Sony NGP (PSP2) Vs Nintendo 3DS: Which has better Graphics?

By: | February 9, 2011 | 47 Comments
Sony NGP (PSP2) Vs Nintendo 3DS: Which has better Graphics?

If you are planning to pick up either the Sony NGP or the Nintendo 3DS handheld, you are probably wondering which system has the best graphics. You may think that Sony is the easy winner here, but a video we’ve got to show you proves otherwise.

If you watched Sony unveil the NGP (Next Generation Portable), in Japan recently, you’ll know that the hardware specs are very impressive, and the initial lineup of games that were shown are very promising.

On the other side, Nintendo are raising a few eyebrows too, with the obvious step up in graphics quality compared to the now outdated Nintendo DS. The video below gives a demonstration of some of the graphics on offer for both systems, as well as giving side by side comparisons of some of the same titles on the 3DS and NGP, such as Metal Gear Solid.

It’s true that the NGP will be bringing portable versions of Killzone and Uncharted at some point, but we think the 3DS is equally as impressive with the likes of Super Street Fighter IV 3D almost on par with PS3 and Xbox 360 versions.

Which handheld do you think has the best graphics? Take a look at the video below courtesy of RealGamerNewz and let us know your choice. Are you going to buy both systems or just one?

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  • scott

    I think the NGP wins the graphics war, although it is really hard to tell since the NGP was just recently announced. we really didn't get to see much of the games. as far as i can tell the 3ds has graphics close to the original psp. with sharper colours and better anti aliasing, so i guess it more or less looks like top self ps2 games. in the uncharted and "demo" it looked about like the ps3 version of the game, it wasn't really on par though. same with Killzone and Resistance. they looked great but wasn't as good as their ps3 counterparts. as the consoles ages devs. will learn what it can do and can't do. we have seen this with the DS, WII, 360, and PSP, and PS3.

  • http://none andrew hoffman

    Bought both the last time round and the Nintendo is the only one I still use.Sony has a real crap range of games-only ever bought 2 games and they were crap so the stupid thing just sits there.I really like Mario Kart and it still works just as well as the day I bought it.Sony doesn’t haVe any decent arcade air war games so it just sits there in a permanent state of hibernation-great graphics are useless if there aren’t any decent games.That really made me angry Sony.

    • Lunias

      There are plenty of great games for the PSP. If you only ever bought two PSP games and didn't like them, that's no precedent to say they are all "crap". If you don't know of any decent PSP games, that's your fault, not Sony's.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Anne-Hernandez/100001938680563 Anne Hernandez

    3DS graphics processing power is no slouch, but experiencing graphics on the NGP will be better even if the 3DS has the 3D effect. Why? OLED! It is amazing compared to most LCD screens. Plus, NGP offers the bigger screen, better viewing angles, and higher resolution. I expect Sony to draw most of the third party support that won't just offer the cartoony graphics we find in most Nintendo systems. I am not just into playing games or watching 3D movies in a 3.5 inch screen. Most iPhone owners are asking for a minimum of 4 inch screens on the next model. OLED + higher resolution + 5 inch screen = WIN to me.

    • Lunias

      Ummmm… Just so you know, the 3DS has OLED too.

    • Danny

      What does OLED have to do with the graphics processing power?

  • http://www.facebook.com/kenneth.mcmorran Kenneth McMorran

    @Hoffman

    There is a difference between a platform not having ANY decent games and a platform not having the games YOU like, you gave an example of one game genre 'arcade air war game'…in your onslaught against the sony software lineup.

    Both platforms had great games and will have great games in the future, it is all a matter of preference. Try not to make sweeping generlisations next time >.>

  • Demure

    this is a joke! for one….who the ef wants to walk around holding a weird awkward device with two different sized screens, a sylus in one hand and only one analog stick? two…there is a clear difference in the quality of graphics (maybe not in this shitty video). the ngp can play ps3 games from the get go, and the 3ds looks like its capable of later ps2 early xbox graphics. im getting the ngp

  • anthony madden

    i dont know who is gonna win

  • Akira

    Are you kidding? Its kind of obvious, just by looking at the video… The PSP2/NGP is at least 3-4 times better for graphics… and if there are any DS fanboys out there, saying that sony copied the touch-screen, well screw them! Sony have a better touch-screen than Nintendo's and also for some total originality: a touchpad on the back!

