I'm really looking forward to seeing this new portable conflict play out. It should prove interesting. The PSP is sexier, sleeker, and more powerful, but the DS comes from Nintendo and they have dominated the handheld market since 1989. This won't be the first time Nintendo has faced a more powerful adversary. Anyone remember the game gear? It was far more powerful then the gameboy, but it was also very large and had a limited battery life. From what I hear playing a graphically intense game like ridge racer will drain the battery in 90 minutes while the DS lasts at least 10 hours. Sony is also infamous for their manufacturing errors. Already I've heard rumors about anaolog sticks falling off and the PSP shooting out game disks like ninja stars. Nintendo always produces a solid product.

Ultimately it will come down to the software. Both systems desperatly need a killer app to drive sales. Unfortunatly as it is now none of the games for either system are that noteworthy (Metal Gear Acid does not count as a killer app it's simply a bastardized metal gear game). The DS has more potential for innovation but sadly i see no games utilizing the DS in very unique ways. But can you imagine, a strategy game where you control the air units on one screen and the ground units on the other? Or how about a stealth game where you have to manuever your character on one screen and use the other for picking locks and diffusing bombs. The wireless multiplayer is another thing that could potentially be exploited. Nintendo needs to only produce one title and the console and handheld wars would be over. That title would be a Pokemon MMORPG. Can you imagine how addictive that would be? It would be more devestating on our nations children then polio. Kids would be glued for hours battling and trading pokemon with other real people. Something like that would level the playing field.

As usual nintendo is taking the stupid approach to DS games and most of the software so far looks medioce at best (with the exception of the Metroid game). To early to tell. I'm going to wait and see how the handheld conflict progresses before I settle on one system or another.