The Nintendo Wii is Awesome (and the PS3 ain't bad, either)
First off, let it be known-- I don't play video games. I really haven't been interested in video games since Super Nintendo. However, I live with a man (boy?), which means that we have video game systems. And of course, with all of the hype about the PS3 and the Nintendo Wii, my man (boy?) had to have them both. There's no such thing as waiting for Santa Claus with him. So, on Saturday a PS3 arrived from Houston, and today a Wii arrived via the JC Penney catalog. (Yeah, no one else knew that they were selling them either....guess that's why it wasn't so hard to order one). As a non-gamer female, I thought I would offer up my opinions of both systems just in case you're looking for something to buy your man (boy?) for Christmas.
The Wii is awesome, in my opinion. Although it will only support up to 480p in terms of graphics, the system itself is nice and small, and the setup is a breeze. It also supports Dolby Digital surround sound, so you can listen to that great Nintendo music in 5.1 channels. The best thing about the Wii is the controllers, though. It comes with this little "stick" that responds to your actual motions. The system comes with a sports game, so you really get to try out all of the controller motions. To play the baseball game, you motion like you're swinging a bat (or pitching). To play golf, you motion like you're swinging a club. There's also bowling, tennis, boxing....you get the idea. The system itself is set up around various "channels" that you get to choose from, your game being one. There is another channel where you can create a "Mii" (a character that looks like you that you can play in certain games), a photo channel, and a news and weather channel will be coming soon. It also features a shopping channel where you can purchase and download games from old Nintendo systems all the way back to the good 'ol NES. My man (boy?) bought two other games-- ExciteTruck and a surgery game, and both are pretty fun. We've been trying to get a second controller for the system, but they are apparently sold out everywhere. (Duh, Nintendo-- it's called the "Wii," not the "Iii").
The PS3 is also a neat system, but not nearly as fun as the Wii in my opinion. I was also a little disappointed to find out a few truths about the system that were certainly not advertised. First off, the PS3 is capable of displaying graphics up to 1080p, which is awesome. However, none of the games that we bought can support higher than 720p. You can connect the PS3 optically to your surround sound system, but it seems a bit buggy so far. One of the games sounds great (Resistance: Fall of Man), while the other one has NO sound through the surround sound (Tony Hawk's Project 8). I don't know if this problem is unique to us, but it seemed like quite a few people on the PS3 message board were having a similar issue. Boo. A $600 machine with $50+ games should just work right. Period. The PS3 also comes with a wireless controller (and extras were readily available), however, they run on a rechargeable battery, so you have to make sure to keep them charged up via the USB port on the front of the PS3. The PS3 is also REALLY heavy for some reason. This won't be a game system that you're going to throw in your carry-on bag and take with you on vacation. Overall, the games look very nice, but they are definitely man (boy?) oriented. Of the initial offering, like at least 3 or more are "shooting" games where you walk your army man around and shoot stuff. Woo hoo. Granted, we didn't get the Sonic the Hedgehog game, but the available PS3 games don't get that many girlfriend points. The big bonus you get with the PS3 is an integrated Blu-Ray player. This probably doesn't mean all that much to most people, but if you have a TV that accepts a native 1080p signal, this is the highest quality picture that you'll be able to get out of your television. Even your HDTV channels are only broadcasting in 1080i. We haven't watched an entire movie on it yet, so I can't say whether it makes a huge difference, but I'm excited that at least we have the option to play the Blu-Ray discs now. Unfortunately, a lot of the titles that are out on Blu-Ray don't interest me that much. Talladega nights came free with the PS3, but you'd have to pay me to sit through that again, so it hasn't been opened yet. The opening to Superman looked nice, however.
So, which system do you buy for your man (boy?)? If you don't have a TV that will handle 1080p, definitely go with the Wii. Even if you do, you should still consider the Wii. It's cheaper, the games are more appealing to a wider audience, and overall it seems less buggy. On the other hand, the PS3 is a good choice if you have a pimped-out home entertainment system and if you're more into watching movies and leaving the gaming to your man (boy?).
