The Truth About the Next Generation Consoles

The Truth about the Next Generation Consoles
It had been almost close to the holiday season again and near the anniversary of these next generation consoles. One thing we as gamers now know is that over the course of the years there had been many hardware shortage problems, dead consoles, Red Ring of Death, failed disc loading, X-Box 360 overheating, DSL and WiFi problems, PS3's backward compatibility make PS1 and PS2 games look like crap, Wii wrist strap falling off player's hands, Sony not wanting to bring back rumble vibrations because of copyright patent, etc. Now it seems that some of these problems had being solved while others are still causing us a headache. Well here are the truth about these next generation consoles that you as gamers must know before you consider buying any of them and be aware that not all of them are the way you think they are whether if you saw them via commercials or in game magazines.

X-Box 360 (the early bird)
The truth behind the X-Box 360 is that it is not much of a gaming machine at all; it feels more like a PC that was played through a TV instead. It offers games from both the PC and some ported from PS2, PS3 and Wii to be played on it but with brighter cleaner detail graphics. The real truth about the X-Box 360 is that great graphics and online capabilities are all it had to offers, but in terms of game play and such; it really depends on the developers. If the developer knows nothing about gameplay, chances are, a beautiful looking game could have the worst gameplay ever, examples of that is Bullet Witch and Bomberman: Area Zero. Also the controllers for the X-Box 360 may had the worst setup ever, fighting games like Street Fighter II' Hyper Fighting may not be fully playable with this kind of controller setup, this is probably due to the fact that the X-Box and X-Box 360 controllers are design with 3D in mind and having using this controller for a 2D game may not work very well.

The other thing about the X-Box 360 is that it came out with two different versions and I do mean different as in one having more of what the other don't. The first is the Core version which had wired controllers, no hard drive, not compatible with HD DVD and doesn't offer backward compatibility with the original X-Box gaming library while the second versions, the Premium, had wireless controllers, a 60 GB hard drive, full X-Box backward compatibility through software emulation, and is compatible for playing HD DVD movies as well. The X-Box 360 is also known for its Red Ring of Death which many gamers had experience it at the time of its early launch. The Red Ring of Death is actually a sign that tell gamers that the X-Box 360 is overheating or not processing very well and must be turn off. Some players actually went to replace theirs while others sold theirs on eBay for twice the regular price.

Besides the bad things, the good things about the X-Box 360 is that it had the best library of online titles out there and if online gaming is what gamers crave then the X-Box 360 is the console of choice. A word of caution to any X-Box 360 owners, when turning the 360 on its side, sometime it might jam the game disc. Always make sure that there is no disc on the X-Box 360 before turning it to its side otherwise it will be sure to have some problems. Oh and I almost forgot, gamers can also customize the look of their X-Box 360 as well with any plate scheme available, heck gamers could make it look like the coolest console around. This is the reason why Microsoft didn't have to release different color of the console.

PlayStation 3 (the copycat)
I had to say that this console is the copycat to everything and anything from both competitors. The PlayStation 3 is Sony's third videogame console but one thing it had going for it is that Sony really tries to turn it into something it wasn't and there are many features and evidence that they try to duplicate or borrow in able to make the PS3 the most powerful console out there. For one Sony used Microsoft's strategies by offering two different versions of their PS3 consoles at the time of its launch. Second, they copy the trigger shoulder buttons from the X-Box 360 and borrow a little bit of motion innovation from the Wii to their controller while dropping rumble vibrations. Third, they want to have better online service so they copied Microsoft X-Box Live with their PS Network and they also copy a duplicate version of Second Life for free on any of their PS3.

When they figure that their backward compatibility looks ugly, they upgrade them with firmware update but when they notice that nobody wants to buy their expensive consoles, they then drop their most precious hardware of them all, the Cell Processors, and went with a newer version of their PS3 which drop that hardware while offering backward compatibility through software emulation similar to what Microsoft is doing for their X-Box 360 long time before this. Now Sony is trying to get rid of their previous two versions of the PS3s so that only one version is available so they won't had to deal with hardware problems (now it looks like they are doing what the Wii is doing, having only one version of a console, but still keeping what the X-Box 360 is all ready doing by offering backward compatibility through software emulation). It looks like Sony is borrowing too much of what the other competitors had that they are in a deep number of troubles.

