PS3 vs 360 vs Wii

[EWRFan]

First of all, I want this to be an organized discussion topic. Most of the people here I like and I know and respect their opinions. I just dont want this topic to be littered with fan boy replies like "Wii because it is Nintendo OMG it pwns the PS3 and all others!". So just tell me what and why. I might use some of the replies here to make a column for 411mania.com's games section, so please, be objective. Help me find out the pros and cons, the general opinion from the common guy.

I for once, was amazed by the PS3. It is even more powerful than my PC and that is saying something since my PC is barely six months old and it was a top of the line gaming PC back when I bought it. However, in line of all the issues that have surfaced with it (Blu Ray dying unexpectedly, cell proccessors getting burned) I dont know anymore. We have a $600 machine here, which is very expensive, that seems to have a ton of issues with it's hardware. Plus, usually the most advanced console looses the war. The Master System was more advanced than the NES, The Genesis had all the cool gizmos(Sega CD, 32X etc), the N64 had the better performance, so did the Dreamcast, so did the Xbox and so on. Will history repeat itself?

The 360 is very good. I have played at a cousin's house and I enjoy it a lot. But my problem with it is having to pay to play online. I have a fairly stable job, and even that way I cannot afford Xbox live. Imagine what it is like for teenagers without a job or rich parents? Plus, I am a big fan of RPG's and the Xbox seems to be short on this. That and the problems with backward compatibility. Believe me, being able to play old games is very important to me.It gives me the opportunity to play some good games at a cheap price.

The Wii is possibly what I will get first. Cheap price, game bundled in, at least three games I want at launch, I can play Gamecube games(cheap nowdays and my cousin has a lot of them for me to borrow) and the Virtual Console sound awesome. Unless they decide to charge for online play, I will get it at launch. However, I am a bit skeptical about the new control system, specially if all developers start to sacrifice gameplay depth for using the weird controller.

So what do you think? What worries you or what do you like about the system? You reply might end up as part of my article.

[Benji]

The second someone descends into fanboyism I'm closing or warning in this, so keep it friendly, factual, and respect peoples personal opinions. 'Cause that is what this is about.

Edited September 24, 2006 by Benjishambles

[Dan]

I've got a question.

My mate said that the Ps3 will have a virtual console.

Is this correct?

[EWRFan]

As far as I know...no. Virtual Console is for the Wii, but the PS3 can play PS1 and PS2 games.

[Buford Ripley]

As far as I know...no. Virtual Console is for the Wii, but the PS3 can play PS1 and PS2 games.

[K]

Its the thing that lets you download old games.

[GoGo Yubari]

I've got a question.

My mate said that the Ps3 will have a virtual console.

Is this correct?

I think there might be some speculation that the PS3 will let you play Genesis games or something like that using a Virtual Console system, I remember hearing that somewhere.

[stokeriño]

My opinion of the PS3 is that I will probably buy it...maybe a year or eighteen months after it comes out. There are just some unmissable games for me that will inevitably draw me in. However I say this more from a sense of "I can see myself falling for that" than "I am literally counting the seconds until they come out", because to be frank the flaws that litter the PS3 just seem to mount day after day, and I lost all possible excitement that I had for the machine (having only owned Sony consoles during the last two generations) long ago. I'm never one to leap on the day of release as it is, but I also have to think that that far down the line the price will have dropped to something semi reasonable and perhaps some of the bugs in the release models will have been sorted out. Possibly. Maybe. Or not.

The Nintendo Wii is a concern for me. I feel that I am being drawn towards it simply because of why I dislike the others, rather than anything that I want about it itself. Okay, so it's cheap. But as I said, that isn't so much to say "wow I want that because it's cheap" but rather "ugh I don't want the other two because they'll cost me an arm and a leg". The fancy controller worries me as well. I'm always very dubious of so-called 'innovations' that seem to me more gimmick than substance, and this controllers is such a thing. Plus the type of games in which it'd be most beneficial for its waving around and such are probably not the sort of games I'm most likely to be playing.

That's another thing: the games. I have a sort of informal rule that I will never even CONSIDER a games console purchase unless I can, quickly and easily, roll off at least three of its titles that I'd really like to own. And when I say three, I'd really feel much safer on the other side of five. With the Wii, I can only come up with one...the new Super Smash Bros. And yet, even with this taken into account, I still find myself looking at the Wii as the best option...for all the wrong reasons.

