So, you want a next-gen console. So does everyone else, matey. But which to choose? Follow our frankly excellent guide to make sure you get the console you’re going to spend the rest of your life with. Sorry, overstating again…

HDD

The HDD, or Hard Disk Drive for those who didn’t know, is an essential with a next-gen console. And almost a given with most next-gen consoles. The PlayStation®3 has its various increments of storage: 20gb, 40gb, 60gb, 80gb and rumours of a 120gb version. The Xbox360 has also got a HDD: either a 20gb or a 120gb on the Pro or Elite versions. The only next-gen console without one is the Nintendo Wii.

HDD’s are essential if you are planning on using your console as a storage device or media centre. They are needed for storing music, video and image files; game saves; game demos and more. Of course, there are alternatives to a HDD, such as last-gen style memory cards, USB flash drives or Memory Sticks. Either way, if you’re going to get a next-gen console, for the extra you may as well get one with a HDD.

INTERNET

Do you want to be a part of the online gaming extravaganza? Make sure you get a console with some form of online service, then. Duh. It doesn’t take a brain surgeon to get online. The PS3 has the PlayStation® Network – with free online play, a store packed with downloadable content and a fully-featured friends list and an internet browser, it certainly passes when it comes to online features. The Xbox360 has it’s Live service, with a store similar to the PS3, but the service costs a yearly subscription. Live, however has the advantage of experience: Live, in it’s various incarnations, has been going since November 2002, and has had time to develop. The Wii favours ‘channels’, with seven to choose from to keep you up-to-date. Your choice of service will obviously reflect the type of games you play: the Wii being more family orientated, the PS3 for the more ‘hardcore’ gamer, with the 360 somewhere in-between.

MULTIMEDIA

Does your chosen console support video, music or photos? If you want to use your console as a storage device or media centre, make sure it does. The PlayStation®3 is by far the best for media compatibility, with multiple video formats supported (including MPEG1, 2 and mp4; wmv; DivX and Xvid, etc.), the main audio formats (mp3, wma, aac and ATRAC); and nearly all image formats (including TIFF, JPG, GIF, BMP, PNG, etc.). The 360 comes in second, supporting a few video formats (normal, high-def and PlaysForSure wmv formats, MPEG4 and H.264), and most image and audio formats. The Wii easily loses in this area, with hardly any multimedia formats supported. Of course, it is also good for a console to support some form of video disk. The PS3 supports Blu-Ray, the latest in High-Definition technology and up to 50gb of storage space make it a perfect choice for film buffs; the 360 supports DVD or HD-DVD with an external disk drive, and rumours that Microsoft is in talks with Sony to get Blu-Ray support; and the Wii supporting Wii Optical Disks and DVD’s. You might want to check the multimedia support for your console before buying.

GAMES

This one’s obvious. Whatever fancy features a games console might have, you’re buying it first and foremost as just that, a games console. So you want to know what games the consoles have. The PS3 has a wide variety of games, ranging from family fun to 18plus stuff. The high-definition graphics and crystal clear PCM audio add to the experience. This is the console for the real hardcore gamer. The 360 also has a range of games, but concentrates more on the shooter and driving genres – the perfect choice for the gamer who doesn’t want to spend a bomb on Sony’s baby. The Wii, however, is the family console of the bunch. With not that many games of a 15plus certificate or higher, this is the console for those with children, or those who are still stuck in an eight-year-old’s mindset. 

CUSTOMISABILITATION. OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT

Are you one of those people who has to have everything perfect? Make sure your console can be customisabilitated. I mean customised. Sorry. Anyway, most consoles can be customised, and easily with some homebrew code, but not all can be customised completely. The PS3 is, by far, the best for customising. The HDD can be replaced with almost any 2.5inch SATA drive and all the leads are easily interchangeable, rather than custom Sony jobs. The XMB theme can be easily changed, using either downloadable themes from the net or you can create your own through XML code or specially-developed programs. You have a huge number of options to change your gaming experience. The other consoles, apart from homebrew, cannot be customised easily, and so aren’t worth talking about. Want to customise your console? Get a PS3.

