I absolutely loved Xenon 2 - it is one of those games where the graphics are so good that you want to keep playing the game just to see what comes next. Playing it on CaSTaway on my PSP reminded me that it still looks awesome, like Gods. The latter game was slightly better because the difficulty was just right - for me anyway, because I finished it, unlike Xenon 2 which I couldn't manage. Blood Money is also a lovely game to look at (and great 2 player fun), sadly enough it seems that the game has been lost - my discs no longer worked last time I checked (long time ago, still remember buying the original in Paris) and on the net only the demo can be found it seems.
Anyway, it's going to be interesting to see how the Lite will hold up. I have a feeling that a recent review of Nintendogs: Dalmatians on Eurogamer, with a reevaluation of the Nintendogs franchise, is somehow an apt description of the device itself. For me, the Gameboy never managed to thrill me. I'm an avid gamer, and I had the experience that some had in the early days of the PSP - the games on the Gameboy were basically the games I had played to death on machines like the Atari 800XL, and had a lot of trouble to even match the Atari ST games (and later Amiga) I played to death. The GB, GBA, SP, they really never had anything to offer me.
The DS is saved to some extent by its stylus, but other than that it feels like the games on it are really reliving the SNES days, just with a new controller. With the PSP I am partly worried that the same will happen closer to home, but partly I don't mind, because a lot of the games that are good on the current gen and a lot of its potential makes it to the PSP, and contrary to some, I'm perfectly happy with that - the games offer a lot of depth and fun. A game like Burnout Legends, which I'm not ready to play anymore on the PS2, is more than good enough for me on the PSP, on the go or against friends. And for 20 euros, not bad. Daxter is an awesome little game as well, and Loco Roco really stole my heart (and nearly everyone else's that's played the downloadable demo, I think). The system's got loads of potential and it's just warming up. The list of good games is growing very steadily, average scores have already overtaken the DS since late last year, and there are some awesome titles on the horizon - at least, for me (even those horrible 'ports' like MGS or Tekken, man, I'd get a PSP for Tekken alone).
I don't see the same kind of future for the DS Lite, but I could be wrong. I really don't feel it's getting all that many good games though. Initially, I didn't think this was a big problem, as I expected the system not to compete with the PSP, placing itself in a lower segment of the market, like the Wii. But the DS Lite is only 40 euros less expensive than the PSP, with the latter having a great number of additional features too that are really good (it's AVC playback and Browser are really rather good, I especially use the latter a lot, though even an UMD disc like Final Fantasy VII gets a lot of playtime).
But the previous generation of handheld gaming created its own market, and therefore the current generation of gamers are prepped for the kind of jump that the DS provides. The stylus has added to expand the market to non-gamers, and the PSP has expanded the handheld market to a different kind of adult gamer.
The current handheld market has plenty of room for two handhelds (or even three, looking at the GBA sales), so there's really no problem. I similarly expect the three next-gen consoles to do fine, and even the PC market may crawl back up. The games industry keeps growing and growing, and diversifying in the process, reaching an ever expanding market.
I'm still looking forward to seeing a title that makes me want the DS Lite though. But even if that never happens, it's no problem, as for every gamer like me there are probably two people who will drool over Zelda on the DS Lite.
How did that turn into compare it to the PSP thread? IMHO, we've had enough of them already.
