Choosing between PSVITA/PSP and N3DS

[Marco_STFX]

I'll be somewhat brief on this reply since it's a bit hard to go over every aspect.

You should get an "Old 3DS" this term refers to the original 3DS models (See image below) as well as the first 2DS, Get this, Along the PSP.

Getting a cheap 3DS is really hard, But I think you will manage if you're intending to get an OLD 3DS system. The series of New 3DS are absurdly expensive and the prices are even getting higher than consoles such as the first Nintendo Switch, PS4 even if they're new.

While there are exclusive games for the New 3DS, They're few as for what you would expect, And the New 3DS is also plagued by "Shovelware" games; The point being that you will have most of the experience with an 'Old' 3DS.

As for the PSP, You will have a nice catalog of games available, And the PSP works nice for a multimedia player just like the PS3, The reason I'd rather the PSP over the Vita is because the Vita has far too few genuine exclusive games, And I'm not counting the ones that got ported to PC, I'm counting the games that are ports from PS3 or PS4, And I think getting both of those eventually (In your case) will be a better option.

Also the PSP is significantly easier to mod unlike the 3DS and PS Vita. Not sure how much you will be able to afford, But again, I suggest you look for a cheap 'Old' 3DS and a cheap PSP.

In my case, I have the 2DS (The original one that got so much hate) and the PSP.
One more thing is that the PSP is easy to fix and you can go around getting replacements in AliExpress or a similar page, Same for 3DS or you could also buy original parts when you need it.

 

[thanatos]

You should get an "Old 3DS" [...] [a]long the PSP.

Fully agree. The Vita makes PSP and PS1 games look worse as the lower resolution is just stretched over the double res of the Vita. There's a plug-in that fixes that, but it doesnt support all games. The PSP's worse screen covers a lot of the imperfections of lower res games.

 

[iamthemilkman]

As much as I love the PSP, the 3DS gives you access to DS and 3DS games. You can buy a 3DS, a 256GB MicroSD card for 3DS games, and a cheap R4 Gold clone for $5-$8 with a 32GB MicroSD card, and have access to more games than you'll ever be able to play. Vita's library isn't even worth talking about, tbh.

 

[KenaiPhoenix]

I would go for a PSP or PSVita, is a beast of a machine. Tho I dont think neither alternative is bad.

 

[ThatOneLum ThatOneLum]

There's no wrong answer here.

basically this.

 

[Deleted member 58254]

choose ps vita if you're a hipster ;3

 

[thanatos]

choose ps vita if you're a hipster ;3

I was thinking about writing the same argument, as the Vita had quite a few indie titles at a time when that wasn't so common outside of PCs. But then I realised that most of those titles came out on the 3DS as well. xD

Unless you mean obscure Japanese visual novels. Not sure if Vita might have an advantage there.

 

[ImhotepTheSecond]

obscure Japanese visual novels. Not sure if Vita might have an advantage there.

Vita has a great advantage here. Though many have PC ports Vita and PSP host a lot of obscure visual novels that never got translated. There was a strategy game called 萌え萌え2次大戦(略)2[chu~♪] that I would probably wouldn't have heard of without looking through psp catalogue. 3DS has some gems too like the Professor Layton series but Vita's library is more varied

 

[thanatos]

Vita has a great advantage here. Though many have PC ports Vita and PSP host a lot of obscure visual novels that never got translated. There was a strategy game called 萌え萌え2次大戦(略)2[chu~♪] that I would probably wouldn't have heard of without looking through psp catalogue. 3DS has some gems too like the Professor Layton series but Vita's library is more varied

Thanks. Yeah, I had a hunch. Some of those were also fan-translated, so it's definitely worth a look.

 

[Roy U. OmOm]

Vita has a great advantage here. Though many have PC ports Vita and PSP host a lot of obscure visual novels that never got translated.

It also has disadvantage here over the PSP. Because Vita despite being able to play pretty much all PS1 and PSP games, it cannot play games in UMD-PG format. Those are basically interactive movies not full-fledged games. Many visual novel publishers inentionally chose this format to bypass the censorship regulations set by Sony on eroge content.
However I don't think any of those games has ever been translated.

 

[petran79]

if you are interested in the above franchises, get a rog ally or similar and you can play their most recent pc versions, eg Persona, KH and SMT and also their older emulated versions

 

[TallGrass]

Surprised I keep seeing people recommend the 3DS for DS back-compat...it's awful. I just got a DSi because I was done with dealing with either blurry non-integer stretching, or wee little boxes to play in on my 3DS LL. Meanwhile, the Vita is perfect 2x integer of the PSP.

 

[Mr. SyS]

I like them both well enough that you may as well do a coin flip.

 

[Zarathusta]

Really depends more on what games appeal to you on each system.
And they can both emulate older consoles so its a personal taste thing.

