*Regua is a forum moderator and contributor to Sarcasticgamer.com. He is the author of Sarcastic Gamer’s Wikipedia page that can be found right here.
Choosing a next generation video gaming console system is one of the most difficult choices a gamer has to make. Most of us has already chosen one of the three – some may already regret their decision, others have turned into uber fanboys. If you’re still not sure, get comfy, because I’m going to take you on a little journey into console land. I’m going to attempt to thoroughly describe and compare Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and the Wii in an unbiased way. Not intentionally biased, at least.
Before getting into the technical details, you have to ask yourself: what do you exactly want from a gaming console?
Suiting your preferences
Wii, despite selling better than its rivals, is more of a toy than a gaming console. Although many people call it the “real next-gen” and say that “this is what real gaming should look like,” the only people whom Wii may attract are:
- children
- the ’social gamers’ (”why don’t you come round tonight, we’ll play some Wii”)
- the first-time gamers
- the Nintendo fans
- the Elderly
Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, on the other hand, may appeal both to the hardcore gamers as well as the casual ones. Both the 360 and PS3 have many things to offer to the “Casual Gamer,” including many casual gamer-friendly retail games and a vast collection of mini-games to download via Xbox Live Arcade or the PlayStation Network.
If you’re a long-time gamer, the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 are the most powerful systems with many interesting games to buy.
Other things you have to consider are the games that are available for each platform. The Wii mostly offers you different games with the same main characters by Nintendo, with no more than a few games developed by third-party producers. The 360 and PS3 have a huge amount of games, suiting the preferences of both the “how do you hold this controller thingy?” gamers and the “I’ll pwn u in 3 secs” players.
Also, the versatility of PlayStation 3 is a great advantage of the system. Not only is it a great gaming platform, but it’ll allow you to watch high definition Blu-ray movies, wirelessly connect to the Internet and use their web browser, exchange hard drives with any standard 2.5? SATA hard drive from your PC, plug in your keyboard and use it, basically making it more of a blu-ray playing PC, than a gaming console. Both PS3 and 360 can be used to watch movies, play music, browse photos, etc., although PlayStation will do a much better job considering the number of media-related features it offers.
More info on the next page…
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“the only people whom … may attract…” a few sentences after saying that you will not be purposely biased? Hmm… lol
Very nice article. Thanks.
What ultimatlely made the decision for me was “exclusivity”. That placed the PS3 last in my purchase list (though now I have one in anticipation of MSG3 and FF13).
I am surprised all of the fanboys have not yet sprung out from the forums.
I think he wisely left Game exclusivity out of this debate and focused on the hardware.
I think it’s hilarious that two of the three platform PR Gurus (Moore & Harrison) are no longer there. It is hard to find pictures of Steinberg (Sony) and Moore’s replacement.
Exclusivity is the unspoken knockout blow in this mutliplatform age Lono. That being said, I own 10 games, 40% of those are Xbox 360 games.
Because the 360 & PS3 offer so many similar features and capabilities, the games differentiate the machines. I love Mass Effect, Bioshock, Blue Dragon, and Forza 2 and I can only play them on the X.
I feel this article was cut short a bit. The target audience, price, and hardware were discussed, but the specific games were cut out – Lono, I’m not sure why you think that’s wise, as usually the answer to the question ‘why did you by this concole?’ is ‘because of this game’.
Hmm interesting. Fascinating article. Very long, but very entertaining. Great article regua. I would, and did, choose the PS3.
The only consoles you need are the Wii and Xbox 360. So you also should’ve recommended the Wii.
Sorry, but you are completely biased! You mention all the negative features of the Wii, but do not mention the motion control which is the most important feature of the Wii. You also left out the games, on which most of us decide, which console to buy.
Wow – you threw me for a loop. You pumped up the PS3 a bunch of times, but ended up flying the 360 flag. A huge HD doesn’t make up for a 2x BD drive speed btw.
I’m a tech savy guy so this article made me quite confused. It was really good don’t get me wrong just I didn’t know were you stood on the whole console war.
Which is actually good when you think about it.
Great job Regua. I’ll bet almost no one realized that this article was written by a person for whom English is his second language.
Poland for the win. This article may have set a record for us in distance traveled.
Good job.
@LJ
Which is what I think he was going for. Agreed.
this may be the first unbiased article ever on SG….
Congrats, regua!
@Tweep: being biased and unbiasedly pointing out who’s the target audience for a particular console are two different things.
