Video Game Consoles
Video gaming has become one of the most lucrative industries in the modern world. It has expanded well beyond children and teenagers to encompass people of all ages. The selection is more varied than ever: no longer are only the hardcore players satisfied, but people of all backgrounds can enjoy virtual sports, titles based on movies and books, and games that transport you to whole different worlds and allow you to interact with other forms of life. Consoles 
can also be used to access the internet via web browsers,to stream music and movies, and to view photos from computers on a home network. They can become full home theater hubs and their variety of features and applications, as well as their relatively low prices, allow people all over the world to experience entertainment like never before. Together, the three newest consoles have sold well over 100 million units, and the two handheld systems have sold another 150 million. As a whole, these systems comprise the seventh generation of video gaming.
Brand
The console wars between Nintendo ,Sony , and Microsoft are fought with aggressive branding, competitive price points, varying feature sets, and exclusive video game franchises. Nintendo exclusively developed and owns the rights to popular series such as Mario and The Legend of Zelda for its Wii and DS systems, while fans of Metal Gear Solid or baseball simulater MLB: The Show can only find new versions of these games on a PlayStation 3 (PS3) or PlayStation Portable (PSP). Microsoft, a relative newcomer to the market, has hits like Halo and Project Gotham Racing , and you won't see games in these series being produced for any system but the Xbox 360.
Exclusive titles are a large part of what set the systems apart. Nintendo has been around the longest and owns the most classic franchises, while Sony is a close second after the successful runs of its first and second PlayStation iterations. Microsoft only entered the market with the first Xbox in November 2001 and hasn't had much time to build up a line of exclusives, but it does have Halo, Alan Wake, and Mass Effect, as well as many multi-platform (non-exclusive) games that can be played on the Xbox.
Design
- Placement Options: The three consoles can be either laid on their sides or positioned to stand vertically. They can all stand on their own, but for extra stability the Wii comes with an accessory that elevates the system and allows the cooling vents to get more airflow.
- Compact Size: The Wii is by far the smallest of the new consoles, at a svelte 8.5" x 6.2" x 1.7"--think of it as roughly the size of three DVD cases stacked on top of each other. The PS3 Slim is a scant 11.4" x 11.4" x 2.6", while the classic PS3 (no longer being produced) is slightly larger still, 12.8" x 10.8" x 3.9." The Xbox 360 Slim is 10.6" x 10.3" x 2.7", making it smaller than the PS3 Slim.
- Color Coordination: The Wii comes in glossy white and jet black, and the PS3 Slim comes in a charcoal black, while old PS3s had a glossy finish available in black, white, and silver. The Xbox 360's 250 GB Slim and 4 GB Slim both come in one color, black. The Xbox 360 is customizable with faceplates, available in a wide number of colors and designs, which are sold separately.
Low-Cost Consoles
Give these deals a look if you want to get into this generation of gaming without shelling out too much cash.
