Xbox, Playstation or Wii?

[ForeverAutumn]

I'm definately buying one of them, but how do I decide which one?

[bobsticks]

What are your objectives, Fall Girl? Are you looking for a music storage/server unit? Playing games? Video reproduction including one of the hi-def formats? Also, your associated equipment might be an issue. Are you using a monitor with multiple HDMIs or a receiver with HDMI passthrough?

[Rich-n-Texas]

What are your objectives, Fall Girl? Are you looking for a music storage/server unit? Playing games? Video reproduction including one of the hi-def formats? Also, your associated equipment might be an issue. Are you using a monitor with multiple HDMIs or a receiver with HDMI passthrough?

Nice. Ya think you can confuse her any more Bobby?

BANG! Red chicklett!

[ForeverAutumn]

What are your objectives, Fall Girl? Are you looking for a music storage/server unit? Playing games? Video reproduction including one of the hi-def formats? Also, your associated equipment might be an issue. Are you using a monitor with multiple HDMIs or a receiver with HDMI passthrough?

Um, I wanna play some games including Guitar Hero and the one with the dance pad.

[bobsticks]

Nice. Ya think you can confuse her any more Bobby?

BANG! Red chicklett!

Kickass, a reddie!!!

Yeah, just buy the PS3.

[basite]

I'd go for the PS3 too...

Happy newyear,
Bert.

[Rich-n-Texas]

Guitar Hero and the dance pad would be Wii.

[kexodusc]

Guitar Hero and the dance pad would be Wii.

I have Guitar Hero and that Dance Revolution, the rock band one is next. Except I have it on the Xbox 360, not the Wii. The Wii is kind of fun, but after having it in my home for a week, the novelty of the controllers wore off on me.

FA, you're probably not a serious gamer, nor a big multimedia user as I recall, I'm guessing either the Wii or XBOX 360 are your best bets. Something tells me a lot of the free game downloads on XBOX Live might appeal to you though? My wife finds a bunch of cool stuff on there all the time, and likes being able to use it listen to music or watch movies in the home theater room that are saved on her laptop.

I don't like recommending Microsoft anything, but the 360 is pretty cool. And if you get Guitar Hero you can add me as a friend on Live and we can duel...

[GMichael]

You really can't go wrong with any of these three.
The Wii is a lot of fun, but not HD. (Xbox and PS3 are both HD) Not sure how much you care about that. Kids love this machine. (So does my wife) The interaction makes it a great party gamer.
The Xbox has the most games available right now. The early models had some QC issues but the newer models are not having the same issue.
The PS3 is behind in games but gaining ground fast. It also has a built in BR player and a SACD player. ( Is LOST out on BR yet?)
Pick what means the most to you. You'll be happy with any choice.

[ForeverAutumn]

If I went with a PlayStation...

A PS2 is $129.00
A PS3 is $399 for 40GB or $499 for 80GB.

Will I be sorry if I purchase the PS2 and end up wanting the PS3?
If I buy the PS3, is it worth the extra $100 for the additional GBs? Why do I need a hard-drive anyway?

The last time I bought a gaming system was the original Nintendo. I was still living with my parents so I'm guessing that was about 18 - 20 years ago!

After doing some research, I'm leaning towards a PS. It doesn't sound like the graphics on the Wii are up to par with the PS or the Xbox. And it appears that the PS has some motion sensor in the controller, so I suspect that Wii type games will be available on the PS system in the future.

To try and answer Bobsticks' questions...the main monitor for this unit will be a 42" LCD HDTV with a lovely 5.1 sound system hooked up to it. I'm not really concerned about whether the unit can store music or play DVDs (although the blu-ray feature is an added bonus, it's not really a selling feature for me).

[ForeverAutumn]

( Is LOST out on BR yet?)

Yes. But it's almost double the price of the regular DVD set. And, since BR is proprietary I'm not convinced of its longevity.

[GMichael]

Yes. But it's almost double the price of the regular DVD set. And, since BR is proprietary I'm not convinced of its longevity.

If you get a PS3 and a BR LOST, it will play for a very long time no matter what format wins.

I don't know if the PS2's graphics are any better than the Wii's.
I do have Virtual Tennis for the PS3. The motion sensor in the controller does let us play interactively (is that a word?). It's not the same as the Wii, but still a lot of fun. It's much more complicated than the Wii. Harder to play in that mode, but there are way more options to deal with. It may end up being more fun in the long run, (once I figure it all out that is).

