PlayStation Vita vs. Nintendo 3DS: Which Gaming Handheld Reigns Supreme?

[mankind]

March 29, 2012 • by Will Greenwald
The Sony PlayStation Vita is finally here, officially marking the beginning of the "next" handheld game console generation. It's no longer a battle of the Nintendo DS versus the PlayStation Portable (the DS won), but a contest between the Nintendo 3DS and the PlayStation Vita. One is a two-screened device with glasses-free 3D and Nintendo's impressive crop of first-party properties. The other sports a 5-inch OLED screen, innovative controls, and enough processing power to put it in the range of the PS3. Games and tastes may vary, but between these two radically different handhelds one has to come out ahead. We're going to compare them both in every way that counts to see who comes out on top.

Portability
As handheld game systems, both the PS Vita and the 3DS are small enough to fit in a jacket pocket, but larger than almost all cell phones. In terms of size and shape, the Vita is little larger and heavier at 3.3 by 7.2 by 0.7 inches (HWD) and 9.2 ounces to the 3DS' 2.9 by 5.3 by 0.8 inches and 8.3 ounces, but not enough to make a difference. The 3DS wins in portability not because of its size, but its shape. Since it's a clamshell design, you can toss it in your backpack and be certain that the screen is protected from scratches, and the analog controls won't be jostled too much. You'll need to add a case to your Vita.
Winner: Nintendo 3DS

Price
This is a simple distinction, and the 3DS comes out on top. The Nintendo 3DS is $169.99 and has everything you need to play games out of the box (except downloadable games, which require an SD card). The Wi-Fi-only Vita is $249.99 and the Wi-Fi/3G version commands a $50 premium, and each requires an additional $20 minimum for a memory card to play most games. 3DS games peak at around $40, while Vita games can reach $50 each.
Winner: Nintendo 3DS
Processing Power
No question the Vita is more powerful. The 3DS is a solid step up from the DS, and has managed to do a very good job of producing PS2-like graphics in games like Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater and Tales of the Abyss, but it doesn't come close to the Vita's quad-core Cortex-A9 CPU and its near-PS3-level graphics. Uncharted: Golden Abyss and Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 rival their PS3 equivalents in graphical prowess. The Vita simply has more muscle inside.
Winner: PlayStation Vita
Controls
Both the Vita and the 3DS added vital controls to their predecessors' designs, but the Vita wins by virtue of not needing an aftermarket accessory for full control. Both handhelds have an analog stick or pad and a touch screen. The Vita adds a second analog stick, giving it a PS3-like control scheme that makes first-person shooters and action games much easier to control. You can get a second analog pad with the Circle Pad accessory for 3DS, but you shouldn't have to add it after the fact. Most games work well with the single analog pad (though first-person shooters suffer), and if Nintendo wanted it to be an integral part to the control layout, it should have put a second pad on the 3DS in the first place. The Vita also has a rear touchpad, but it feels like more of a novelty than an important element. Either way, the Vita has dual analog sticks right out of the box, so it prevails.
Winner: PlayStation Vita
Screen
This is a clear case of technical superiority versus gimmickry. The 3.5-inch, 400-by-240-pixel (effective, per eye) display on the 3DS is impressive because it lets you watch 3D content without glasses, thanks to a filter system that splits up the screen into two different images, with one for each eye. The Vita's display, on the other hand, is a remarkably bright and colorful 5-inch touch-screen OLED with a much higher 960 by 544 resolution. Even if you take into account the 3DS's auxiliary 320-by-240-pixel touch screen, the Vita still delivers more pixels, and they look much better.
Winner: PlayStation Vita
Internet Connectivity
Built-in Wi-Fi means you can go online, browse the Web, and download games on both handhelds, but the Vita offers two helpful features the 3DS lacks. First, the 3DS has Nintendo's typical anemic online service. You can't easily track friends online or communicate with them, and multiplayer games aren't simple to set up. The Vita uses the PlayStation Network/Sony Entertainment Network and offers friends lists and a Parties feature for keeping your friends together and gaming. The Vita also offers a 3G version, so you can stay connected almost anywhere, albeit with a hefty fee of $14.99 for 250MB per month or $30 for 3GB per month through AT&T DataConnect.
Winner: PlayStationVita
Game Selection
The 3DS is less than a year old, but thanks to backward compatibility, its game library positively dwarfs the Vita's. Several dozen 3DS games are already available, and every game on the DS can be played on the 3DS, along with DSi games, and certain Virtual Console games. The Vita, on the other hand, uses a new card format for games, and in America there is no way to turn your old PSP UMDs into playable games on the Vita. You have to re-purchase them. A few hundred PSP games are available on the PS Store, but not the entire library. Since the Vita just came out, only a handful of games are available right now, with most big titles still a few months away.
Winner: Nintendo 3DS
And the Winner is...
On hardware specs, the Sony PlayStation Vita is clearly superior to the 3DS, but the best way to judge a handheld gaming system is on its ability to game. Since the 3DS has had a very long head start and supports every DS game, its library is much bigger and more convenient for users of the previous handheld. The Vita makes no concessions to PSP owners, besides letting users download PSP games they previously purchased in the PlayStation Store if they're part of the list of compatible titles. Still, the Vita has a solid library for a system that's only weeks old, and more new and backward-compatible games are on the way, it's not quite as much a disadvantage. Games like Uncharted: Golden Abyss are visually stunning and play very well with the Vita's dual analog sticks, offering a gameplay experience comparable to a PlayStation 3. That kind of potential, along with an online service that's far superior to Nintendo's online support, makes the Vita a better handheld gaming system overall.