    The 3DS is only really good for one thing: playing very cartoony style games, and pokemon! The PSP2 on the other hand is for Hardcore gamers as well as those android-loving people (playstation suite), offering the best of both worlds…

    Despite the fact that i'll be buying both, once the PSP2/NGP comes out, then my 3DS can hide its face in the corner… i'll be playing Sony's hardcore bad-ass instead!

    • SimmerE14

      No, not all games on the 3Ds are cartoony.
      Have you seen the Resident Evil gameplay for the system?
      Those graphics are AMAZING.
      THey look just like PSP2/PS2/Xbox graphics!

    • eldouchy

      are you a massive bell-end? have you seen resident evil on the 3ds?how is it cartoony?it looks the same as any 360 or ps3 version

    • Tattletale1

      3DS would be horrible for Pokemon, unless it's a downloadable $1-$5 title,
      There are only 2 games announced that use Miis, & on one it's only in Multiplayer modes, the Majority of the games are from non-nitendo companies: Konami- MGS4, Capcom- Marvel Vs. Capcom/Resident Evil/Street Fighter, Sega- Iron Man 2 & Marvel Ultimate Aliance, among others, Mario Kart 3D has graphis simmilar to Xbox 360 exclusive "cartoony" games, especially in the background, and more than half of the game developers are not putting out "Cartoony games" during the first 2 months of release, and It's Netflix compatable, and will connect to any unlocked Wi-Fi signal automatically, around 40-80 ft. from the source, in addition to advanced security Wi-Fi settings as well.

      • Kurt

        3-4 times better? What does that number even mean? lol And plus, I'll play my ps3 games on my ps3

  • http://twitter.com/pinnaps @pinnaps

    Note: Both the 3DS and NGP are great in their own ways, it all comes down to personal preference. This response to the argument is strictly from a technical point of view

    Tech wise The NGP Graphics capabilities are whole league ahead of it

    For starters they use completely different CPU/GPU architectures: The NGP uses a Quad Cortex A9 and SGX543MP4 (note: 543 not 535). The 3D uses a 200Mhz Pica 200 underclocked to 160Mhz with a rumored dual ARM11 266Mhz CPU.

    The SGX535 inside the iPhone is technically more capable than the Pica 200 on the 3DS, which decision was revealed recently it was to reduce power consumption since the 3D back-light consumes quite a lot of power. So Nintendo opted to use a fixed shadder based system which deliver comparable results at lower clock speeds.

    The SGX535 (inside the iPhone 4) is more capable than the Pica 200. It tops or at the very least matches the performance of the Custom Pica 200 inside the 3DS.

    A single SGX543 is more than 4x more powerful than the SGX535 (which tops the Pica 200). Its a quantum leap ahead of it

    Hecks why go that far? the SGX540 (inside the Galaxy s) destroys the Pica 200 in performance clocks per clocks

    Its pretty much given the SGX543MP4 on the NGP would be clocked at the very least at 200Mhz, at 400Mhz more likely considering the Astonishing demos shown running on it which look on par with PS3 of course on a smaller res. 400MHz is not far fetched at all

  • http://twitter.com/pinnaps @pinnaps

    Continuation:
    A single SGX543 core would be anywhere from 4 to 8 times more powerful than the Pica 200 in the 3DS.

    Let alone the actual Quad core version used on the NGP, which is anywhere from 16x to 32x times more powerful than the Pica 200 used on the 3DS

    Also if the rumored ARM11 CPUs is true expect a major bottleneck, The 160MHz speed for the GPU makes sense now since anymore wouldn't be taken advantage off

    A Cortex A8 is a MAJOR improvement over the ARM11 in performance/efficiency let alone the Cortex A9. Comparing the ARM11 to a Cortex A9 is like comparing a Pentium 4 to an i7.