 

[Poppet]

My take on getting consoles on a budget: Buy broken and repair yourself. If you are patient you can score good deals.

BUT, now talking as a normal person: The only benefit you get from a New model is it loading slightly faster than the old models and maybe maybe, like, 3 or 4 games that are exclusive to New models, none of them really that much important unless you are big into Fire Emblem.

I say get an Old 2ds (yes, the door stop one) to save both in money and repair nightmares in case something breaks. They are the cheapest 3ds model you can buy rn, the screen ratio on it is PERFECT for DS and GBA games without much distorsion and they are comfy to hold. Foldable models be damned.

Alongside the 2ds, get a PSVIta, preferably a 2000 model. Sure, not OLED screen, but you save in battery life, they are surprisingly easy to open up and repair if needed (is built in a very neat and satisfying way) and if anything, you can mod in screen values that make the screen more vibrant very easily.

I think those two, when on a budget, are the perfect combo.

 

[thanatos]

Surprised I keep seeing people recommend the 3DS for DS back-compat...it's awful. I just got a DSi because I was done with dealing with either blurry non-integer stretching, or wee little boxes to play in on my 3DS LL. Meanwhile, the Vita is perfect 2x integer of the PSP.

PSP looks blurry on the Vita. And I wouldn't call something perfect integer scaling when sprites look blurry and fonts are hardly legible. But interesting that DS has the same problems on a 3DS.

 

[dr grim]

it really depends wich games you are looking for...

3ds have all the nintendo cast, and with really great games at it, and even some retro games with a 3D effect that works really well ( for me at least )
Ps is more for racing games or fighting games.

Both have really great rpgs too.

 

[TallGrass]

PSP looks blurry on the Vita. And I wouldn't call something perfect integer scaling when sprites look blurry and fonts are hardly legible. But interesting that DS has the same problems on a 3DS.

integer scaling is not subjective. The Vita has a perfect 2X resolution of the PSP, whereas the 3DS does not scale up evenly from DS, resulting in the issues inherent in non-integer scaling. After looking into it, it seems that the Vita chooses to utilize bilinear filtering when playing PSP games by default? This is what would lead to some blurriness.

 

[deceptionfalls]

the Vita has Odin Sphere Leifthrasir so its clearly the best option here

 

[ImhotepTheSecond]

the Vita has Odin Sphere Leifthrasir so its clearly the best option here

Vanillaware games in general are all on the ps series. Grand Knights History on psp is really tempting

 

[thanatos]

integer scaling is not subjective. The Vita has a perfect 2X resolution of the PSP, whereas the 3DS does not scale up evenly from DS, resulting in the issues inherent in non-integer scaling. After looking into it, it seems that the Vita chooses to utilize bilinear filtering when playing PSP games by default? This is what would lead to some blurriness.

You're talking about integer scaling as if it's the Lord Christ. While integer scaling is preferable to not having it, blowing up sprites to double its intended resolution looks worse. Naturally, with all things art, objectivity is worth nothing to me if it looks shit at the end. Arrogance won't help me suddenly see an originally 32x32 pixel Adol as pretty when he's blown on an oled screen without changing resolution(!) so I can see his eye develop colour bleeding as though I'm playing a C64 game. The disappointing fact is though that Sony could have easily opened up more of the Vita's power to do some shaders in order for it to look decent. I mean, if a Chinese 50 USD handheld can do this via retroarch, it shouldn't be a problem for the Vita. It looks awful regardless of integer scaling.

As for your comment about bilinear filtering... Turning it off doesn't make it much better unfortunately. Sure, it looks a bit more crisp, but it's not enough and it just looks much better and cleaner either on original PSP or emulated where you can work with shaders.

If it looks great to you, I'm truly happy for you. I'll keep playing my PSP games on my PC for now.

 

[PrismRed]

My usual answer, list out both systems exclusives and pick one that has more games you want to play.

 

[deceptionfalls]

My usual answer, list out both systems exclusives and pick one that has more games you want to play.

i feel like this is the sanest and best way to decide tbh, backwards compatibility is nice but i wouldnt get an entire handheld just for that, at the end of the day it genuinely comes down to what is exclusive to that console

 

[Marco_STFX]

the Vita has Odin Sphere Leifthrasir so its clearly the best option here

That game is also on the PS3, though.

And the original game is from PS2 but I will try that Remaster out of curiosity

 

[deceptionfalls]

That game is also on the PS3, though.

And the original game is from PS2 but I will try that Remaster out of curiosity

i associate Leifthrasir with the Vita more, for some reason

plus the remaster actually changes a lot of stuff, especially the combat, so i would recommend it over the original, since that one has a combat more akin to Princess Crown from the Saturn and some people may not like it since it is admittedly a bit shallow