David Hurst

Three next-gen consoles, two of which I own. The web is thoroughly saturated with enthusiastic gamers swearing allegiance to one of the mighty three to the total exclusion of all others. Personally, I think what we have here are three different, and very nice, consoles to choose from - it’s a buyer’s market, and most people want to get the most gaming bang for their buck. So, I’m going to look at this from the viewpoint of the prospective purchaser.

First of all, let’s look at cost (please bear in mind that these are the RRPs and if you shop around you will almost certainly get a good bundle deal):

XBox 360
Basically you get two package choices here: core system, or; premium system. I bought the latter because it features a wireless controller instead of a wired version, a headset (for Live! - more on this later), component AV cable for HD, and a 20Gb hard disk. I think all of these things are necessary for a proper next generation gaming experience, but if money is tight, you can buy the core system and then purchase the additional items later on. So, the prices are:

£199.99 - Core System; £279.99 - Premium System

You don’t get any games for that money though, unless you can find a package deal. Microsoft are also releasing an Elite system which includes a 120Gb disk and HDMI connectivity.
Playstation 3
The PS3 comes with a 60Gb hard disk and one controller.

£424.99

Nintendo Wii
In the box you will find a wireless remote, nunchuck attachment and Wii Sports (a collection of surprisingly entertaining mini games).

£179.99

A note on performance…
Gamers looking for raw power and graphics performance will no doubt rule out the Wii. Whilst Microsoft and Sony slug it out in the brute force stakes, Nintendo has gone down a completely different route, opting instead to improve the way we interact with games rather then the improve the level of detail provided. The Wii’s graphics performance is fine, but it won’t blow you away. If you can keep an open mind though, I would encourage you to try one. The motion sensor technology is brilliant, and mine always has me in fits of laughter as I swing my controller around to hack and slash in Zelda, or perfect my swing in Wii Sports Golf. The last time I enjoyed gaming this much was 4 player Mario Kart on the N64.

Putting the Wii aside for a minute, many people are wondering just which is more powerful for graphics performance: XBox 360 or Playstation 3. The general feeling is that it’s the Playstation. However, when you look at the actual figures Sony have published and look at the way the system is designed, you will find that it has bottlenecks in the GPU, which make it’s abilities inferior to the 360 when it comes to effects. There are many game developers and techies that support this statement if you care to spend some time on Google. So, whilst on paper the PS3 seems to have the edge, in truth there’s probably nothing in it. Nothing that any gamer is ever going to notice anyway.

Thinking back to the previous generation of consoles, the XBox had the most power, followed by PS2 and Game Cube coming in last. I owned both an XBox and a Game Cube and I played the PS2, and I saw PS2 games that looked better than XBox and vice versa. I also saw stunning graphics on the Game Cube (Metroid Prime for example) that simply proves that much of the visual appearance is down to the game designers, not the power of the console.

So, I’m not going to get hung up on power - this is about an experience. You are paying your money for entertainment value. Kind of like going to the cinema - a movie with a hundred million dollar budget does not necessarily provide a better entertainment experience than a ten million dollar movie, as is often the case.

Another thing that concerns me is the amount of time that must be invested to make games so realistic - does this inevitably reduce the level of attention paid to innovation and gameplay? For certain, it does increase the price of games.

Instead, let’s look at the other features of each console and how they will affect the overall experience.

Disc Drive
All 3 machines use a different format. XBox 360 has a DVD drive (with a HD-DVD drive option available for viewing movies only). Sony make much of the fact their system has a Blu-Ray drive - this is the technology competing with HD-DVD, in which Sony of course has a huge stake. This does mean that the PS3 can play HD movies (if you can find any on Blu-Ray format) right out of the box. Blu-Ray has a huge capacity, but it is highly unlikely any game will ever get anywhere near using all of it, and such a game would be prohibitively expensive. Don’t get fooled by the big numbers. The 360, unlike its XBox pre-decessor will now play DVD movies without the need to purchase a seperate remote, although these are still available.

The Nintendo Wii in contrast does not play DVDs or CDs as it has a proprietary optical disc drive, which does somewhat limit its use as a home entertainment hub. However, the optical disc does have excellent read times, and this helps your overall game experience as loading times are reduced. Additionally, the clever slot loading drive will also take the small Game Cube optical discs.

Game Support
XBox 360 has a huge library of titles, although they seem to be all first person shooters, driving games, or sports games. I’m a big fan of driving games and Project Gotham 3 on the 360 is about as realistic as they come, but first person shooters without a mouse is for me a no-no. What the XBox catalogue always seems to lack is originality (with the possible exception of Viva Pinata) - something Nintendo has never suffered from. Admittedly, there is a lot of cutesy pap in the Nintendo collection, but there are also a lot of wacky original games that are great fun.

The Playstation 3 is the new kid on the block, so game support is limited at present, though that will of course change soon enough.

Backwards Compatibility
Full marks to Wii on this one - it’s totally compatible with Game Cube, even to the point of providing sockets for controllers and memory cards. Brilliant move. One that Microsoft failed with. Not all original XBox games will play on the 360, and some that are listed as compatible have jerky gameplay that isn’t much fun.