http://www.ecoustics.com/pcmag/articles/2402089

[F34R]

Wrong section.

I think the potential is there for the Vita, but the 3ds wins right now.

[Ghost-Rhayne]

When the Vita has more games, more apps and added functionality it will reign supreme. The 3DS simply has the content now to push it ahead, but Vita kinda owns in all other departments imho.

[AaronSOLDIER]

Well err, the 3DS had a whole year to itself and thus got more games.

[Chille]

considering i only have 2 3ds games and 7 vita games, the vita wins for me

[three3-times]

MOVED TO MULTI CHAT

for me, till nintendo can make a serious and powerful console, they are nothing to me.

vita will win hands down...............................once the games start to roll out

[Lethal_NFS]

Wrong section.

I think the potential is there for the Vita, but the 3ds wins right now.

As a gaming device I think the Vita wins. 3DS has a small screen and lacks the 2nd analog stick. The 3D is a joke on that thing and the graphics feel pretty dated.

Vita wins in my opinion.

[The Black Wolf]

It doesn't really matter to me, because I'm going to be an owner of both the PS Vita and the 3DS.

I will say this.

If you look at the handhelds overall, the 3DS comes out on top and I'll you why.

If you look at long term durability, the 3DS wins. You drop a 3DS plenty of times, it'll be okay. I bet if you drop the PS Vita just a few times, you start getting problems. Nintendo products just generally last a long time, both inside the handheld and outside the handheld.

If you look at it in the terms of games, in the regard to a gaming library that appeals to many ages, the 3DS wins. PS Vita, not saying it has no games that children can play, is more geared toward mature and older gamers. While the 3DS can go either way, it has many games for many audiences. If you need something for your 7 year old son, Super Mario 3D Land will fit the bill. Need something for a teenager or adult in their twenties? Resident Evil Revelations fits the bill. Even people in their 40s and 50s play Brain Age and other games on the 3DS.

Now as for games of quality, the PS Vita takes that one. Heck, its launch titles alone are outstanding.

Games and long term durability are what matter the most to me in a handheld. Because it is carried around, a handheld needs to be durable cause they ARE going to get dropped. Games matter because that's what it's for, to play games.

Some people value more in their handhelds, like being able to watch movies and music. And yes, the PS Vita is more versatile than the 3DS.

If I had to pick between the 3DS and the PS Vita, I would take the PS Vita because it's more for my buck. Fortunately, I will be owning both of them.

