Since prices have fallen so much on the systems I’ve been thinking of picking up an Xbox. However, is it worth it if I plan on never playing any FPS in any form? Are all the “good” Xbox games FPSs?
(They give me some bad nausea/motion sickness)
That’s simply not true. We know that it’s designed around a GPU similar to the R770, so it’ll basically have capabilities around that of the Radeon 4800 cards, and several games are in purportedly in development for the wii u that will be direct ports of the x360/ps3 counter parts.
And say what you will about MS and Sony, they’ve both made loads of money this console generation. The ps2 and psx also sold at a loss but made money hand over fist in the end. Console manufacturers worry less about making money back on the console itself and much more about making it in licensing fees, which is where the Wii has fallen flat. I’ll grant that overall it’s been much more successful than the x360 or ps3, but it’s attachment rate (number of games a system owner buys) is a fraction of what it is on the other two systems.
My biggest fear is that the Wii U ends up just like the Wii itself, home to a bunch of cheap games that are shoved out the door because publishers don’t want to invest the money in making quality titles that simply won’t sell. I’m not saying there are no good titles on the wii, but the quality of third party titles for it is not nearly the same as that of the other systems.
Your latter point is meaningless. The Xbox 360 had “ports” of Xbox games when it was first released, such as Burnout Revenge. As for Wii U, some of the announced games may be ports, but to what extent we do not yet know–several developers have already mentioned they’ll be enhanced versions (again, like Burnout Revenge).
It quite simply is true. The graphics card is but one part of the whole (and also hasn’t been completely confirmed btw, even if what’s leaked seems likely), and as far as I know, the CPU is unconfirmed, the amount of ram is unconfirmed, the speed of said processors is unconfirmed, etc. And assuming the graphic card detailed is legit (which it likely is), it’s several years more advanced than the one in use by the 360, and is capable of Direct X 10.1, versus the 360’s DX9.
While it may not be as powerful as the next Xbox and PS (though it may be–we don’t yet know), to paint it as just slightly more powerful than existing technology is a major stretch considering what we don’t know, and an incorrect statement based on what we do know. According to ComputerAndVideogames.com, what little is known suggests “a considerably more capable machine than those available today.”
http://www.computerandvideogames.com/307456/wii-u-graphics-card-details-emerge-from-amd-insiders/
Sony is not making money hand-over-fist. In fact, they’ve lost a shit ton of money on the PS3 and are just starting to turn a profit now. If Microsoft wasn’t dead in the water in Japan, the PS3 would have been the blunder that sunk Sony’s video game business. The PS3 has been a financial disaster for Sony, in every sense of the word.
Which brings me to my second point. The PS3 is not doing as well as you’d like to believe in tie ratio and game sales. The most recent data I could find showed the PS3 beating the Wii in tie ratio, but only by half a game, 7.8 to7.2 (and remember, the Wii has shipped with Wii Sports since the beginning, so it’s tie ratio should be lower). Also, the total number of Wii games sold is more than double that of a PS3.
The Wii U’s confirmed specs confirm nothing really. At this point, all we know is that it’ll output in 1080p thanks to an “IBM Power-based multi-core microprocessor.” That means we can’t even speculate what the Wii U can do because Nintendo doesn’t even know yet.
EDITED TO ADD:
Here’s the link I was talking about: news
Wow. This is the liveliest thread I’ve ever started. For the record, both kids play. Attacklad has been leading the charge for a dedicated gaming system, mostly because he’s currently into Streetfighter on the ipod. He really enjoyed into Portal and Portal 2. Attacklass has invested more in the Sims. I think the movement issue is more because she’s currently advocating a healthy lifestyle, and feels a movement driven game is going to ameliorate hours spent gaming.
Looking at the wikipedia article for PS and Xbox suggests that most major games are on both platforms.
Do you have a PC? PC’s are at the point where you don’t need anywhere near a cutting-edge setup for gaming. You may be able to simply upgrade your video card, or not do anything at all, and start buying PC games for your son. Many (though certainly not all) of the big Xbox 360 games are available on PC, Portal 2 included. The Wii library, however, is pretty much its own thing. So I’d recommend Wii+PC as a possible option.
The kid wants fighting games. A PC is the worst choice out of every platform, the Wii included.
That data appears to be just for the US? If so, it really only provides a partial look into the question.
I would say that the majority of the known good games are FPS, there are a number of other titles available, mostly of a sports variety. I would probably suggest that you go into your local EB games or the local analog and speak with a sales person regarding that. At the moment it does not sound like picking up a console system would be a good idea.
Of course I stand to be corrected, but basing my ansewer on the amount of titles that I own, on both the PS3 and 360.
Declan
Oops, somehow I missed that. I didn’t realize kids these days still cared about fighting games. 
Hmmm. I don’t know if it was intended, but you make it sound (to me, at least) like your son is much more interested in getting a console and your daughter’s interest is pretty secondary.
A Wii can help somebody on a health kick (with games like Wii Fit that were specifically designed to work as fitness aids) but you kind of have to make a conscious effort to play games like that as moving around a lot is not a given for a lot of Wii games; I’ve played plenty of Wii games where the extent of movement is flicking your wrist, pointing a targeting cursor at the screen or shaking the remote a little bit. It’s (slightly) better than nothing but it isn’t really much better for your than spending the same amount of time on any other console.
