What Everyone Should Know About the Nintendo Wii (Revolution) and Why it is Better Than Playstation 3

There used to be two major names in gaming: Nintendo and Sega. Sega had better graphics and a smoother interface; Nintendo offered a wider variety of games. Although we have more major consoles on the market today, I think the choice is easier now than it ever was.

Think of it this way, dear gamers: It's not Nintendo versus Playstation, it's "Do you want to spend $250 or $600?"

Yeah. As one of the world's many broke, college gamers, I think the decision is easy, too. With that in mind, I'm going to list some of the benefits of the Nintendo Wii (Revolution) so you know exactly what awesomeness you are getting for your money.

Old-School Awesomeness: Yeah, I know you X-box fans all have "modded" X-boxes, and I won't lie: That's great. However, I personally don't know how to modify an X-box to download all those games and I don't know many people who do. Most of my friends had to pay somebody else to modify their X-box, and that can cost anywhere from $50 to $200. That's like purchasing a new system! Well I have excellent news: The Wii picked up on the popularity of modified X-boxes and comes with the inherent ability to load 20 years of old-school awesomeness - for free! This is especially great for hardcore Nintendo fans, who have played Nintendo games from the beginning, whose old school systems like NES and SNES are getting pretty run-down after over a decade of gaming. Nintendo gamers get nostalgic just thinking about all the games they played in childhood, and now you can play them all again. You don't even have to search out the more hard-to-find games - like Final Fantasy III or Mario RPG - on eBay. You can have them all on a brand new system that will take years to run-down. Even if the Wii goes through a dry-spell for new games, you'll still have all your old favorites to play. It's like having a romp through childhood again!

Will the PS3 be as kind to its loyal fan gamers? Not even close. Sure, the PS3 will play PS and PS2 games, but you won't be able to transfer data from old memory cards to your PS3 memory card unless you purchase a memory card adapter. So not only is the PS3 expensive, but Sony is charging you more money and inconvenience in order to play your old favorites!

It Doesn't Require Weight-training to Lift It: In the right corner we have the Playstation 3, weighing in at a hefty 7lbs. In the left corner is the Wii, sleek, colorful, and roughly the width of three CD cases. It's tiny, easy to carry around. As a person who constantly totes my consoles to other people's houses, this will be a blessing for me. Though I guess I won't get the exercise I'd get from carrying around a PS3.

Dynamic Controllers Add to Game-Play: The Wii finally realized something: Nobody likes controllers that are twice the size of their hands. The people from Nintendo, who brought you the wildly popular NES Light Gun for Duck Hunt, the Power Glove, and the Power Pad for playing video games with your feet a decade before Dance, Dance Revolution was released, bring you controllers that tap into the popularity of unique controller design. It's a slender gray stick that interacts with the television without the use of wires - and haven't those wires always been a pain to untangle? For baseball and tennis games, the gamer plays by swinging the controller like a bat or a club. Then, when playing a racing game, the controller acts as a steering wheel. And for all your RPG lovers who really get into the game, your controller is your sword, to swing at enemies. Imagine the fun of playing a game like Four Swords with your friends, all of you jumping around and swinging your controllers wildly. According to the Wii website, "The intuitive, pioneering interface allows players to run, jump, spin, slide, shoot, steer, accelerate, bank, dive, kick, throw and score in a way never experienced in the history of gaming." However, for you tamer gamers, the controller also acts as a regular controller with some games, allowing you to happily push buttons to your heart's content.

Sequels to Your Old Favorites: Among the dozens and dozens of games scheduled to be released for the Wii, many Nintendo fan's old favorites will have sequels released that will never cross over to PS3 or X-box. While the X-box and PS often share games that you can get on either system, including Nintendo, you'll never find a Mario or Zelda game on another system. Old school fans will recognize sequels planned for release on the Revolution, including:

- Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
- Mortal Kombat: Armageddon
- Pokémon Battle Revolution
- Rampage: Total Destruction
- Super Smash Brothers: Brawl
- Super Mario Galaxy
- Mario Kart Wii
- Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
- Harvest Moon Wii
- Donkey Kong Wii
- Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers

And, for all you really old school fans, the Wii will see the return of Duck Hunt! They're releasing a new game called Duck Hunt Wii.

Wireless Card: The Wii will, of course, have a wireless card that allows the player to connect to the Internet and battle other gamers in their favorite games. Sure, other consoles have wireless cards, too. But you won't be able to play the ever-addictive Mario Kart against other people online on a $600 PS3.

Family Friendly: The Nintendo has always been known for family friendly games and simple instructions. The PS3 (and the X-box 360 for that matter) is not as user friendly, and that's just a plain fact. It's a complicated system. First of all, there's not just one version of the PS3: There are two. One version is $600 and has more upgrades and entertainment value, but Sony is also selling a $500 version with less capabilities. How do you even begin to decide on what you want? To make matters more complicated, you have to purchase a memory card adapter, as I mentioned before, in order to play your old Playstation games on your new PS3.

The Wii (Revolution) has many exciting features, and I'm looking forward to playing it with my friends. It's an affordable, family-friendly system with a sleek design and awesome new control-system that I predict will provide hardcore gamers and kids alike with a new world of interactive gaming.

And I'm not saying that I'll never buy a PS3. I have a Playstation and a PS2, as well as many other gaming systems. I'm just saying that I'm going to spend my money on the Revolution and wait for the PS3 to come down in price by a few hundred dollars.

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