    Don't get me wrong, im sure the 3Ds would be able to push pretty impressive graphics for a handheld but make no mistake is in no way near in the same league as the NGP

    Hardware wise the difference is huge where the 3Ds would represent an original xbox (which is being generous) and the NGP would a 360/PS3. Perfect example of it would be the demos shown (Metal Gear 4, Lost Planet, Uncharted etc) which are on the same league as 360/PS3 while the Snake eater on the 3Ds would more in line with PS2/Original xBox which is pretty good

  • http://twitter.com/pinnaps @pinnaps

    And i can understand how can you compare impressive MGS4 with a PS2 looking game with slight bump mapping and textures. Its nowhere the same league we are talking about here

  • Haris

    3DS cant have better graphics cause 1) the games are on 240p instead of 544p we are speaking for 300p graphic quality deference ffs
    2) The best graphics that 3DS can have is those of PSP and PS2 nothing more :S cause it have only 64MB Ram and 266|MHz CPU instead of 1GB Ram(rumored) and 4 core CPU on 3,2GHz(the GHz is Rumored) of NGP its obvious that 3DS can't have the same graphic quality as NGP, that's a fairy tale for Nintendo fan boys. 3DS is good only for Arcade games not even a single one hard -core game. And the only reason that sells more that PSP is because there are a lot of Pokemon, mario and other stupid fan gamers out there that buy it only for those games :S. I personally prefer to give some more money to buy a portable Console that i can use it and as table PC not only to play games on 3D. lol

    • Daniel

      I think fanboys are people who don't want to buy both consoles and that's why they bash one console and prefer the other. Yeah, I'm sure the PSP NGP is going to have great graphics (better than the 3DS), but the 3DS will also have good graphics for a handheld and as an improvement over the previous generation and it's going to have its own good lot of games. I would get both.

  • Pei Hoon

    This article is written to create controversy. Fanboy aside, even a dim wit will realize the sheer graphic power of the NGP over 3DS.

  • exxbot

    Street Fighter IV 3D, as a prime example of graphics for 3DS Mr. Alan Ng? Are you serious? Do you know how 3D fighting games are made? They are the most graphics & polygon count efficient games as they are the least data unlike multi level games like Uncharted.

  • jACK

    NGP has better graphics.
    im getting a 3DS though because the games aren't shit

    OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

  • fishyowns

    Definetly the Ngp for me!
    I'm pretty sure the Ngp has better graphics.

  • 3DS

    It's all good about the power, one thing you seem to forget psp2 is only displaying in on a 5 inch screen. Unlike the PS3 via 50 inch. All that power goes to waste, heck some 3DS games don't seem too far away to what the NGP can do. It's a portable so you really aren't gonna see the best from a 5 inch viewing. You can bash all you want, 3DS graphics aren't looking bad either.

    To sum it up, yes NGP is powerful but goes to waste on a 5inch dsiplay. Something less powerful can come close to display what the NGP can do. It's a only a slight graphics difference between these handhelds.

    • Lunias

      Okay, valid point. However, the same can be said about the 3DS's graphics, and even its 3D capabilities. The PS3 has better graphics than the 3DS, of course, and it also has 3D on some games, and its screen is obviously bigger. Do you know the PS3 price? It's $300, and it's getting a price cut soon. Don't be surprised if the PS3 costs less than the 3DS; so does the Wii.

  • Nevil

    On PSP Vs DS , PSP Had better graphic great multimedia system and so better display monitor and DS had noting but tuch screen and buttry life time (You can change the battry to 4400mah and win this one too)
    AND NOW
    NGP have DEFENETLY GREATER Graphic , Greater tuch system and some more controle stuff ,and mor powerfull DISPLAY ,and this time 3DS have nothing but 3D Tecnology…..
    oOPS 3D display is not a new tecnology, its for mor than 40 years old tecnology and unsucsesfull one ,whay ? coz you can`t play mor time whit 3D pictures you will had hard headage whit that this is whay sony did not used this junk system (NGP`s Hardware allready have this ability).
    and if you want by one console and play games of both console By a NGP and download the emulator of 3DS for it LOL.

