I have recieved an undisclosed amount of money as a gift. It's enough that I could buy any of the current gen of consoles. There are always a number of things to take into consideration when deciding which system is right for you, especially this time around when it seems like every system is trying to offer something different. I'm personally leaning towards a Wii, and here's why.

Games (No More Heroes, Dragon Quest Swords, Mario Galaxy, RE4) and the GC compatibility means I can put my GC away for now, making more space. That's basically it. The VC is neat, but I'd rather either get the originals or emulate them for free (as Scums makes reference to). The system has its fair share of fair complaints, but I can live with that. If there's games that suck, I just won't buy them.

The 360 was also under consideration, and is still tempting, until I read about its hardware issues on wikipedia, which is never wrong. Apparently MS is coming out with another revision to the hardware (called Jasper) which makes it less brickable by making the GPU run cooler. It's due out in late 2008, so I'd just as soon wait for that one and get it then. Also, every game that comes out for it and gets rave reviews also happens to be one I don't really care about. Yes, there's Blue Dragon and Viva Pinata and other games that I am interested in, but I'll wait for the new board revision before plunking down hundreds of dollars for those.

The PS3 is... Umm... It has games, I think. I'm sure there's something for it I'd like, but nothing comes to mind. I can't say that MGS4 or FF13 get my juices flowing much, nor do DMC4, GTA4, Haze, or pretty much any of the big names. I was interested in Lair until I heard the controls are awful.

Now, this basically means it's Wii vs. 360 for now. I understand that the 3RR problem doesn't affect every single model, but I'd just as soon take as few chances with hardware failure as possible. Does this make sense to anyone else?

The 360 seems to be fine so long as you don't let it overheat. I use a fan-stand, keep it on a wire-rack shelf (along with all my other consoles) as opposed to wedged into an entertainment center, and everything's a-okay. I've had it for...what, almost two years now, and it's not so much as frozen up once. And i do play the hell out of it, it's not uncommon for it to be on several hours at a time.

And if it bricks, Microsoft will replace it for free, you'll just be out a couple weeks of playtime at the worst.

I know i rail against the Wii a lot, but as far as its game library goes, i don't see things getting much better, so you'd better be pretty happy with what's out so far.. I don't think Nintendo even has any promising first-party releases left in the queue now that Wii Fit is out (unless you're super-excited about Animal Crossing). And they have a pretty solid track record as far as abandoning their consoles about two years in.

And the huge amount of unregulated shovelware makes game-shopping a bitch, just like it is for the DS. There's just a constant stream of shit coming out for it, making it hard for retailers that don't know one game from another to keep space for the good stuff. That being said, Kelly started playing Zack & Wiki tonight and it looks awesome. But it's not an exaggeration to say that it's the very first Wii game i've been overly impressed with. Metroid barely works on my tv because of Nintendo's stupid tiny sensor bar, Mario Kart is terrible, and Brawl wasn't any better than Melee. Zelda made me wish i'd gotten the 'Cube version.

About that space thing... I don't have much of it. Getting a new console is tricky just for that fact alone. I suppose I could sandwich a 360 between my PS2 and SMS, but that seems like begging for disaster.

I have no problem finding games I want for the DS, they're just going for more than I'd especially like to pay for them. Sure, there's a truckload of High School Musical, Hannah Montana and mini game shovelware cash ins, but Ninja Gaiden, Final Fantasy 3 and Contra 4 aren't exactly hard to find. Now, just to really drive this point home, here's a list of every game I want by console:

Wii:
Dragon Quest Swords
Okami
Resident Evil 4
Resident Evil Umbrella Chronicles
Super Mario Galaxy
Super Paper Mario
No More Heroes
Alien Syndrome
Zack & Wiki

360:
Blue Dragon
Viva Pinata
Ninja Gaiden 2
Assassin's Creed
Dead Rising
Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga
Beautiful Katamari

The Wii just barely edges out the 360 in terms of personal desirability there, and you'll notice that Metroid, Mario Kart, Brawl and Zelda aren't even part of the equation. Plus with the new 360 board revision coming out later I'm also hoping for a price drop. Like maybe just in time for the holiday season. Maybe.

I will say this though, listing the games I want for each system makes the decision that much harder.

Wasn't Umbrella Chronicles supposed to be pretty terrible? I know i lost interest when i realized that the Wii could never support a proper light gun game...weird gun shell or no, you're always going to have to use an onscreen reticule.

