War of Consoles Xbox 360, PS3 or Nintendo Wii

It was a sunny day in the year 1983 when I woke up one morning only to find the entire family gathered in front of the TV chatting in excitement loudly. It was the day I will never forget. It was the day when I first saw a gaming console, ATARI. It was black, with a wood like front and few buttons in front of it. The only gaming console before ATARI was the TV game one in which 2 players had to battle each other fiercely to be crowned tennis or football or even shooting champ. ATARI changed the entire perspective. Shown in multi colors, graphics which resembled choppy blocks of LEGO and a game play which was so exciting that one would indulge in hours of game play.

Fast forward 25 years later, the year 2008. My son wakes up only to see me bring him the latest gaming console, the XBox 360. He is ecstatic. He is jumping around telling me that I am the best dad in the world (I know for him I am as I am the “only dad” he’s got :p ).

Being related to the IT and gaming scene for over a decade now, I have seen these consoles introduced, grow and take over the minds of our youngsters. There are however things which the youngsters should watch out for before they buy a console. The games are almost identical on every console (exception of Wii). Both 360 and PS3 are a great work of engineering, art and design. With games like Far Cry2, Call of Duty MW, Gears of War etc. the consoles have taken over the mark where one would only take these machines as a source of entertainment. Nintendo Wii is now being used in physiotherapy of patients lacking the ability to move their muscles.

Following is the comparison between the consoles, which I think should be considered before making a purchase:

• Game titles: Xbox 360 is the reigning king of game titles with smash hits like PGR, Burnout Revenge, COD4, PoP, NFS series. Although almost all the titles are made for PS3, 360 and PC, Nintendo Wii gets left behind on the title list. Always chose the one with most titles available, this would help keeping the excitement of newer games every now and then.
• Multi Player options: MS has put up XBox 360 Live for the online enthusiasts but it also supports LAN gaming, this making it a more popular choice. Sony has put up their own online servers but LAN gaming is not really popular on it.
• Price: Look out for deals on amazon.com like sites on the consoles, so that the money you spend on these consoles is not an exuberant amount. Kids like anything and everything expensive but parents don’t have to bow down to all their wishes.
• Support: Always make sure that any console you buy have the local support available. If not in the form of the company’s presence, but also can be in the form of tech experts, who can fix your problem.
• Accessories: Although companies do make a good profit out of the accessories they offer but a third party support for accessories is always welcome. Like, if you cannot afford to have an original PS3 controller, you should be able to get the one which is made in China but works on your console. Third party accessories are cheaper than the OEM ones as they are manufactured in bulk volumes due to their low price points.
• Future proof: I know that with kids, anything lasting more than 6 months is considered a good quality product but I must admit that now the quality of these consoles and generally any tech item has decreased as manufacturers are trying to cut back costs due to fierce competition. A console which is recently released has better chances of constant upgrades and updates than the predecessor. XBox (original) and PS2 are the prime example.
• Multi-purpose console: A console which can not only play games but also can store them, play your music, browse the Internet is better than the one with no such support.

My suggestion would be that if you are not a hardcore gamer, then go for Wii. It is exciting, interesting and have variation of games which would not only exercise your mind but your body too. Try it, before you buy it.

So these were the ones from the top of my head. You are more than welcome to add more to the list.

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