The 40GB will not let you play any PS2 games. The 80GB will let you play about 90% of them. But with all the new PS3 games coming out, I'm not sure why you would need that, unless you already own a bunch of them. The 40 also has no SACD player and only 2 USB ports instead of 4.

The hard drives are for storing music, videos & pictures. Also for buying games online. The new interactive bowling game is only out that way so far. I've only had mine a little over a month, so I don't know half of what's available yet.

[L.J.]

If I went with a PlayStation...

A PS2 is $129.00
A PS3 is $399 for 40GB or $499 for 80GB.

Will I be sorry if I purchase the PS2 and end up wanting the PS3?
If I buy the PS3, is it worth the extra $100 for the additional GBs? Why do I need a hard-drive anyway?

The last time I bought a gaming system was the original Nintendo. I was still living with my parents so I'm guessing that was about 18 - 20 years ago!

After doing some research, I'm leaning towards a PS. It doesn't sound like the graphics on the Wii are up to par with the PS or the Xbox. And it appears that the PS has some motion sensor in the controller, so I suspect that Wii type games will be available on the PS system in the future.

To try and answer Bobsticks' questions...the main monitor for this unit will be a 42" LCD HDTV with a lovely 5.1 sound system hooked up to it. I'm not really concerned about whether the unit can store music or play DVDs (although the blu-ray feature is an added bonus, it's not really a selling feature for me).

I store a bunch of stuff on my 60g HD. Pics, videos, music, games....stuff like that. It's cool when you have family over and can do a slideshow of pics or play some family videos. All in one place and ready to go. It has digital media card slots(not sure about the 40) so I can take photos/video and just pop the card in the PS3 to transfer it over. Online games can be purchased for as little as $1.99 up to about $9.99. There's also a bunch of free stuff. Built in wifi allows you to easily connect online if you don't have a router close by or don't want to run the wire.

The motion sensor in the controller is used quite a bit during game play. Bowling, shooting freethrows, driving and so on. I only know of one game that uses the motion sensor only for the entire game but more will come.

I've had my PS3 for over a year now with no issues.

[kexodusc]

....on second thought...

Did some more thinking..FA, you'd get 5 free BluRay movies right now (some good, some not so good) just by getting the PS3. If you doubled it up as a BluRay player, it might be a more value-added unit for you.

BluRay is going to be around as long as the PS3 will be around, which is 4-5 more years at least. It's also currently outselling the HD-DVD camp which came out earlier and cheaper than BluRay. And my oh my, it will look stunning on that purty TV of yours.

Unless you or your hubby are going to be playing a lot of the latest video games or you think you'd take advantage of Microsoft's online catalogue on XBOX Live, the PS3 might be a more well rounded option.

The 360 isn't really that much cheaper, especially if you buy the wireless network adaptor (if you need it), though it has slightly better on-line functionality with all the neat stuff you can download, and it integrates very well with your Windows PC's. From my perspective, it offered more to me now than the PS3 did. If you're less than a casual gamer though, the BluRay aspect might be the deal breaker and probably shouldn't be overlooked.

I don't think you'd need the larger hard drive - just save stuff on your computer or wherever you normally save it. Do you even have any PS2 games? If not, you won't miss being able to play them...

Not an easy decision...but decide how much gaming you'd expect to get out of this thing beyond Guitar Hero and Dance Revolution, those are available on either format. Xbox has a massive advantage in that department, but if you don't care for Halo 3 etc then that point is moot.

[ForeverAutumn]

....on second thought...

Did some more thinking..FA, you'd get 5 free BluRay movies right now (some good, some not so good) just by getting the PS3. If you doubled it up as a BluRay player, it might be a more value-added unit for you.

Are those 5 BluRay movies specific to purchasing it at any one store? The only deal that I've seen is Spiderman 3 being included.

[GMichael]

Are those 5 BluRay movies specific to purchasing it at any one store? The only deal that I've seen is Spiderman 3 being included.

You have to fill out a small form card and mail it in. Sony is running it, so it's available from anyone. They should give you the card to fill out when buying it, but you can print it off the internet if you like. The only problems are that you have to pick from a limited selection, and that you have to wait to get them.

Edit: Here's the one from Wally's website. You can see what titles are available.
http://i.walmart.com/i/rb/4330.pdf

[kexodusc]

Are those 5 BluRay movies specific to purchasing it at any one store? The only deal that I've seen is Spiderman 3 being included.