The Wii is awesome, in my opinion. Although it will only support up to 480p in terms of graphics, the system itself is nice and small, and the setup is a breeze. It also supports Dolby Digital surround sound, so you can listen to that great Nintendo music in 5.1 channels. The best thing about the Wii is the controllers, though. It comes with this little "stick" that responds to your actual motions. The system comes with a sports game, so you really get to try out all of the controller motions. To play the baseball game, you motion like you're swinging a bat (or pitching). To play golf, you motion like you're swinging a club. There's also bowling, tennis, boxing....you get the idea. The system itself is set up around various "channels" that you get to choose from, your game being one. There is another channel where you can create a "Mii" (a character that looks like you that you can play in certain games), a photo channel, and a news and weather channel will be coming soon. It also features a shopping channel where you can purchase and download games from old Nintendo systems all the way back to the good 'ol NES. My man (boy?) bought two other games-- ExciteTruck and a surgery game, and both are pretty fun. We've been trying to get a second controller for the system, but they are apparently sold out everywhere. (Duh, Nintendo-- it's called the "Wii," not the "Iii").
The PS3 is also a neat system, but not nearly as fun as the Wii in my opinion. I was also a little disappointed to find out a few truths about the system that were certainly not advertised. First off, the PS3 is capable of displaying graphics up to 1080p, which is awesome. However, none of the games that we bought can support higher than 720p. You can connect the PS3 optically to your surround sound system, but it seems a bit buggy so far. One of the games sounds great (Resistance: Fall of Man), while the other one has NO sound through the surround sound (Tony Hawk's Project 8). I don't know if this problem is unique to us, but it seemed like quite a few people on the PS3 message board were having a similar issue. Boo. A $600 machine with $50+ games should just work right. Period. The PS3 also comes with a wireless controller (and extras were readily available), however, they run on a rechargeable battery, so you have to make sure to keep them charged up via the USB port on the front of the PS3. The PS3 is also REALLY heavy for some reason. This won't be a game system that you're going to throw in your carry-on bag and take with you on vacation. Overall, the games look very nice, but they are definitely man (boy?) oriented. Of the initial offering, like at least 3 or more are "shooting" games where you walk your army man around and shoot stuff. Woo hoo. Granted, we didn't get the Sonic the Hedgehog game, but the available PS3 games don't get that many girlfriend points. The big bonus you get with the PS3 is an integrated Blu-Ray player. This probably doesn't mean all that much to most people, but if you have a TV that accepts a native 1080p signal, this is the highest quality picture that you'll be able to get out of your television. Even your HDTV channels are only broadcasting in 1080i. We haven't watched an entire movie on it yet, so I can't say whether it makes a huge difference, but I'm excited that at least we have the option to play the Blu-Ray discs now. Unfortunately, a lot of the titles that are out on Blu-Ray don't interest me that much. Talladega nights came free with the PS3, but you'd have to pay me to sit through that again, so it hasn't been opened yet. The opening to Superman looked nice, however.
So, which system do you buy for your man (boy?)? If you don't have a TV that will handle 1080p, definitely go with the Wii. Even if you do, you should still consider the Wii. It's cheaper, the games are more appealing to a wider audience, and overall it seems less buggy. On the other hand, the PS3 is a good choice if you have a pimped-out home entertainment system and if you're more into watching movies and leaving the gaming to your man (boy?).
posted by JB at
2:08 AM
2 Comments:
I'm still waiting on my xbox 360. Boo. :(
By
Jason Lancaster, at 1:42 PM
Well, I can't really say much about the xbox 360, but I know Seldin has one, so maybe he can give you a review. You probably already know this, but xbox 360 has support for HD-DVD, but you have to buy a separate drive. I am just infatuated with the Wii right now. It rocks my world.
By
JB, at 1:56 PM
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