COST

So, you’ve chosen a console. But it ain’t gonna come free, dearie. So, before making your final decision, consider how much your going to have to stump up for the tech. Sony’s PS3, being by far the most advanced of the three next-gen consoles, will set you back on average about £400, not including additionals such as better leads, games and accessories. The 360 will leave you out-of-pocket by as much as £300, dependent on which variation of the console you buy. The Wii, with ony one version, will cost you a flat price of about £180. The prices vary drastically, but remember that you’re paying for the features you get.

If you’re reading this, then you haven’t fallen asleep. Well done. Oh, and you’ve also reached the end of our fantastic guide to choosing a console. Well done again. Hopefully,

Video games. Love them or hate them, you can’t fail to realise that their position in today’s world of technology, broadband and animatronics is hugely important. Millions play video games every day; it’s a worldwide phenomenon which enables people to entertain themselves whilst developing various skills and maintaining a social connection with your online friends. But is the popularity of today’s gaming world killing off other forms of entertainment, such as books, the radio or television?

Many would argue that, even if games were killing off these more conventional forms of entertainment, they still take what makes books, radio and TV such successes and puts them into games. We have complicated, clever and plain cool storylines to tell the story of the game, which before would be put into a book with chapters, words and pages. We have uncompressed PCM audio in-game and crystal clear mp3 format audio out of game, which provides our favourite music on-demand, replacing the need for radio. Games now include high-definition cut-scenes which would shame some Hollywood animated movies, multiple video formats supported and the prospect of PlayTV, Sony’s PVR service coming in late 2008 to early 2009. Technology is developing, and giving us what we want, when we want. Surely that’s a good thing?

 In some ways, perhaps. But not really. We are in an age of obesity, low acedemic achievement and American gangster culture. And games today don’t help to improve this state of affairs. Before, people would read books to get the exciting storylines, and improve their grammar, vocabulary, spelling and writing skills. But you can’t do that with games. Most games don’t even include that much dialogue – the occassional cut-scene in between spraying bullets at everything is about the extent of intelligent conversation. With books, you have the complete control over your reading experience. You can invent your own imagery, give people their own personalities and get fully involved with a storyline. Books can make you laugh, cry, even feel sympathetic or evil. Games can’t do that to even half the extent. Games versus conventional: 0-1.

Radio was once something for the whole family, an event people looked forward to and enjoyed when it happened. Consoles cannot do this. Full stop. The radio gave people a sense of community, of identity; it provided them with news, music, drama, comedy, debate. Can you get these via mp3? No (or at least I don’t think you can; e-mail me if I’m wrong and I’ll ignore you). True, there are podcasts nowadays providing us with news, YouTube comedy and Prime Minister’s Questions for debate, but let’s be realistic – hardly anyone uses them. But consoles do have one advantage – there’s no waiting around. Say you want to listen to some Snow Patrol, or Now 65 - you just turn on your PS3, go to music and voila, there’s your music ready to play from your HDD through your Nicam Hi-Fi stereo speakers. And you can also now listen to the radio through your console over the good old tinternet. Games versus conventional: 1-1.

And, last but not least, television. When first released, TV was a family affair, even a community affair. Whole streets would gather round a 13″ black and white to watch an important matter of state, a famous person’s funeral or the latest dramatisation of Shakespeare’s Richard III. Nowadays, we can watch all of these things on a 42″ High-Definition plasma screen, in relative comfort, surrounded only by our nearest and dearest (or maybe not so dearest). Also, with PVR television becoming more common anyway, consoles and TV are going to provide very similar features. Games versus conventional: 2-1.

Games may be stupid. They may have no intellectual capacity whatsoever. They may be filled with mindless violence, foul language and gore. But they provide an immersive, entertaining challenge, frustrating but fun puzzles, a real sense of adrenaline and a completely different reality to lose yourself in should the mood take you. And that’s probably why we’ll always prefer games to any other form of entertainment.

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