|
|
|
|
|
Xbox 360 Halo Reach Limited Edition Bundle This bundle has a 250GB Xbox Slim, two wireless controllers, an Xbox headset, and a copy of Halo:Reach. The console itself and the controllers are in a limited edition gray Halo:Reach design. |
Wii Customer Choice Bundle This bundle includes the system and a Wii Sports game, plus an extra remote and nunchuk for multiplayer action. You'll also get a card for 2000 Wii Points card, a remote recharging kit for two controllers, and two additional games of your choosing. |
Xbox 360 Kinect Bundle Get your virtual gaming on with a Kinect bundle. This is available both for the 250GB or 4GB Xbox 360, and comes with the console, one wireless controller, one headset, the Kinect sensor bar, and a copy of Kinect Adventures. |
Playstation Move Bundle If you are ready to bring motion control to your PS3, the Move bundle comes with a 320GB console, a PS3 Eye camera, a Move controller and a regular controller, and a copy of Sports Champions. |
Wii Starter Bundle There's no better way to get your feet wet in motion-based gaming than with the Wii starter bundle. This inexpensive package comes with some cool bonuses. In addition to the system and Wii Sports, you'll get a second remote, a nunchuk, and another Wii game. |
|
|
|
|
|
360 Live Bundle Want an Xbox 360 but worried about the hefty price when you take your game online? Worry no more: with the Live bundle you'll get the system and a subscription card to Xbox Live Gold that will give you one free year of online gaming, plus two games to get your online experience started. |
DualShock 3 Controller Bundle Grab an extra controller for your sibling or friend and get a game along with it for practically no difference in price. It's an easy way to expand your library and get your friends in on the fun. |
Wii Family Bundle The Nintendo Wii can bring people together like no other entertainment device. The Wii family bundle gets everyone involved: it packs in the console, Wii Sports, an additional remote and nunchuk, three more games, and 2000 Wii Points for your downloads. |
Xbox 360 Game Bundle
It's hard to believe, but the Xbox 360 has been around almost four years, and in that time some major fun has been had. An easy way to save cash is by purchasing a pair of games together in a package. You can nab two titles for one small cost. |
Wii Game Bundle
The ultra-popular Wii is home to some ultra-popular games. You might not have enough money for all of them, but you can definitely economize with a Wii game bundle. A handful of different games will give you a sample of all the clever uses of the remote, and for an affordable price, too. |
Controller
- Xbox 360: Though older Xbox models were sold with wired controllers, wireless is now the standard (nonetheless, the former are still available at pretty reasonable prices). Wireless controllers operate at a 2.5 GHz frequency and last up to 25 hours on the rechargeable batteries. Both versions allow for headset connectivity and expansion for other accessories, like the Xbox 360 keyboard .
- PlayStation3: The PS3's controller, the DualShock 3 , resembles the PS2 -style DualShock 2 , but is enhanced with the PlayStation button in the center, and is wireless thanks to bluetooth technology. Up to seven controllers can be connected at once, and they are charged using a mini-USB connection on the top of the controller. If you don't mind playing with a wire, they can be plugged into the USB ports on the front of the console until the batteries are fully charged, then unplugged for wireless use.
- Nintendo Wii: The Wii's controller , called the Wii Remote, is by far the most unusual. It is wireless and has two types of three-dimensional motion-sensing technology: an accelerometer, and an an infrared sensor that works with the Wii sensor bar (a tiny plastic rod that emits an invisible wavelength of light and can be placed either above or below the screen). The remote can work horizontally or vertically, depending on the game, and the button arrangement contains a D-pad, a trigger button on the back, and six buttons on the front, including the Wii Home button. It also features aural immersion, with a speaker built right into the controller. If you're playing a shooting game, for instance, you'll hear the gun sounds coming from your hand so you'll feel like you're really holding a weapon.
Speed and Power
The Wii manages to surpass the original Xbox in graphical power, but unfortunately does not permit high definition viewing; it supports only standard definition 480i and 480p (progressive scan). Games will still look good, but rather than focusing on graphical power, Nintendo opted for a more affordable system with more inventive gameplay. In contrast, the Xbox 360's games are designed to run in 720p high definition, and the system can run non-gaming content all the way up to full HD 1080p using its tri-core processor. The PS3, however, is by far the most powerful system, with its seven-core supercomputing processor. Games for the PS3 already look better than their Xbox 360 counterparts even though the Xbox 360 was released a year earlier (this gave developers more time to get to know its hardware). The PS3's images are stunningly photorealistic already, and programmers claim that they are just scratching the surface of what the PS3 will eventually be able to do.
The Wii and PS3 have generally short load times. This is because Wii games have relatively small file sizes and run off of optical discs that have enough speed to prevent long load screens. The PS3's optical drive and Blu-Ray discs have a blazing fast transfer rate, considering the huge amount of data packed into a PS3 game. Sadly, the slow load times on the Xbox 360 are one of the major knocks on the system. Microsoft has recently provided a partial solution to this problem by allowing games to be installed, meaning that they can load from the system's internal storage rather than from the slow disc drive. This does not apply to every game, however, and installing the games is a double-edged sword: while it speeds up load times, it also uses more of the system's limited space, which might force you to go out and buy a bigger 360 hard drive .
