The console rundown
Well someone asked me to write down my experiences and point of views on the consoles I have played with.
First we’ll start with the ye ol’ gamecube, a favourite of mine which is now obsolete thanks to it’s younger brother the Wii(more on that later). First of all this console was the smallest for a long time untill the pstwo arrived (a smaller version of the playstation two). This console made a big change for nintendo on one part, they switched media. Instead of using the old cartridges they decided to go with an optical medium this time. The Gamecubed used an 8 cm mini dvd that could store about 1,5 GB. The console, even though it looked promissing never really sold in big numbers, there were two reasons for this: Shitty third party games and no online multiplayer (sure they had adapters for internet play, but really how many games actually used that? One?). Nintendo stopped producing the console during the start of 2007. Should you buy one of these consoles today? Well, in short. Nope, if you need a console to play cheap budget games buy a playstation 2 (new or second hand), not only is the console still in production there are still new games being created for it (God of war 2) and it has a huge game library. If you want a next gen console and you’re into party games, save some more money and get a Wii.
The original Xbox is up next. The Xbox itself was nothing more than Microsoft’s attempt to force its way in the game console world, and no one can deny the fact that they succeeded. Unfortunally the Xbox itself was whacked as soon as possible by microsoft in favour of the Xbox 360. The console had to go before it reached its full potential, it was afterall much more powerful than the competitors of that time. But one shouldn’t forget that this consoles managed to get one of sony’s most exclusive games on their platform: GTA. Should you get one of these today.. Well you shouldn’t buy a new one (if you can still find them, actually I know one standing somewhere that’s ridiculousy overpriced)? No, you shouldn’t. However you can find modded versions of this console which can give you a nice basic mediacenter for your tv.
Onto, the playstation 2. Well this one is the big cahuna, even though this console didn’t have superior power it still managed to outsell the other two main competitors of its time. Even today the playstation 2 is selling very well, it even� competes with the xbox 360, even with the newly released ps3. Frankly, if you’d like to play cheap and have a big choise of games, get a ps2. There is no way you can be dissapointed, there are games for everyone on this platform, even for the biggest barbie fans (shiver).
The nintendo Wii, it took the market to surprise, I bet even nintendo underestimated the potential succes of this console. Even now months after its release nintendo is mass producing this console none stop, and the shelves on the store remain empty. If you want one of these puppies you’ll have to order it and wait for your turn (expect a delivery time of 3 to 4 weeks people). There can be no more doubt, this console is a winner, perhaps even the winner of this generation. Any way, this console has succeeded everywhere where the gamecube failed. It’s got the attention of 3rd party developers this time, it can actually connect to the internet and has tons of gimmics to keep you entertained. It even allows you to revisit those ye ol’ classics from nes, snes, turbografix and sega. But I am praying to God, because I fear nintendo will f*ck up the multiplayer part. If you like to play games with friends or family, this is the console to get.
The Xbox 360, well this is the beast, the white powerhouse. If you are into high quality gaming and you don’t care about high definition video playback (let’s be serious, how many of us even have a 1080P screen? 
) you should get one of these. It allready has a decent big library of games. Get it if you want to be amongst the first to play GTA4 . Besides the established library you can’t forget about the online multiplayer. Even though you have to pay about �60 a year to play online you get a decent multiplayer experience, it has proven itself over and over again. (Lets face it, multiplayer on ps2 is pretty pathetic even though it is free…). What I don’t like about the xbox 360? The power supply, it is huge. And really it’s huge! They don’t nickname it ‘the brick’ for nothing. Besides that that xbox 360 is a reliable console which according to microsoft should last into 2012. That’s like 5 more years, by then you should have saved about 500 euro to buy the next microsoft console 
Well I haven’t really played or even touched the playstation 3, but nevertheless I felt that I should include my thoughts about the console. There has been a lot of negative talk about this console, I myself think that the public (at least a lot of them in europe and america) have grown somewhat tired of Sony’s reign. Much of that can be blamed on Sony’s PR. I mean come on, force feedback is obsolete, don’t make me laugh. They call the motion sensitive remote of the Nintendo Wii a gimmic, not much later they make their own controller motion sensitive… like wtf? And well, I think the playstation was ripe for a new controller design. It still looks the same as the original playstation controller, don’t tell me it can’t be improved because it’s perfect. There is always room for improvement! Do I believe the PS3 is a bad console? No I don’t at all. However I would advice most people to wait at least a year to get one. Why? Well a strongly marketed part of the PS3 is the blu-ray drive. Agreed, the concept itself is great, but they neglect to tell one thing. The drive, is slow. Yes that’s right, what do you get with large data disc’s and slow drives? Long loading times. I hope that within a year those drives will be replaced with faster ones. If we’re lucky they might even return force feedback to their controller.
Well these were my fews on the consoles I’ve played with. If you decided to get a console just think of what you need. If you want cheap + lot’s of games, go for the ps2. If you like nice gfx and excellent online play, get a Xbox 360. If you like family entertainment and nostalgia, get the Wii. Who should get a playstation 3? Besides the Sony fanboys we’ll have to wait and see who should get a playstation 3. Afterall the Playstation 3 is roughly targetting the same gamers as the Xbox, the only question that remains is: Will they succeed?
