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<DOCID>Clash_of_the_Consoles.doc.txt</DOCID>
<AUTHOR>Kenneth Casperson</AUTHOR>
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So! Christmas is over, and thousands (if not millions) of people have either gotten their shiny new next-generation console, or are in the market to buy one with their hard earned Christmas cash. Which, then, is the console to buy? Should one go with the time-honored American tradition of assuming the most expensive console is best (PS3), the already seasoned veteran console (Xbox 360) or the one with the smallest price tag and the new take on gaming (Not to mention the weirdest name  Wii. Whats that supposed to mean, anyways? I mean is it a Japanese word, or is it just what Nintendo executives said when they saw they were actually going to make money off it? No idea.)

Lets start with the console thats been out the longest  the tried and true Xbox 360. The 360 has come a long way since its original overheating problems with the launch models, and now also runs considerably quieter. The 360, naturally, has the largest game library of any of the consoles, and what is largely recognized as the best online service  although the fact that nearly everything on Xbox live now costs money is starting to smell as though Xbox game developers are using the Live marketplace to nickel and dime  sorry, five and ten dollar  their fans. Apart from that, the 360 has already proven to be a solid console, with many excellent franchises in its repertoire  especially HALO, and with HALO 3 coming out this year expect the Xbox 360 and Xbox Live to have a very busy year. Graphics-wise the 360 is a vast improvement over the previous generation, although the game play naturally functions almost exactly the same as it did before  anyone who has played an Xbox game will recognize control schemes and everything right away. The 360, like all the new consoles, has wireless controllers, though it is the only one to lack motion sensing capability. At least, this hasnt been implemented in any games. So, all in all, call it a more powerful Xbox with a nicer operating system, and even better online capability. Plus, it has a ton of sweet games. 

Next, the PS3. Its big. Its black. Its oh so very shiny. It plays Blu-Ray. Its graphics capacity is second to none. It has the largest price tag of any console ever hey! Hang on a second, thats not a good thing, which sucks! And it is also one of the PS3s principle shortcomings. Another shortcoming  if you want one, good luck finding one. The already anemic 400,000 unit launch supply wound up being somewhere around 260,000, making it almost impossible to get one  this of course being the reason one went for $16,000 USD on Ebay. Some people have a lot of money laying around, apparently. But supply and price tag aside, lets have a look at the PS3s actual capability. First of all, as mentioned before, the PS3 has by far the most powerful hardware  something called the Core processor that blows away anything on the market today, plus advanced graphics and 3D technology, not to mention the Blu-Ray and the capacity for HD 1080p output. The controller, known as the Sixaxis controller (yes its supposed to be all one word), has, as the name suggests, six axis motion sensing capability, though it has yet to be implemented in games except as an incidental gimmick. That aside, the games that are there are very good, and like the 360, the PS3 has a huge array of franchise titles to look forward to  Metal Gear Solid 4 comes to mind. Sonys online service remains free as well (fortunately), and while it is not quite the monster Xbox Live has become, it functions well enough to get by.

For all that, though, there are several things to worry about for the PS3 besides the price and availability. The Sixaxis controller uses Bluetooth protocol for its link with the system, something most electronics fans are very familiar with. Unfortunately, however, this has been reportedly spotty  the controller sometimes loses connection at random intervals and for no apparent reason, which anyone can imagine is a serious annoyance during gameplay. Also, like the 360, there is very little difference in gameplay from the previous generation  in fact, you will notice the sixaxis controller looks almost exactly like the Dualshock 2 controller that was standard on the PS2. It does, however, lack a rumble feature, something that has worked its way into the gaming industry as a standard, and is an odd omission for a new high-tech system. Here, though, is something disturbing  the PS3 cannot scale its output to your television. That probably doesnt mean very much to most of you, so here is a lengthier explanation. HDTV sets come in several different resolutions  ranging generally from 480i to 1080p (1080p of course being the new and very expensive high bar of visual effects). What this means for you, for instance, is that if you have an older or cheaper model HDTV that supports 1080i, but not 720p (yes this is a little technical but there is a point), the PS3 will default its output to 480p  making the games look washed out on the screen, since the output is not correct for the actual screen. Basically what this means is that anyone who doesnt have new model HDTV sets are NOT going to get the full effect of the PS3s awesome graphics engine, crippling the effect of the beautiful games it could have delivered with a little more work on the system. Whether or not this is the result of Sony rushing their launch to compete with the Wii can be debated elsewhere, either way  it is a giant and glaring problem. 

Last, but certainly not least, there is the little console that could  the Nintendo Wii. Of all the things that have been accused of being gimmicky, the Wii and its fully motion sensing controller, along with the infrared aiming cursor, reminiscent of old light gun technology but far more advanced, has had to endure the most accusations. The Wii is the smallest and quietest of the consoles, and also the least powerful when it comes to hardware  its graphics capacity is an improvement over the previous generation, but really not by much  though it DOES support output in 480p, and unlike the PS3, is capable of scaling its output to fit different resolutions. The controller is in fact far easier to use than it looks like  a few minutes playing Wii Sports with it, and youll see why, the layout is intuitive and easy to learn right out of the box, though pointing with it on the screen and developing actual skill with it takes a little longer. So far there arent many games out for the Wii, and most use the controller as a novelty  yes, a gimmick if you will  and there is not much depth to its use, though a few games, most notably Zelda, make excellent use of the controller and its hard to imagine playing the game with anything else. 

That does of course bring the review along to probably the best reason to buy a Wii right now  ZELDA. A launch title for the ages, recognized as possibly the best launch title of all time, beating out the original HALO for the Xbox. High praise indeed for a game many people dismiss based on its graphics alone. Which, of course, is the hurdle the Wii has to overcome  the only problem that is apparent with the system currently is a hardware defect in several of the launch units that render their WiFi capability unusable  though Nintendo does repairs of these for free just for shipping them in. All in all, the Nintendo has an excellent run going so far, though their ability to keep coming out with new and innovative games and making increasingly effective use of their completely new controller setup will be the only way for them to make up for the systems relatively poor graphics performance. So far, however, sales of the Wii indicate that so long as Nintendo can continue to make the best of the system  and make sure third party developers do as well, not just using the controller as a gimmick, but actually living up to the potential of the Wiimote, the Wii could very well come out the victor. 

So which one of the systems is the best? Hard core fans of any of the three companies will undoubtedly say that theirs is, but as the 360 is the only proven viable system, and it is still unknown how it will eventually compare to the other two in later versions, time will tell. Can the Wii keep up its run? Can the PS3 overcome its hardware and software issues and live up to the sheer power it contains? Expect to see the console war heat up even more as the year progresses. 

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