Be Excellent To Each Other

Well the big day is coming in three weeks' time, and I'm currently wondering whether to plump for one of the current consoles bandying about atm. Except for a PS3, naturally.

Here are my points about the Wii and 360:

Wii
+ Virtual Console full of retro goodies.
+ WiiWare full of modern goodies.
+ Relatively easy to play "backups" with.
+ Homebrew-capable.
- Reportedly high prices on VC/WW stuff.
- A lot of 'shovelware' commercially available.
- Uphill struggle to maintain homebrewability with system updates.

360
+ Xbox Live Arcade full of various goodies.
+ The oldest of the current generation so therefore older stuff may be cheaper already.
+ Quite vibrant and active Live service - avatars and stats aplenty.
- Reportedly high prices on XBLA stuff.
- Very fiddly to play "backups" with.
- Not possible to play homebrew currently (how many more yeeeaarrss?).


Another question: can brand-new copies of Twilight Princess still run the Twilight Hack, or have Nintendo secretly patched the exploit or whatever?


Thank you for your time, ladies and gentlemen.

I haven't touched my wii in about 6 months and without at least 4 people present pretty much ever. The 3rd party software is almost exclusively a collection of shit versions of other formats with motion controls taped to the side and awful attempts to be cute.

The only reason to have one if there's going to be a lot of party gaming and/or you REALLY like the 1st party stuff.

The 360 is the greatest all round console of all time, especially if you have t'internet.

Intriguing, but are there any games for the 360 that would suit me?

Bear in mind I'm mostly a fan of arcade-style gameplay and bright and exciting visuals. Most FPSes and "gritty" and "moody" bollocks don't really make me cream myself with glee. So no Halo, GoW, CoD or what have you. I'm not digging football much either so no Pro Evo.

I must be a really difficult gamer to please. Besides, I assume XBLA is always cheaper than commercial stuff these days.

Forget about 'backups' - you will end up spending your life savings on your 360 and won't regret a penny. It's the console of champions.

I have a wii and a 360, and I play both equally.

i think it comes down to what kind of games, or software, you like.

The wii has some good software and hardware that people enjoy for less traditional gaming. Wii Fit I have heard people raving about (I bought it, actually, but have not yet tried it as stupidly left my wiimote at somebody else's house when I bought it, but carrying the wii board back from teh shops almost killed me, it weighs a tonne.) Soon (with wii fit) I'll be carrying ten of them at once.

Wii is great for light-hearted games that you don't feel like you need to 'work' towards. if you have a family/partner you'd liek to share with, wii is great for that. The games are 'fun' but then a lot of people think that not having any goals to work towards (in things liek Wii Music, for example) leaves them lacking. I am of the opposite opinion. Gamerscores and achievements, feeling like I have to 'work' at a game, not my thing, I just like to have fun and enjoy my games.

I have a 360, also. Their hardware/software stretches to things like Guitar Hero and Rock Band, but not much beyond this. However, these titles are very good and have sucked away many hours of my life, but can work out very costly what with band instruments and downloadable songs (which you cannot help but buy) if you like more traditional genres of games, you might prefer this console.

What kind of games do you like, what kind of gaming experience do you enjoy and who will be using the console?

The Wii is the PS2 of this generation - the mass market choice, so the average owner will buy any old shit, and there's a strong 'kiddies' market for it as well. Graphics not as good as the other two and connectivity not as good as the other two and controller not as good as the other two, save for a tiny handful of games, not all of which are first party.

If you've got the Nintendo franchises on the cube you've pretty much got them on the Wii. Beyond controls, all of which have some sort of compromise be it significant or minor, improvements are modest and slight. The sensible gamer this gen makes his Wii the second console.

The 360 looks brilliant, has virtually all the best games this generation, across all genres. Online is almost entirely perfect. Live is a place where my friends play games, rather than a service for connecting two devices over the internet.

I've got so much Nintendo stuff from the nineties onwards, and had the Wii for nine months before I got my 360, nine months ago.

And I must confess, the 360 holds infinitely more value in my home, it is the one thing I'd not want to be without, now.

I've been a chronic gamer for years, used every controller from the analogue BBC Micro joysticks of hate onwards, and never before the Wii have I basically laid aside my controller for fear of what it is doing to my health.

They are largely incomparable.

Let me check my shelf...

Amped 3 - Gloriously silly snowboarding game.
Bully - Yes, a little off your radar but surviving at boarding school crossed with the GTA engine, it's got no chance to be "Gritty".
Civilization Revloution - I'll be disagree with but the best game in the series.
Crackdown - It's like GTA but you can LEAP OVER FUCKING BUILDINGS.
Earth defence Force 2017 - Yes, it's an FPS (well a TPS) but it's the epitomy of arcade style gameplay. It's difficult to be gritty and moody when there's 500 giant spiders running at you and your current weaponry consists of homing missiles with a 3 a second fire rate.
Flatout Ultimate Carnage - Silly over the top racey fun.
Pure - SSX meets a quad bike racer.
Ridge Racer 6 - The first good one since Rage Racer.
Sega Superstars Tennis - Bright graphics? I got your bright graphics right here.
Sega Rally - SEGA MOTHERFUCKING RALLY!