I’m told that Playstation 3 is compatible with both Playstation 2 and PSone, which if true, is a very nice feature indeed and more than makes up for the lack of PS3 games available at the moment.

Controller
This is perhaps a personal thing, as I have never liked the Playstation controller. The lack of analogue triggers makes driving games much less realistic.
By far the most comfortable conventional controller I have ever used is the XBox 360’s. Different hand sizes and personal preference are the overriding factor here though, so you need to decide what you’re comfortable with.

The Wii remote is very easy to use. It works both as a pointer with infra-red and as a motion sensor via bluetooth. It does also have a few buttons for basic controls. The thumb stick is on the nunchuck which plugs into the Wii remote. The nunchuck too has motion sensors - great for boxing games! Also, you can buy a classic controller which has been made for the arcade games you download. This connects via a short cable to the Wii remote, effectively making it wireless. As if that wasn’t enough, you can also plug in up to 4 Game Cube controllers for playing both Game Cube games and downloaded titles.

Wii and XBox 360 both support 4 player action, whereas the Playstation 3 can handle 7 simultaneous players (presumably you will also need a TV the size of your local Odeon screen to use this feature).

Save Game Memory
If you have the hard disk on the XBox then you will have loads of space, if not, you’re limited to memory cards. The Playstation 3 has a 60Gb disk, so plenty of space there. Wii on the other hand has no hard disk, but it does have an SD slot (as does the PS3), so lots of memory can be obtained cheaply. The system itself also has 512MB internal memory and there are two slots for Game Cube memory cards, which can only be used with GC games.

USB
All the consoles have USB ports but their use is limited. On the XBox 360 you can plug in an iPod and control it via your XBox with the lovely on-screen visualisations. There is a free download that adds compatibility for playing AAC encoded tracks. I’ve found that useful, but I haven’t tried anything on the other consoles.

Network and Wi-Fi
The PS3 has both a 1Gbit ethernet port and wi-fi. The XBox 360 has a 100Mbit ethernet port and you can optionally buy a wi-fi adapter. The Wii has built-in wi-fi and you can optionally buy a USB ethernet adapter.

Online Functionality
All the consoles have online functionality. Hook up to your broadband router and off you go. I’ve not used the PS3 online so I don’t know the full extent of that. Likewise, I don’t have any Wii games that involve online play, however I have used the online features. Wii Online has a shop where you can buy old classic games from the NES, SNES, N64 (yes Mario Kart 64 is there!!), Sega Megadrive (Genesis) and TurboGrafx 16. You will need either a Game Cube controller or a Classic controller to play these downloaded games though.

The XBox is really king of the online gaming world by virtue of its excellent Live! service. This is a subscription service that costs £40 per year, but I feel it is worth it. Don the headset and start playing online - you’ll be chatting with other players on your team or verbally abusing your opponents. Great fun. In addition, there are lots of arcade and old classic games available to purchase from the online store.

What the XBox lacks is a web browser. The Wii has one and it’s great to use with the remote working something like a mouse moving the pointer on screen.

Appearance
Again, a lot of personal preference involved here. The Playstation 3 is big and I don’t like the look of it or the shiny plastic. I’m not keen on the way they just used the Spiderman movie font for the logo - it’s rubbish.

XBox 360 looks okay, but it is still quite large. I have mine stood on it’s end because I like it better that way. You can make it look much more tacky by buying replacement front covers. Personally, I wouldn’t bother.

Wii looks the best. Small, with sharp defined lines in a nice white case. Looks the business, especially with the nice slot loading drive lighting up neon blue. I was disappointed with the need to stick an infra-red sensor bar to my TV, though I fortunately have a silver TFT that perfectly matches the sensor bar.

Party Gaming
This is something Nintendo has always pushed and something I didn’t get until I bought my Wii. Playing with other people on XBox live is fun, but playing with other people in the same room is better, particularly if it’s a stupid game and everyone is making an ass out of themselves with the Wii remote. I don’t think Xbox 360 or PS3 offers nearly as much in this department.

Which is Best?
Ask three different people, get three different answers. My suggestion is that you play all three and do your homework before parting with your hard-earned cash. However, you can buy an XBox 360 AND a Nintendo Wii for less than the price of a Playstation 3, which is exactly what I’ve done. Get two great gaming experiences for the price of one. That doesn’t mean I think the PS3 is no good, I just think the other two represent far better value for money in terms of the amount of entertainment you will get from them.

At the moment the Wii is outselling both XBox 360 and PS3, with PS3 also being beaten by XBox 360. But the XBox 360 has sold many more than the other two put together in total. Of course, it has been around longer.

Wiis are hard to find, but at time of writing Game in the UK have them in stock. www.game.co.uk or visit your local store.

I welcome comments on your experience, but I’m not interested in hosting any kind of power arguments here. Zealots can go elsewhere to worship their consoles and spit on anyone who disagrees.