[Chille]

It doesn't really matter to me, because I'm going to be an owner of both the PS Vita and the 3DS.

I will say this.

If you look at the handhelds overall, the 3DS comes out on top and I'll you why.

If you look at long term durability, the 3DS wins. You drop a 3DS plenty of times, it'll be okay. I bet if you drop the PS Vita just a few times, you start getting problems. Nintendo products just generally last a long time, both inside the handheld and outside the handheld.

If you look at it in the terms of games, in the regard to a gaming library that appeals to many ages, the 3DS wins. PS Vita, not saying it has no games that children can play, is more geared toward mature and older gamers. While the 3DS can go either way, it has many games for many audiences. If you need something for your 7 year old son, Super Mario 3D Land will fit the bill. Need something for a teenager or adult in their twenties? Resident Evil Revelations fits the bill. Even people in their 40s and 50s play Brain Age and other games on the 3DS.

Now as for games of quality, the PS Vita takes that one. Heck, its launch titles alone are outstanding.

Games and long term durability are what matter the most to me in a handheld. Because it is carried around, a handheld needs to be durable cause they ARE going to get dropped. Games matter because that's what it's for, to play games.

Some people value more in their handhelds, like being able to watch movies and music. And yes, the PS Vita is more versatile than the 3DS.

If I had to pick between the 3DS and the PS Vita, I would take the PS Vita because it's more for my buck. Fortunately, I will be owning both of them.

I have a wrist strap for my vita, makes it hard to drop without it breaking my hand off, and if that happened id be more worried about my hand

[Lethal_NFS]

I bet if you drop the PS Vita just a few times, you start getting problems.

I will take that bet!

Ya the 3DS has a larger library, of shit games! But yes it has a great library of retro games that are great. But the 3DS fails to deliver new GOOD games. Without the retro games, it would literally have the worst quality library. It is basically an expensive emulator with overpriced retro games.

[F34R]

That's a fail test. They didn't see if anything was really working. Yeah, it powers on, and the touch screen works. Is it still accurate? Do the buttons and analogs still work? FAIL. Yeah, props for it being sturdy though.

The 3ds has a pretty good catalog of games, and not just retro; unless you wanna define retro better?

[Thorzilla]

I win since I have both. I will surely have many more Vita games than 3DS in the future, since they appeal more to me, but I'm very, VERY excited for games like KH3D and Bravely Default.

[LfCpS3]

The thing, you can say the Vita is more powerful but as a gaming console, ONLY one thing matters, the games. The vita is just lacking in that category.
When big games like Assassin creed, COD and ( if) a new gta release then expect it to pick up a lot in sales.

[DarkVincent07]

I win since I have both. I will surely have many more Vita games than 3DS in the future, since they appeal more to me, but I'm very, VERY excited for games like KH3D and Bravely Default.

I own both as well, and yeah at the moment I have 11 3DS games and 4 Vita games but I'm sure that will even out soon since it only came out a month ago :P

Both platforms offer very different games and vastly different experiences from one another, just like the PSP and DS. Both consoles have their quirks


Via Tapatalk

[The Black Wolf]

I will take that bet!

Ya the 3DS has a larger library, of shit games! But yes it has a great library of retro games that are great. But the 3DS fails to deliver new GOOD games. Without the retro games, it would literally have the worst quality library. It is basically an expensive emulator with overpriced retro games.

What exactly do you mean new good games? Are you talking about new IPs or just new games in general? Because if you're talking about new games that are good, I can name a whole bunch of them. I believe you are talking about the 3D remakes, but the 3DS has more than just remakes . . .

[The Black Wolf]

I watched the video and am fairly surprised! I do agree with F3AR somewhat, but it seems like the Vita was just fine.

[Chille]

I watched the video and am fairly surprised! I do agree with F3AR somewhat, but it seems like the Vita was just fine.

Ps3 is one of the best made consoles for knocks so im not suprised vita is too

[Lethal_NFS]

What exactly do you mean new good games?

I mean the 3DS fails to deliever new games. It spits out tons of 3D and 2D remakes, but there are not many new games that are worth a damn.

