15 replies to this topic

[BottomGuy]

At the beginning of this past semester way back in January, my Wii broke. Never was able to figure out what went wrong and nothing online or calling Nintendo support cleared it up either. Best I can tell is that having it on for 3 days straight while playing 3 straight days of Brawl overheated something. I've gone that before in the past and I guess this time was one too many. Nintendo said that they would be able to fix it but since they didn't really know what the problem was, they said it would cost upwards of $80 to fix. At the prospect of paying an minimum more than half the cost of a new Wii, I decided to put it off. Now the semester has ended and I'm into summer, and I need to decide what to do.

Right now I'm looking at:
A) Fixing/buying a new Wii
B) Buying an Xbox360
C) Buying a Desktop Computer for gaming
((Sorry PS3 fans, I have no interest in Sony right now.))

What do you guys think I should go with? What will give me the best experience? There are plenty of pros and cons for all of them, it's just deciding which are better and worse than the rest...

[Monkeydog]

360.

The only reason I'd ever buy a Wii at this point is for Mario and the ability to mod it.

While the 360 is good. It has a good amount of games, and you'll only ever really be missing out on Nintendo games and a few choice PS3 exclusives with it. But I don't know.

It matters how much you want to play Nintendo games, basically.

ANNNND I'm not a huge PC gamer. I play very few games, and they all tend to be super old stuff.

[Stars]

My first inclination is to suggest a gaming PC, but if you're hesitant to fix your Wii for $80...

If money is an issue, I suppose I would have to go with 360 as a second choice...as long as that whole RROD thing is less of a problem than it was for a while. I have no idea since I don't really keep up with news on the 360.

[Monkeydog]

as long as that whole RROD thing is less of a problem than it was for a while. I have no idea since I don't really keep up with news on the 360.

My 360 hasn't gotten a RROD. (since I'VE OWNED IT) But it's also really right out in the open so it has great ventilation and never gets hot.

[Stars]

as long as that whole RROD thing is less of a problem than it was for a while. I have no idea since I don't really keep up with news on the 360.

My 360 hasn't gotten a RROD. (since I'VE OWNED IT) But it's also really right out in the open so it has great ventilation and never gets hot.

Ah yes, I forgot to mention that. Even though you've pretty much said it, I shall say it again for emphasis:

If you get a 360, keep it VERY well ventilated so that you do not risk overheating it.
Although I assume you wouldn't have a problem with that after (hopefully) learning from your (possibly) overheated Wii.

[Monkeydog]

I do think new 360s haven't been failing though. I do believe they made them better. But if you buy an older version...yeah.

[BottomGuy]

My first inclination is to suggest a gaming PC, but if you're hesitant to fix your Wii for $80...

Money wasn't the issue with that. I suddenly found myself with no console and I just didn't know if I should invest more money into the Wii. The only game I owned was Brawl, but at least it got played a lot at the dorms. I decided to hold off on sinking more than half the price of a new console to fix an old one that I might not even want anymore, it wasn't because I couldn't afford it.

[kspr]

then get a good gaming rig. anything that comes out on the 360 thats good ends up coming to pc anyway. you can also rom ps3 games and play with the 360 controller. same with ps2, n64, and regular xbox

[Skull]

I'm not a Sony person, but I'll be honest, if your into state of the art graphics and a console that has some really neat options and features, the PS3 looks really good.

However, I'd suggest you get a gaming PC, or at least a good Desktop. PC gaming isn't what it used to be, but you really can't beat a good computer for everday needs whenever your not playing vidja games.

[toysintheattic]

I thought my Xbox was pretty well ventilated, but I still got the ol' red ring.

Of course, my sister is retarded and she would constantly leave the xbox on for hours and hours when she wasn't playing it.

I've always wanted to put together a proper gaming rig, but I've never had $1000 lying around.

[Maelstrom]

I hate PC gaming save for a bit of RTS (in the form of starcraft).

So, I put all my weight into voting for the 360.

The only wii games I've played at all this year are Brawl and Monster Hunter Tri. And MHT is new, and I hate its terrible camera and fighting controls. And brawl I've only been able to play like, 5 or 6 times this past semester...

[BottomGuy]

Yeah, I seem to be leaning toward the Xbox360, too.

