To begin this article I just want to point out that I am no expert when it comes to video game systems. I am merely a lover of video games that has spent many hours of my life behind a controller. My video game experience began at the early age of 8 when my parents purchased me my first NES. I was amazed at the flashing colors and pushing the few buttons over and over again. If I was just basing this article on pure nostalgia I would definitely pick this as the best system ever. Since I want to be fair to all systems though I decided to go with the Xbox360 and this is why.
Graphics: The 8 year old version of myself would be amazed with how far we have come in gaming consoles. I still like to go back and play the original Mario Brothers and there are no words to describe how much better Batman Arkum City looks on my HD television compared to those old 16-bit games. It is so much easier to get completely immersed in a sports game when I can see the players and know their names just by seeing a close up of them on the video game. Graphics is one of the reasons that even though I am a Nintendo lover the Wii cannot be my favorite console of all times.
Depth of games: There is only so much game you can fit onto one of those cartridges. I can spend months on the same game with my Xbox360. With the NES once you completed a game which usually took less than a week, you were done with it. With the 360 there are so many side challenges and in depth storylines that you can continue to play them even after you have conquered them once. With the Wii not having a traditional controller you can also run into the problem of it getting boring in a short period of time. I love to play sports games and with the Wii the games seemed to be geared toward children. There are only so many times you can beat a team 100-0 before it becomes old.
Other uses: When video games first came out the only thing they were good for was well playing games on. Now with my Xbox I can watch movies, have video conferences, listen to music, look at all the pictures my wife has on our desktop on my television, and so much more. I use my Xbox for Hulu Plus and Netflix. I even use it to play music from my desktop. The newest gaming systems are entertainment systems not just there for when you want to sit behind a controller.
Online play and downloading capabilities: My parents would have hated it if there was online play for my NES. They would have never been able to see me or watch television ever again. I love being able to play a game against my friends that live hours away. It helps me keep in touch with people I would have lost track of in the past. Also if I want a game I can now download a demo of it and try it out before I by it. I can even download demos of games that I would never buy for my children to try out. They don’t care that it is not the full game so that saves me money
Lastly I want to end with why I prefer the Xbox360 over the PS3. I probably don’t give the PS3 much of a chance for two reasons. One I like the games that Xbox offers more than the PS3. Second more of my friends have the Xbox360 so it is easier for me to be able to play games online with them. So sorry to the PS3 lovers out there.