FA,
Here's a link to the actual form you get here in Canada:
http://www.bluraysavings.com/bluraysavings_canada.pdf
(Edit - looks like the same movies as the form in GM's post)
You can see the movie selection - If it was me picking from that list, there's 3 I would like to own, 2 that I probably wouldn't buy otherwise, but wouldn't mind having. Not insubstantial. The 5 free movie deal makes you think you're getting a big value, but when it's not giving you movies you'd want to own otherwise, the value diminishes somewhat. Guess you'll have to decide what it's worth to you.

But like I said, could be a deal breaker for you folks. I'm awefully tempted myself. I still want a PS3 and will probably get one this year.
When my wife I decided to get the 360, it just came down to the fact that will play a few games here and there, and the PS3 just didn't measure up in terms of titles we could see ourselves playing. The Xbox Live stuff turned out to be a neat bonus. I know we use our Xbox a lot more now than we ever expected we would.

Anyway, as cool as it would be to have a guitar duel over xbox live with ya, I hope you've got enough info to make the best decision for you guys.

[ForeverAutumn]

You have to fill out a small form card and mail it in. Sony is running it, so it's available from anyone. They should give you the card to fill out when buying it, but you can print it off the internet if you like. The only problems are that you have to pick from a limited selection, and that you have to wait to get them.

Edit: Here's the one from Wally's website. You can see what titles are available.
http://i.walmart.com/i/rb/4330.pdf

Thanks. That's certainly worth taking into consideration. I checked Amazon.ca and those movies retail for about $25 each so the offer is worth approximately $125. Too bad the movie selection isn't better.

Such a big decision.

[GMichael]

Such a big decision.

True, but my guess is that no matter which one you pick, you'll have a great time with it. I think I've already got my money's worth out of mine. I play this thing for hours and hours.

[kexodusc]

Hey GM, what games do ya play on the PS3?

[GMichael]

So far I only have 3.

Virtual Tennis - about 4 hours playing time so far
Motorstorm - At least 20 - 30 hours of playing time.
Ratchet & Clank - Although the newest game I have so far, I've put at least 50 - 60 of hours in. I'm up to 1/2 a billion bolts and 12 million raratainium.

[kexodusc]

So far I only have 3.

Virtual Tennis - about 4 hours playing time so far
Motorstorm - At least 20 - 30 hours of playing time.
Ratchet & Clank - Although the newest game I have so far, I've put at least 50 - 60 of hours in. I'm up to 1/2 a billion bolts and 12 million raratainium.

Cool...
I just wanted to prompt your 7000 post...that was me baby, all me...
Congrats on being the first to 7k. What do you win?

[L.J.]

So far I only have 3.

Virtual Tennis - about 4 hours playing time so far
Motorstorm - At least 20 - 30 hours of playing time.
Ratchet & Clank - Although the newest game I have so far, I've put at least 50 - 60 of hours in. I'm up to 1/2 a billion bolts and 12 million raratainium.

How is the R & C? The graphics were just amazing when I downloaded the demo. So much detail.

I own:
Madden 07
NBA 2K7
MLB 2K7
NHL 2K7
TigerWoods 07
Fight Night 3
Virtual Tennis 3
Full Auto 2
Virtual Fighter 5
Ultimate Alliance
About 9 online games(4 Eye Toy games & 5 Old School games)

[GMichael]

Cool...
I just wanted to prompt your 7000 post...that was me baby, all me...
Congrats on being the first to 7k. What do you win?

Smartypants.

I win a chance to keep posting.

Tanx

[GMichael]

How is the R & C? The graphics were just amazing when I downloaded the demo. So much detail.

I own:
Madden 07
NBA 2K7
MLB 2K7
NHL 2K7
TigerWoods 07
Fight Night 3
Virtual Tennis 3
Full Auto 2
Virtual Fighter 5
Ultimate Alliance
About 9 online games(4 Eye Toy games & 5 Old School games)

Tons of fun. I just can't stop playing. After I finish one game, I just start a new one. There are so many weapons, gadgets and devices. It's fun to try them each out in deferent situations. I love the disco ball. Throw it out and everyone stops fighting and starts dancing. At one time in the game, I turned everyone into dancing penguins. First a got a message saying that I got bonus points for "happy feet" then it gave me more bonus points for "a chorus line." Then when I smoked them with my flame thrower, I got more bonus points for "disco inferno." The game is really a trip. At one point another character says, "Oh, it's you two? I didn't recognize you in high def."

Nice list of games there.