I was recently having a conversation with my brother when the conversation of next gen came up. He said he wants to get a new system this Christmas but isn't sure which to get. Off the top of my head, I told him to get a 360, but after further consideration, I told him I'd get back to him about it.

After that I got to thinking about the pros and cons of each next gen system, and figured I'd write up a list. If you guys can think of anything I'm missing, that'd be great.

360 bullet points
High Definition Graphics for all games.
Hard Drive that can be used for game saves (doesn't come in Core, but can be bought). Can use portable memory cards, and can upgrade the HDD.
Uses DVD format for games and can play DVD movies. HD-DVD drive sold separately that can play HD movies.
Instant messaging and video/voice chat between systems over Xbox Live.
Optical out support for 5.1 surround sound. (thanks cjpkiller)

360 pros:
Exclusive DLC for many of the big name games seems to be Microsoft's way of separating itself from Sony.

Xbox Live. Original and classic games for download, along with downloadable content for a lot of games. Movie and TV downloads and game demos. Beyond that, navigating the Marketplace is pretty simple. You want a movie, go to movies. Want some free DLC for a game you have, find the game from the list of games (sorted alphabetically), then check.

Connection with PCs. Connect your 360 to a PC to play music, video or view pictures from the PC. The music can be played in game for a custom soundtrack, and you can hook MP3 players up to the 360 for the same effect.

Cheaper than a PS3, but still totally "next-gen".


360 cons:
Red Ring of Death! Though the system is under warranty for 3 years from this malady, it takes weeks to get your 360 back once it goes on the fritz, and some studies have shown that 25-33% of 360s are red ringed at some point in their life.

Xbox Live Marketplace. First, if you want to buy anything, you'll have to convert your money to DisneyDollars... err.. Microsoft Points. Now that you've done that, good luck finding what you want if it isn't brand new. Finding what you want out of is like shopping for shit at Goodwill... you kinda' know where to go, but you'll spend an awful lot of time there looking for the right thing.

Microsoft is greedy. There have been reports that game companies wanted to offer customers free content over XBox Live for download, but Microsoft has forced a price tag on the DLC. Plus every-fucking-thing costs for this $350 1/3 brick hunk of plastic. Xbox live costs, the warranty costs (excluding Red Ring of Death issues), wireless internet costs (more below), maps cost, clothes cost, fucking Horse Armor costs. Jesus next they'll be charging for upgrades to the firmware.

The controller. Though markedly better than the original Xbox's giganto controller, it's still got a funky d-pad and extended use can cramp the hand IMO (by extended, I mean somewhere over 6 hours).

Disk Read Errors. I've had my 360 since April, so it's been four months and I've seen more than enough disk read errors already. 2 have been on games that have come out of the box, and directly into the 360. The rest were on a rented copy of Dead Rising, so it may have had something to do with the quality of the actual disk. Regardless, I had my PS2 for well over 5 years before is started having Disk Read Errors. (Edit: I've found that I'm only having this problem with Dead Rising for some fucking reason)

No built in wireless. The Wii and the PS3 both have built in Wireless internet so all you need is an internet connection and a wireless router. For the 360, you have to either buy a $100 wireless adapter or use wired networking. OMGWTFBBQsauce!

Xbox Live subscribers. No, that's not the same thing as Xbox Live as anyone who's played Halo 2 knows that some Live subscribers can be ridiculous. I mean, you can only be called a niggerfaggot so many times before you start wishing that anyone under the age of 14 had been an abortion instead. (Thanks LxLegend)

360 exclusives: Gears of War, Bioshock, Crackdown Beta, Blue Dragon, Eternal Sonata, Too Human, Project Gotham Racing, Mass Effect, Viva Pinata


Wii bullet points
Internal memory that can be used for game saves and an SD card slot so you can expand your memory.
Uses DVD format disks, but can't play DVDs.
Standard Definition Graphics. Some games can be played in 480p and widescreen though.
Messaging between systems via the friend code system (more on that later).
Built in Wireless internet for connection to the internet, and connectivity with the also wireless Nintendo DS.

Wii pros:
Nintendo. The company that makes the system is also one of the world's best game makers and will know how to push the hardware (limited though it may be) to it's limit.

Wii-mote. This may sound like a company tagline, but the Wii-mote offers the possibility of never before possible types of games and gaming. It's motion sensitive and has an expansion port, so any sort of additional peripheral can be attached to it. The Classic Controller expansion allows for more traditional controls for games that need it, while there's an infinite capacity for game specific, motion sensitive controls.

Built in "channels". An internet channel for surfing the web on your TV, weather and news channels, make a mii of anything, vote in polls, check out trailers for new games, and download classic NES, SNES, N64, Genesis and Turbo-Grafx games.

Online play. Nintendo has finally stepped up (though some would call it a baby step) and entered the online world. Some of the games Nintendo is making will have online play and it will be free. Beyond that, WiiWare is said to be going live with original downloadable games sometime early '08.

Mass Appeal. Nintendo is actively seeking to broaden it's target demographic with the Wii. This means that chances are that it will be the party platform. Do take this pro with a grain of salt though; people have ruined perfectly good HDTVs, ceiling fans, windows, and babies because they got overly excited while playing.(Thanks Dennen and LxLegend)

Cheapest new system on the market.


Wii cons:
The friend code system. 4152 8325 5833... no wait... arrrgh! This system is so frustratingly asinine that it must've been used long ago as a step below Chinese water torture. You may have to pay to play on Live, but apparently you're paying for convenience.

