04ctd

there's so little decent on TV, wife wants a game box.

i want a new High Def TV, and a X-box will play Blu Ray DVDs,
so it should have a HDMI output.

does a Wii have a high def output?

wife wants to sit down to play, (she wants to relax sitting down.)

whats the cost of new games?
used games?
renting games?

Nate-03 D

The X-Box is by far the stronger platform. If you want graphics, speed, on-line play, more games to choose from get the X-Box. I think your going to have more "intense" games for the X-Box, as compared to the Wii where they offer games like bowling, tennis, ect. Nothing wrong with that but each console offers a different experience.

I'm really stuck on 3 games. Guitar Hero, Madden 08, and Fight Night Round 2. Fire up the flat screen slide in some boxing and knock someones head off.

You can buy games used from just about any gaming store. Brand new released games can go for $40-$50. I'd say $20 is average after the games have been out for a while. Im not sure what the prices for the Wii are, probably comparable.

Fronty Owner

I dont think the wii has other outputs besides the three rca plugs.
im too lazy to go check. the wii's strong point is it makes you move around while playing the games.

My wife is hooked on bowling.

97crewcab

I am not a "gamer", but I do have a wii. I don't care about graphics or capability just the fun of the system.

hubmonkey

Well the best resolution you can get out of a Wii is 480p in 16x9.

Graphics is not what sold us on the Wii. There are some fun games out there for it and it is fun for the whole family. We generally buy games that are 4 player and have enough controls for it.

If you are into First Person Shooter games and want fast graphics then the Wii is not for you. There are a couple of neat things coming out for the with with additional motion controls.

Downloadable content is now available for the Guitar Hero World Tour. Virtual games from the old systems are downloadable from the WiiShop channel.

We have quite a few games if you need some input.

Specific to your questions....

i want a new High Def TV, and a X-box will play Blu Ray DVDs,
so it should have a HDMI output. Blu-Ray is not yet available for the Xbox360. It will be an add on and I am sure it will not be cheap.
does a Wii have a high def output? 480p

wife wants to sit down to play, (she wants to relax sitting down.) There are sit down games for the Wii but they are geared towards getting into the action
whats the cost of new games? 39.99-59.99
used games? ANywhere from 10-54.99
renting games? 6-8 bucks

Hub

nirion

Like the others said, it depends on what kind of gaming you want to do. The Wii isn't about hard core gaming the way the xbox is. It still has some great title and some that the xbox doesn't have. I have a wii and love it. You can download old games and play them and you can play games like wii sports.
I would say that racing games seem better on the xbox. You may also want to look at the PS3, it does bluray now.

rip 112

Get both like me. They IMO are not comparable. Xbox has its good games I love the "Burnout" games. On the wii "Excite Truck" is an awesome game too, but they are worlds difference in game platform.

rbuchana

Get a PS3, there was a time not long ago that it was the cheapest blu-ray player on the market.

CowboyDave

PS3 has so few games out that it isnt even close to the XBOX or the wii. I have the XBOX and have seen couples on line playing game, heck a few of them are good friend. Personally anytime I have online now is playing Halo, its my relaxing "drinking" sport. My Brother bought it for me as a present last year so we could shoot the bull, have some beers and play online since he lives in Dallas and Im in San Antonio. Big selling point for me.

Harold-Pacbrake

I'm not a gamer but I do know that after working a hard week coming home to my 15yr old daughter and 12yr old son is great bonding time for us playing the Wii while having a cold one. It's one way to stay involved with them without losing your mind on games that not everyone likes or get board with.
Plus my boy loves the fact that he kicks his ole mans butt in boxing everytime.

