With the Christmas season fast approaching, a lot of people have been asking me which of the next-generation consoles to get. Is the Wii really all its cracked up to be? Is that hefty price tag on a PlayStation 3 really worth it? How reliable is the Xbox 360? My short answer for all these questions is I’m not sure because I don’t own any of them. Not yet, anyway. So as a prospective buyer myself, I’ve asked around shops and talked to the fortunate people who actually own these next-gen systems. My long answer, to the whole “Which console should I get?” debate goes something like this.
Think of this dilemma as something similar to picking the right girl to ask out on a date. Each one has its own merits. They likewise have their respective flaws. Some would cost more to maintain. Others would require you to be a bit adventurous. One would need a certain level of experience and familiarity. Others you can get along with right off the bat. Of course, there are always some who are a bit heavy and take up a lot of space. But at the end of the day, it will always be about what you want to get out of it. It’s about experience and it’s about value.
The Nintendo Wii is the artsy free-spirit type of the group. It offers a lot of innovative and uniquely entertaining games that are unrivaled in terms of novelty by the other two consoles. A Wii lets you get in touch with your childhood, with familiar faces like Super Mario and Donkey Kong. It liberates. It does away with any inhibitions one might have for looking silly or going completely nuts in front of a crowd of spectators. The Wii doesn’t have any pretenses about it. No fancy-shmancy Blu-ray player, no additional HD DVD player, no high society frills. This Nintendo marvel is also the least painful on the pocket, with prices ranging from P15,000 to 19,000 depending on the package.
What every guy would want to get, if the world was perfect, is a supermodel. Sony’s PS3 is the supermodel of consoles. Most obviously, with that sleek black finish, it’s the prettiest to look at. The PS3 has a Blu-Ray disc player (which, on its own, would cost as much as the PS3 itself), a ton of hard disk space, killer graphics and very little to complain about. What prevents the PS3 from being the console of choice, however, is its limited library of games (not that supermodels are stupid, or anything) and it’s exorbitant price tag (not that supermodels have price tags). Just like it would probably cost an arm and three legs for an average guy to impress a catwalk diva, an average guy would have to shell out his limbs worth in pesos to get his hands on a PS3 and a decent collection of games. It would be well worth it for some, others would just be content with gawking. The price of gawking does not range between P22,000 to P26,000.
Finally, there’s the Xbox 360, or the one that seems perfect, only to disappoint. The 360 is the perfect combination of a great lineup of games, solid graphics, excellent features and a not-so-expensive price tag. The only problem with the Xbox is its reported high hardware failure rate. (Some reports have it as high as 33 percent.) Microsoft has tried to temper this by extending the warranty for up to three years, but for that kind of investment, who wants to risk it? The Xbox 360 is already home to some of the most popular and highly touted games of this new era, such as Halo 3 and Bioshock. It also has arguably the best online gaming platform in Xbox Live. However, there are some serious issues that might arise, and one must weigh that in when shelling out somewhere between P17,000 to 24,000, depending on the versions.
The differences are obvious and the pros and cons are pretty much even. Personally, if I were to buy this Christmas, I’d get myself an Xbox. It’s a high risk-high reward deal, but it gives you the most value for money, especially for a hardcore gamer. If I were willing to wait, though, I might just wait for a PlayStation 3. The prices are coming down and the catalog of games is steadily improving. But if anybody is kind enough to get me any of these three this Christmas, I’m certainly not one to complain.
I’d be happy with any. At least I’d have something to keep me company when I don’t have a date.
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For questions, comments or corrections, please email me at emailcarlramirez@yahoo.com