Console Comparisons: The Nintendo Wii vs the Xbox 360 and the PS3

With both the Nintendo Wii and the PS3 due for release in the States in November, this is the time when gamers will be trying to decide what to buy. For all the comparison of technical specs, a lot of those decisions will be made on emotions, which is obvious when you see gaming bloggers digging in to their entrenched positions in an increasingly vicious debate.

The Xbox 360 has one enormous advantage over the other two consoles: it's already out. It's had a year to establish itself, to have games developed for it, and to impress by being the first to show the obvious improvement in performance with all the seventh generation consoles. It launched with a couple of big games, notably Call of Duty 2 and Perfect Dark Zero, because who doesn't like Chicks With Guns. Sony has the pull of beloved game franchises Tomb Raider and Halo, and Japanese favorite Blue Dragon. Oddly, the 360 was backwards compatible with some but not all older Xbox games, whereas the Nintendo Wii and the PS3 claim to be compatible with all of those companies' previous games.

All three consoles have wireless controllers, but after that you have to choose your preference. The Wii has the revolutionary Wiimote controller, which has the potential to entirely change the direction of gaming, whereas both Microsoft and Sony have stuck with a completely conventional gamepad. The controllers for the PS3 and the 360 however, are rechargeable, whereas the Wii's controller is not. It lasts longer on its AA batteries than the 360 controller does between charges, but then you'll have to either change the batteries, or recharge them. Both the Wii and the 360 support input from four controllers at a time, whereas the PS3 claims to be able to handle seven. Like the Wiimote, the PS3 controller has a motion sensor, allowing it to be used directly to give tilt, pitch, and yaw, but this obviously hasn't been taken to the extent of Nintendo's Wii.

A big stumbling block for the PS3 is its price. The Wii is deliberately positioned in a much lower price bracket than Sony's product. A Wii will sell on release in the States for US$250, while the lower-spec of the two PS3s is expected to go for US$500, with its 60GB big brother an extra hundred. Likewise, all the Wii peripherals and games will also be slightly cheaper than the PS3 equivalents. When it comes to PS3 vs Wii, considering their launch dates are only two days apart, cost could be a major influencing factor.

Nintendo, however, has been more proprietary than either Sony or Microsoft. Both the 360 and the PS3 will play your DVDs as well as game discs. The Wii, however, uses special proprietary discs, so if you're buying a Wii, you're paying for DVD-playing capability somewhere else in your house.

All three consoles have different CPUs and GPUs. Much is made of the number-crunching, but when it comes right down to it, you're never going to be playing the three next to each other, and they all look fabulous compared with their predecessors. Given they've had an extra year in development, the Wii and the PS3 appear to out-perform the 360 slightly.

All three systems offer online content and support. There's no way yet to determine which will be superior if any: Xbox Live, WiiConnect24, or Playstation Network Platform. The PS3 can use the Playstation Portable as a peripheral.

One of the big and under-emphasised factors is who has the best games, and the best selection at launch. That's often a matter of taste: whether you're a big fan of Zelda, Final Fantasy, or Halo; Mario, Tomb Raider, or Sonic the Hedgehog. It's possible that the fact that the PS3 uses Linux could make user development something of a factor.

But when you're comparing consoles, Nintendo Wii vs Xbox 360, Wii vs PS3, you have to consider what might make someone move away from the console they already have. What would make an Xbox or PS2 owner change to the Wii? That's where the Wii controller might just give Nintendo an edge in gaining market share.