Video Game Consoles
Reviews of the hottest game consoles
by Mark Hughes
Wii
Release Date: November 19,
2006
Price: $250.00
Nintendo has done an amazing job with the Wii.
Never before has a gaming system been so easy for anyone to pick up and
start playing. The Wii is good for individual play, with amazing games like
Super Mario Galaxy and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, but the games for group
play are what make this system so enjoyable.
Games such as Wii
Sports, Mario Party 8, and the much anticipated Super Smash Bros. Brawl use
the full power of the Wii for group play. In many of these games, you and
your friends can choose to play as a team or to compete against each
other.
Wii Controllers Encourage Players to Get Up and Move!
The
wireless Wii controller is the size of a TV remote. You can
make almost any motion with the it thanks to the presence of an
accelerometer. If you’re playing tennis, swing the controller like a racket.
If you are herding sheep, simply use it to nudge the flock into the
barn.
The Wii nunchuk, which plugs into main controller, is needed for games
like Super Mario Galaxy. At first you might think it a bit unwieldy, but
using the nunchuk and controller together is extremely comfortable. In Super Mario
Galaxy, you will use the controller to click, jump, and spin while the nunchuk is
used to move you around in the game.
Even games like Super Mario
Galaxy that are designed for a single player can involve more than one
person. If you have another controller, give it to a friend to help Mario gather
all of the gems to gain an extra life or just to shoot at one of the many
enemies.
The Wii is also backward compatible, meaning it will play all
of your old GameCube games. The only drawback to playing older games is the
difference in controllers. Games made for the GameCube were not created with
the Wii’s wand and nunchuk in mind. A GameCube game like Resident Evil
4 is fun to play on the Wii, but some actions and motions feel clumsy when
using the Wii versus the Gamecube’s controller.
Graphic-wise the
Wii is about the same as the GameCube. Nintendo seems to have put more
effort into designing the revolutionary wand controller than in upgrading
the graphics. One possible reason for this is Nintendo’s desire to
keep the Wii affordable, something the other consoles—Xbox 360 and
PS3—have struggled with.
Overall, the Wii is an absolute blast!
It is a wonderful system that will bring delight to solo players and groups
alike.
Xbox 360
Release
date: November 22, 2005
Price: $350.00
PC-quality
graphics, a responsive and comfortable wireless controller, and a wide array
of immersive games prove that the Xbox 360 is a gaming system to reckon
with. Add in HD video, DVD playback, an easily navigable menu, and gamers
have a system that is worth the price and immensely enjoyable.
Unlike
the Wii, which works well for group play, the Xbox 360 is a more traditional
gaming system that is designed for the solo player. Games such as Halo 3 and
Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion were made for the single player, but where they
may be lacking in group play they more than make up for it with beautiful
graphics and immersive adventures. Gamers feeling the urge to play with
others can go online with games like Halo 3 to do four-player cooperative
missions.
Problem
Solving to Get Better and Better
The Xbox 360 is a powerful system,
but it is not without problems. Early Xbox 360s suffered from overheating,
which would often result in annoying experiences, including your games
freezing up. Some gamers combated this by suspending their system or power
cords in the air, an ingenious but admittedly unwieldy solution.
Fortunately, Microsoft has solved this issue in the newer models of the
system.
If you are a gamer interested in realistic graphics with rich
game play, than the Xbox 360 is for you. The price for the system has
dropped in the last couple of years, making it far more affordable for
everyone.
PlayStation
3
Release date: November 19, 2006
Price:
$599.99
The Sony PlayStation 3 (PS3) seems like it should be an
impressive system. Technologically it is very advanced. It features an
engine capable of parallel processing, a 60-gigabyte hard drive, high
definition, and digital media storage through the Blu-ray disc drive, free
access to online content, backwards compatibility with PS1 and PS2 games,
and more. Unfortunately, its high price and lack of new and compelling games
makes the PS3 a hard system to sell.
Many of the games that are
available for the PS3 are also on the Xbox 360. Such games are usually based
on a product, such as a movie, which is why they are made for multiple
systems. It should be noted that games appearing on both systems often look
better on the Xbox 360 than they do on the PS3.
Will
Blu-ray Make a Difference?
The fact that the system uses Blu-ray may
make the system more attractive. For the last few years there has been a
format war between Sony's Blu-ray and Toshiba's HD-DVD. In February 2008,
the war ended with Toshiba declaring they would stop making HD-DVD systems
and discs. This leaves Sony's Blu-ray the winner; it will be the format in
which movies and games are offered more and more.
Since its release in
2006, there has been much criticism about the price and lack of games for
the PS3. Sony has made efforts to address those issues. For instance, the
release of a 40 GB PS3 (the original was 60 GB) dropped a couple of hundred
dollars off the initial price tag.
Ultimately, the PlayStation 3
leaves gamers wanting more. Being able to play PS1 and PS2 games on it is
nice, but they certainly do not take advantage of the high technology within
the system. New games must be created that really use the system’s
abilities; otherwise the PS3 will remain a very expensive, powerful, but
disappointing gaming system.
Information Please® Database, © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
