The Griffon News

Back in the day, kids had two choices: the Super Nintendo, or the Sega Genesis. However, in this era of video games, decisions aren’t so easy.

Three next generation systems are out at the same time, the Nintendo Wii, Sony’s Playstation 3, and Microsoft’s Xbox 360. In the world of gaming at this time, this is the
Console War and you decide who’s winning.

The Xbox 360 was the first next generation console to come out. Released November of 2005, the console was so popular it remained sold out for the rest of the year. The 360 came out in two models for gamers to choose from, a Premium system, which can be purchased for $399, and a Core system that’s available for $299.

The major difference in the two is that the premium system comes with accessories that the core doesn’t come with; a 20 GB hard drive, which is required to save games, a media remote controller, a wireless controller (the core has a wired controller), and a 360 headset which can be use to communicate with people when using Xbox Live to play multiplayer games. Both systems contain different video cables; the core comes with composite cables, the premium comes with composite and component cable. Some of the highest rated multiplayer games for the 360 are Halo 2, Call of Duty 3, and Rainbow Six Vegas.

“I enjoy the Xbox 360 because there is so much that you can do with the multiplayer on it.” said MichaelDeFelice, a Missouri Western student.

It was nearly a year later before the next gen system came out. In November of 2006 Sony’s Playstation 3 was unleashed upon the U.S. It also can be purchased in two  forms, one being the Premium system that contained a 60 GB hard drive for $599, and it comes with a memory card reader for digital cameras. The Basic system that has a $20 GB hard drive is priced at $499.

The Playstation 3 consoles are the only ones that come with Blu Ray technology, which delivers the ultimate in high-definition entertainment, offering more than five times the storage capacity of standard DVD.

“The Playstation 3 is pretty fun, the graphics are cool on it.” Missouri Western student Christopher Shove said.

However, Sony didn’t have much time to celebrate the release of PS3. Two days later after the launch, Nintendo released the Wii. The Wii includes a console, a stand to allow the console to be placed vertically, a circular clear stabilizer for the main stand, one Wii Remote, one Nunchuk attachment and a copy of Wii Sports, making it the only next generation console to include a game. The Nunchuk attaches to the Wii remote which provides motion sensing capability, allowing the user to interact with, and manipulate items on screen via movement and pointing. The Wii can be purchased at the retail price is $249.

“If I was looking for something with graphics I would buy a compter. But I like the Wii because the player becomes more interactive with the game.” Missouri Western student Andy Allee said.

During that month of November alone, Nintendo sold 476,000 units of the Wii console in the United States, more than twice the number of PlayStation 3’s. Out of all the systems to find, the Wii is still the hardest to get as they are always sold out at retail stores.

“On the day that we get Wii’s in they are instantly sold out, never lasting more than an hour when we sell them. I believe that they’re the most popular video game system right now.” Circuit City associate Andrea said.

Even though they’re the most advanced systems to date, they do have their share of problems. The Xbox 360 had reports of overheating in its first month of release, and the
Wii had trouble with the controller strap. But rest assured, both problems were quickly dealt with by manufacturers.