Memory/Media
- The Wii uses proprietary Optical Discs and has an SD flash card slot; it does not support CDs or DVDs.
- The 360 supports both discs in a range of formats, including WMA and MP3. It has also been updated to support flash drives. You can also transfer hard-drive information from one Xbox to another with a transfer kit .
- The PS3 is unique in that it not only supports CDs and DVDs, but it uses Blu-Ray discs for HD movies and as its main game media, which allows for large amounts of data to be quickly transferred. As far as memory goes, the PS3 supports SD cards, both type one and two CompactFlash , and memory sticks . There is also an MMC slot and a swappable hard drive.
Backward Compatibility
Backward compatibility is the ability of a system to play games from previous-generation systems. The Xbox 360 is partially backward compatible, while the PS3 and Wii have full capabilities.
The Wii boasts a full range of backward compatibility for games, cables, controllers, and memory cards. The Wii's slot-loading drive accepts both Wii optical discs as well as Nintendo Gamecube game discs, and the Wii can play all Gamecube games by using the Classic Controller or by plugging a Gamecube controller into one of the four ports located underneath the top system flap. Gamecube saved games can be stored either on the Wii's internal memory or on a Gamecube memory card, which will work with one of the system's two card slots, located next to the controller ports under the system cover. The Wii also features the Virtutal Console online downloadable service in the Wii Shop, which will allow you to download games from a whopping nine systems: the original Nintendo Entertainment System, the Super Nintendo, the Nintendo 64, the Sega Master System and Sega Genesis, NEC TurboGrafx-16 and TurboGrafx-CD, SNK NeoGeo, and Commodore 64. These games can be played either using the Wii Remote turned on its side (ever notice that on its side the Remote looks kind of like the old NES controller?) or using one of the system's other controller options.
The PlayStation 3 can play nearly all discs for the original PlayStation and PS2 via the same slot-loading drive that it uses for its own Blu-Ray games and movies. If you don't own the disc for a game that you'd like to play for one of those old systems, don't worry: Sony supports a variety of these in the PlayStation Network Store.
The Xbox 360 is backward compatible with some, but not all, games for the original Xbox. Additionally, a hard drive is required to use backwards compatibility, so any Xbox 360 model without a hard drive will be unable to use this feature. Microsoft does not offer downloadable Xbox games the way that Nintendo and Sony do.
Game Console vs. PC Gaming
What's nice about owning a console instead of simply playing PC games is that the new systems can be fully integrated into your home entertainment system. Not only are they more aesthetically sleek than previous versions, but they come complete with features like media streaming and movie playback. They can also be hooked into High Definition TVs and surround sound systems to enhance your overall multimedia experience. Games are also easier to set up since all you have to do is plug in the console, pop in the disc, and get to playing. There is also no need to worry with consoles, as there is with PC games, about whether your graphics card or other specs are going to have the necessary power to run the game correctly, as all consoles are manufactured with the same hardware to run the same things.
For local multiplayer gaming, a console hooked up to a TV is far better than cramming many people in front of a tiny computer screen, and many games produced for the consoles are exclusive to their system and are no longer produced for the PC. Furthermore, though controllers are available for computers, console versions usually offer a different--and superior--experience to PC game controllers or a keyboard and mouse.
Xbox 360
|
The Xbox 360 has its upside, as it is technically the less expensive of the two high definition consoles, but also its downside: a myriad of hidden costs, a lack of exclusive games, and some major issues with the system. It is currently offered in two packages: a 4GB Slim and a 250GB Slim. Both come in a sleek black and have newly built in wireless, where as the older models needed an added adapter . There are also more ports in the back for USB devices, component cables , and other connections. - In order to use the system, most models of the Xbox 360 will require extra purchases of hard drives, headsets ,cables , or other accessories, so don't be taken in by a low price. Consider additional costs first.
