Well, one thing is for sure, the PS3 is turning many gamers away due to its $500 - $600 price tag and $60 - $100 game price tags. Blu-Ray support may be a contributing factor for the cost of the console. It also has reverse compatibility with older PlayStation games. It is looking like it will be getting a Grand Theft Auto game, a few Final Fantasy games, Metal Gear, and possibly a Kingdom Hearts game as well. The controller is virtually the DualShock controller, but with a gyroscopic feature recently added.
It is hard to justify buying a console when it has only a few game series that people like on it, and is as expensive as buying another game console and several games for it. I don't see enough games to make it worthwhile buying; it might be possible that some of these games will be released on other consoles anyway. I suppose Sony could drop the price of the console and the games later on. Still, I have trouble with Sony's
business practices. Between the lawsuits with the copyright infringement on the dualshock controller, the disc read problems, the virus-like Extended Copy Protection for their music, and now the rip on the Wii's controller, I won't be buying their consoles or products.
I don't know much about the 360, even though it has been released. It gets the Dead or Alive series, and its biggest wildcard is Halo. Rare is now on board with Microsoft, so it will be interesting to see what games they decide to release. Microsoft's console also has an expensive price tag. It might go down over time, though, but I just don't know. I've also read that the console and games are prone to hardware failure or difficulties, such as disc scratching or overheating.
The Wii is getting everyone charged up, despite the weird name for a console. It is expected to cost less than $250, and the games cost around $50. This of course, could change. The trailer for SSBB looks pretty good, but this is still in the early stages; things can still change over time. We still don't know how many games will be out. The console is compatible with the GameCube's controllers, memory card, and games, so it can double up as a GameCube (no GBA Player, though). It also has the Virtual Console, which allows players to download games released on older consoles, including some of Sega's consoles. The cost for those games are expected to be around $20. Not all of the games will make it to the Virtual Console; only a selection will. Finally, the Wii has a unique two-piece controller, and a standard controller to play other and older games.
Based on what I have seen so far, I have my chips down on the Wii. I like the cost of the console and the games, and the controller is nice; I don't like the other controllers so much because they have too many buttons and controls, in my opinion. I also like the Virtual Console; there are several games that I never got to play on the SNES and the N64, so I hope those games will make it on the Virtual Console.
While it seems that the Wii, is ahead, things can always change. It was only a while ago where many people expected it to flop, but has since made a big comeback with its revelation at the Electronic Entertainment Exposition. There is still some time between now at both the PS3's and the Wii's release date, so developments still have the potential to occur. I am interested in seeing how these consoles and games perform when they are released.
Most of the facts here came from Wikipedia.