@8bitBass, Sam: comparing the games is a great topic for another article. Here, I wanted to focus on the consoles as such, without mentioning the games.
@Larry: I wanted to use pictures of people that are easily recognisable and are still associated with the consoles.
@Thurgrin: I’ve mentioned the gamer-friendliness of Wii, I tried to describe it as thoroughly as I could… now when I read the article again, I agree with you – I could’ve at least mentioned the motion control. Forgive me.
@LJ: that’s the whole point of the article. I hope I achieved it.
@Doc: thanks. I’ve been using dictionary very much while writing it
Unbiased? Are you kidding me? As Thurgrin said, you strongly emphasized the negative qualities of the Wii, and barely even brushed over the features.
Also, in the comment above you mention that you “unbiasedly” pointed out the target audiences, but that was biased as well. ALL of the console makers say the same thing now: “we want our console to be as attractive as possible to the widest range of audiences possible”. None of the three consoles are targeting a single demographic.
Overall, I believe you did not include enough categories for comparison to make this a fair comparison article. A bias is very clear to me. And of the categories you did include, you did not explain enough how each difference affects the games being produced – which is arguably the more important than the actual differences.
While it may not be biased, becasue you did not necessarily take a side, it certinaly did not present the consoles equaly. For the Wii, I’d have to say it took a beating. Since you said you were to focus on hardware not games, I feel leaving out the things like the technology in the controller(infrared camera, accelerometers, bluetooth, rumble) significantly diminishes the whole reedeming and unique qualities of the Wii.
The Wii is differnet and I beleive many gamers don’t understand it yet.
@regua
thankyou for replying; perhaps I spoke too rashly.
Oh yes and apong knowing that you don’t speak English natively –
@Adam: okay, I’ve forgotten to mention the motion control, but what other “features” are missing from the article? I’ve not emphasised the negative qualities of Wii, I’ve just listed them all – and, as you can see, there are a lot of them.
There’s a difference between what demographics the console developers wanted to target for, and what they’re actually targeting. I, for instance, would never buy a Wii, because most of the games are too childish and I don’t really play games with my family, so it would be useless.
I couldn’t think of any other categories for comparison that wouldn’t involve personal opinions. I really wanted to get rid of all the bias.
i chose wii60, and i deeply regret the wii
i have been a nintendo fan for all my gaming life but the wii sucks b@lls
i’m gonna sell it and buy a ps3
ps360 = high def entertainement for true gamers
wii = crappy graphics and crappier gameplay for grannies, kids and diehard nintendofans
great article worth the read i deff thought you weren’t biased dont mind the stupid noobs
Good Article Regua…
” Plus MGS4 .. it’ll Kick ass and i mean it badly … Am getting a PS3 just for MGS4 .. + The Getaway in 2009 + HOME coming soon .. The PS3 will rise to power soon
havn’t seen the Fanboism War yet..guess it’ll be here soon..hh
i like all 3 Systems..
PS3..it’ll bypass the 360 soon Graphically..1st Ex: Gran Turismo 5 … PhotoRealism like i’ve never seen before in a game.. ” That’s what Next Generation About
Xbox 360…Great Multiplayer Experience that Noone can deny it .. No problem paying 50 bucks in a year as you’ll get lots of stuff and Great Gaming Experience…Xbox Live is the Best Online Experience till now..am not sure if PSN will Achieve what LIVE did..there’ll be some competition soon … Gears of War 2 will be a console seller ..
Wii…It’s Cool .. Motion Control is Great in many ways…Fun…But Childish .. ” Hardcore Gamer i am ”
Over all … I like the 3 Consoles .. Now i got a 360 .. soon i’ll get the MGS4 Bundle..
Wii is a game console that offers a really unique interactivity experience. To play games in the passive mode (seated and pushing buttons) you’re better off buying a PC…
At link97 need the 360 ha dont make me laugh
Well written article i have to say Regua. And the PSN problems are true. You Left out however, the 360’s major hardware problems from this article. Doubt it was intentional, and i bet most people know all about the RROD, however, to leave it out of a hardware based article, seems rather silly.
Other than that, you hit the nail pretty much on the head. It was well written, and when i saw the amount of pages i was agast, however, reading through it, i never felt like it was an essay. It was a well written piece of work tat kept me interested!
Cheers Regua
@PopTrogdor: I seriously believe that the RRoD occurs rarely on the newer 360’s, and as the target audience of the article are people who plan on getting a console, probably a brand new one, I didn’t mention it. When buying any electronic device you have to bear in mind that it may just break down at any time, and even though Xbox 360 is known as the Ultimate Breakdown Machine, I’m pretty sure the RRoD issues have been sorted out and it doesn’t happen that often.