    • Tom

      Fanboy!!!!

      • Daniel

        Obviously. This person can't even spell. LOL

  • Joseph

    I think its funny all the people shit talking the 3DS Dispite the DS before it raping the psp's ass 3:1. On top of that nobody here is taking into account how amazing xbox level graphics may be in 3d (which has been cited to be powerful.) I have yet to see the 3DS and its full 3d capibility, but it seems like Nintendo shows a lot of practicle wisdom in not trying to outdue their competitors graphic wise only. Instead they are doing things that may make games much more fun in general for a wider varity of people.

    • Lunias

      The article isn't about which is better, but rather which has better graphics. We're not talking s*** about the DS system as a whole, only it's graphics. Don't make this more than it is.

  • Joseph

    Nearly every comment before mine jumps instantly at the prospect of ps3 graphics on a handheld; yet noone has ever stopped to consider how much such a contraption will cost, and I sincerely bet with ps3 level graphs, its screens a BUILT in GPS, and many other things that I probably wouldnt need for my gaming system; are going to rack the price up astranomically. a GPS alone is what 60 to 100 bux, a four core processor for ur comp 100 bux plus, Ps3 alone now a days is 300… its starting to make the 250.00 price tag of the 3ds with its better than wii graphics, and pioneering 3d capibilities, a much more enticing buy. personally I am leaning towards the 3DS because of the potental I see IN the system, not what graphics it has.

    • Lunias

      And, while I agree that people do jump at the PS3 graphics on a handheld deal, you don't see the deal yourself with the 3DS. The 3DS costs $250; while that's not new for the PSP systems, the DS consoles have rarely been over $200. If the system costs $100 more now than it did when the original released, not as many people want it. That's called the "price barrier"; the barrier exists, and for DS systems, it's about $250. I can't really explain why, but the 3DS is less attractive with that price tag, for no specific reason. The PSP2 will also suffer from this if it's $350 for the no-3G version.

  • 3ds101

    i now that the 3ds will get people to buy it i am getting one day one so i dont one a ngp the name sucks i have a ps3 so do i need one no i will be good with the 3ds will have 3d movies in high reslution so i now its no peace of crap ok i will be fine with it

    • Biased Gamer

      The 3ds's screen is definitely not "high resolution". I have played on my friends for about 2 hours and once you turn on that 3d slider the pixels get so big that it looks rather nasty. I am bugged my my 3g ipod touches screen and the 3ds has a pixel density 30ppi lower. Are you kidding me with this "high Resolution"!

  • opinionated gamer

    i dont understand how graphics= level of hardcore. just because it has good graphics doesnt mean its superior to the 3ds. the ds was just as "core" as the psp. more gamers owned it and it had the same number, if not more quality games, that appeals to the core gamer, especially rpg and platformers. the psp did however offer superior shooters i assume. the min difference tho, is that nintendo appealed to the majority of gamers, we all hate to admit it, but the majority of gamers, are casual player. we're just the minority. so the psp, just like the ngp will have a better quality to casual ratio, BUT, the number of excellent games will go to the 3ds, which will be cheaper, and probably sell more. I hope i dont sound like a nintendo fanboy, i have a psp, and i love it, ad i plan on getting a ngp (when the price goes down), but i just feel that the 3ds will do better. but on graphics, i think the ngp has the better graphics, but im not sure by how much yet. i know its more than a little, but i guess we just have to wait until each potential is pushed by developers to see the true difference.

    • Lunias

      The graphics level doesn't = the level of gameplay. "Hardcore" games, though, aren't attributed to Nintendo's systems. Why? Because they aren't. "Hardcore" games are games you can sit down and play for hours, and not get bored; and since the DS mostly uses pick-up-and-play games, you don't want to sit down and play them for hours on end. It gets repetitive. While I'm not saying the DS is worse, it's just not something I'd want to play for longer periods of time.

  • gamer_boy

    nah, i think it would be same as PSP vs NDS.
    it's not about the console (like the graphics, features,etc)
    but, it's just about YOU.
    WHICH DO YOU LIKE THE BEST?
    each console has its own advantages.
    so, it will be your choice!

