Which Console?

[Matblack]

Option 3

I honestly don't think there is enough on the 360 which hits your game profile and the Wii has become a novelty item in this house.

MB

[Mark]

Originally Posted by Haly

brilliant impulse buy because it's fantastic at first.......then you realise there's only so much wii sports

Or, in my case, impulse want, since I never got around to buying it.

Had a quick Google around but haven't found anything closer to £140 than the Zavvi deal I mentioned earlier.

Assuming no-one puts me off, what else do I need to get started? Presumably I'll need games, or points, or both. Expect eleventy million more n00b questions to follow.

[Pumpkinstew]

Does it have to be a console?

For puzzle/strategy/casual games a PC would be the best option wouldn't it? Or, as mentioned above, a DS.

Comparing Wii and 360 is a a bit apples and oranges. The 360 is far and away the more competent gamers machine with many more developers, a well thought out online service and more involving games.
The Wii has a novel controller and bags of appeal for family and casual gamers and exclusivity to Nintendo franchises.

Now the price has dropped I'm going to get a 360 (premium) in the near future but I know the girlfriend won't go near it as there's Wii Fit, Mario Party and Trauma Center to distract her. Hell, now that she's finished Phantom Hourgalss she only ever seems to play Solitaire and Mah-jong on her DS.

[leowyatt]

To be totally honest Mark I'd say number 3 is your best bet. Wait and see what other games are due out over the next month or so and see if you lean towards a specific console then

[Mark]

I think that approach would be a problem. I'd almost certainly be asking the same questions I'm asking now in a week, a month, or a year. In my view, option 3 is never buy a console, not wait a while to see which way the wind blows (because in all likelihood it'll be blowing the other direction next week). I think I've come to the point that it's either decide to buy one or decide not to. If the answer is not, then that is a valid and acceptable answer, but I need your help to make it because I just don't know enough about games consoles.

PC-wise, yes, PC is an option but even there I don't know any good sources of games (free or otherwise), besides the various flash-based games people post that hold my interest for an hour or two before I get bored. I do still have Painkiller and Quake III, which I play occasionally when I need stress relief. Before that, I wouldn't be surprised if the last game I purchased was Duke Nukem 3D, and I was dire at that. I don't spec PC hardware for the performance of modern games - the most recent graphics card I have is a Radeon 3850, and I only got that because I was building a new system and needed a PCI-e card, and the price seemed right.

I've not used the DS Lite I got my Mum, but I suspect it would be ideal if the screen was several inches larger, which would rather defeat the point.

PSP has the bigger screen, but it's Sony.

[NokkonWud]

Originally Posted by Abooie

Oooo controversy.

I bought a 360 in 2005 and a Wii about 6 months ago. I sold my Wii a month ago and bought a 2nd 360 for the lounge.

If you'd listened to me you would have saved yourself the palava . Told you you wouldn't play it in a years time .

I wouldn't deal with option 3, but I'm a funny bugger. The reason being is that if you bought one and didn't get on with it you could sell it. If you didn't buy it you would never know whether you were missing out on something special. I know many people who didn't touch consoles before the Xbox360 be drawn in and play very little else.

[Mark]

Originally Posted by Matblack

Option 3

I honestly don't think there is enough on the 360 which hits your game profile and the Wii has become a novelty item in this house.

I respect that. Sounds like there's a fair amount on XBLA though which I'm not averse to using.

I think the Wii probably is a bit of a party animal, so I can certainly respect the fact that it may well have severe limits on single-player use (which is what I'd be using it for most of the time).

Originally Posted by NokkonWud

I wouldn't deal with option 3, but I'm a funny bugger. The reason being is that if you bought one and didn't get on with it you could sell it. If you didn't buy it you would never know whether you were missing out on something special. I know many people who didn't touch consoles before the Xbox360 be drawn in and play very little else.

Nail. Head. Hit. I certainly do wonder what I'm missing out on.

[leowyatt]

In which case Mark what I'd suggest you do it get yourself over to 360.ign.com and look at the reviews section where you can look at the games available and see what there is for you. If you want to detail exact categories i'd happily give it a go for you and list the games which I have found would be good ones to get.

[Mark]

I'm certainly happy to spend some time on the problem and see what's out there.

Was thinking about picking one up this weekend as the nearest Zavvi is 15 miles from here and I'll be a lot nearer to one than that in a few hours, but spending some more time on the problem wouldn't be a bad thing (unless prices are about to shoot through the roof). Impulse purchases are bad, mmkay.

Thanks for all the contributions so far. They really are appreciated whatever the outcome.

[Davey_Pitch]

Mark, I know your co-ordination isn't always the best, but how are your reactions? The reason I ask is that a lot of RPGs on the Xbox (which I'm not sure you like) are real time combat so reactions will often play a part. There's obviously a lot that are fully turn based (more JRPGs though) which could keep you busy for hours and hours.