The price of the new PS3 is still not a bargain and the PS3 library of games is still very small and only a few are worth playing while the upcoming ones are also heading to its competitors as well. While the graphics of the console looks great and the HD features are worth looking not to mention the offering of the Blu-Ray format; however, gamers is not looking for multimedia here. If this is a multimedia device, it will definitely flop since many of the stuff we see in the PS3 are already out there or at least in our very own PC. Sony is not a videogame company, they are an electronic company and as such they don't know how to create a good gaming strategy other than copying what the competitors are doing. The one thing we all should know about the PS3 right now is that no matter what it is, it is still just another one of our computer related hardware and not a new gaming console. You could listen to music, watch DVD movies, download games, and even surf the internet with just your PC. It tries to be like the other but it also seems to be doing a very awful job of it.

Wii (the new face veteran)
Now the Nintendo Wii as much of a videogame console it can be, doesn't have the HD graphic presentation of the previous two competitors, but it does had one thing the other two doesn't, new gameplay innovation. What the Wii lack in presentation they make it up in gameplay and for every gamer out there, gameplay is what defines a game, not graphics but having both could help. The best strategy Nintendo had going for it is that Nintendo not only want casual gamers and hardcore gamers to get a hand on the Wii, but also non-gamers as well. Packaging Wii Sports with every Nintendo Wii sold is also a clever strategy; it gave player the chance to experience the innovative new controller before they even go out and bought their own game. While the gaming library of the Wii is kind of short and though many of them are nothing but just a collection of mini-games bundle together, most of them are actually quite fun, even the youngest to the oldest of gamers could appreciate the gameplay.

Though the Wii is not fully online playable yet, it does offer online downloads and features that are actually quite good though not as good as X-Box 360, but at least it's getting there. Players could surf the internet, buy Wii Points, download new Wii channels, download classic games from many of the classic consoles as well as play games through WiFi with some WiFi feature games. When Nintendo announce that they are not going the same route as the X-Box 360 and PS3, they are right and their new innovative controllers and new ways of play proved that; however, there are concerns about the games since most of them aren't that original simply because more are just mini-games collection. Other good factors about the Wii is that it came out in one and only one version, yes a second version with DVD feature will be available later this year but by then it would replace the older version so gamers don't had to worry about that and it might not cost as much as the PS3 anyways. Besides game download, the Wii is also backward compatible with the complete library of GameCube games without any problems or software emulation conflicts; the reason for this is that the Wii is built from the GameCube processors but added some new processors to handle the movement and sensitivity of the innovative new controllers.

Also like any Nintendo gaming consoles before it the Wii is very durable, if taken good care the Wii could last for a life time just like its predecessors the NES, Super NES, N64, and GameCube. Good factors aside, the Wii had been question about the lack of a hard drive since without it, gamers are required to used SD Cards to save their game or game memories and VC games that are download can only be play on their original download console meaning that they can't be install or transfer to any other Wii aside from the one that they are downloaded from. Also one last truth about the Wii is that no matter where you go at any retailers today, it's likely you won't find a Wii unless if you're one of the lucky few who actually woke up early to get to a retailer before the cash cow comes.

So as you may know, the truth about these three next generation consoles are that one is not the same as other. You could find the best online games service and best looking games on the X-Box 360 or if you are the person who still want more multimedia device (if you had not had one already) along with gaming then the PS3 could be your console of choice or if you want to try something new and play videogame from a different perspective and don't care much about online gameplay or HD graphics then the Wii might be your satisfaction; however, be aware that as great as any of these console turn out to be, there are a few problems lurking so be aware of those.

Here are many of the problems and solution each of these next generation console had.

Console Name/Problem/Solution

X-Box 360 Red Ring of Death Replacement Warranty

X-Box 360 Broken disc drive Replacement Warranty

X-Box 360 Lack of backward compatibility Wait a few months longer

X-Box 360 Console overheat Purchase an expensive cooling device

X-Box 360 Game freeze without notice Replace buggy games

X-Box 360 Controller issue with some games Buy third party controllers

X-Box 360 No hard drive for the Core version Get the Premium version

X-Box 360 Can't play original X-Box games Get the Premium version & check the backward compatibility list

PS3 Ugly backward compatibility Update firmware

PS3 Can't play some PS1 and PS2 games Update firmware

PS3 Slow and boring download Not solve

PS3 Expensive price Try but not solve

PS3 Disc loading failure Replacement Warranty

PS3 Controller lack rumble vibrations Not solve

PS3 No BC memory card storage A memory card adapter is sold

PS3 No HDMI out of the box Buy HDMI wire sold separately

PS3 No killer titles but Resistance: FoM Wait for 07' or 08'

PS3 Can't play downloaded PS1 games Must be transfer to be play on PSP

Wii Broken wrist strap Replacement is issue

Wii Lack of online games Wait for 08'

Wii Connection problems Get DSL or cable internet

Wii Console unavailability Restock but still sold out rapidly