PS3 Vs. Wii Vs. 360

They are the big three, the holy trinity of gaming consoles if you will, and over the last year we have seen each of their newest incarnations. They have taken a chance, leaving their former shells to gather dust in closets around the globe, to be reborn as the Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, and Sony PS3.

The Xbox really had a head start on the Wii and the Playstation, coming out almost exactly 1 year prior to the other consoles, though the public wasn’t quite sure what to think. Was it just a super-charged Xbox? Did the games have powerful new visuals? At first gamers might have been sceptical, but the overall performance of the launch titles (courtesy of 1up.com) proved that the Xbox was a hit. However, many people may have forgotten the shortages that were experienced during the holiday season of 2005. Stores all across North America disappointed avid fans when they were unable to fulfill pre-order promises.

Now we fast-forward to the holiday season in 2006, where gamers are reeling from the massive shortages for the Sony Playstation 3 and Nintendo Wii. The PS3’s launch titles have been described as weak and unimpressive, though surprisingly the PS3 did not have the worst launch title scores on record. Looking back at the original Playstation’s launch titles, we can see the difference between then and now. Without a doubt it was the original Playstation that had the least impressive launch titles in 1995, but that console was a revolution in the gaming industry. That kind of lasting impression may be exactly what Sony is looking to reproduce.

Last, but not least, we have our black sheep of the console war, the Nintendo Wii. With its strange controls and distinct lack of high-definition graphical support, the Wii has come into play with a fair amount of scepticism. However, Nintendo has taken a new approach to this international competition, searching for a market using the “Blue Ocean Strategy”. Where the Xbox360 and Playstation 3 both have advances in the processing power and visual performance of the console, the Wii has taken the couch potato gamer, and tried to influence some change. With this healthy approach to gaming, and a motion sensitive controller, the Wii offers a lot of change that may come out of nowhere and win the hearts of gamers everywhere.

One thing is for certain though, Microsoft may be benefiting right now from its ample stock of Xboxes, but after the dust settles for this holiday battle there will still be a war to win and the victor is yet undetermined. So place your bets, and may the best console win.

-JRW