04ctd

ok, that was where i got mixed up, it was the PS3 to play blu rays


so a PS3 is not really a good deal, because you don't use it much.
it does two jobs, (game box & BluRay) and neither well


online sounds cool, we left our oldest daughter at our last Base,
and our youngest daugther joined the Army
might have to check into that, see what box they have

thanks. i hate spending a bucket of money for something that doesn't get used.

rbuchana

The PS3 is a great blu-ray player and is a great gaming box as well. It has online capability just like the XBox. I don't want to get into a XBox vs. Ps3 argument, because it's a lot like the Dodge vs Ford or Obama vs McCain argument. You'll never get the other side to agree with you.

04ctd

thanks for the correction.

on craigslist now, searching for a used game box:
http://charleston.craigslist.org/mcy/

CowboyDave

Nah, I wasnt getting anything started like that. I have owned PS's since they came out, granted they do have a few really cool games, it seems like their game developers just quit.


The wii I never even considered because I dont want to have a workout, though I know some people that love the wii just for that.

CTDjeeperman

I know you originally asked about the XBOX vs. the Wii, but I own both the PS3 and the XBOX360 and thought I would give you a comparison on those two. My roomate has a Wii and it is fun, but the graphics aren't that great and overall it's just not a very powerful system. The games are fun to play occasionally but unless you have younger kids (under 15) I think you might enjoy one of the other ones a bit better. On a side note I have the XBOX and PS3 hooked up to a 40" Samsung LCD that is full HD (1080p) with a 25,000:1 contrast ratio and 120 Hz refresh rate. Both are connected via HDMI

XBOX360 has a much better game selection and great online play, which you have to pay for (I think it comes out to around $5/month.) The XBOX makes a good DVD player and does some upconverting (where it tries to upscale normal DVDs close to an HD/BluRay quality) It is capable of up to a 1080p output if the game you have can support it (Halo 3 or other major new games.) Starting 19 Nov the 360 will be capable of streaming high def movies off of Netflix (I'm not sure if they will be in 720 or 1080, but better than normal 480) If you plan on using a feature like this you will most likely benefit from buying the XBOX 360 Elite with the 120 GB hard drive so you will have more space, plus the Elite comes with an HDMI cable which can easily cost over $50. I think the Elite is available for around $400.

Weaknesses with the XBOX are that they seem to be a little less reliable than a PS3 or a WII. I've had no problems with mine (the XBOX360 Elite with 120GB), but some friends have had issues which were quickly covered under warranty. Also if you want to hook your 360 up to the internet you have to use an ethernet cable or buy the $99 wireless card. The PS3 has a wireless card built in.

The PS3 is a great console too which supports full 1080p output, but it's gaming selection is somewhat smaller. I would say the XBOX has well over twice as many games available; but the games the PS3 does have are pretty sweet, like Metal Gear Solid 4 or Resistance (PS3 only) It also carries a lot of the other top name games also available on the XBOX like the Call of Duty Series. Also the online gaming with the PS3 is absolutely free and you can browse the internet with it, which the 360 does as well, but I think the PS3 does it much better.

The best reason to buy a PS3 is for the built in Blu Ray player. I owned another Blu Ray player (Samsung BD-1500) and it was a decent unit but the PS3 blows the Samsung away in picture quality and load time. Also the PS3 is Blu Ray 2.0 capable which lets you use online interactive blu ray content when you watch a movie/special features. About half of current Blu ray players on the market are 2.0, older ones are 1.3, some of the 1.3s can be upgraded to a 2.0 with firmware updates. The PS3 also does upconverting of standard DVDs to a near high def quality just like the XBOX. The picture on the XBOX and PS3 running the same disk, is just slightly better with the PS3, but that's just what I see, who really knows.

Bottom line if you want a lot of games and the possibility to stream netflix then go with the XBOX, if you want to watch blu rays and play online for free with the smaller selection of PS3 games, then go with the PS3.

If I was going to own just one it would be the XBOX, because of Halo 3 online and the Netflix thing; but nothing beats watching a movie on the PS3 blu ray player. It really is incredible.

Also I wouldn't buy a used gaming console, just fork over the money for a new one with a warranty. You'll be glad you did in case you get the dreaded XBOX ring of death.

Hope this helped.