The future of consol gaming

Wii FTW. With all the console systems out there, there has to be something to set a system apart. Nintendo found the hook. I will be getting a Wii as soon as they are readily in stock. It's an awesome party machine that will keep a lot of people occupied. The PS3 and XBOX360 are just upgraded pieces of hardware compared to their predecessors. My computer is still the weapon of choice for gaming

 

For me, it all comes down to titles. When there is a title out that is so good it makes it worth buying the console, then I buy it. That never happened with XBOX, and X360 hasn't happened yet.

For PS2, it was Gran Turismo, Grand Theft Auto 3, Katamari Damacy, Dance Dance Revolution Max 2, Silent Hill 2, and more.

For N64, Super Mario 64, Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Zelda: Majora's Mask

For Dreamcast: Shenmue

For Gamecube: Mario Kart Double Dash, Zelda: Wind Waker and Twilight Princess

Xbox? Nothing. Halo? I played enough Quake II and Quake III Arena that Halo sucks in comparison. Halo 2? Please.

Xbox 360? Gears of War? Not worth the $450 to layout for deck + game.

And the killer title for Wii? I kid you not: Tennis. Not an Epic, not a war simulator, not mind blowing, just:

Tennis. And it's AWESOME. It is nothing short of unbelievable. I play it and play it and play it some more. It's worth the $250. I got a Wii two days after launch by harrasing the Costco manager into letting me buy one off the truck after they closed. Zelda: Twilight Princess is cool for the Wii, but I went and bought the GameCube version because I don't have a widescreen TV and preferred having complete control over the camera.

PS3? I bought two at launch and saved them for some Christmas profit, only I had to return them when it turns out everyone else did too... The PS3 does not have a single killer title, though. Maybe Resistance:Fall of Man, but it's not fabulous.

If you are buying a Blu-Ray player anyway, get a PS3. Otherwise, get a PS2, a crapload of used games for $10-15 bucks, and component cable. Gran Turismo 4 will do 1080i output in widescreen. Madden and others support widescreen as well (on PS2).

Get a Wii if you can find one, it is too cool. You will rave about tennis.

Nate

 

nater: Good summary!

For me the XBOX360 was worth the price of admission as I'm running WINDOWS MEDIA CENTER instead of TIVO. I think Micosoft did a smart move including the extender SW in the xbox360. This let's me limit the boxes under my TV to only the XBOX which is cool. I'm hoping they solve the HD recording legal issues soon.

Gear of war is probably the best shooter I have played along with half-life2 (and 1).

I don't see a reason to buy a PS3 as few people seem that interested in the HDDVD vs. BLURAY war.

Nintendo's strategy is working well, but I would be a little nervous for it's longevity if TENNIS is the claim to fame. I think the controller works great for these types of games but longevity will be limited. Time will tell. As other have pointed out it's a great party machine for when you have friends/family over. It's social interaction at a cheap price point. The xbox360 is probably the best online experience (not as much fun) but the PS3 is closing in.

I agree that the PC is the best machine if you're willing to pay the price for admission. I was looking at another $2000 to improve my old rig and it was just too much for me now. I'm not playing as much any more.

 

we got a wii for christmas (my dad is awesome!)

so far i have spent 99% of my time on it playing through the new legend of zelda (yes, call me a geek)... the game itself becomes entirely different than all the older ones just using the new controller. and after i don't even know how many hours, no, i'm not bored with the novelty.

the sports games become infinitely more cool, and it gets your nice person off the couch too.

they also have internet connectivity built in, not that we've had a chance to play around with that yet. i hear you can download and play a whole library of older games for older nintendo consoles. plus it's back-compatible with the gamecube games.

the price, definitely a good point as well. they undercut everyone by quite a bit.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(galaxee @ Jan 30 2007, 10:51 AM) [snapback]382792[/snapback]</div>

GEEK!!! Actually I bought one for my wife so she could play Zelda... We're all geeks!

Anyway, below are a couple of pics to inspire a bit of envy in everyone.

Now, having played all three consoles, I say that each is good. I will not say one is better than another simply because each is different enough and has different games.

The Wii is a lot of fun. The controller is phenomenal for one simple reason, IT WORKS. My 3 1/2 year old son loves to play Wii sports because the interface is so simple and intuitive. For games like Zelda, it is really fun to play with this controller. It is much better than the PS3's motion sensing abilities, but that could be because it was added a bit late in the plan for that console. Finally, it is backwards compatible with the Gamecube (I have a bunch), and you can download older games from the Wii store (done that already). It all works and is very easy to use. The new weather and news features are great; the globe view is especially cool. Overall the Wii is fantastic.

The PS3. The graphics are stupendous. If you have an HD set, it will impress you. If you have a set cpable of 1080p, and a game that supports it, get ready to cry, because it truly is beautiful. I have NBA 07, and the detail is amazing. This is one game where the motion capability is creatively used. If you twist left or right, or move it left or right, you will spin or juke in that direction. Very nifty. Plus soon you will be able to run Folding@Home on the PS3, so you can even help cure disease! The PS3 is great, but I don't think there are really any games which really show off what it can do.

