So with the holiday season fast approaching I’m sure some of you are considering starting or adding to your current console collection. This will of course be the first Christmas in the UK that Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo have their latest generation consoles available so it’s sure to be an interesting period ahead.

When talking about consoles I’m often asked which one would I choose and my answer is always the same - this choice should always be determined by the gamers’ requirements. Each console has something to offer everyone so I don’t believe the choice is a simple one of graphics, movie playing capabilities or internet connectivity. I myself own all 3 consoles and can say I get enormous enjoyment out of all 3 depending on my mood or indeed if I’m entertaining guests or not.

I’m actually going to split this review into 3 separate posts as there is a lot to cover. Firstly we will talk about the consoles themselves, the specifications, the key differences and why I believe each of them has something unique to offer everyone. Secondly, and for many most importantly, the games themselves. What’s currently hot and of course what can we expect as we get closer to Christmas. Lastly we will be looking at the future of the consoles, why would they keep you coming back for more as well as giving a final verdict on console choice.

So this week we will look at the consoles themselves and of course we are talking about the Nintendo Wii, Microsofts XBox 360 and Sonys Playstation 3.

When it comes to raw power then the XBox 360 and Playstation 3 stand head and shoulders above the Nintendo Wii, however Nintendo never professed to be building the Wii to compete graphically with the Playstation3 and XB360. What the Wii lacks in raw power it makes up with innovative design including the main controller, the Wii Remote, which can detect acceleration in three dimension - you swing the controller and tennis racket, baseball bat or frying pan (depending on which game you are playing) moves with you. Sonys Sixaxis goes someway to competing with the Wii Remote with support for rotational orientation and translational acceleration although this has seen limited use in the range of games released to-date. For me one major factor missing from the Sony controller is rumble, although they are addressing this and we expect to see support for the new rumble controller in 2008. One of the major issues with the original XBox controller was the size - you needed WWE wrestler size hands to use it. Microsoft listened to the feedback and the new controller design was born and for most it was good. The controller doesn’t have the ability to detect movement as the others do but does support feedback in the shape of rumble.

When it comes to graphics both the XBox360 and Sony Playstation 3 support High Definition- of course you need a High Def capable screen to take advantage of this (bear in mind your standard definition TV will still support all 3 consoles perfectly fine). One of the nice features of both systems is that the console will automatically choose the highest resolution your TV can support, something they like to call Dynamic High Def. The Nintendo Wii misses out on the High Def train with support for standard definition only - but again as I said at the top of this post High Def graphics was never part of the plans for the Nintendo Wii.

All three consoles have support for playing a range of the previous generation games which of course helps to justify the cost when it comes to handing over your money and indeed at the time of writing both the Nintendo Wii and Sony Playstation 3 offer previous generation games through their online marketplace (more on that in part 2 of this post). Although Microsoft have a similar offering, XBox Live Marketplace, they have yet to announce the availability of previous generation games.

Aesthetically all three consoles have their good and bad points. Microsoft have reduced the size from the orginal XBOX which was one of the main complaints from customers. The Playstation 3 has gained both size and weight from its little brother, the Playstation2. Sony though have managed to get away with this size increase by making the Playstation 3 arguably the nicest looking console available today. The Nintendo Wii has also had a major design overhaul and ticks both boxes in terms of look and size, something which a number of potential owners like.

So that’s all I’m going to put in this particular post. I hope, if you are currently considering a new console for Christmas, it has started to help clear up some questions you may have. This of course is only part one of three so stayed tuned in the coming weeks for the next two installments of Battle Of The Consoles !

Posted on November 6th, 2007 by nigel