[ Music ]
>> Brian Tong: What's up, Prize Fight fans? You know what time it is? I'm Brian Tong, and we all know that handheld gaming will never die. In this week's
Prize Fight, it's the grudge match that just won't go away between Nintendo's DSI and the Sony PSP3000. Now, the previous versions of these handhelds have battled it out before. Nintendo came out on top last time so anything can and will happen in this rematch. Our judges for this fight are CNET Review Senior Editor John Falcone, Assistant Editor Jeff Bakalar, and you know who. Now, we'll take all three judges scores and average them out to the nearest tenth of a point each round. The final Prize Fight score will be an average of all rounds using the same decimal system. It's a five-round, throw-down first round [inaudible]. [music] These two designs are very different from each other, but they both work well. The DSI sticks to its roots with two 3.25 inch displays. The new design is a little slimmer and wider than before, and its surface is no longer shiny. The PSP design has stayed pretty consistent too. It features a great 4.3 inch screen and PlayStation controller layout, but stays away from the shiny and also uses a matte finish. Closing the DSI protected screen, but the PSP just gets the [ding] edge for design from us. Three point seven to 3.3. Next round is game play. [ding] The DSI still offers the most unique gaming experience you'll find with its touchscreen technology. You can make link follow your stylus in "Zelda" or use the standard controls with other games. Nothing comes close. It even uses its microphone to cool down food with "Cooking Mama". Now, if you're familiar with PlayStation gaming, you'll be just as familiar with the PSP. The main thing you'll miss is there's no second analog stick, and it makes first-person shooters a little more difficult. The built-in microphone takes gaming to another level if you want to communicate to your teammates in "Resistance Retribution". Nintendo hits hard. The judges give it a perfect [ding] five, and Sony gets a 3.7. Now, after averaging two rounds, the DSI leads by half a point, but there's plenty more Prize Fight left. Next round [ding] is about the features. [music] The DSI makeover brings us a brand-new simple interface. Features like a web browser, 2.3 megapixel camera to take pictures, and a sound editor. It's WiFi has always been there for online and local games, but its new DSI shop to purchase games is it's next big thing even though it's still in its infancy. The PSP wasn't made just for gaming. You can use it as a music player, a picture viewer, and a movie player using Sony's UMDs that really never caught on, or your own videos on its memory stick. Its WiFi allows to stream the media from your PS3 remotely, browse the Web, listen to Internet radio. It supports Skype calls with no additional hardware, and you can also access its PlayStation store through WiFi, which is filled with content and much more developed compared to the DSI's. The PSP hammers the DSI [ding] with a perfect five, and the DSI gets a 3.7. [ding] Next up, performance. The DSI is still able to keep rocking even with its larger screens holding a battery charge anywhere from 9 to 14 hours. It just really depends on your settings. Now, we know it won't wow anyone in the graphics category, but its battery life more than makes up for it. The PSP3000 holds a charge for about four and a half hours with WiFi turned on and its screen at full brightness, and that's nowhere near the DSI, but this is like a mini-PS2 with graphics on a portable that you can't match anywhere else. Our judges here lean more towards the graphics performance, and the PSP takes this one [ding] with a four, and the DSI gets a 3.3. Now, after averaging four rounds, Sony has turned the tables and leads by three tenths of a point. Anything can happen in our final round, and it all comes down to the game library. [music] The DSI caters to more of a causal gamer even though "Chinatown Wars" bucks that trend. But it has such a wide range of titles from "Big Grain Academy" to "Super Mario World" that there's something for everyone. The PSP definitely caters towards a more hardcore gamer with mature action titles like "God of War" and others. You'll find causal puzzle games like "Echochrome", but its gaming experience is not that different from a PS2, which can be both a good or bad thing. Both of these systems have great got-to-have titles, but in the final round, the DSI gets a [ding] 3.7 and the PSP gets a 3.3. So let's average out all the scores, and after five back and forth rounds, the PSP3000 comes from behind then the DSI takes the last round, but Sony holds on and reigns supreme 3.9 to 3.8. [ding] You can't get any closer than that. Now, both of these are really great handhelds, and trust me, I own them, but the PSP gets its retribution and takes the portable gaming Prize Fight title away from Nintendo for now. I'm Brian Tong. Thanks for watching, and we'll catch you guys next time on another Prize Fight.
[ Music ]