Right now the biggest limiting factor for both the Wii and PS3 is game selection. The games for both consoles are very limited, and most downright suck. There are a few standouts though. Zelda for the Wii, and Resistance: Fall of Man for the PS3. Both great games.

So are these the future? Is the 360 old news now? I don't think so. It's all about the games. All I have to say is that Gears of War is a freaking amazing game. The gameplay is simply the best yet, and it doesn't lack anything from not having any sort of motion capability. Would it be better? Can't say. I love the game just as it is.

Finally, the PS3 and Xbox 360 (with the HD-DVD add-on) will play the next generation of high definintion DVD's. Both do a spectacular job. Don't believe people that say the Xbox is limited because it uses component outputs. It looks phenomenal. Those who say that the quality sucks is likely just a Sony fanboy. Having seen both I can honestly say that both look great. I cannot make a direct comparison between the two, as I see no need to buy the same movie for each setup in order to do so. If someone wants to supply me with two copies of a movie, one in each format, then I'll write a nice review piece. And then I'll keep the movies.

Anyway, as to which is best, my answer is buy all three.


Oh, and as for the last picture... Guitar Hero rocks hardcore!

 

Argh,

You have out geeked me by a mile! One of each huh? and all the accessories (it seems like).
Wish I had the time to enjoy such a set-up. Right now I don't play enough to justify the expense and I need a HD TV first!

I agree gears of war is great. I don't even miss the mouse and keyboard PC set-up. It's a game that uses the controller really well.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(DocVijay @ Jan 30 2007, 03:58 PM) [snapback]382974[/snapback]</div>

 

guitar hero just proves my point even more.

Don't buy a PS3, buy Guitar Hero! And Guitar Hero II!

I seriously can afford the 360, the PS3, the HDTV, etc, I just refuse to until "the killer app" comes along. (A price cut would be nice, too).

(I'm playing Twilight Princess on GameCube right now, and played Super Mario 64 earlier today).

Yes, Tennis is the killer app for the Wii. (I almost forgot about bowling). And for you golf freaks out there, the golf is pretty cool too.

But the tennis. Man, I don't even play tennis in real life, but Wii Tennis is just so good!

Nate

 

Some of the posts are exactly what I was referring to. The Wii is great because of two qualities: it is SIMPLE and it is FUN.

I love Wii Sports. There is a new golf game for the Wii that I will probably get, just because it expands on the already fun golf that came with it.

Like I said, my 3 1/2 year old son was able to play the games after only being shown how once. The simplicity of the console is its strongest point.

At first I thought the games might be too simple, but I ended up having too much fun to notice. A friend of mine was just complaining to me today that he got "Wii elbow" from playing tennis too long this weekend!

Nintendo said, in the months leading up to the release, that they were producing a console for everyone else. The PS3 and Xbox 360 are for the extreme gamers (for the most part). They were not targeting the Wii for that group. They would likely buy it anyway, so they did not need to incorporate features exclusively for them. What they wanted was a console that EVERYONE could play. I think they have succeeded spectacularly. I had great doubts as to how the controller would work, but it too works beautifully.

Nintendo has a success on its hands for sure.

That said, the 360 is still the dominant force among the "next gen" consoles. The PS3 simply hasn't gotten near it's full potential yet. Will it be GT HD? Don't know. I downloaded the free demo, and can honestly say it's the best LOOKING racing game I've ever seen. And I've seen screen shots for the upcoming F1 game which look equally mindblowing. But are any of them the definitive PS3 game? I really think that this can't be decided until after.

Also, herein lies the difference between the Wii and the PS3. A game like Gran Turismo HD is for hardcore racing buffs. The complexity, attention to detail, and realism is a BIG turn-off to many casual gamers. I know that even I got annoyed at all the stupid licenses you had to earn to participate in the higher races. Some were really hard to get, and some were downright impossible unless you had a wheel/pedal setup. THe Wii is much different. It is accessible to pretty much everyone.

I would have said that game X was the "killer app" for the 360 a year ago. Then 6 months ago it changed to game Y. Now it's game Z. In another 6 months it will likely be game A, and so on.

Personally, I think that if you aren't buying a console until that "killer app" is released, you are missing out on a whole bunch of fun games that are already out. Sure there are very few games for the PS3 and Wii right now, but I'm enjoying both consoles a whole bunch RIGHT NOW. Are the games utterly phenomenal? Not by a long shot (well actually Resistance:Fall of Man is pretty kick-nice person). And when that "killer app" does come out, I'll get that too.

Anyway, I really don't think I'm making much of a point... really just rambling. It really doesn't matter if you buy a console or not. Wait, don't wait. In the end it doesn't really matter. Except that I have one and you don't.