Me time? Wii time.

Okay. Lame title and it probably made you facepalm, I'm sure. But look at it this way: the boys have covered the PS3 and the XBox 360. I'm left with the fun little box of white plastic and wiring and god-only knows what else to make that little baby work.

The Nintendo Wii is white. Yes, it's a very small console and it's white. It's actually really cute, in my female opinion. Also, if we want to talk about form and function, it works out well. The power button and eject buttons are literally on the front of the console. And unless you're playing Wii Tennis in front of the console, there would be no reason for you to accidentally shut it off. Should you have a little sibling that likes to yank on power cords....I'm afraid there is nothing I can do to help you.

While the boys go into what goes into the plastic shell of our lovely gaming bits, I'm afraid that I can't. Simply because I don't actually understand it. At all. I have my Wii for one reason and one reason only. I play my games. And to be completely frank, it does its job well. The motion detecting strip was a great idea. Though, admittedly, the muscle burn after playing too much Wii Tennis, is NOT. (Laugh all you want. But, I burned some semi-serious calories playing.)

There are two controllers to the Wii. You've got the controller you actually NEED, then the nunchuck add on. If you're boxing, you want/need the nunchuck. There are a few (well, more than a few) games that require the nunchuck for added function and mobility. However, I rarely play those games at all.

The Wii controller works and well, but I miss the good old days of clunky controllers that actually fit in your hand. The Wii remote is fairly slim and small. It's about half the size of the DS lite. And for whatever reason, when you use it like a normal horizontal controller, feels awkward.

I'm ignoring a good part of the Wii though. It's backwards compatible with the Game Cube. Yes, the discs are half the size. They still fit; they don't get lost; they still play just as amusingly as they did before.

Do I think that the Wii is a good substitute for the XBox 360 or PS3?

...No.

Then again, in all fairness, I own neither the PS3 or XBox 360, so I cannot compare the three consoles properly. Have I played on all three at some point....My epic failure at Halo 3 says "yes." Long story short, all three consoles are brilliant, for completely different reasons.

The Wii is for fun time and random party games that make no sense at all except to giggle and have a fun time. If you want something more serious, something for a far better range of "serious" games, I'd shell out money for either of the other two systems. Don't get me wrong, I love my Wii, but there is only so many times I can play Super Mario Galaxy before I have a craving for some Final Fantasy OR, better yet, the comedic relief my Halo-playing provides.

Courtney out. And....probably to go get her Wii time. Sigh.

Posted by Varnish Vixen at 7:20 AM

Playstation 3 - Too Much, Too Late?

Now that we’ve reviewed a fair bit of “serious” technology, lets move onto something a bit more fun. My generation was raised on television and video games; ask almost anyone and you’ll find that they used to play a Nintendo or Gameboy. Today, there are far more choices and the “next-gen” console wars are in full swing. I’ll admit outright that I’m a Xbox 360 owner and lover, but now that I’ve spent some time with a Playstation 3 I’d like to offer some perspective on both its strengths and weaknesses. Look at how pretty it is...



For the uninitiated, there are three next gen consoles, they are: Xbox 360 (360), Playstation 3 (PS3), and the Nintendo Wii (Wii). Only the 360 and PS3 offer gamers a true multiplayer experience and both have larger market shares than do the Wii. So, lets get started on what makes the PS3 a true contender.

The latest rendition of the Playstation boasts the most impressive hardware capability. With a triple core processor running at 3.2GHz, built in blue ray player, and GDDR3 RAM, today’s youth have the equivalent of a supercomputer running their everyday entertainment. The PS3 also sports built in Bluetooth, HDMI, wireless, and integrated media center. Spec wise, there is no contest between what this bad boy has to offer and the other contender, the 360.

Aesthetically, both are big hunks of plastic. The 360 is white (or black if you shelled out some heavy cash for the “elite” version) and the PS3 is black. The Playstation that I tested is the newest slimed version. It features a reduced footprint, more rounded edges, and removes the distinct chrome accents. The power and eject button are both easily accessed and yet unlikely to be hit my mistake – a definite plus if you ask me.