Other than that though, your lists of games for both systems are pretty good. I've played everything on the 360 list except Ninja Gaiden (and own everything but that and Assassin's Creed), and can verify that they're all excellent purchases. Warms my heart to see someone interested in Viva Pinata, that's a great game that never even had a chance. :(

I think you'd also probably really like Mass Effect for the 360, and Bioshock is worth it for atmosphere alone, regardless of how jaded you are towards FPS games. And then there's GTA IV, which is also amazing.

From what I've heard, Mass Effect isn't the sort of game I'd be interested. I've never been a fan of sci-fi unless it involves giant robots that shoot boob missiles at cardboard tokyo, and Yahtzee promises 80 hours of grinding. Bioshock is something I'd consider, but it's not a sure bet for me. Similarly, I'm also considering a bunch of Wii games like Castle of Shikigami 3 and Mercury Meltdown Revolution. I just don't know enough about them to decide if they're what I'd want. When someone says "steampunk shooter that forces you to make difficult moral decisions" it perks my ears up, but not so much that I plunk down money for a pre-order. GTA4 just never had my interest to begin with. What I've heard is Umbrella Chronicles is good for what it is, but light gun games can only have so much depth, so it's not coming anywhere close to being a killer app.

Yeah, I like the premise of Viva Pinata, and I'm comfortable enough in my masculinity that the thought of playing with cute cartoon animals doesn't bother me. This is why I keep wondering if I should try some of the Animal Crossing games.

Anyway, there's still a few weeks before I finalize my decision. I'm forcing myself to beat both God Hand and NeoGeo Battle Coliseum first, and that'll take a LONG time.

On a side note, my Wii wantlist reads like that of a Capcom fanboy...

80 hours of grinding is a sad way to describe Mass Effect, as the story is really good, and not particularly sci-fi heavy, despite the sci-fi heading. Also depending on how you chat up your squad-mates, there are possible romantic encounters, one of which is with a dude. How many games give you that, i ask?

I wholeheartedly endorse the Animal Crossing games, and own all three of them from the Japan-only N64 version up through the DS one. The DS version is the best overall, unless you really want the handful of in-game NES titles that the GC version offers. That was a neat addition, but personally i never made much use of it.

There's also on-and-off talk of an upcoming Wii version, although i don't think Nintendo has committed to a date yet. I'm only cautiously optimistic though, after the crapping-up of so many of their other flagship franchises. I'm sure there will be waggling, and lots of it.

FF7



I only have experience with the GameCube Animal Crossing, but the appeal might be limited. It can be a fun way to kill time, but there aren't really too many goals. Build your house up to the highest level, fill out the museum... and then? You can collect furniture to try to decorate your house as nice as possible. Make sure you play it on certain dates to see different events. Get the NES games. Get the neighbors to swear at each other. Make yourself a t-shirt with a 1-up mushroom on it.

If these appeal to you, it should be worth a try, especially with how cheap the GameCube one probably is now.

Yes, but that was nigh-impossible to do without knowing about it in advance, and wasn't so much a relationship as it was an amusement park ride.

Wait, are you saying Cloud DIDN'T smex Sephiroth? Because I could have sworn that happened in the game.

You're thinking of later in the internet.

I need to kill this joke now before it goes any further...

So you're NOT actually considering getting a Wii?

ba-dum-pshhh

*laugh track*

The Wii would be a decision that you will regret. Especially when all the good games are going on another system. I would say the 360 100% unless you will never plan on buying the other systems, in that case I'd say the PS3 because of Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy Versus XIII. You might not care now, but when those games are actually released, then it'll be a different story. Also, the 360 doesn't have free online. I never cared about online, I had it for 7 months on the 360 and didn't use it once. Now I use it non-stop.

Wait... Why am I going to suddenly start caring about FF13? I'm very doubtful that I will, but I will listen to what you have to say. I just don't really like sci-fi settings much and Nomura's design and directorial styles are really grating on me. I loved Kingdom Hearts when it came out, but Kingdom Hearts 2 wasn't interesting to me at all. It's not that it was a bad game or anything (well... coulda done with less exposition, and the plot was convoluted into a giant knot), I just didn't feel that it was compelling at all. What I want from RPGs is swords and sorcery, MAYBE with a dash of steampunk for variety. This is why I loved Dragon Quest 8 so much. It was exactly what I wanted.

Also, the plan is to eventually own all 3 consoles. This is more of a "which one should I get first?" excersize.