Inbox:Now that all the big games consoles have launched, we can afford to sit back for a minute and ask ourselves - which one can cut it now all the hype is over? After all, given the amount spent on developing the hardware and the games, we are going to be saddled with these machines for probably the next three or more years, barring the occasional new upgrade, writes Mike Butcher
The XBox 360, the update to the original Xbox, which has been out for a while now, is looking pretty good. It's relatively affordable (around €400) and will play more shoot-em-ups than you could point a laser cannon at, including the addictive Halo.
The DVD add-on means it'll play DVDs. It won't play Blu-Ray movies, but do you care all that much? What is appealing to more gamers as the console starts to settle in is what the industry calls "social gaming". Xbox Live Friends, accessible with a broadband internet connection, is a great way to play games with your mates, even if they are on a different part of the planet.
The Nintendo Wii started life badly. Journalists sniggered at the name during the press launch and no one could understand why it looked so simple. Where were all the buttons for the controller? Where were all the bells, buttons and whistles?
In fact, it turned out that despite its standard-definition graphics, the Wii (around €260), gave gamers what they really wanted: fun and exciting gameplay. The "get up and move around" Wii tennis and boxing games are slowly turning some obese children into musclebound, though still housebound, adolescents.
Sure, the novelty can wear off, but the Wii remains a great console for just switching on and thrashing through a fast 30 minutes of gaming without having to go through all the tedious levels of some console games.
The Sony PlayStation 3 arrived to a great fanfare and, to be fair, it is an impressive machine. MotorStorm is a beautiful looking racing game and the console will play incredibly detailed high-definition DVDs in Sony's own Blu-Ray format. As a bonus, we now know that it will also play most of the old PS2 games, leaving many gamers breathing a sigh of relief.
However, it's still pricey (over €600), which makes its still very playable PS2 predecessor (at an affordable €140) still a tempting option for the casual gamer.
So which one should you plump for? It depends on what you are after. The Xbox has made a big deal about its social gaming experience. That's okay, but it's not a game changer for those who just want to pick up a little adrenalin fix now and again. For that I'd go for the Wii, and especially its great action-oriented games. The Playstation 3 has a lot of muscle under the hood - great for gamers who like their action to be presented in stunning detail and who want to play the very latest games. But if you want the widest selection of games and a console that will play standard DVDs, then the PS2 is still the most popular games console ever and will be for a while longer, until it really starts to show its age.
