I think the best bang for your buck is the 360. You’ll never again need to drop the settings to make something run well :)
I’d also recommend a 360 if you’re only ever going to buy one. The Wii and the PS3 are just too young of platforms to know how their long-term software lineup is going to shape up. For example, earlier posters mention PS3 being good for JRPGs but that’s pretty unclear at this point – there are none for any of the next generation platforms, and more announced for the 360 than the PS3, but regional bias could easily give PS3 the same JRPG lead that the PS2 had.
IMO the core decision comes down to exclusives. Games like Oblivion and Call of Duty 3 and Splinter Cell Double Agent are fantastic, but you can play them on PC, 360, or PS3. For exclusives… one year in, the 360 has had, at least for my gaming tastes, one of the best years of software maybe ever. Saints Row, Dead Rising, Gears of War, and Viva Pinata are all strong contenders for Game of the Year (or even past couple of years) for me.
I think it is quite possible that PS3 will have a strong software lineup in a year as well, but it’s a gamble – the jury is still out IMO on how many units a $600 box can sell, and there are relatively few exclusives announced for PS3.
The Wii is going to have more exclusives, but will pretty much universally lose out on the cross-platform titles which makes it a poor choice to only own one unless you do a LOT of the party style gaming. You’re pretty much relying on Nintendo first party, which is excellent but limited. If you only buy 1-2 games a year, this may not be a limiting factor.
Well, I buy at least a game at least once a month, so the the next-gen consoles might not be worth it.
For the PC, I’ve been looking at a few PC Gaming Mags here and there, and Falcon Northwest looks real good, especially their Talon.
But everyone says that Alienware is good too. I just don’t know what to buy.
Or should I just build my own? I have a freind that can whip up a PC that can run most games in less than a month.
So stick with PC?
I recently upgraded my PC, and the savings for building myself was about $1500 compared to buying from the speciality stores (this was for about as high end a PC as it is possible to make). That got cut down a bit when I bought the wrong motherboard (non-refundable, argh!) but was still a good savings plus I learned a lot. If you get the right components mostly everything just plugs in and goes, but you are taking a bit of a risk. If you are getting a low end PC you can’t beat the bulk savings you can get from the huge mass-market PC retailers.
Okay, I’ll build my PC, but should I wait for the DX10 cards?
I shouldn’t spend one thousand dollars plus just so I have to upgrade it again soon.
Cause that’d be pretty idiotic.
In the same breath, should I get Windows Vista?
XP is on my “surfing/business/etc” computer, but i never bothered getting the OS for my Game PC. It is quite nice, but there are too many background applications that could seriously slow down my gameplay.
Maybe Microsoft should make a streamlined OS for gaming, but most wouldn’t even touch it.
I don’t plan on touching Vista until games start coming out Vista-only, to be honest.
By that time the bugs will have been worked out.
While you guys are giving advice here: Is it possibe to find a decent laptop for gaming? Are there any ATI/Nvidia cards that can compete with the desktop cards?
I’m thinking of replacing my laptop, but i’d like one that can run supreme commanders etc (mostly strategy games, others I play on console).
The most popular choice in this category would be the Dell XPS notebooks.
http://www.dell.com/content/products/category.aspx/xpsnb?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs
Wait, when you say several hundred dollars and have PS3 up there, I imagine you could get a good system from http://www.cyberpowerpc.com I got my system in March of last year for 800 bucks and I really enjoy it. They’re good systems that are cheap at easy to keep up with
I have been thinking of a PS3, but I am not convinced with its graphics being better than the 360s. In comparison, the PS3 has a washed out, muted feel to it. i am excited for MotorStorm, and might buy the PS3 for that one reason.
Oh, and what are good games for the systems?
I’m thinking of waiting until after the Holiday rush to buy a system, maybe year around summer, to buy a console, because more games are open and released. Plus, Brawl’s coming sometime that time, right?
It hasn’t been asked here, but:
Do you have an HDTV or plan to buy one in the next 12 months? If not, forget the 360 and PS3. They really shine in HD, and to play them on standard def is to get half the experience. Unless you plan on playing on your PC monitor, of course.