[dc89]

Are we comparing now or are we trying to guess who will 'win' in the future?

There is no point in comparing the hardware, it's like comparing a Macintosh to a 2011 iMac. They are two very different consoles with two very different audiences and they use different hardware. The 3DS has a 3D screen, the Vita has a OLED screen which is capable of showcasing high end portable graphics. There is no refuting the Vita is more powerful, but the 3DS is no slouch!

The 3DS hardware itself is capable of brilliant things when the dev's get down to it. See Resident Evil for an example, it's really impressive.

I also really like the wide range of colours you can get the system in, not to mention some of the Limited edition consoles really are cool!








But like the DS & PSP showed, there is no point in having higher-spec hardware without games to back it up. That's the reason the DS wiped the floor with the PSP on the large, because of the games. And that's the reason the 3DS is currently outperforming the Vita by a mile, because it has more games, some of which are of a outstanding quality. But I want to touch deeper on the games of the 3DS and then go back to the Vita in another post.

So I bought my 3DS on day one! I bought Street Fighter IV and Pilot Wings. They in my eyes were the best of a bad bunch, it had a cruddy launch line up to be frank. I then waited until May until I bought my next game which was Ocarina of Time 3D. I then waited until November to buy my next game which was Super Mario 3D Land and then January 2012 I bought Mario Kart 7. Does that mean my 3DS went for months without being touched? Nope, because it has true backwards compatibility. My library of nearly 30 DS games hasn't been made redundant, can you say the same about UMD? No you can't.

The thing Nintendo have which no other gaming company has is pretty much a license to print money with it's IP's.



Wether you agree with it or not, everyone knows you make a Mario game it's going to sell a shed load of copies and it will shift systems. Same with Zelda. So in it's first year we had a Zelda game, a re-make of the greatest game of all time (IMO and many other people's opinion too) and we had two Mario games. Is that inventive on Nintendo's part, not really but hey, they know people buy Mario!

The 3DS has a insane lineup in 2012. We already know about Luigi's Mansion 2, Animal Crossing 3D, Kingdom Hearts DDD, Mario Tennis, Monster Hunter, Professor Layton & The Mask of Miracle & Fire Emblem. And we know about the plans for a brand new Zelda game and a brand new Mario game, Mario is a shoe in for a holiday release but Zelda may be next year. And looking further ahead there will be a Smash Bro's. Quite frankly, that's enough for me! That's more than enough, I only play my portables when I am on the move, away from home. When I'm at home I prefer my home consoles.

3D Remakes - I want MOAR! I'd happily go buy Majora's Mask 3D and hell, If they remade Super Mario 64 in true 3D I'd go buy that too! Because they are classic and timeless games. Do I want to see a glut of 3D remakes, no I don't because I think it's bad for the industry as a whole. You can't keep remaking and doing HD collections, no one can because eventually people cotton on and say enough is enough.

Nintendo are on to a good thing with the 3DS. It's picking up it's steam now and the customer is saying at the moment, that's there preferred console. Things may change though. And I'll talk about Vita in another post soon. My fingers are tired.

[Xelios]

Majora's Mask 3D fuck yeah!

[F34R]

I mean the 3DS fails to deliever new games. It spits out tons of 3D and 2D remakes, but there are not many new games that are worth a damn.

Has there been a single new game on the Vita? Oh yeah, little deviants.

[The Black Wolf]

I mean the 3DS fails to deliever new games. It spits out tons of 3D and 2D remakes, but there are not many new games that are worth a damn.

That's just not true. I can name plenty of new games not only worth a darn, but are must buys.

Super Mario 3D Land
Super Martio Kart 7
Resident Evil Revelations
Kid Icarus Uprising

And there's more!

[Fenix]

For me, both systems are fails. i dont give a shit what the systems can do, I go where the games interest me and they currently aint there for either handheld so theres really no point. I can only name two, maybe three, Vita games and one, maybe two, 3Ds games that even interest me. Not enough to warrant a $280 or a $190 purchase.