Two Weeks Later… PS3 Vs. Wii
While the X360 has been out for a little more a year, the two big talking subjects of gamers today is who had the better launch two weeks ago and who stands to have the better system overall.
The PLAYSTATION3 is a graphical powerhouse, having the custom-made Cell processor with 7 different cores for maximum bandwidth for signals you’re brain can’t possibly comprehend. It comes with a BluRay movie (Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby) to show off the clarity of true HD entertainment (to those that purchased the HDMI cable separately for about $100). Games that have the capability to be broadcast in 1080p resolution (though I haven’t seen one yet that actually is actually rendered in the resolution, some are 1080i and most have been 720p, the same as the current X360’s HD).
Nintendo’s Wii, on the other hand, has the ability to take photos and videos stored on an SD memory card and edit them in the Wii Photo Channel (one of the out-of-the-box launch channels offered by Nintendo). Not only can users edit the photos and videos of loved ones, they can send their imaginative photos to each other via the messaging system in the Wii, whether they be using the same Wii via the message board or online via the friend code system that is Wii-specific or using someone’s e-mail address.
The PLAYSTATION3 boasts the new SIXAXIS control, which eliminates rumble-features and integrates a tilt-sensor within the tried and true DualShock control husk, with an extra PlayStation-symbol button to turn on the system/control and wireless control with charging handled by the USB-MiniUSB adapter included with the system (only one cord included for one control, but extra controls do NOT come with their own cable, it must be a separately purchased cable). Of 5 games I have witnessed, none of them have efficiently or effectively used the tilt-sensor in any way that has wowed me. The most I have seen has been shaking off hand-to-hand combat in Call of Duty 3.
The Wii uses a tilt sensor as well, but teamed with a sleek new control design and a pointer device that makes it appear more like a remote control for a television or other receiver than a video game control. The system (in the US at least) is shipped with the game Wii Sports, a 5 game compilation with 3 training exercises and a Fitness work out that can only be activated once daily and charts your progress on a calender.
While the PS3 boasts being a multimedia swiss-army knife, including a BluRay player, internal HDD(hard disk drive), WiFi ($599 model only) and the ability to play both PS1 and PS2 games (though not all of them completely correctly and you have to purchase a memory-card to USB adapter and loading your PS1/2 saves into a “virtual memory card”), it lacks the low price and ingenuity behind Nintendo’s Wii.
Games at launch are critical and while the PLAYSTATION3 has a few lookers (which is mostly all the PS3 has going for it, better looking software), the Wii has overturned the competition by offering a game with the system, as well as having several titles that are Wii-only experiences (the PS3 has several ports of PS2/Xbox/X360 titles) and only a few titles that are exclusive. The Wii boasts Red Steel (a gun/sword hybrid FPS), Excite Truck (where players control by holding the control sideways and tilting it from side to side), Rayman: Raving Rabbids and Super Monkey Ball:Banana Blitz (both with a slew of party games), and of course Nintendo’s own mascots Link (Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess), Samus Aran (Metroid Prime 3: Corruption), and Mario Mario (Super Mario Galaxy) all getting games withing the first year of release. Along with their ultimate fighting franchise Smash Bros. getting an iteration currently titled Smash Bros. Brawl.
The most the PS3 has going for it exclusively is Gran Turismo HD (which Sony has said there will be several micro-transactions to complete the games full roster of courses and cars totaling well more than $100), Metal Gear Solid 4 (which will most likely be ported to another system eventually) and Assassin’s Creed (which was supposed to be X360/PS3 until Sony made it exclusive). Three games hardly supports purchasing a $599 system that can play movies most people’s TVs don’t have the resolution support to output.