Man it shows you don’t have a Wii. My two cents:
If you are a hardcore gamer on a budget, you should consider the Wii. First, the Wiimote can better for FPS than dual analog. No whining, it’s closer to a mouse and keyboard and that’s that. Second, the only version of the console comes with a game, and is only 250$. The games are 10$ cheaper, wifi is included and online (although it sucks) is free. The Wii will never deliver a Gears of War, but the way you present the Wii as such a casual offering makes me wonder if you are missing out on some great games. Looking at my little collection I see Resident Evil 4 (30$ and the Wiimote makes that game even more awsome), Mario Galaxy, and Wii Sports. That’s 330$.
And then you have to take into account that the Wii will likely be the most popular console, by a wide margin, in the world by Christmas.
I am really getting sick of people saying the Wii is only for casuals, sure it has some games like Wii Sports (which is free) and Wario Ware but it also has many good games like Metroid, CoD 3 (unfortunately not CoD4), Resident Evil, and Brawl. Btw I am not a Wii fanboy I use a PC.
@regua
I don’t understand: you say “There’s a difference between what demographics the console developers wanted to target for, and what they’re actually targeting.” Are you saying that all of the console makers are failing to achieve atractiveness to their multiple target demographics? If ANY console decided “hey let’s only allow M-rated games” or “hey let’s only allow games that are e for everyone!” then their console would FAIL MISERABLY. What makes every console strong is that it offers a variety of games for a variety of demographics.
“I, for instance, would never buy a Wii, because most of the games are too childish” – do you have to own most of the games?
“I don’t really play games with my family” Neither do I, but I Zelda, Mario, and Metroid are great games, and I’m having a lot of fun. I strongly suggest you try them out, because they really are great, and may change your opinion of the Wii. I can’t imagine any young person or “first-time gamer” playing Zelda and actually enjoying and appreciating it. It has a more drama and intense storytelling than I’ve ever encountered in a game before. Excellent music as well.
Maybe you didn’t want to include personal opinions, but you definitely did. “Wii, despite selling better than its rivals, is more of a toy than a gaming console.” HA!
“the only people whom Wii may attract are…” HA!
Many of your statements concerning the Wii are merely fabrications that have come from either your imagination, or from popular opinion – neither of which are relevant or reliable sources for an objective article.
For the sake of information, and maybe for future use in your articles, here’s something you may want to know.
“The Wii controller hides beneath its glossy exterior a number of cutting-edge technologies. The peripheral uses an accelerometer and a gyrometer to measure motion and tilt, and likewise utilizes both infrared and Bluetooth technology to interact with a sensor bar (placed near a television) and ultimately to send information to the Wii console. Plus, it’s got rumble functionality. All of these technologies combine to deliver users a level of precision and interactivity not possible before.” – IGN (http://wii.ign.com/articles/709/709244p4.html)
And hey, before you say it, no I’m not a “fanboy”. I just like things to be accurate and clear, so that those who don’t know any better won’t get confused by misinformation. I’m mostly a PC guy.
@Adam:
Of course games like Zelda and Metroid are interesting and definitely not childish, but that’s just a small fraction of all the games available for the Wii. You can’t base your opinion on the few games you have/like, I take everything into consideration and the vast majority of Wii games are… well, let’s call them “simplish”.
Even though there’s Feeding Frenzy available for the 360, you can’t say that the console is for 3-year-olds. What I’ve stated in the article relies on what games Nintendo has released and how they advertised Wii.
And yeah, I’ve forgotten to mention the Wii motion controls, I’ve already apologised, no need to quote these articles
@regua
Yes of course they are a lower rate, but at 16% failure now, tested on 2000 consoles, isn’t that much of an improvment, seen as though other consoles have well, alot less than that. Of course, you can never really know the true failure rate of consoles ever. And alot of people who get the RRoD fixed, just get machines that are just as bad. Also, alot of people who will by a 360, will still go for the Premium due to it being cheaper, and they still have a bad failure rate.
Obviously it will eventually go away, sort of, but until then, it is still an issue, and Elites still RRoD.
ANYWHO, i liked the article very much, and was a pleasure to read.
I found sarcasticgamer.com very informative. The article is professionally written and I feel like the author knows the subject very well. sarcasticgamer.com keep it that way.