I have a prejudice against Microsoft. There, I said it. Ask me what Microsoft has made in the gaming sector that was A Good Thing and I will say "Age of Empires" and leave it at that. I was never able to play an original X-Box for more than twenty minutes at a time because it annoyed me so (the controller had a lot to do with that), and playing Halo (it may have been Halo 2) only caused me to think "my PC could do this". The only reason I look at an X-Box 360 now is, like the Wii, because of the faults of the other two. Perhaps a legitimate concern (or at the very least a widely believed conception) is that the Wii is for fun and social party type games and not for the mythical 'serious gamer'. And frankly, I'm much more likely to spend my gaming time alone in the dark painstakingly levelling up on RPGs (another potential failing of the 360, as was mentioned above) rather than being able to locate anyone at short notice for a good piece of multiplayer activity. At least, no one that isn't totally obsessed with Soul Calibur 3 and unwilling to play anything else. As for why I'd consider the 360 over the PS3, well, those reasons are well documented.

And thus, the so-very-irritating conclusion that I must draw from all of this is that none of this new generation of consoles actually makes me want to buy them. They only make me want to buy them INSTEAD of that other flawed one. What will most realistically happen is that I'll sit in my darkened corner playing Disgaea 2 or Civilization IV for several months, only to pop my head back up again once the dust has settled and see what the best choice is come 2008.

...End speech.

Edited September 24, 2006 by stokeriño

[Fanku Kaibutsu]

I'm definitely getting a Wii at launch. It's reasonably priced, plus it's got a new Zelda game, a new Smash Brothers game, and that Red Steel(?) game all coming out at launch.

I'll get a PS3 after a price drop or two, and they sort out the hardware issues and whatnot. The trailers I've seen have been amazing, especially MGS4, but $600 is just too damn much to pay.

I probably won't ever get a 360, simply because I don't have an HD TV, and probably won't be getting one for some time.

[therockbox]

You don't have to own a HDTV for a 360, I've got a standard telly and it doesn't bother me in the slightest.

I won't be getting a PS3 for the simple reason there's no games whatsoever that make me want to buy the console. Everything that's coming out on the PS3 that I'm interested in is out/coming out on the 360 or PC, so there's no point in blowing a shitload of money on an overpriced console when there's no games that interest me on it.

[GoGo Yubari]

Well, I too tend to worry about Nintendo's gimmickyness, but it paid off big-time with the DS so I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt here.

I know for certain that I will get the Wii. I'm not 100% sure WHEN because I'd love to get it at launch but I don't know if I'll have the money, but I'll definitely have one within the first year, or even the first few months of its release. I'll likely get a 360 at around the time that GTA4 comes out or a little after, especially if KOTOR III is ever announced.

The PS3... uh. Maybe. Someday. Since I no longer really care that much about the Final Fantasy franchise, it's a tougher sell for me. It just doesn't have a game library I'm particularly interested in anymore, especially since there's talk of future Guitar Hero games being multiplatform.

[Kaney]

I know I'll buy a PS3. Not on launch, and probably not anywhere close to it, but it's something I'll pick up. I just tend to look at my PS2 and see loads of games I can get into at any time, whereas the Wii has nothing whatsoever. Honestly. SSBB might be good, but apart from that, I don't know anything about the games. The price is good though, and the fact that there's almost the entire back catalogue of Nintendo stuff which is frankly awesome. But nothing new. Yet.

And I already have a 360.

[The LBTN Express]

The 360 is very good. I have played at a cousin's house and I enjoy it a lot. But my problem with it is having to pay to play online. I have a fairly stable job, and even that way I cannot afford Xbox live. Imagine what it is like for teenagers without a job or rich parents? Plus, I am a big fan of RPG's and the Xbox seems to be short on this. That and the problems with backward compatibility. Believe me, being able to play old games is very important to me.It gives me the opportunity to play some good games at a cheap price.

[GoGo Yubari]

I know I'll buy a PS3. Not on launch, and probably not anywhere close to it, but it's something I'll pick up. I just tend to look at my PS2 and see loads of games I can get into at any time, whereas the Wii has nothing whatsoever. Honestly. SSBB might be good, but apart from that, I don't know anything about the games. The price is good though, and the fact that there's almost the entire back catalogue of Nintendo stuff which is frankly awesome. But nothing new. Yet.