- The hard drive is the only way to get backward compatibility, which allows the system to play some--but not all--old Xbox games. It also serves as a place for storing movies, music, and photos.
- Xbox Live allows users to interact online with other players and pay to download small games, photos, songs, and videos. A monthly or yearly subscription to Xbox Live Gold will cost you, but it allows you to play online (a service offered for free by Nintendo and Sony).
- The Xbox 360's interface, the Dashboard, is clean and intuitive; it gives you access to home networking on Windows PCs and lets you intervface with some portable media players. It also helps you save your music, movies, and game data on the hard drive, and it directs you to the Xbox Live Marketplace, the Live Arcade, and your system configuration options.
- For an additional price, you can add customizable faceplates so you can really make your Xbox your own.
|
Playstation 3
Sony's PlayStation 3 follows up the enormous success the company had with its first two consoles, and it looks like Sony has another great system on its hands. Serving as a Blu-Ray player and full-featured home media device, the PS3 uses its Blu-Ray capabilities and powerful graphics to deliver an all around awesome entertainment package. The PlayStation 3 is sold in three models: Sony is phasing out the old-style (pictured) 80GB PS3 and the limited edition 160GB PS3 in favor of the smaller, more energy-efficient new 120GB PS3 Slim . Unlike with the Xbox 360, the PS3 models are sold with everything needed to use the system. - The PS3 has an enormous amount of content available on its PlayStation Network. Users can explore movies, original games, demos, downloadable expansion content for games they already own, and more.
- Sony provides free access to the PlayStation Network. You'll be able to browse catalogs of free and paid online content.
- Sony's free PlayStation Home service allows you to create a virtual version of yourself. You can customize your appearance, decorate a virtual house, and interact in real time with an online world filled with other users.
- The PS3's Blu-Ray discs boast a huge amount of storage space and fast transfer rates, so you'll have the best-looking movies and most expansive games. Even as just a Blu-Ray movie player, this is one of the best and least expensive out there. It offers numerous additional features for your home media setup as well, such as streaming from portable media devices, like cell phones and MP3 players via USB or bluetooth. You can also easily stream content from computers on a home network or download it to the system's hard drive--all wirelessly.
- With a full internet browser and many other cool applications running on the system's slick XrossMediaBar (XMB) interface, the PS3 won't just be a powerful supercomputing device--it will become the center of your living room!
|
|
Wii
|
Thanks to its low price point, unique control methods, small design, and appeal to both hardcore gamers and non-gamers alike, Nintendo's fifth home console, the Nintendo Wii, has become the best-selling console of the new generation. Unlike the other systems, the Wii is offered in only one package, a bundle that includes the system, a Wii Remote and nunchuk controller, a system stand, the Wii sensor bar, standard definition cables, and Wii Sports, a 5-in-1 game featuring five different motion-controlled sports. The game supports up to four players simultaneously. - The most unusual thing about the Wii is obviously its motion control system, the likes of which have never been seen before in gaming. The Remote and sensor bar allow the games you're in to perceive your movements in three dimensions, giving you more precision and more immersion than ever before.
- Connecting to the internet wirelessly is easy and free. The Wii uses an expanded version of the Wi-Fi Connection service that started on the Nintendo DS to provide online content and online gaming for a wide selection of titles.
- The system is always connected to the internet with WiiConnect24 to check for updates and new messages, even when turned off. If an update is available or someone has sent an email, text message, or note to your Wii system, the disc drive will flash blue to let you know.
- The Wii has access to tons of downloadable content, including free applications for its Channel Menu system and an internet browser. You'll also be able to find videos, updates, expansion content, and brand new games, called WiiWare, that are created specifically for download. The Virtual Console service lets you download a massive catalog of games for nine classic systems, including those made by Sega.
- The Nintendo DS and DSi can connect to the Wii wirelessly to play games and software. The DSi can upload photos to the Wii's Photo Channel and download new games from Nintendo's online shop, DSiWare.
|
Related Guides
International Resources
For this resource in your home country, please see:
FR: Jeux Vidéos
DE: Spielkonsolen
