Looking for portable console and games for it

[Omicroncubed]

Yesterday I found out that my service to the army is now an almost-full year, and with the free time that we get being as boring as possible, I've decided to consider getting a portable console to help remedy the situation. Problem is, I don't know anything about portable consoles. And my roommates can't really recommend anything. So I turn to the playground to ask this: what's a good/decent portable console that's not "brand new" (like the PS Vita) or anything that costs a truckload of money?

I was either thinking of getting a Nintendo DS or a PSP, but I have no idea what kinds of games are out there for those consoles. Any suggestions?

For the PSP, I probably would get Metal Gear Solid Portable Ops and Peace Walker, maybe the PSP version of LittleBigPlanet, but that's about all I can think of getting. For the DS, I literally have no idea what to get for it. All I can say is that I like platformers, so I guess the mario games would be good for that.

And if I can talk about preference, I guess I'd prefer the DS touch screen over the so-called analog stick of the PSP.

I'd give more info right now, but I'm running out of time writing this post. I'll add more later when I have more time. In the meantime, any suggestions?

[Zevox]

Hm, well, it's hard to recommend one or the other specifically without knowing more about your preferences in games. Since you mentioned platformers with the DS, I can point to one there: Mega Man Zero Collection, which includes the four (originally GBA) games from the titular series. They're difficult (mostly, anyway; 3 can get pretty easy once you stock up on energy tanks), but oh so fun if you're into old-school platforming.

Anyway, I myself have both, but have had the DS far longer and have far more games for it. Mostly JRPGs, with a smattering of other genres. I have only a tiny handful of PSP games, so I can be less help there - although I can say that the few games I have include a remake of one of my two favorite games of all time, Persona 3, which I can't recommend highly enough to anyone not averse to JRPGs.

In general, I think that what I've heard of those more versed in comparing the two is that the DS has the larger, more diverse library, but the PSP has more games of certain genres, like tactical RPGs. I can't speak to that myself though, as I've still delved very little into the PSP.

Zevox

[Lord Seth]

If you're interested in DS games, you could always get the 3DS. It's backwards compatible with DS games.

If you're interested in Nintendo's handhelds, the best bet might be 3DS and GBA. That way you could play all of the games on all of them (GBA plays GBA/GBC/GB and 3DS plays 3DS/DS).

[Rake21]

I will say that the DS has some pretty good re-releases for JRPGS. Dragon Quests IV-VI and Chrono Trigger are a blast.

For more action oriented things, there's The World Ends With You and GTA: China Town.

The Scribblenauts is an intersting puzzle game that you can have some fun with. The controls for the fist one are a littel rough, but they fixed them in the sequel.



As for the PSP, it has some fantastic tactical RPGs, like Tactics Ogre and the first two Disgaea games (which contain suicidal, exploding penguins).

It also has Final Fantasy Dissidia, Final Fantasy IV, Patapon, and two entries of God of War.

[Omicroncubed]

Finally able to post again. Sorry about being too vague in my first post, only had about 15 minutes to write and post it. In other news, I might actually get a DS (or 3DS, I'll have to see), as the PSP game library is pretty obscure to me.

Anyway, I'm looking for games that mainly last a while or have a lot of replay value, so plot/story elements aren't the biggest thing I care about at the moment. Not that I'd outrule games with more emphasis on plot though, meaning JRPG's could work.

But here are some examples of what I do enjoy playing: Platformers, old school mostly (Games like Megaman, Contra, Super Mario Bros etc.), action adventure games (any good Legend of Zelda games for the DS or 3DS?), FPS games (though I'd prefer to play them on PC, PS3 or Xbox 360) and (J)RPGs. Games I'd prefer not to get include racing games and puzzle games, mainly because I don't enjoy playing racing games, and puzzle games because I tend to lose intrest in them pretty fast.

As for games I've considered getting, I might get a Pokemon game and Contra 4, but I'm still looking for a few good games. The Mega Man Zero collection sounds good to me too.

EDIT: also do DS' come with a memory stick or something similar, or do I have to buy one seperately?