pinguhk

Get the wii for her and the wii fit too she will love it.
my wife and the 2 kids love it, I love it for the mini games and the sports 1 like golf.

Russ1974

You can't compare the Wii to the PS3 and 360. You can compare the PS3 vs 360, but the Wii is totally different.

It would be like saying, "which would you buy, a BMW 530d, an Audi A6 3.0d, or a Bicycle?".

The Wii is good fun, but the graphics and processing power suck. Does that mean it's a bad machine? Hell no, it's great. But would I buy one _instead_ of a PS3 or 360? No way.

I have two Wii's, two PS3's, and one 360. Why so many, well we are having our garage turned in to a 2nd living room/music room/games room for the kids - and no way are they pinching my consoles from the main living room, so I had to double up! When deciding whether to put a PS3 or 360 in the 2nd room, my decision was made because the PS3 is also a BluRay player. It also looks, physically, so much cooler than the 360, which looks quite cheap and tacky externally.

You can't argue that the 360 has the better range of games, it's bound to be like that because it's been out longer. But the PS3 is growing and there are plenty of great titles available. As it stands though, if you're a "hard core gamer", you need all three consoles. Anybody who starts arguing about "which is best" just doesn't get it

BetterMakeWay

Ok, i kind of understand your point of view.

In fact i've seen another one comparing video gaming consoles with cars. I thought at first...hmmm...how childish i that but in a way it's true. As he said Wii is your tricked out honda civic, the Xbox360 your average luxury saloon car, and the PS3 the full blown Ferrari. Anyway, i thought the same thing of getting a PS3 also but i don't know if i ever will detach from PC gaming since i dunno for instance it would be so weird to use the game pad and not the mouse in FPS like CoD4. So that's my reason, but i think the GT5 and blu-ray for my sony kdl-52x.

But from a marketing point of view i think it's fair to compare them. As others pointed out, some people will not have the buget to buy both consoles, let alone all 3 of them. I don't even think of how many people have 5 consolesin their home like you Russ. So in a way it's fair to say that many will opt for one or two the most. Besides that the average mom or granny who enters the store in search for a present for the kids what do you think will choose from!? I bet many of them will choose the Wii strictly based on the price tag, and the unbeatable interactivity. Saying this i think it's even more the case of comparing all those two because they address the same market. Cheers !

Russ1974

I still disagree that it's fair to compare all three. You can't say that you can compare them and then discount the 360 and PS3 because of budget. Going back to cars, again it's like saying "I am going to buy either a Ford, a Ferrari or a Lamborghini. I am not ruling out any of them, but my budget is $15,000 and I want a diesel". The Wii is not the same as the 360/PS3, never will be, never intends to be, and never should be.

A _GOOD_ parent will by the console based on the one their kid(s) are asking for (and deserves, of course!!), not what they think is best. If budget is an issue and the kid desperately wants a PS3 or 360, you may aswell buy nothing rather than the Wii because it's just nothing like the others and you'll be wasting your money. Like I said (a few times), the Wii is good, but a totally different machine.

UUronL

The idea of "fairness" when comparing anything is rooted in the audience making the comparison.

Clearly for the hardcore gamer, the Wii is lacking - it can't play the newest titles with the shiny whiz-bang 3d engines. So if that's your frame of reference - your use case, it would be idiotic to compare the Wii with a PC, 360, or PS3.

If however, you are a household with no gaming system - then comparing all three not only seems natural, it's recommended. The stark difference is the very thing that Nintendo has been capitalizing on. They have had nearly 40% revenue growth since the Wii's introduction. There isn't that much new revenue in the traditional gaming market - meaning they've created -new- gamers. People who -didn't- play games before are now buying and playing video games.


Permit me to travel down the path of car analogy... Let's say that 2 family men and one bachelor are in the market for cars and are discussing them. The two family men are talking station wagons and SUVs. The single guy starts talking about a 911. The 2 family men say "wait man, whoa - they're totally different... you can't compare them!!!"


Think about it - a bachelor -could- compare them and select any of the three cars -because his needs are less focused-. Similarly, a non-gaming or casual gaming household or person could easily compare the 360, PS3, and Wii... despite the shortcomings and differences perceived by the hardcore gamer.

BetterMakeWay

Very well put and i agree. The same stuff i was trying to express but better said.

Conclusion: I need to have both Wii and PS3. That way one i play the interactive and super fun wii even with my folks or my gaming clueless gf and on the other hand have the full blown 3d features and functions of the PS3 for the graphic lover inside me.
IMO one cannot substitue another. That's available BOTH ways ---> sony ps3 isn't so interactive, produces the same laughter and sweat like wii. The other side is clear.

525iEnjoy

Wii is the Nintendo Gameboy(gray screen) of the bunch, PS3 & Xbox 360 are like Toyota and Ford vying to be #1. Wii did a great job marketing too parents and actually sold them which I find hard to do, I don't think cereal companies did that LOL.

I thought i would never see the day when parents wanted to play video games and I say that cause if you were a gamer in the late 80's how many times have you heard parents voice thier displeasure and say shouldnt you be outside playing. i know some of us here have had that lecture.


So I give PS3 the edge slightly over Xbox and Wii should be for kids 12 and under.

UUronL

Correct - just as a family man might have a family truckster, and then a fun sports car (if he's lucky).

Russ1974

No no no. I consider myself a hardcore gamer. I love the Wii. Gaming is about _playing games_. The Wii has some excellent titles. But then the PS3 and Xbox have some excellent games where graphics are a very important aspect, something the Wii can't keep up with.
Why not also include the PSP, DS Lite, Playstation 2 ... and whilst you're at it, Dreamcast, Nintendo 64, Sega Saturn - all of which are easily available on the internet with games from about 50p each (and I don't mean second hand, you can still get them new and sealed!).
Yes they are. People who would never have bought a PS3 or XBOX 360. So where is the comparison? If the Wii didn't exist, they wouldn't have thought "oh well, I'll buy a PS3 / 360 instead". This proves that they are too different to warrant comparison, not the other way round.
That doesn't make sense at all. You have to have at least one constant when making a comparison, by mixing product choice _and_ customer type, there is no constant, and any comparison arguments don't make sense.
So what you are saying is somebody without any experience of what they are buying could compare all three. Yes they could, but they SHOULDNT and that's the whole point. A (stereotypical) mum with no idea about gaming could go in to a shop and say "ooh, three consoles, I'll have the... WHITE ONE, it's cheaper and they all do the same thing don't they!". Or, they could come on to a forum like this, ask a question, get some good advice about how they are totally different, and then make an educated choice based on their new knowledge, rather than being told that they are all comparable products which they just simply are not. Just in the same way that if a guy went on to a car forum and said "I'm thinking about getting a 911", people wouldn't turn round and say "are you sure? Have you not thought about a station wagon or SUV?" ...

Russ1974

EXACTLY !!! One does not _REPLACE_ the other, they are totally different things which cannot be compared, if you had a need for the two completely different things (e.g., PS3/360 or Wii), you get BOTH, you only decide between them if budget is an issue !!!