After posting about my Vista upgrade experience, it seems fitting to share some thoughts on the catalyst of the Vista upgrade: the Xbox 360. I got myself a little Christmas present this year, finally breaking down and buying the Xbox, bringing my gaming system count up to 3 consoles: the Playstation 2, the Wii and now the Xbox 360.
This must be prefaced with the fact that I’m not a big-time gamer. My time spent gaming tends to come in waves, where I may kill a whole weekend playing games, then won’t touch any games for weeks at a time. This is regardless of any of the gaming systems, although I have to say that the novelty of the Xbox 360 hasn’t worn out and I’ve been playing it for about an hour each evening since I brought it home.
While owning three consoles does seem a bit excessive, each one basically serves it’s own purpose:
Nintendo Wii: This is definitely the most popular console for my friends and family, basically because it transcended the gaming experience for them. My sisters and Bethany, who never have historically been big fans of video games, love playing games on the Wii. I think this is because the gaming experience on the Wii is so different, that it eliminates the old stereotypes that are brought by video games (all you do is mash buttons, the games are so boring, etc…). The Wii also travels well, and has taken various trips to many parties, family & friend’s and even on my trips to New York (and now Atlanta). However given the Wii’s short supply, I pray each time I disconnect it from my living room TV and put it in the bag. Favorite Games: Super Mario Galaxy (INCREDIBLE!), Mario Party 8 and Wii Sports.
Xbox 360: Has definitely found it’s niche in my home: as my solo & online gaming system. While new, I don’t foresee the Xbox ever drawing diverse interest from the same groups attracted to the Wii, and the games aren’t as entertaining for non-gamers to watch. This is button-mashing, traditional game-playing. Basically this is my gaming system that I’ll play by myself (or on-line). However, the hand-down appeal that Xbox has is the graphics and HD experience. I fell in love with the 360 HD experience the same way I fell in love with football in HD. The Xbox won’t travel, mainly due to it’s size, but also partly to the fact that I don’t want to jinx my HD experience with a standard-def TV. I do have an Xbox Live Gold membership (user RomeyInFC) and I’ve really enjoyed the online experience. Favorite Games: Madden 2008, Halo 3, Assassin’s Creed (granted I’ve only owned the Xbox for 2 weeks)
Playstation 2: The only reason this console isn’t in a closet collecting dust is because of Guitar Hero. When I bought Guitar Hero I did not have the Xbox yet, and there wasn’t a Wii version available, so I dusted off the PS2 solely for that reason. I own about 15 PS2 games, and I’ve thought about bringing out Grand Theft Auto for old time’s sake, but PS2 is simply the “Guitar Hero machine”. If I could I would trade away my PS2 with Guitar Hero 2 (and guitar) along with a few games for the Xbox Guitar Hero. Favorite Games: Guitar Hero 2, Grant Theft Auto (both Vice City and San Andreas)
If I were forced to pick a gaming system, I would have to say that it’s the Wii, but let me play some more 360 for another month and see where things stack up.