Looking For A Gaming Console, What should I buy ? Options

[Chero]

Hi,

I'm not much of a gamer and thus I lnow nothing about it.
Now my kids want a gaming console and are asking me for advice cause "I work with computers" (doesn't everybody nowadays ?) and because I have a Zaurus (OK, not everybody has one).

Now, from what I found on the www, I could go for (ps1), ps2, xbox, wii, ... but then they are tied to the tele.
I more like Nintendo DS, PSP, ??? (any other choices ?) cause that way they can also use it in the car or while someone else is watching tele.

I keep on asking google some questions and it gives me loads and loads of pages, but what are the pros and cons of these consoles ?
I already found that Nintendo DS plays GBA-roms. Does PSP do this as well ?
PSP's screen has a higher res, Nintendo's screen seems to be better protected (clamshell).

How about the games and their prices ? From what I see the same games seem to be cheaper for Nintendo DS. Why's that ?

Can a PSP play PS1, PS2, PS3 games ? My three brothers own PS1, PS2 and PS3 so it would be nice to play their games ...

From what I know now, balance is going towards Nintendo DS.
Please comment or answer my questions,

From a complete gaming-noob in search for a gaming device,
Chero.

[Capn_Fish]

Personally I like the NDS better than PSP. There are some really nice and cute and more "educational" games (especially the "brain" games) for the kids.

To me the PSP has an edge over display and sound effects, but I am not of the "I see. I chop. I kill" type, and I guess your kids aren't either.

Off topic: I am a kinda old-fashioned gamer. On the Z I'm used to playing the roguelikes a lot and now Ur-Quan Masters. On desktops the Heroes of Might and Magic series is my all-time favorite.

I liked Heroes of Might and Magic III, but hated IV & V. They were too graphical, which I felt took a ton away from the game.

get them an old amiga. seriously. get hold of some programming tools - BASIC, C, Pascal or something, and get them to write some code. Try and ensure they learn as much about how computers work as playing with them.

That's a great idea! A GP2X covers that too, I think, with SDL programming (easy to learn, SDL is).