And I already have a 360.

Question, more out of interest and devil's advocacy (god, I feel like Dukes) than anything else.

So your rationale on the PS3 is that you've got a lot of games on your PS2 that are great and as such it's worth buying a new console, but since the Wii has nothing you've no interest in that, except for the part where you also say that the presence of Nintendo's entire back catalogue is great? What, exactly, is the fundamental difference, or are there games coming out on the PS3 that you're big on and didn't mention?

EDIT: And I will agree with the 360 in relation to RPGs thing. Nintendo has always been fairly substandard with RPGs aside from Paper Mario, Earthbound, Super Mario RPG, and Tales of Symphonia (but was that GC-exclusive?).

Edited September 24, 2006 by GoGo Yubari

[Dan]

http://www.mozlapunk.net/homepage/?p=1210

Sony unveils a very interesting fact: the PS3 will be able to download PS1, PS2, Genesis and TurboGrafx games. Seems like everyone’s in on the retro.

Sweet.

[GoGo Yubari]

http://www.mozlapunk.net/homepage/?p=1210

Sony unveils a very interesting fact: the PS3 will be able to download PS1, PS2, Genesis and TurboGrafx games. Seems like everyone’s in on the retro.

Sweet.

Now THAT sounds promising. Even if the PS3's library doesn't look interesting whatsoever, the PS1 and PS2 have absolutely fantastic ones.

[EWRFan]

Guys keep this coming. Your help and opinions are appreciated. For those who want to check out the site, I am Armando Rodriguez there and I do the Puerto Rico Wrestling Report in addition to tons of game previews, a review whenever I manage to find the time and a game column called Cheap Gaming 101 that offers free or cheap alternatives to play.

My intentions with this info is to summarize the pros and cons of each system, the things that make gamers care or not care about them as well as the major concerns. I cannot post every single reply, so maybe I will summarize a little bit, but those with the most insight or the more interesting will be posted and credited in the article. Thanks!

[illmatic]

Ill definatly be getting the Wii the day it comes out. Been waiting for this since Nintnedo announced it:)

http://www.mozlapunk.net/homepage/?p=1210

Sony unveils a very interesting fact: the PS3 will be able to download PS1, PS2, Genesis and TurboGrafx games. Seems like everyone’s in on the retro.

Sweet.

Edited September 24, 2006 by illmatic

[Lord Nibbler]

I'll definitely be buying the Wii on launch, because the Wii-mote looks like a lot of fun, and because it has (or will have) the new Zelda, Mario and Super Smash Bros. games.

I'll buy GTAIV and the first next-gen Pro Evo so, assuming they haven't been ported to the Wii by then, I'll have to pick up a 360 or a PS3 at some point. It'll probably depend on which is cheaper, and what other games they have.

[Kaney]

I know I'll buy a PS3. Not on launch, and probably not anywhere close to it, but it's something I'll pick up. I just tend to look at my PS2 and see loads of games I can get into at any time, whereas the Wii has nothing whatsoever. Honestly. SSBB might be good, but apart from that, I don't know anything about the games. The price is good though, and the fact that there's almost the entire back catalogue of Nintendo stuff which is frankly awesome. But nothing new. Yet.

And I already have a 360.

Question, more out of interest and devil's advocacy (god, I feel like Dukes) than anything else.

So your rationale on the PS3 is that you've got a lot of games on your PS2 that are great and as such it's worth buying a new console, but since the Wii has nothing you've no interest in that, except for the part where you also say that the presence of Nintendo's entire back catalogue is great? What, exactly, is the fundamental difference, or are there games coming out on the PS3 that you're big on and didn't mention?

My rationale was a big argument I was typing out that I thought better of, and decided to delete without remembering to edit that part. I was going to say how people were talking about such and such a console having no games of note while almost all the best PS2 games I have came out nowhere near the launch of the console, so it was a silly thing to base the purchase on this soon. The PS3 will continue some of my favourite franchises such as MGS, along with having it's own brand new games, whereas I haven't played a Ninendo game, bar a handful of GC games since the NES games, which is why I liked the back catalogue thing

What I should have said was I generally seem to like Playstation games more than Nintendo.