No HD support. The Wii is a hard sell as a "next-gen" console because it doesn't support High-Def graphics. For some that may be a pro as they don't want to upgrade their TVs.

No DVD playback. It seems like such a simple thing. I mean the Wii uses DVDs to play games on, why the hell can't it play DVD movies. Nintendo tries to say, well, everyone already has a DVD player at home, but you know what I use for my DVD player... my 360, and before that it was my PS2. Sometimes shelf space is an issue, so having a versatile machine can be a deal sealer.

Not enough Hard disk space. The Wii comes with a half of a gig of internal memory. This seems ridiculous considering that an iPod Nano which is little bigger than the top half of your thumb comes in 4 and 8 gig sizes. Shit, you can buy a 1 gig micro SD card for under $8.00 http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-MicroSD-Card-Retail-Package/dp/B000EEZCEG
And while it is true that you can upgrade the memory using SD cards, they are strictly for storage, and if you want something off of them, you have to make room in your Wii's itsy bitsy 1/2 gig of memory to move the info from the SD card back onto your Wii... *facepalmsmack*

Wii-mote. I know I made this a pro, but it can also sometimes be a con. The controller itself is $40. Plus a nunchuck is $20. Plus a classic controller (so you can play those SNES, and N64 games) is $20. $80 bucks just so you (and not your friends) can play all your games. Developers also haven't quite mastered the wiggle motions of the Wii-mote. Games like Mortal Kombat: Armageddon and Red Steel, while sound on paper, become exercises in frustration as you flail around like an epileptic trying to do a fucking fireball.

Peripherals. A great number of suggested peripherals to "maximize your gaming feel" are really just worthless pieces of overpriced plastic. Plastic covers for Wii Sports, a "Wii Zapper" that looks like a crutch for a 5 year old, plenty of racing wheels because holding the Wii-mote sideways just isn't good enough, and a fucking pad for World Class Track Meet 2008 (aka Wii Fit) Gimme a break with this dumb shit. No matter how Shiggy spins it I don't need a Wii to check my weight; what I need is good fucking games that work with my Wii-mote and Nunchuck. And how long will it be before games are developed with these peripherals in mind and it becomes a obligatory to purchase this plastic trash. (Thanks Dennen)

Wii exclusives: Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, Wario Ware: Smooth Moves, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Super Mario Galaxy, NiGHTS: Journey into Dreams, Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree, Super Paper Mario, Wii Sports, My Sims

PS3 Bullet points
High Definition Graphics for all games
Uses Blu-ray Disc format and can play BD movies
Internal HD built into every PS3 that can be upgraded using commercially available external hard drives.
Built in Wireless internet for connection to the internet, and connectivity with the also wireless PSP.
Game data can be stored to the internal HD, an external HD, or a thumb drive for portable data.(thanks cjpkiller)
Optical out support for 5.1 and even 7.1 surround sound. (thanks cjpkiller)

PS3 Pros:
Blu-ray. A single layer Blu-ray Disc can store 25 gigs, where a single layer DVD can only store 4.7 gigs of info. This makes for bigger, better looking games.

Online. The PS3 is the only next-gen system that allows for online multiplayer gaming, text and video messaging, voice chatting, DLC and internet browsing.

Multimedia hub. The PS3 can be used to play your music, videos and view pictures all in the same place.

Controller. You know it, you love it, Sony's new Sixaxis controller is designed pretty much exactly like the past iterations of PS controllers. This time there's no rumble, and the L2 and R2 buttons are more like triggers, but it's still the most well designed controller (IMO) on the market.

Games. Though the PS3 itself may feel like it's only good for watching Talladega Nights on BD, it actually has a very large database of backwards compatible games from the Playstation and PS2 that slightly upscale the graphics. That might hold you over until Metal Gear Solid Four doesn't come out on the 360.

Constant Updates. If the PSP is any indication the PS3 should be able to function as a dialysis machine 5 years from now, as it receives constant functionality upgrades via firmware updates. It'd be nice if Madden 2013 were a downloadable update of the roster and stats... but I don't see that happening anytime soon. (Thanks Dennen)

Can cure cancer, AIDS, and SIDS. Don't belive me, click here http://www.DESTRUCTOID.com/playstation-3-helping-to-rid-the-world-of-disease-30493.phtml


PS3 Cons:
FUCKING $500! Holy shitballs this thing is expensive! OK, it's dropped in price to $400, but that's still damn expensive.

Sony. The biggest con of all (beyond the price) is Sony themselves. The shit that comes out of their collective mouths sometimes... http://www.DESTRUCTOID.com/playstation-3-kiosks-freezing-up-on-purpose--28860.phtml

Big Black Behemoth. The PS3 is the XBox of this generation when it comes to asthetics. Sure it's sleek and shiny with it's chrome trim... but the thing weighs over 10 pounds and curves outwards so your friends are going to have to come to your place to get in on some PStriple awesomeness as you won't want to be lugging this thing around.


PS3 Exclusives: Folklore, Killzone 2, Petal Rear Squalid Door 4 (for now), Lair, Eye of Judgment, Resistance Fall of Man, Ratchet & Clank Future, Warhawk, Heavenly Sword, Little Big Planet, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, Final Fantasy XIII. (thanks for the last few Dennen... how could I miss Final Fantasy XIII?)


In summation; if you want an easy to use console with tons of games now get a 360. If you are an audio/videophile whose willing to wait for grander things to happen (and you have the money) go the PS3 route. Finally, if you want a console that can get other non gamers to join you in your favorite pass time buy a Wii and tell everyone how much fun it is. (Thanks LxLegend)

Well, that's all I have to say about the big three. ...also cocks