So which console is best for you?
In this post I will be comparing the 3 main consoles of the current time: The Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.
So let's start with the Nintendo Wii:
Name: Nintendo Wii
Price: Around £180
Controller: Wii Remote and Nunchuck
The Nintendo Wii which was released in late 2006 was a huge hit. Selling millions of consoles in not so little time was an unexpected success for Nintendo. As it stands the Nintendo Wii is currently the highest selling console out of the three. I would recommend this console to a person is in to a wide range of games as the Wii has probably the largest selection of games out of the three. Although the Wii is aimed at children (as most games are aged 7+), this console can be fun for anyone, especially if your family enjoys gaming to. Even though most games are family/children games, there are many games for older gamers aswell. First person shooters and other genres are out there for the Wii aswell so this console can really be for all ages. Accessories can be bought aswell to improve your shooting experience. For example the Wii Zapper is a gun shaped container for your Wii Remote which also has a trigger. I can tell you from personal experience that this improves the game greatly as I have House of the Dead 2 and 3 on Wii and shooting down zombies with your Wii Zapper with your friends is great fun. Also if all this isn't enough and you still love the old GameCube classics you can in fact play GameCube games on your Wii as it is fully backwards compatible and has slots for your GameCube controllers. Also if you are in to your gaming but want to keep fit aswell there is an accessory for the Wii called Wii Fit. Wii Fit allows you to play games on the Wii while losing weight and keeping fit. There are a few games for Wii Fit, many of them being skiing/snowboarding but there are a couple of games on the actual Wii Fit disc. Despite all this, unfortunately there are a few bad things about this console. One of two biggest problems i have with the Wii is that it definitely isn't the best console for playing online. Despite having "apps" on the Wii homepage which you can download from the Wii Market, the online experience for Wii is nothing compared to the other two consoles. So, if you are an online gamer, this console isn't for you. The second big problem I have with the Wii is that games CANNOT be played in HD which is shame because the graphics are similar (maybe a bit better) than PS2 graphics. Other problems may be the fact that the controllers require batteries and don't last that long and that the controllers have been known to notoriously fly out of people's hands and break windows or TVs...
Name: Xbox 360
Price: Anywhere from around £120 to £200 (depending on the type you have e.g. Arcade, Premium, Elite, Super Elite)
Controller: Xbox 360 wired/wireless controller
The Xbox 360, released in 2005 is currently the second highest selling console of the three and has been highly praised for it's user friendly online experience. Despite the Wii being in the highest selling console of the three, there seems to be alot more controversy between the PS3 and Xbox 360. If you are mostly in to shooters this may be the console for you as the Xbox compared to the PS3 and Wii has a small range of games and exclusives. Probably one of the most popular exclusive shooters is the Halo 3 which has sold over $170 million worth of copies since it's release. Overall the Xbox is a good console, which is the perfect console for any hardcore gamer, having very good online services and generally rather good games. All games Xbox 360 games can be played in 720p and some original Xbox games can be. Yes original Xbox games. The Xbox 360 is also completely backwards compatible, allowing you to play your old Xbox games. Another good accessory for the Xbox 360 is the soon to be released Kinect. Previously named Natal, this new feature will revolutionise the way Xbox games are played by making you the control. Using a specialised camera, you become the control of the game you are playing; no handheld controller needed what so ever. Because of this, earlier this year a new Xbox (the Xbox 360 Super Elite) was released which was "Kinect Ready". This new console is slimmer, has a 250gb hard drive and is priced around £200. But, of course there are a few faults. First, Xbox Live (what you need to go online) is something you have to pay for. Because I don't own an Xbox I don't know the exact price but I think it's around £13/$20 for 3 months and £32/$50 for 12 months. As for 1 month and 6 months I'm not sure. Another fault is it's durability. The infamous RROD (Red Ring Of Death) occurs when the Xbox overheats and just breaks essentailly. This is what it looks like:
Yepp. If you get this son of a bitch you will need to send it off to be repaired. Infact the durability of the Xbox is so bad that upon release over 33% of consoles bought were sent back to manufactures to be repaired and most of these cases were because of the RROD. Other faults include the fact that the controllers need batteries that regularly need changing, the console sounds like a chainsaw, if you have the Arcade, Premium or Elite models a huge external power thingy (it's almost the size of the Xbox) will be part of the power cable AND if you want wireless on your Xbox (that isn't a Super Elite as this model has built in wireless) you will need to fork out £40 for a little attachment that gives you wireless. Also if you want a decent cooling fan that won't blow up your Xbox, you will need to also fork out another £25 for one. In my opinion this console is the least reliable and if you want to spend alot of extra money for online and accessories I suppose this console is alright. As far as gaming goes it's pretty good, especially if you're in to online shooters.
Name: Playstation 3
Price: £250 at the max (depending on how big the hard drive is e.g 120gb, 160gb, 250gb, 320gb)
Controller: Dualshock 3
The Playstation 3 in my opinion is the superior console of the three. Released in late 2006 the PS3 was a highly anticipated console until the Nintendo Wii was announced which took centre stage. When the PS3 was released many thought the price was way too high (I think it was around £300), but as time went on much more deals and accessories were sold with the PS3. On top of this the price was lowered I think to around £250. Now in 2010, the PS3 is starting to become more popular than the Xbox 360 as last year the Playstation 3 Slim was released which boosted sales alot. The new PS3 slim comes in 120gb, 160gb, 250gb and 320gb and is significantly smaller than the original PS3. Like the Xbox, the PS3 is a good console for hardcore gamers as it also offers a user friendly online experience and an online store. The PS3 also offers an online community called Home. In this virtual world, players can create their own avatars and space (usually an apartment) and roam around the world of Home. In the store you can buy many exclusive PS3 games and add on packs, PSOne classics and Minis. Like the other consoles, the PS3 is also backwards compatible with both PSOne and PS2 games. Unfortunately, the PS3 Slim isn't compatible with PS2 games (I think) and the original consoles aren't in production any more, although all PS3 models can play PSOne games. If you are in to any genre of game this console is for you as the PS3 has a wide range of games, many of whcih are exclusive. The games are put on to Blu-Ray discs which can hold 50gb of memory (unlike the DVD discs which the Xbox uses which can only hold 8.5gb). Obviously, because the games are put on to Blu-Ray discs, the PS3 is also a Blu-Ray player which can play any Blu-Ray movie out there. Another good thing about the PS3 is that you can browse the internet using the built in wireless (or wired if you choose). Alot of games can be played in HD 1080p although most games are played in 720p. An exciting new feature for the PS3 being released later this month is Playstation Move. Using the Playsation Eye camera, players can experience there gaming in a whole different way. Similar to the way the Wii Remotes work, Playstation Move uses extremely accurate movement sensors to track the player using the PS Eye camera. Many games will be released within a short time period of the release of Playstation Move as well as many updates for already released games that will make them Playstation Move compatible. The reliability of the PS3 is also very good. Where as the Xbox 360 fail rate upon release was 33%, the PS3's was only 0.5%. Other good points about the PS3 are that the controllers have built in rechargeable batteries and that online is 100% free. There aren't many bad things about the PS3 in all honesty. The PS3 is the most expensive of the three consoles and the Xbox's online services are better (so I've heard) but in my opinion every penny spent on this console is made up how much fun this thing is.
Well those were my reviews for the three consoles of this generation. I hope this is helped you decide which console is for you. If you have a PS3 and want to add me my PSN ID is yojkyo :) Keep checking for my future posts guys. See yaa
