XBOX, Wii, PS3
Article by Michael Jenkins
Gaming has very much become a part of the society that we live in and I can guarantee that even if you don’t own a console you will have played at least one at some point within your life. The consoles however that are on the gaming market now are worlds away from the simplistic ones that were around years ago. The Nintendo Wii, Playstation 3 (PS3) and Xbox 360 are leading the way with the latest technology and the greatest gaming experiences we have ever had.
A few years ago the gaming world was talking about the GameCube, the first Nintendo console to use optical discs as a means of primary storage. It was also around the time of the GameCube that the Xbox first appeared on the scene. In contrast to the Xbox however the GameCube used miniDVD-based discs instead of full-size DVDs. Although to Nintendo this was a means of changing the way we game it fell short to the Xbox for the fact it failed to have the DVD-Video playback functionality of the Xbox. Also, again due to the disc size, the GameCube also failed to have the audio CD playback ability that even older consoles seemed to display.
The Gamecube however did introduce a variety of connectivity options to Nintendo consoles and was the third gaming system to officially support online play. What it did was allow connectivity to the Game Boy Advance as a means of accessing exclusive features of certain games. The Xbox on the other hand stands as the first major console to incorporate a hard disk drive that was used for storing game saves, which eliminated the need for separate memory cards.
Since the GameCube and Xbox, Nintendo and Microsoft, as well as Sony, home of the Playstation range, have continued with their quest to bring you the most advanced technology possible within the gaming world. Now the Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox 360 and Sony Playstation 3 are the world leaders in gaming systems and are in top competition with each other to be the top ranked games console, a title that has been passed around a between the three of them for years now.
The Nintendo Wii stands as a home video game console that has been stated to target a broader demographic than that of the Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3. The Wii also has a very distinguishing feature in the form of the console and its wireless controller, known as the Wii remote. This wii games gaming system is all about movement, instead of playing it like a conventional game you have to create actions using the Wii remote. The idea behind it is to get people active and make them more involved in the gaming process, a concept that is highlighted by the release of the Wii fit.
One of the main selling points of the Wii is to put the fun back into gaming; it is all about interaction, a concept that clearly works as for the majority of 2008 the Wii outsold both the Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3.
Where the Playstation 3 (PS3) is concerned, this is a console that was highly marketed as pushing the boundaries of gaming. Its main focus was on the high use of technology, however since its release it has been found that the technology is that advanced that only a number of games actually exist that use this technology to its full potential, although there is advancements being made to change this. Basically some of the major features that are associated with this console includes its robust multimedia capabilities, connectivity with the PSP, and its use of a high-definition optical disc format, Blu-ray Disc, as its primary storage medium. The PS3 was also the first Blu-ray 2.0-compliant Blu-ray player on the market. So what about the Xbox 360?
The biggest feature when it comes to the Xbox 360 is the integrated Xbox Live service. It is this service that enables players to be able to compete online as well as download new content such as games, trailers/movies and TV shows. It has its own Windows Media Center multimedia capabilities and gives you the ability to watch HD DVD movies with an add-on drive.
All of the consoles that are currently on the gaming market have their own advantages and to some degree their disadvantages. The one key aspect that they do all share however is the fact they all push the boundaries where technology is concerned. The gaming system that you actually decide to buy then should merely come down to your own personal preference by looking at which one of these will give you your own personal best game playing experience.