  • Rica_Hayato

    THE TOPIC IS " WHICH HAS BETTER GRAPHICS?" NOT WHICH DO YOU LIKE THE BEST/ WHICH HAs THE BEST GAMES ETC. CRAP.. Go post somewhere else and post your own topic.

    Which has better graphics? NGP will annihilate 3ds in this department. SSFIV3d? are you even serious? it doesn't even have a moving background! HOw can you compare that to console version? Yes it's 3d but still the limitations is up there.

    In terms of games I bet NGP won't be beaten badly like PSP vs DS this time. Why? DUAL ANALOG STICK! The real limitation of the old PSP that's why cool game like katamari, fight night, etc. sucks in their psp version because of the lack of extra analog hence most psp games sucks because of the controls.

    I

  • Tom

    From what i can tell they just gave the psp a better field of depth and made the texture better by about 5% giving the illusion of better graphics and just slapped a new name and a new price on it, if you expanded it on a full size screen you can see how the graphics really differ. To be honest I think the 3DS has the upper hand here since the graphics are a huge leap compared to the Tiny cobblestone staircase the NGP has climbed (YES IT WAS A MINECRAFT REFERENCE!!!!)

    • Lunias

      So, you're saying that a system with supposedly worse graphics than the PS2 can make a 5% increase in graphics and be PS3-level. BS. It's obvious that the PS3 was a huge leap graphics-wise from the PS2, and the PSP has worse graphics than the PS2 (or so they say). So, when comparing a less-than PS2 system to a barely less-than PS3 system, the leap is huge. While the 3DS graphics have made a big leap this time, it's not as big as the PSP2's leap.

  • Tom

    And what is also funny is that people are still commenting about how much better the ps3 is than the xbox. Wrong they have crap networks that don't work, the power of it is misused where as the xbox 360 is easier to take advantage of and the xbox is in almost everyones price range. I am not a fan boy but i am still yet to see the potential in the playstation and i grew up with it, hating the xbox. This is not the Ps3 vs Xbox war. Its the Ngp vs 3DS
    And i will always go with the 3ds due to the great Titles, I bought the psp only this year and love it soo much but the titles are rubbish, i only bought it for kingdom hearts, Gran turismo, Monster Hunter and Final fantasy

  • Lunias

    Valkyria Chronicles 2, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker and Portable Ops, SOCOM (any), Burnout, Disgaea, Persona 3 Portable, Jean D'Arc. All these are games NOT included in any franchises you listed that are great. I don't see why people don't take the time to find good games. If you don't look around the internet and commercials, then you won't find the best games. If you only bought the PSP for games you know of, don't make a generalization about games you don't even know.

  • the war ends here

    HEY PEEPS WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO THE NETWORK CONNECTIONS BETWEEN THE 3DS AND THE PSP 2? what the psp 2 doesnt have is how many ways you can communicate each other. one feature is the video chat or even streetpass! you guys dont realize that the 3ds goes a longer way then the psp 2 is what i think.

  • lololol

    even if i have to eat can food for a month im getting a ngp :) … btw that video sucked… looks like the ngp video was either filmed with a cellphone or the video was stretched lol. pokemon was the only game the made the ds. now that i use emulaters to play pokemon i dont need a ds :]. so yeah… lemmie guess the price. $300 for the psp for like 8 months. then bam $250! lawl

  • roy

    I used to be a huge nintendo fanboy until the sony ngp came out…
    and now…
    the 3ds sucks!!!!!!!!!!!! :D

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Dieguito-Avila-Ariza/1154243289 Dieguito Avila Ariza

      cuando salioooooo que yo sepa sale al mercado en diciembre en japon enero america maldito fan boy de sony  comprala cuando salga = te dura la carga 2 horas ke creer que la cpu gpu y ram se alimentan solas !!!!!!!!!!!

  • uv

    you are cheating!!!
    you are comparing the best looking games of the ps vita with the worse looking games of the 3ds
    the 3ds is much more capable than the ps vita!!!