Given what you’ve said, I’d lean toward the 360, as your son sounds like he’s much more interested in getting a console. I would certainly look at the Kinect for the movement angle which will probably interest your daughter (and the deal at Best Buy that Munch mentioned above looks really, really good.)
If you went with a Wii, I’m not sure if the console has enough fighting games to be worthwhile for your son. (Here’s list of those that are available.) Judging from my experience and the list, most of the Wii’s fighting games are a bit softer-core and less intense with games based on characters from other sources (note the various anime based fighters like Dragon Ball Z and Naruto.) This certainly isn’t a bad thing but it’s worth being aware of it. (I’ve personally enjoyed fighting games based on both of the series I just mentioned) and Super Smash Brothers Brawl, a very cartoony (but very, very fun) game that assembles fighters from other Nintendo games and series is one of the best-regarded games the Wii has. According to the list, there are no games from the Street Fighter series for the Wii (though several Street Fighter characters do appear in the cross-over game Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, and some of the older Street Fighter games are available for the Wii for download, though they’re likely very close to what he’s been playing on his iPod.)
Another question that might be worth asking is what consoles your kid’s friends have. It can be cool to have the same system as your friends as you can discuss games you’ve both played, loan games back and forth and (if you’re comfortable with it) play together online. On the other hand, having a different system from your friends can mean getting to play more different games (games from system A at home, games from system B at your friend’s house). I’m not sure how heavily this should affect your decision, but it’s worth giving a little bit of thought.
True. Wii aside, this is the most homogeneous I can remember the console game market ever being. Each console has a few big series, but most games from third party developers that are being released for either the Playstation 3 or the Xbox 360 are coming out for both. Back when I was a kid in the early '90s, most kids (who were into gaming) had either a Sega Genesis or a Super Nintendo and the games available to them would vary widely based on that choice. These days, picking the PS3 or the 360 largely comes down to looking at the handful of exclusive series for each rather than looking at their entire libraries.
Sorry for the long post; I hope it’s helpful.
The Sims is on all consoles, so she’s good there.
I’d still suggest the 360+Kinect for a new console buyer, for this situation. (BTW, Amazon has a Lightning Deal scheduled for today at 11:00 am PST, with a 360+Kinect bundle and $100 in Amazon credit. Better sit on that deal like a vulture because it should be popular.) There are Kinect fitness games, both overt (Zumba, Your Shape, UFC Personal Trainer, EA Sports Active 2) and indirect (Dance Central, Just Dance). There’s even a Sims 3 expansion (Pets) that uses it. I love my Wii, but using the controllers can be annoying, and I have serious concerns about Nintendo’s longevity if they keep on their current track.
Very helpful, thanks.
Unfortunately we’re in Canada, so there are limited Black Friday deals.
Some Xbox non-FPS games I’ve played recently:
Alan Wake
Assassin’s Creed (1 and 2, haven’t played Revelations yet)
Viva Pinata
Brutal Legend
Limbo
The Maw
Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts
Splosion Man
Lego Star Wars
Snoopy Flying Ace
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
I’d include third person shooters like Dead Space and Ghostbusters, but I don’t know if you’d get motion sickness from those.
Since you mentioned “other options” in the title, I’ll mention that there are a few holiday PS3 bundles out there - $199 gets you a 160gb PS3 with two free games, LittleBIGPlanet 2 (one of the best non-FPS games on the system, in my opinion) and Ratchet & Clank All 4 One (haven’t played it yet, but it’s on my list).
But again, check out what the friends have, what exclusives they’re each clamoring for, etc.
OK, it’s looking like an Xbox, not because of any inherent sexism inherent in the system, but because I’ve tried a coupla systems and looked at the options.
Next, more focused questions:
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Xbox seems to come in several flavors, from a standard with 4 GB to a ‘Gears of War 3’ version with an extra controller and 320 GB. Do I need the extra memory? Do I need it for downloading games? Can I store other stuff on it - like movies - since it is hooked up to my TV
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Some or all Xboxs have wi-fi. Does this mean they can talk to my Airportexpress base station the way that my laptop does, allowing me to down load games from the internet without jacking the thing into the wall? This is important to me, as the basement only has wifi connectivity, not a hard line.
Thanks for all your help, y’all.
Yes, you want the extra memory. A lot of Xbox Live Arcade games (which are download-only) are better than the $60 retail games. Especially if your son wants fighting games as the XBLA has online playable versions of Marvel vs Capcom 2 and Street Fighter II.
Yes. If you don’t want to run a line, you’ll want a wi-fi enabled Xbox 360. Of course, if you use Cable Internet and will have the Xbox 360 hooked up to the same TV the moden is on, you can easily split the connection.
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The extra memory is primarily for downloading games. If that’s something you think your kids (or you) will be doing, know that 4GB is nothing. A full-size game could be twice that size or more. If you are only using the on-board memory for save games, 4GB is plenty. You can always add an HDD later.
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All of the brand-new ones have built-in WiFi. Yes, it works like any other WiFi.
Also, Xbox 360s with the hard drive allow you to download disc-based games to the hard drive for faster loading speeds and less wear on the drive. The minimal amount of money you’d save with the 4GB isn’t worth the additional functionality you get with a hard drive.