Which console?

[Saracen]

I never thought I'd ask this, but I'm actually thinking about buying a console.

Question is .... which one? And which version, where there's various types of deals.

A couple of things.

It will NOT be used for watching movies, so as far as video playback is concerned, I don't care about HD-DVD or Bluray. If there's better software available, or becoming available, on Bluray, then that might be a factor, but I won't be watching movies on it.

I'm also interested in gaming at home with family/friends, but internet gaming isn't of any real appeal and I doubt it'll ever get used, so any online gaming options are of little or no interest.

Given the above ..... XBox or PS3? And why?

[Steve B]

if you're interested in gaming at home with family and friends, why not consider a Wii?

[Parm]

Saracen, I'd go along with Steve B's suggestion on this one.

For a light bit of gaming with friends and family, the Wii is a safe bet. It's lots of fun for all ages, and it's the cheapest of the three consoles. It won't give you high-def movies and its online play is garbage - yet, that's pefect for you!

If the Wii doesn't take your fancy, I'd suggest the Xbox 360. My reasoning would be that you don't seem overly keen on consoles, and the 360 can be picked up at a decent price from most places. Similarly, its games are available on-the-cheap and there's plenty of good games to choose from.

One thing I would add, however, is that the Xbox 360 doesn't offer the best local play. There are some exceptions, but its best games, in my opinion, are online titles. It's a console that revolves around Xbox Live.

The PS3, in my opinion, is still a purchase for those who need a blu-ray player and a games console in one. It doesn't yet have the games catalogue to match the 360 (though its getting better) and if you've no need for blu-ray, it might be priced too high.

I've had a quick look, and this seems a good value choice for you: http://www.shopto.net/page.php?page=...codart=XB2AR02

That's an Xbox 360 Arcade console, for £139.99! People will say its useless as its the cheapest Xbox model going, but I disagree. It comes with a wireless controller, memory card, some live arcade games and the console. If you don't plan on playing online, it's the right Xbox 360 to get.

[Ferral]

I went through the same when purchasing my console. In the end opted for the 360 as the PS3 was way overpriced at the time and not interested in playing movies on it at all.

I also considered what games were available and the 360 had the titles I wanted. Also storage was another thing and once again the 360 came with a hard disc so downloadable retro games can be bought (still yet to do though! )

My wife won the Wii in a work competition about 2 months ago. I like it but must admit not overly keen on Wiimote for control. I prefer a proper handheld controller. Mind you loving the old C64 stuff on it so it thats what I use it for now.

Personally I would say look at the games available and go for the console that has the titles you want to be playing. Both 360 and PS3 have their own exclusive titles, thing is though the PS3 exclusives like MGS4 and so on don't interest me. Another downside to the PS3 games are that they are still a little pricey in comparrison to the 360 (GTA4 aside on that argument).

Me and my wife have been talking about a PS3 past few weeks but decided against as it would just end up being a glorified Blu Ray player.

[PenguinJim]

If you've got a great PC, Saracen, be aware that a lot of X-Box 360 titles will immediately be redundant. I've almost picked up a 360 a couple of times in the past, but I just can't justify it for Dead Rising, Halo 3, and playing GTAIV a bit earlier. Gears of War, Viva Pinata, Mass Effect, Call of Duty 4, and all the other great '360' games - all on PC and arguably better.

I picked up a Wii and have found it to be entirely separate from my PC, and a lot of fun - especially with friends & family. Wii Sports, Wii Play, Rayman Raving Rabbids, Wii Fit - all great family/party games. Don't forget there is also perfect Gamecube emulation.

Why not consider a Playstation 2? Even cheaper, and with a huge library of great games, especially if you like your J-RPGs. There are party games too, like that Eye Toy thing and those other ones. You can get a PS2 on eBay for £30-40, and I wuv my wickle PS2. Shadow of the Colossus, Persona 3, the Final Fantasies, Shadow Hearts: Covenant, Odin Sphere, Rogue Galaxy, Transformers (I kid ye not - the non-movie Transformers game on PS2 is brilliant)... there are tons of great PS2 games, and they don't cost £30+ like Wii and 360 titles.

[Saracen]

Lots of interesting perspectives. And things to think about.

Re: the Wii. Actually, I didn't mention it, but I am thinking about it. The wife fancies one, and the WiiFit (when they can be found at sensible prices). And who knows, I might use it too. But, in relation to the WiiFit, my concern is whether it'll get used a lot until the novelty wears off then stuck in a cupboard and forgotten, or whether we'd use it long-term.

