The Gamer’s Holiday Buying Guide
With the holidays coming, so is the madness to get new games and game systems. So what systems and games should you buy? Instead of reviewing games this week, I’m going to review the game system, so gamers can find out which ones they should stuff under their trees this year. I’ll only be reviewing the seventh generation consoles, though--Playstation 3, Xbox 360, and Nintendo Wii.
Playstation 3
Price: 80 GB: $399.00
Let’s start this holiday special with the priciest. For $400, you’re getting a lot more than a game system. You’re getting a Blu-Ray player, a HD-DVD player, a CD player, an Ipod, and a game system with 80 GB of storage! For people that don’t know exactly how large 80 GB is, a normal laptop’s Hard Drive is 80 GB! You think that’s enough? Well, Sony doesn’t think so, since they released a 160 GB version. That’s way more gigabytes than I have in my whole computer!
Playstation 3 has backwards compatibility with the Playstation 1 and Playstation 2. Its controller has some motion sensory, which isn’t used for all games, but still is a fun concept.
All in all, it’s a good system. Even two years after its release, gamers are split between love and hate for this system. Personally,I find it’s still way too expensive, but it delivers a lot for the huge price tag. If you’re looking for more than a game system; you might want to keep the Playstation 3 in mind.
Top five games to buy:
1. Grand Theft Auto 4
2. Metal Gear Solid 4
3. Call Of Duty 4
4. Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction
5. Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune
Xbox 360
Price: Arcade: $200
Pro: $300
Elite: $480
For Microsoft’s game system, there are three different configurations: Arcade, Pro, and Elite. The Arcade has 256 MB of storage, and that’s about it. The Pro has 60GB of storage, a headset, HD, an Ethernet cable, and backwards compatibility. The Elite has 120 GB of storage, a headset, HD, HDMI, an Ethernet cable, and backwards compatibility! Which one you buy depends on your style. I would not recommend getting the Arcade at all, since 256 MB is not a lot of storage, and no HD or backwards compatibility makes it not worth the price tag. The Pro and Elite are worth it, though.
Thanks to the special “Holiday Bundle”, gamers buying the 360 before Christmas get Kung Fu Panda and Lego Indiana Jones free! Neither are amazing games, but both are worth a bit of playing. I actually enjoyed Lego Indiana Jones a lot (and everyone who read my review knows that).
The storage sizes needs no explanation. The Arcade’s 256 MB is way too small, but the Pro and Elite are packing a great amount of gigabytes. Small storage is really a problem, since you can burn songs from a CD, or bridge a connection to your router (via Ethernet cable or Wireless Adapter) and transfer all the music and video from your computer to your 360! You can also watch DVDs and HD-DVD (Pro and Elite only), connect an Ipod to listen to your music, or plug in a camera and browse pictures.
Now is the best time ever to buy a 360. With two free games and all the demos included, you’re getting lots of bang for your buck. The 360 was undoubtedly made with gamers in mind.
Top five games to buy:
1. Grand Theft Auto 4
2. Call Of Duty 4
3. The Orange Box
4. Soul Calibur 4
5. BioShock
Nintendo Wii
Price: $250
Last but not least is Nintendo’s console: The Wii. Nintendo’s reason for calling it Wii: “Wii sounds like 'we', which emphasizes that the console is for everyone.” It’s no doubt family friendly, but with games like Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Super Mario Galaxy, and Super Smash Bros. Brawl, it definitely satisfies hardcore gamers too. It also has Medal of Honor, and No More Heroes to appeal to gamers with violent minds.
The most unique thing about the Wii is its remote control-like controller. The controller has sensor in it, detecting when it’s being moved or shook. You also place a sensor above or below the TV to detect the controller. Basically, what analog sticks do now, you can do by just pointing. For gamers that hate pointing at the TV, you can use an old fashioned dual-analog controller instead.
If you enjoy pointing at the screen (since it’s a new, fresh idea) or don’t mind it, then the games really shine. You’ll find its way more fun to actually swing a baseball bat to hit a baseball then to press a button or use an analog stick. Some games, like WarioWare, revolve completely on the Wii Remote, while other games, like Super Smash Bros. Brawl, can be played completely without the Wii Remote.
Other than the Wii Remote, you can download old-school games from the NES, SNES, TurboGrafx-16, Sega Master System, Sega Genesis, Nintendo 64, and Neo-Geo. Some games aren’t a very good deal (like$ 5 for the original Super Mario Brothers, which can be bought for $1 on an actual NES, but the NES and/or Super Mario Brothers may not work due to age); some games are great deals (Super Mario Kart can be bought for $8 - a real SNES is over $50! it’s a great way to play games you haven’t played for years (with a guarantee it will work forever), or play games you heard were amazing.
You may not think you can hold many games on 256 MB of storage, but you would be surprised. I have about 20-22 games downloaded on my Nintendo Wii, with plenty of room to spare. It’s ok for the Nintendo Wii to have only 256 MB while it’s not ok for a 360 to have the same amount because of the Nintendo Wii’s size. The Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 are huge compared to the Nintendo Wii. In comparison, the Wii is about 1/3 of the size of the 360.
Other than downloading, you can also play a Gamecube game disk. In addition, you can download DS game demos via Nintendo Wii, and connect the DS in hundreds of games.
It’s not the most powerful, or the cheapest system, but it’s still an amazing system overall. Wii Sports is included with the system, which very neatly shows the system’s capabilities. This system was designed with just about everyone in mind.
Top five games to buy:
1. Super Smash Bros. Brawl
2. Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
3. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
4. No More Heroes
5. Super Mario Galaxy
Although none of these reviews are extremely detailed, nor do they review everything the systems can do, it gives you an idea of what to expect from each system. Gamers should know by now what system they want from Santa this year.