So with the holiday season and time when you can most spend hundreds of dollars on a video game system with minimal guilt rapidly approaching, and all 3 consoles set to be out by Christmas, which (if any) console are you guys going to be spending your money on?

Me personally, I'm pretty sure I'll be getting an Xbox 360 simply because of it's features for sports games.  I never had Xbox Live for the original Xbox (never saw the point as any sports game I had for the Xbox that I wanted to play online, I would just get the PC version and play it for free) but with some of the new features Xbox Live has for sports games on the 360, I think the 50 bucks a year for those features alone is worth the price. The biggest problem with the PC version (namely of the EA series of hockey games, since 2k didn't release PC versions) was the lack of decent roster updates. The 2k devs were great about releasing roster updates via the PS2's online feature but it seems like EA stops doing them 2 months after the game is released (they did it with 04, 05 and 06) and forget about that season's game to start work on the next one.  I'm told the roster updates are a lot better via Xbox Live and a lot more consistant (the ones released after that 2 month period for NHL 05/06 were done by a small group of people in their own free time so obviously there were errors, players missing, names misspelled, etc.  Not to mention you never knew when one would be released, and they didn't download automatically so finding them was a chor.e in itself).  Overall I think the 360 is the best choice at this point for what I want out of a system but I'm sure the other system's have their advantages and highpoints as well.

As far as the PS3 goes, I don't know much about it's online features, could never find any specifics on it but they've said there will be an online system with features similar to Xbox Live (not as intuitive or advanced but helpfull nonetheless I'm sure).  Being that it's not due out for another week, I can't really say wheter or not it lives up to its hype, I guess we'll see in a week but even if it does, I just can't see spending more than $400 on a video game system that I'm going to use maybe a third as much as I will my PC.  Blu-ray player or not, I think I'm definately going to wait and give the PS3 time to come down a significant amount.  Obviously there are people out there who have the will and resources to go spend 3 or 4 days camping in front of a store, and then shell out $600 on a game system that's going to have like 2 decent games out at that time but I'm not one of them.  I don't see the point in going through all that fuss to get a system now when all the really good games for it wont be out until far into 2007, more of a bragging rights thing than necessarily a want for the the system itself I guess.  Until some of the key games come out for it, and I hear otherwise, I'm not buying into the hype for the PS3 and won't bother considering buying one for a while (actually I'll probably be in military basic (or advanced) training by the time it comes down to a decent price and won't have time to play it anyway, not to mention the extra dough to buy one).  

And the Wii ....

Well, I think it has a cool and original controller(s?) design and the games seem like they fit to that style well, but I honestly couldn't see playing this for more than 30 minutes at a time.  I've seen people saying that it's easy to get hand cramps and tired muscles playing these games for longer than that, so I'm not sure how fun it would be trying to play through an entire game and feeling completely sore afterwards.  I've yet to see how they are going to implement hockey into this system (or if it's even possible, as of yet the only hockey-esque game I've seen on it was a weird looking pong ripoff with a redline and center ice. More of a airhockey thing than anything else).  I think the Wii's biggest selling point is it's price but in that same respect it could be what kills it.  I wouldn't say it's not worth the price, but comparing the Wii to the 360 and PS3, it's a lot less powerfull and may not have as good of a lasting life as the other two consoles.  The processor in the Wii is a lot less powerfull and in-theory isn't going to be able to keep up with the improving graphical capabilities of the other two (unless they can keep coming up with awesome game ideas like they've come out with now but theres only so many ideas you can do with that controller scheme. For every bit it is innovative, it's actually limiting in a way.)  The Wii shares a similar problem with the PS3 as well, most of the games people will buy this for wont be out until a significant time into 2007, so that kind of detracts from the will of wanting to buy one IMO.


All in all, I think the 360 is the only one I'd be willing to buy at this point, and even with that I'm not 100% sure about it.  Bottom line I use my computer way more than I ever will a PS3 or Xbox so I just can't really see the point in paying so much right now for something that isn't going to pay off for another year or so (when all the really good games for it come out).  What do the other gamers of the forum think?  Which console are you going to spring for (if any) in this oh-so-inept season of spending?

even thouhg i am not getting one i would prefer the xbox 360. it is so much better according to all the reviews i've read about each

I have a 360, and it's awesome. I love NHL 2K7, very realistic, maybe to much so. Dead Rising is another great game. PS3 is just to much money and not to appealing. I never liked any of the Play Stations, with the exception of the PSP, which was a pretty cool idea, and SoCom, which was insane. The Wii I'd debate about getting depding on how cheap it is and how much money I have. But I heard it's only fun for about 10 minutes, because the motion controls can't do enough. Apparently, the Wii Sports Baseball game is like World Series Baseball on Dreamcast, automatic feilding.

BTW, XBox Live is definatly worth it, especially on 360, where you can download demos, trailers, and entire arcade games.

I'm going with PS3 for a million reasons, but I'm not buying it at $600. I'm waiting for probably another year or so, but I mean, HD games, CDs, DVDs, internet? You really can't go wrong with it. Plus, I've always loved the PS series the most.

I already own a 360. I purchased it for one game only- NHL 07. After that I rented a few other games and found out their are more fun games out there.

I am really hoping to pick up Call of Duty 3 and Gears of War for Christmas or during boxing day. I would probally get it at Toys 'R' Us because they have a deal going on right now where you buy 2 games and get a 3rd one free.

I would recommend the 360 to you for these reasons:
-Its a year old right now, most of their glitches are worked out
-Large variety of games (unlike wii and PS3 at this moment)
-360 has just announced on the 22nd of November they will start a video rental service and they will release buyable tv shows
-Glitches will most likely happen with both the Wii and PS3 launch systems
-The Xbox Live Marketplace is amazing
-NHL 07 is not coming out on either PS3 or Wii

Oster, if you get a 360 I highly recommend NHL 07. It's skill stick feature is amazing.

Tryed the 1sr and 2nd generation of PS and had enough of them!

Now i have mighty PC and it almost feels the same to play as on PSX!

i would prefer the xbox 360 for the amazing graphics

Eventually a 360. I just can't afford to drop a whole paycheck on it all at once so I'm setting money aside bit by bit. Until then I'll make due with my pc and gc.

I am planning to buy a ps3 after its first price drop (whenever that might be). I bought both my ps1 and ps2 when they were old (about $200 each) so I'm not used to spending an assload of money on gaming.

I'm wondering if it's worth it to line up for a ps3, and then sell it right away. That's easily a 100% profit.