Moving deeper, I found the interface to be rather intuitive, however the nested categories caused me some consternation if I was searching for a very specific command. The guide responded smoothly and efficiently, with little to no hang. This was especially true when I networked the PS3 with my laptop wirelessly. It loaded my music and media flawlessly. Unfortunately, the Playstation indicated that some of my files were unreadable. They ran perfectly well on my computer, so I’m not sure what the PS3’s problem was. I guess it was simply the ghost in the system.
Arguably, the most important feature of a console is its game library. Unfortunately for the PS3, the 360 hit the scene early and cornered a lot of titles. There are several PS3 exclusives, Killzone and Resistance both come to mind, that offer features and characteristics comparable to the genre leaders. In many ways, PS3 was limited by the fact that it was the last of the next gen consoles. For my part, I wasn’t able to find many games worth paying for – which is why I don’t own the Playstation.

The Playstation is a solid gaming console. Hands down it has the best features of the bunch, but just because it has all the bells and whistles doesn’t make it the best choices. A limited selection of games keeps the system from realizing its true potential while a hefty price tag discourages the average gamer. Recently, Sony had rectified this to some extent by lowering the cost of the system, but it is still the most expensive. Build quality and interface are both above average and well above expectation. Probably the biggest reason to purchase a Playstation is for the blue ray player, which alone allow the system to compete not only with consoles but also HD DVD players.

Posted by Steve at 7:51 PM

Microsoft Xbox 360

While the Xbox 360 is no longer a brand new gaming console, it is still one of the best out there, competing with the Sony Playstation, and the Nintendo Wii.

The Xbox 360 comes in two flavors, Standard and Elite.  To be clear, this is a review of the standard Xbox 360.  The Elite comes with a much larger (160 GB) hard drive, is black in appearance, and has an HDMI cable for improved picture quality.  The standard Xbox 360 is white, and is roughly the size of a large textbook.  It is semi-stylish looking due to its subtle curves, but doesn't look overly modern or out of place. 

The internals, however, are very impressive for any computer.  It boasts three 3.2 GHz processors, 512 MB of 700 MHz GDDR3 Ram, and a detachable 20 GB hard drive (which, as mentioned earlier, can be upgraded or exchanged).  The 360 is a lean, mean, game-playing machine that will be pushing the limits of game designers for some time.  Microsoft wanted their console to have the components necessary to be able to run the latest, most demanding games for some time -- so long in fact that the company was willing to take a 125 dollar loss on each console sold. 

If Microsoft expects the console to remain relevant for long, great games need to be released constantly so that users do not lose interest.  Thankfully for 360 users, this has remained true.  The Halo series, which helped the original xbox, is still selling very well on the Xbox 360.  Other games, such as Fallout 3, Brutal Legends, and Madden 10 (all released on other platforms as well) have helped keep the Xbox 360 community alive and well. 

While the games are great, the feature that sets the 360 apart from its competitors is Xbox Live, a system of playing online games against people across the world.  Live runs across games, so regardless of which game a user happens to be playing, it is still possible to communicate with another user who is playing a completely separate game.  Live also features a friends system, voice communication, customizable avatars, and downloadable content (such as game demos, music videos, game trailers, etc).  Furthermore, Microsoft has teamed up with Netflix so that Xbox Live users can stream movies over their 360 at any time with a Netflix account.  Gameplay on Xbox Live is easy to understand, and typically runs without lag. 

But the Xbox 360 doesn't stop there.  It can play DVDs, and stream music, movies, or pictures from computers on the same network.  This means that the Xbox 360 is a complete home entertainment system.  It can play music, show movies, communicate with friends, and play video games. 

Controlling all of this is the Xbox 360 controller, which is comfortable to hold and easy to use.  The batteries tend to ware out quickly with these controllers though, so always keep a couple AA batteries around. 

The Xbox 360 is a solid entertainment system.  It is basically like a specialized computer -- so much in fact, that it will behave like a computer from time to time.  This means locking up, and potentially overheating.  Microsoft had a problem with the 360, known as the Red Ring of Death, which received a lot of attention from the media.  I have had the Red Ring of Death on a 360 console, but Microsoft fixed it for free (including shipping AND packaging).  While it was a hassle, I was pleased that it didn't cost me anything. 

Having used the 360 for a few years, I am very impressed, especially with the leaps and bounds that Microsoft was able to make in making Xbox Live seem so integrated with the console.  Look past some of the old technical problems (have been addressed and fixed in new 360s), and you have a very solid console that can do way more than play games. 

Thank you to gamingconsolenetwork.com and Brown University for the images. 

Posted by Sean at 6:36 PM