The Wii I have always seen as a party platform which can be fun. They have good game for groups to just mess around with like any game with the word 'Wii' before it like Wii Resort. They aren't the best of games, but they're good for the party. I only ever owned Brawl though because I never had any groups who would want to play party games. Strong group who played Brawl and they took it seriously in the way of actually playing instead of button mashing, but that was the only Wii game I saw anyone play. Ever. I think what would keep me attached to the Wii are the Nintendo exclusive games down the road and at present. I enjoyed Twilight Princess (sold it after beating it twice and enjoyed Wind Waker more), and I was going to buy the latest Super Mario Bro. game before the Wii broke. I just don't know if owning the system is worth it if all I will ever have is Brawl, a Mario game, a Zelda game, and...that's it. Plus motion sensor controls suck, always used GC controllers for Brawl and everyone always wants to borrow them.

PC gaming is similar to the Wii in that there aren't a lot of games out there that I would be interested in, but they are exclusive or better on the PC. I can't wait for Guild Wars 2 to come out, and I own the Orange Box games. Never got to play them properly though because my parents' computer didn't have a new enough graphics card so the games played really dark and black (I didn't realize the lab in Portal was WHITE) and my laptop didn't have the room or power for them. So a nice PC rig to play Portal and the upcoming Portal 2 would be nice. Then I have some friends who play the L4D series and Starcraft, and that's something I always wanted to get in on with them. Especially since most of them are somewhere else in the country. Since I have such a limited want for PC games though maybe I would be better off with just a strong desktop computer. Right now I have a 3 1/2-year-old laptop that is beginning to show its age, and a new Netbook that I use for notes in class. Don't know if I could ever afford buying a new laptop and desktop computer, so I would/should probably get the desktop and make that my new main PC. That role is currently my laptop and when I was at the dorm I never took it out of the room so it's not like it needs to move. The only time I move it is when I go on the road for vacation with family or go back to the house. If I buy a battery pack for the netbook then viola! New laptop. So yeah, I should just get a new PC that can run games but isn't an exclusive gaming rig.

Then there is the Xbox360. It has the most games in the market along with the PS3 and it's in a price range I could afford. There are always games that come and go that I wish I could play and I never kept track of them since I could never buy them. Figuring out what to buy would probably never be a problem. Buying the online account isn't too much trouble, and Microsoft internet is better than Nintendo. It's just a solid platform I could get behind without having to plan out too much. The only thing there is...should I even buy a new platform? Now that I've gone so long without really playing any video games aside from a few on my DS, I'm wondering if I really need to sink that kind of money to get back into the habit. I don't know, video games are just a pleasure and aren't needed for my enjoyment, so now I'm on the fence about THAT. Now the options appear to be A) Stick with the Wii B) Buy an Xbox360 or C) Do Nothing.

I think my gamer soul has become atheist >_>

[Monkeydog]

Just build a fancy desktop.

Building a desktop isn't that hard, and it's SO much cheaper than just going out and buying one. Plus you can buy second hand parts, which makes it even cheaper, and fitted to exactly what you want. Right now my computer is probably running off of mainly 5~7 year old parts. Newest thing in it is the graphics card. And it's runs well enough to play most of the games I want it to, and it probably cost me less than 300 bucks to assemble. Most of my money went to hard drives for it over the years. Although, my computer is still kinda junky and I need to upgrade it sooner or laters.

[BottomGuy]

Oh yeah, I would definitely do that. One of my friends made me a list of parts about a year ago that I could order online and assemble myself. Doing that would make the computer customized to my needs, I'd have the pleasure of building it myself, and it would cost under $600 which is rad. She still has the list and I'll probably end up doing that. And that $600 price range I can't remember for sure, but if that's not it then it was even less. Just a matter of finding someone who will hire me for the summer so I can save up for it. You talking to a member of ACM, I got the computer stuff in da bag.

The question still remains on a gaming console though.

[Donkeymog]

I can't believe there's any question here. PC gaming should be the main ingredient in soul's healthy diet. Consoles are just candy to keep things sweet.

[lazlo falconi]

If you ask me, video games are a really expensive hobby to be avoided at all costs. That said, probably a PC. At least with a good gaming rig, you have a computer that can be productive. What's good about a 360? HD-DVD support? (hah)