Technologizer » Buying

Game Console Buying Guide 2009: How to Choose Wisely

Jared Newman — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 16:56:25 +0000

I’ll talk about video games to anyone who can stand to listen, but I’m always surprised when someone asks me which of the three current home consoles is the best. Choosing a video game system isn’t about superiority — sorry fanboys — it’s about having fun with your $300 to $500 investment instead of using it as a dust magnet. With Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo all cutting prices, it’s a pretty good time to talk about buying a Playstation 3, an Xbox 360 or a Wii. And now that I’ve got all three in my living room, I feel pretty comfortable helping you through it.

For the sake of getting everyone up to speed, let’s start with an overview of each system.

Sony’s Playstation 3

For $300, you get a console with a 120 GB hard drive, built-in Blu-ray, one controller and USB plug for charging, standard-definition cables, built-in wireless and free access to the Playstation Network.

Notable games you won’t find on other consoles include Resistance 1 and 2, LittleBigPlanet, Gran Turismo 5 (due next year), Metal Gear Solid 4, Killzone 2 and Infamous. But the killer apps are the two Uncharted games, which take the player on treasure-hunting adventures akin to those of Indiana Jones.

You’re looking at about $90 in extra costs for a second controller, an unofficial HDMI cable and third-party Bluetooth headset.

Nintendo’s Wii

$200 gets you the console with a 512 MB flash drive, one Wii Remote and attachable Nunchuck running on two AA batteries, standard-definition cables, built-in wireless and free access to online services.

Wii Sports, arguably the most popular Wii game available, is bundled. Nintendo’s long-running franchises otherwise rule the console, including Super Mario Galaxy, New Super Mario Bros. Wii and The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. Wii Sports Resort, for $60, is like the original but with an accuracy-boosting MotionPlus attachment, and the Wii Fit with Balance Board, for $90, will give you the illusion of exercise for a couple weeks before you get bored and put it away forever.

An extra Wii Remote costs $40, a Nunchuk costs $20 and additional MotionPlus units cost $20. Any SD card will boost your storage capacity.

Microsoft’s Xbox 360

The Elite model costs $300 and includes a 120 GB hard drive, a built-in DVD player, one controller running on two AA batteries, standard-definition cables, access to online purchases and a wired headset. There’s also a stripped down $200 Arcade model, which I don’t recommend.

The Xbox 360′s hallmark franchises are Halo and Gears of War, but the console has a stable of other impressive exclusives, such as Left 4 Dead, Mass Effect, Fable 2, Forza Motorsport 3 and Dead Rising.

Without online play, your extra costs will be about $90 for a second controller, an extra battery pack, a play-and-charge kit and a cheap HDMI cable. To play games online, you’ll need a $50 per year subscription to Xbox Live Gold and either a wired Internet connection or an $80 wireless adapter.

Should You Buy a Wii?

The Wii is cheaper, smaller and less technologically advanced than either the Xbox 360 or the Playstation 3, but its family-friendly approach and use of motion and pointer-based controls captured the hearts of people who haven’t touched a video game in years, if ever. Meanwhile, so-called hardcore gamers scoff and point out that the novelty of motion controls eventually fades, at which point the Wii becomes a worthless gimmick.

Regardless of which camp you’re in, the Wii is best as a party console. With enough friends around, you’ll come back to Wii Sports time and again, occasionally branching out to Wii Sports Resort, Mario Kart Wii or New Super Mario Bros. Wii. That said, you’ll actually need to think about your social or family situation when considering this console. Do you have young children? Do your friends frequently wind up at your apartment before or after a night of boozing? If the answer to either question is “yes,” you’ll get lots of use from the Wii. If the party’s often happening elsewhere, consider a different console.

It Won’t Keep You Up All Night

Sure, there are some games that will demand your solitude, such as Super Mario Galaxy or Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, but the next time a blockbuster game like Modern Warfare 2 comes around, and you realize the Wii doesn’t have it, you’ll be disappointed. Games that attempt to feel like current-generation experiences often come off as consolation prices. They just don’t compare to the Xbox 360 or Playstation 3.

