fan.

Battery Life. A brand new PSP at max will get 6-7 hours of battery life with everything maxed out. adjust a few things and you could get 10 but that is max.

DS Advantages

Nintendo. Well they make solid games if you don't mind Mario, Zelda and Pokemon.

Battery Life. All systems go for 10 hours and maybe longer with a few adjustments.

Game Library. The DS has more games than the PSP.

Of course there is the down side.

The Graphics. For the most part the PSP wins here.

Game Prices. While there are some good cheap games alot of the best games will run you 25-30 bucks and some of these are a year or two old. By comparison PSP games go down faster. (Though it is important to note with the exception of a few games that are released on both systems PSP games on average can run $5-$10 more than a DS game on launch. There are exceptions to this rule S-E games for instance.)


Also the Touch Screen can be an advantage if you want to play games in a new way.

Price wise the DS is the cheaper system. You can get one brand new for 130.00 (excluding tax) where in areas a PSP brand new will run you 170.00 (excluding tax)

You should buy a DS, Nintendo + a lot of good TP = One of the greatest sistems ever

Get a DS, its more robust and the clamshell design will keep the screens safe aboard the ship, it has great games like New Super Mario Bros. Zelda and Metroid, plus you said you liekd pokemon, well you can play the new ones.

Plus if you have old GBA carts lying around they can all be played on the DS, so that adds like 800 games more to pick from.

DS has (personally) more games i like, Nintendo 1st party games, cheaper, more online games, touch screen and its portable [PSP is bigger, has less battery life and its scratches easily]... I almost forget it, it has a lot of 3rd party support coming
PSP has more things to do than just play games, its online doesn't depend on FC, works as remote control for PS3 and better graphics
But you should go and see each other lineups, and see what do you like more, if you like Pokemon i could think that also you could like RPG, so i think the DS is a better option for you
Good luck

Back before I had my handheld I was considering both. But I decided to go with a DS. I have a few friends who have a PSP and they don't really use it for gaming. They use it mostly for a media player. You are better off getting an iPod or iTouch to play media (as they are smaller and don't need external memory). The DS has games for any taste, especially timewasters, which by the sounds of it you need (being on a ship and all). There are multiple Pokemon games, a host of Square-Enix RPGs, and even the quirky Harvest Moon franchise. If those don't float your boat (pardon the pun) there is Metroid Prime, Resident Evil, and coming this year, GTA. Plus you get the nintendo exclusives and classic characters as well as any quirky game you could think of.

I am not a huge rpg fan, I think I might get a psp, just because I have a PS3 and they have similar functionality...also the games are compatible, plus features. Overall, even though DS has more games, the PSP has better quality titles. I always enjoyed quality over quantity.

 If you get a DS your also getting a GBA it can play all the old GBA games so its like 2 in 1 for less then a PSP.

Yea, but I only liked pokemon for gba

Can someone count the current votes? I vote DS.... if your looking for a handlheld gaming device with lots of games.... If your looking for a multi-media device, get a PSP....

So, your decision was already made when you started this thread. Just what I thought when I read the OP.

Why did you even create this thread when you are convinced right from the start that the PSP has the better games? Oh well...