And that's just retail titles bought by someone who doesn't share your views entirely. In the arcade I can already think of

Assault Heroes 1 and 2 - Top down shooters of note.
Bionic Commando Rearmed - NES remake with excellent style.
Boom Boom Rocket - DDR with fireworks.
Castle Crashers - Like Golden Axe in cartoon form. On some form of hallucinogenic.
Eets - Exceptionally weird puzzle game.
Exit - Stylish puzzle platformer.
Geo Wars 1 and 2 - Robotron with eye meltingly bright graphics
Marble Blast Ultra - Monkey ball without the monkey.
Pac man Championship Edition - The first proper sequel
Prince of Perisa Classic - Prince of Persia classic. In HD.
Space Giraffe - Find a brighter game and I'll find you an eye specialist.
Rez - REZ!

Not to mention the massively exponentially increasing library of community games. It's PD for the naughties.

BOMBERMAN!!

I always thought that the main differences were:

Wii- You have a lot of mates around and thus play fun game together on this

Xbox- You are alone mostly and want to go hardcore

Owning both, and a selection of games for each, I can EASILY say the Xbox gets more attention. If you've got any interest in playing with the Bezzies, Live is the way to do it.

A 360 *without* Live is going to be a much poorer experiance in my view. That's part of what makes it. The Wii I only really play the 1st party stuff and the Virtual Console things, but I'm a fan of Zelda, Metroid, et al. I just feel when I'm playing Wii I could be working towards my GamerScore or playing stuff with the Bezzies...or both!

If you have neither a Wii or a 360, I'd get a 360 and hook it up to Live.

It's worth pointing out almost every commercial game of note has a demo to download free on 360.

No such thing on a Wii.

And also if you buy an arcade 360 we'll come round your house and pee on it.

The 360 for you my lad. Forget the reliability problems (as they can be sorted at zero cost to yourself); the 360 is a gamers console, it's got the games, the wow and the best online presentation of any console. The Wii is something of an oddity. It has some good "party" games, but it's mostly aimed at sissies and girls.

A typical 360 game, yesterday.

Hit up XBLA and there's no shortage of arcade-style awesomeness. The vast majority of games are reasonably priced at 400 or 800 points (~£3.43 or £6.86 in real money, less if you can score a cheap points card from Tesco or Zavvi or somewhere like that). A few recent games have been priced at 1200 points (~£10.30) -- hopefully this won't become a trend though.

One major point in XBLA's favour over WiiWare is the fact that you can download a trial version of every game -- it's one of the requirements for MS to give a game the thumbs-up. AFAIK games must also implement online highscore tables wherever possible, so you can see how much better your friends are doing than you.

If it's pure retro you're after then the Wii's Virtual Console is where it's at but with only a few exceptions (eg. Sin & Punishment, which was tweaked to replace the Japanese menu and subtitles with English ones) they're literally just the original game dumped into an emulator -- no highscore sharing, no additional gameplay modes or graphics, nothing. Also the prices are fixed by system which means you end up with the IMHO ridiculous situation of paying £6 for what is basically a 1:1 replica of the original Space Invaders just because it's a version that was released on the SNES, whereas ace XBLA retro titles like Pac-Man CE and Galaga Legions only cost a quid more.

Looks like I'm ultimately convinced then.


Of course, knowing me I'll probs buy a Wii a few months down the line also - always best to indulge in the best of both worlds in the end, IMO.

I've got an XBoX and a Wii, and teh XBox gets used more than the Wii. MrsA even asked if she could have an XBox game at some point, so I pointed her at CoD4.

The 360 is definitely the way to go. It's the PS2 of this generation.

The Wii is still a good party console. I'm with Peter Moore, then of MS, now of EA who said it'd be everyone's 2nd console.

Sounds about right. I wouldn't part with my Wii but the 360 gets far more use.

My second console would be another 360 for my living room. What with GHWT, Rock Band, Lips, Scene It, etc, I could see it getting quite a lot of party use.

And that's precisely where my 2nd 360 has ended up.

Plus the obvious media centre/music/dvd benefits.

I have both, the Wii is good in small doses, but the 360 I prefer. However, half of the reasons the 360 is preferred is because of Live access (online gaming, demo downloads, etc). If you aren't planning on getting Live, then...
And if you have a mates/partner who you can regularly play games with, the Wii may be better, as it has games that you can play for a short time, but that is all it has (IMHO).