Also, online multiplayer on the Wii is practically worthless. Rare is the game that includes online play, and setting up a match with friends involves exchanging long, alphanumeric codes by phone or e-mail. Once that’s done, there’s no voice communication in most games (and you likely won’t spring for a headset anyway), so you might as well be playing Super Smash Bros. Brawl or Mario Kart Wii alone. Do not buy the Wii with any expectation of online play, because it’s very low on Nintendo’s priority list. On the other hand, the Wii is the only console that truly cherishes playing with friends in the same room.

Onwards, to considering a high-definition console.

Specs: Not Meaningless. But Getting There.

Harry McCracken — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 07:10:41 +0000

[NOTE: Here's a post that first appeared in our free T-Week newsletter, which you can subscribe to here.]

Once upon a time, I could quote every major speed and feed associated with each computer I owned from memory. I knew the CPU’s clockspeed and how much RAM I had; I knew how much memory the graphics card held and what my screen resolution was; I knew how much hard disk space I had, and how fast the CD-ROM drive was. That was just the beginning. come to think of it: I could also tell you how many megabytes were free on the hard drive, and–in the days of DOS, at least–how much free memory I had once the PC had booted. All of this made sense–every spec had a meaningful impact on my everyday productivity.

Today? I’m not saying I ignore specs–I do pay some attention when I’m making a major investment in new stuff. But I don’t obssess over them like I once did. I’m too busy thinking about other factors which play at least as big a role in determining whether I’ll be pleased with my tech investments.

How come?

There’s such a thing as enough power. If I were a hardcore 3D gamer, I’d still be fixated on techy specs, since games can easily eat up all the processing power a PC can throw at them. I’m not, though–I spend most of my time in my browser, office suites, and graphics software. They need some muscle, sure. But most of the computers I’ve owned over the past few years have had been more than potent enough. (RAM is an exception: I always try to buy a computer with twice the memory that’s typical at the time.) Same thing with digital cameras–if I have six megapixels, I’m good, so I focus in on items like the zoom lens and the battery life and whether I’ll be able to slip the camera into my pocket.

Some speed limitations are out of your control. The more that we live our computing lives online, the more that it’s stuff beyond the PC that keeps you zipping along or bogs you down. Like, for instance, the speed of your broadband service–and even if you think you’re paying for 6-mbps service, it can slow to a trickle without warning. And even if your broadband is lickety-split, sluggish servers on the other end can leave the world’s fastest PC feeling like an arthritic Commodore 64.

Who wants a product that’s fast, but bad? I’ve seen some PCs with screamin’ CPUs, oodles of RAM, and hard-disk real estate as far as the eye could see…that had chintzy cases, impossible-to-get-at memory slots, and power supplies that that buzzed like beehives. None of which you could tell by simply comparing features with seemingly similar machines.

Specs can be beside the point. Too many PCs that don’t lack for powerful hardware components are frustrating slowpokes–because their manufacturers lard them up with pre-installed apps that pig out on resources and/or don’t tweak drivers and settings to help ensure you get the speed you paid for. On the flipside, there are also computers without cutting-edge ingredients that are faster than you’d think.

Specs can lie. Which they do whenever a camera or scanner manufacturer quotes interpolated resolution figures–”interpolated” being a code-word for “we’re claiming that our device is capable of capturing more pixels than it really can in hopes of convincing you to buy our product.”

Specs can be downright dangerous. I think back to the period when flatbed scanners first got cheap and their manufacturers plastered boxes with selling points like 600-dpi resolution. Without making it clear that scanning everything at 600-dpi would take forever and needlessly fill up your hard drive. And this was in the dial-up era, when uploading a 600-dpi image to the Web would have been a pointless exercisee in futility. It would have been far better for scanner packaging to carry a warning label: “For God’s sake, you’ll almost never need to scan anything at a resolution higher than 300-dpi–and not even that, usually.”

It’s possible that I’m not being attentive enough when it comes to specs. (Out of curiosity, I asked my Twitter buddies if they still pay attention to their computers’ basic specs, and most of them immediately quoted their PC’s vital statistics to me off the top of their heads, and sounded surprised that any well-informed geek wouldn’t be able to.) But I do know this: Even though I think less about specs than I once did, my batting average for buying products I’m happy with over the long haul is at least as good as it ever was. Maybe more so.

Agree? Disagree? I’m all ears-, so tell me if I’m on the right track. Or nuts, if that’s how you feel. I’d love to hear your buying strategies, whether they’re highly technical or profoundly emotional…