But whether the Wii will do what I have in mind re: general gaming? Dunno. The idea of the console is as below. If the right games exist for Wii, then fine, that may be the solution. If not, it may well be a Wii (as above) and XBox/PS3.


Re: PC gaming, the idea, PenguinJim, is to be able to game away from the PC. The idea (and tell me if it's naive) is that instead of faffing about with installations and so forth, I can turn a console on, shove the disk in and go.

Also, I have a collection of PCs of varying spec, but they're in two homes offices, not in the lounge. And I don't want a PC in the lounge. The idea of the console is that I can sit in comfort, perhaps with friends, and have a blast on the TV.

As for games, I'm thinking of Quake/Half-life type games where I can blast away, and perhaps a racing game or two, and maybe a flight-sim. Most sports sims, etc, interest me not at all (though there may be an exception or two), and I wouldn't lay things like football games if you paid me. I do enjoy the NeverWinter Nights type of game, and things like Thief, but for that, I'll be settling in for a bit more of a session, so it'll be PC gaming.

As for the PS2? I'd need convincing. Firstly, I don't have a lot of time for Ebay. It's too much faffing about. I'd rather pop down the high street and just buy what I want. Secondly, I don't want to lock myself out of forthcoming titles, and buying into the last generation is certainly a way of saving money, but I'm not sure it'll achieve the object of the exercise. Or will it????

[PenguinJim]

Gamestation sell used PS2s. I'd be surprised if you couldn't buy first-hand PS2s in high street stores, though, as the PS2 was very recently still outselling the PS3 - possibly still is?

Lots of games still coming out on PS2 - Persona 3: FES just came out a few weeks ago (in the US, still not had its European release), not to mention most multi-format titles like... umm... Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, Iron Man, Hulk. Hmmm. Marvel titles, I guess. The PS2 still has many new releases, and I'm almost 100% certain that one or two of them have nothing to do with Marvel.

What you've said does raise one fairly crucial question though... first person shooters on a joypad? Is that OK with you?

Your last few paragraphs almost exactly say that you want a console that does what a PC does as well as what a Wii does. I'd say get a Wii for the stuff the Wii does, and get a comfier office chair for the stuff the PC does. Win win! If you really can't be arsed with installs, can handle joypad controls and simplified versions of games, then Wii60 it is.

[Saracen]

Gamestation sell used PS2s. I'd be surprised if you couldn't buy first-hand PS2s in high street stores, though, as the PS2 was very recently still outselling the PS3 - possibly still is?

Lots of games still coming out on PS2 - Persona 3: FES just came out a few weeks ago (in the US, still not had its European release), not to mention most multi-format titles like... umm... Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, Iron Man, Hulk. Hmmm. Marvel titles, I guess. The PS2 still has many new releases, and I'm almost 100% certain that one or two of them have nothing to do with Marvel.

It still feels like I'm buying in to the last generation, which I guess is because I am. It's worth looking at that option, though. Thanks for that.

What you've said does raise one fairly crucial question though... first person shooters on a joypad? Is that OK with you?

Well ...... dunno. It's been a long time since I used a joypad. But if my last experience is anything to go by, no, it isn't OK. I found it frustrating as hell.

Your last few paragraphs almost exactly say that you want a console that does what a PC does as well as what a Wii does. I'd say get a Wii for the stuff the Wii does, and get a comfier office chair for the stuff the PC does. Win win! If you really can't be arsed with installs, can handle joypad controls and simplified versions of games, then Wii60 it is.

The whole point is that I want a gaming option that doesn't involve either my PC or my office. One of the reasons I've not done much gaming in recent years is that I don't want to spend all day in the office working and all evening in it playing. The whole point of even thinking about consoles (which I never thought I would) is to get away from both PCs and the office.

If I can't get the type of gaming I want from a console, then I guess it implies I just accept that I'm not going to be doing much gaming. Maybe that's why I've avoided them for so long.

[Ferral]

I really don't think you could go wrong with the 360 as it does have a large catalogue of games.

I got a few decent titles with mine included in the price which would be right up your street :

Forza 2
The Darkness
Halo3
Viva Pinata

I have also purchased or received :

Assasins Creed
Lost Planet
Mass Effect
Bully

Only game that I'm not overly keen on is Viva Pinata, due to its bright colours it gives me a bouncing headache after playing for about an hour. Also not really into micro management type games that much so it frustrates me.