I love this place. The PS3 was dismissed without a second thought. Xbox is clearly the way to go as the nxe is allowing developers to create wii-style games anyway. How long before a copycat wii-mote appears? Hmmm?

As a Nintendo fan, and a Wii-lover, and a fan of arcadey-type games to the exclusion of pretty much anything else, I would still have to say the 360 wins, mainly for XBLA.

God, I feel so dirty typing that.

Buy both is the best answer, obv.

I still haven't got a PS2 yet, so by the time I get round to a PS3 there should be plenty of good games.

We saw one in Morrisons!! I'll find a piccy, it was bloody funny!!! Terrible shoddy rip-off of a Wii.

I still want a PS3 aswell though as I have 1&2

fun to see that both are called the ps2 of this gen

Both is really the answer, but if you go for 1 i discovered i play the 360 more.

Some multiformat games are better on the wii: shaun white e.g. And the great innovative pes wii. But truly i this gen can onlybe experieced by having the live goodness of the funsquare AND playing Wii sports

My dad's bought one of those. I'll try it over the weekend and let you know what it's like

*has flashback to Dr A's 'Chintendo' review*

Please do! When I saw it I laughed and Mr.G said:'BLATANT ripoff that is'

Shin, you already have a PS3 (2+1).

I have both. Get a 360.

I only have a wii, and as a long time Nintendo fan i say: get a 360.

Unless you're into mass-market shovelware (wow, another horse sheath-cleaning/puppy-euthanising/arse-toning/pretending to do other mundane shite I can actually do in real life much more easily game!), the Wii is a second console that you tend to only get out for parties. There's no denying it excels at that, but that's about it.

Where's your first?

In that case, I have a PS8.

I imagine that, like mine, it's in a bedroom.

Games/office/spare room. It's where Ange banished me to when we bought our house after claiming the living room for the New World.

even for parties i think people prefer the likes of Singstar.

Here it is..

The Virtual Console has been pretty well done too. Saved me forking out for another copy of Shining Force II anyway. Plus, hopefully WiiWare will have more stuff like Alien Crush Returns.

LIAR!

GrumblegrumblesachinfrachinrachinXBox360...

Seriously, though. I own a Wii and an FunSquare that blew up three days after its warranty expired, and even I'm telling you that you want an EggBox.

Geometry Wars 2, man. GEOMETRY WARS 2!

If you really want super retro hits, why not just buy an original Xbox and get it chipped? Then you get a fine media centre as well.

That's the one. I'll report back on monday as to how it plays

You don't even need to chip it. You can softmod it to play from the hard drive and run the Media Centre Dash without opening it up.

we need more dr. a!

Then again, the Wii doesn't fucking RROD on the FIRST FREE NIGHT YOU'VE HAD TO PLAY GAMES FOR MONTHS resulting in INTENSE FRUSTRATION.

I am now genuinely pleased we bought GH:WT for the Wii.

I have a Wii, since launch, and no Xbox. (Never even played on either Xbox come to think of it.)

I like the Wii. I've had a lot of fun with the top-grade games (Twilight Princess, Super Mario Galaxy, Metroid Prime 3. Even Super Paper Mario). Even the next tier down (Wii Sports, Mario Kart) I've played lots of, and enjoyed. Some of my favourite games I've ever played are on the Wii. I'm looking forward to Animal Crossing massively.

Unfortunately, beyond first party titles and stuff, which are superb, there isn't much of note. I'm not concerned about the tonnes of shovelware for the Wii - I've owned formats in the past such as the Speccy, PlayStation and PS2 which were similarly home to lots of crap, and I'm a clued-up gamer. But if I was sent out tomorrow with vouchers for any Wii games of my choosing for free, I'd struggle to choose any as I've played/own most of the good ones already, leaving not much worthwhile choice for me. (Then again, I'd struggle to name any Xbox 360 games I'd want to buy if I was given the console for free. Mostly seems like FPSes, sports car racing games and American sports. None of which I would choose to buy or play.) I think the Wii is like the DS in that it has a lot of worthless shovelware due to its staggering popularity, but unlike the DS, isn't home to more brilliant games than you could hope to buy in one lifetime.

I couldn't live without my Wii though. And it's one of my most-played games consoles ever despite the low quantity of essential games for it. So I'm not sure what to suggest. Just makes me wish there was one unified games console standard. That's what we need.

Yep, lack of competition in hardware is exactly what we need. Also, did you miss all the posts about the hundreds of brightly-coloured arcade games available for the 360?

I wish for a single games format. In the way that there's a single CD or DVD format and any CD or DVD player will play any 'software' available. That is all.


Probably, yes. I'm going by what I see on shelves in games shops BTW.