Weather you're a child, a teenager, a young adult, or a child at heart, it's hard to tell just which next generation console is for you! There are a handful of platforms out there on the market you can purchase, such as the Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and even your PC! Each platform and company have their general audience in mind when they create a new system to sell on the retail market. And as much, you have to do a little research before picking out the system for you. Keep in mind that each console is copy written, I have no copyrights on any of the platforms, this is just to help you, the consumer, to make a decision. What you do after is completely your choice, one of which I have no control over.
Nintendo Wii
Now then, we shall start off with the Nintendo Wii. The Nintendo Wii was announced in September of 2006, and was released on December 8th 2006, and even yet today there are short stocks of the console in stores. Nintendo's main focus on the Wii is movement, weather it's swinging the controller like a baseball bat, or turning a doorknob in a virtual building. The controller uses movement for various reactions on the video game you may play. The only downfall on movement is swinging your fist into another player, or even material in the play area, so it is recommended to play the Nintendo Wii in an open area. To look at the generalized audience, Wii is played by almost all age groups, the main group would be the children ages 5 to 16, and even then the numbers can change, people of all ages play to enjoy the revolutionizing controls and game play. To add onto the creative controls, you can link up a Nintendo DS wirelessly to a Wii, as well as playing online and thrive as a community in the comfort of your living room. Nintendo's software interface as you turn on the Nintendo Wii is similar to the Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3, as it has many "Channels" to view and open. The user can enjoy looking at the forecast, News, and "Check Mii Out" which is a lot like an online profile, which can be displayed to many users all over the world, another way to meet new people and have a good time.
Parents have no fear, as great as the system may be, you still have control over your children and what they play! Nintendo, as well as Microsoft and Sony, have introduced Parental Security features on each system to stop the young audience from playing games with a rating that you don't approve of! Still a little lost? The next step to learning about video game ratings is to log onto the internet and do some research on the ESRB (Entertainment Software Rating Board). Nintendo has sold more Wii units then Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 combined during the first half of 2007. Remember growing up, playing the side scrolling Mario games, or even the originals like Metroid and The Legend of Zelda? These and many more are licensed by Nintendo and are played on the Wii, both new and old. Wait a minute...in with the new and out with the old right? Wrong! Nintendo has created its own individual online credits you may purchase on cards in a retail store, and you may use those points to buy classic games to download right into your Wii. You may do so as long as your Wii is connected to the internet however. Looking at the cons, there is no CD or DVD playback on the Wii, considering it uses innovative technology that does not support CD or DVD disks, Wii games are simply too small compared to original disk sizes. Another throwback is the graphics are noticeably worse then the Playstation 3 and the Xbox 360. The price of a Wii is $250, give or take.
Xbox 360
Packing a punch as a multimedia powerhouse, the Xbox 360 is quite the media center! The Xbox 360 was developed by Microsoft, and was released a year earlier then the Playstation 3 and the Nintendo Wii, hopefully to encourage early sales. This plan had backfired terribly. The xbox 360 needs to be in a well ventilated area. The reason behind it is because thousands of users have had a problem with their systems overheating, spelling disaster to the typical gamer. Microsoft has had a standard repair system set up where users can mail in their broken systems to be fixed as long as that user has a warranty to protect his purchase. Putting that aside, the system is a very powerful little toy. The size has been cutdown by a bit compared to the original Xbox, and is compatible with home PCs running on Windows XP or Vista operating systems.