Assasins Creed is by far my favourite game out of all of them. Took me a few weeks to play through it doing all the missions and everything else (bar flag collecting and killing all the templars), awesome game.

At least with a console you can just park yourelf on the sofa and away you go for as little or as much as you want. I have always really been a PC person but the hardware is moving forward so fast now that its impossible to keep up with it financially just to run the latest at a decent visual level and acceptable framerate.

[directhex]

As for games, I'm thinking of Quake/Half-life type games where I can blast away, and perhaps a racing game or two, and maybe a flight-sim. Most sports sims, etc, interest me not at all (though there may be an exception or two), and I wouldn't lay things like football games if you paid me. I do enjoy the NeverWinter Nights type of game, and things like Thief, but for that, I'll be settling in for a bit more of a session, so it'll be PC gaming.

360. based on this part, anyway.

[pollaxe]

As someone who cannot co-ordinate thumbs and fingers to operate the usual PS3/X-Box style controllers I would say that if I were to buy a console it'd be a Wii.

A friend owns one and a bunch of us often have 'Wii Nights' (usually Wii Sports) which are always tremendous fun. I'm only an occasional gamer and I've never been able to use the controllers as mentioned above. I did however, get on quite well on a 360 with the Guitar Hero guitar thing (the one I was good at was the Alice in Chains tune - I think it was Dam that River - because I already knew the bassline!)

[directhex]

see, that's a problem - from the descriptions given, the wii is the canonical "family console", but is broadly useless for the "serious" gamer

the 360's not so hot for multiple beginners playing (though there ARE titles like guitar hero or scene it, i suppose, and equally the ps3 has singstar) but there's value to be had in shared single-player, depending on the age groups involved (e.g. dead rising is at least as much fun as watching a zombie film in a group)

[Ferral]

Yeah, not forgetting games like Gears of War and HALO 3 have 2 player simultaneous play through the games main campaign. Must admit it is quite fun, HALO 3 on the level where you have to get to the top of the tower and fend off the Flood while the door is opening is mayhem. Even better when there are 2 of you blasting away.

[tigerboyce]

360.

all what was said above is what i would have said so I'm not going to waste time re-typing it all out...

But one other main point that i was going to say was the PSN is SLOOOOOOOOOW, downloading the updates takes forever... then they have to get installed which is again the same ontop of that. The 360 updates take hardly any time at all and your away. Other than that, Live is a hell of a lot better implemented and works a whole lot better.

[Saracen]

Other than that, Live is a hell of a lot better implemented and works a whole lot better.

If Live is what I think it is from a quick look at it, it doesn't interest me at all. If I found I had friends with the same console I end up with (if I end up with one) I might have an occasional session online with them, but in practice, I've been able to do that with most of my PC gaming friends for years, and it rarely happens. We had a brief flurry of playing Crimson Skies, and a bit of MotoGP, a few years back. It lasted a few weeks with a session two or three times a week. Since then, I can't think of the last time I bothered. The chances of me buying a subscription service for online gaming = zero. Or less. It's just not my thing.

And of my gaming friends, I think one has an XBox, but that's the only console any of us have.

With a mate or two sitting in my lounge, blasted away at creatures or hurtling round some rasce-track, yes, multiplayer gaming may well get used. I doubt it'll get used too often, but it might get used. But online? Rarely, if ever. It's so unlikely it's not a consideration and I'd not be influenced by that if one console did it and the other wasn't capable of it at all.

[Saracen]

The controller question raises an entirely noob question, though. Are there no joystick-type controllers for consoles? If not, is it that the hardware doesn't support it or that games are execting button-press only type input?

The reason I ask is that I had a PC game a while back, and I can't remember for sure what it was but I think it was a Colin McRae rally game, where even with a joystick, the vehicle responses seemed to be digital ... i.e. jerky. NO amount of subtle, gentle joystick movement seemed to give a smooth vehicle response to input. I'm used to getting the feel of a game, ad that be it a MotoGP bike or an aircraqft in an "accurate" simulator, it's easy to overdo a response, then have to correct it, then have to correct the correction, etc. It wasn't that. It was just that the control system seemed jerky .... and it wasn't just me. It ruined the game for me and friends, and after a few attempts, it got stuck on the shelf and never touched again.

If my only method of controlling is going to result in that type of experience, I'll just abandon the whole idea, because it was no fun at all.