Your console-ation prize
October 10, 2009
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RAJU MUDHAR
ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER
PLAYSTATION 3
The PS3 celebrates its champagne birthday this year – it turns 3 in November – and this console has never looked better from a price point of view. Sony recently launched the PS3 Slim, a smaller version of the console, and announced a price cut of $100, down to $299. In the first three weeks since it launched, the company reported that more than a million units sold across North America.
It's always been a great machine that can become the media hub of any entertainment centre, but it did get bogged down when it launched with a high price tag and a library of games that paled in comparison to its main rival, the Xbox 360 (which had a year-long head start). Of course, over time, that library has expanded, and one thing that it always had going for it was the built-in Blu-Ray player, which at the reduced price point makes buying a Blu-Ray only machine kind of silly. Unfortunately, one of the functions that has been removed is backwards compatibility, so if you've got a lot of PS2 games, hang onto your old machine.
The deal: At $299, you really can't go wrong with a PS3 Slim. Look for a bundle with a game or extra controller. Sony is still supporting the older PS3 (which we really should start calling "the Fat"), and in order to get rid of inventory, some retailers like Future Shop are throwing them in for free with the purchase of certain HD TVs.
Hot exclusive games: For those who love platformers, the always-adorable and heavily armed sequel, Rachet & Clank: A Crack in Time arrives in December. But the game most are salivating over is Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, which is out next week. (The original remains one of the best games ever released on the platform, and in my opinion is the best Indiana Jones-esque game ever made.) You are Nathan Drake, an explorer, who's got to shoot, fight and puzzle his way around the world. MAG (a.k.a. Massive Action Game), a massive multiplayer online shooter, drops in January, and superhero fans are also looking forward to DC Universe Online, which is slated for May. Mythical action-adventure game God of War III is expected next March.
NINTENDO Wii
The Wii is also turning three in November, and
the incredibly successful console is already celebrating by cutting its
price by about $60 to around $220. Actually, the bigger news might be
that you may actually be able to find them in stores this holiday
season. The past two seasons featured shortages, but that's not
expected to be the case this year.
The thing with the Wii,
which doesn't have the graphical horsepower of its counterparts, is
that you do have to buy a fair number of accessories for it, which does
make the price creep up. The newest addition is the MotionPlus, an
attachment that makes its movement-based controller much more accurate.
It does come bundled with games like Tiger Woods Golf 2010, and NHL 2K10, which is good thing, as future games will likely require it.
The deal: Quite simply, the Wii is cheaper than it has ever been. Look for bundles, or buy games like Wii Play, which comes with an extra controller, or the previously mentioned MotionPlus games.
Hot exclusive games: The Wii has been at the forefront of the exercise-game revolution, and the recently released sequel, Wii Fit Plus (requires
the Wii Balance Board), is more robust than the original, with more fun
minigames (it even allows you weigh your pets). The biggest upcoming
game is Super Mario Bros. Wii, which is the latest
side-scrolling Mario game to incorporate a new co-operative/competitive
game mechanic that is going to be a must-buy for any Nintendo fan. And
while there is an all-ages association with the console, there are some
more adult-oriented games on the horizon, like the recently released
and amazingly well-reviewed shooter Dead Space: Extraction.
XBOX 360
If there was ever a reason to pick on the Xbox 360, it was the
alarming failure rate of the consoles. Dubbed the "Red Ring of Death"
because of the light that came on when it died, Microsoft has done a
lot of work to deal with the issue, and reports are that the latest
batch of consoles is a bit more sturdy than those in the past. Other
than that, there really is nothing to complain about. It's a fantastic
console, with the largest library of games and the most robust online
service. (Unlike the PlayStation Network, which is free, a Gold account
on Xbox Live costs about $60 a year.)
There will be Facebook and
Twitter integration into Xbox Live for social-networking nuts, but for
the entertainment obsessed, Microsoft is launching Zune Marketplace,
which purports to offer instant streaming of HD-quality movies and
television. We saw a demo at the recent X'09 holiday preview event and
it was impressive. Zune seemed to work fine, but there are plenty of
questions: How much bandwidth do you need? What's the library going to
be like? How much for a rental? An on-demand rental service is a key
difference between the consoles, and could be very exciting.
The
deal: Its cheapest configuration – The Xbox Arcade – retails for around
$229. It's not as fully featured as the Elite, which has a larger hard
drive and retails for $299. Several retailers offer bundles with
specific games.
Hot exclusive games: It's already out, but Halo 3: ODST is the latest "episode" in the massively successful first-person shooter series. For racing fans, Forza Motorsport 3 is due the end of October, while Left 4 Dead 2 is a highly anticipated shoot `em up. Grand Theft Auto fans have download-only exclusives like the already released The Lost and The Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony, which is coming on Oct. 29. Next year looks good with games like Splinter Cell: Conviction, Alan Wake, Mass Effect 2 and Crackdown 2.
ET CETERA
Portable gaming: Sony's PSP GO and Nintendo's DSi are the two new
portable devices out there. Both feature new online stores and are good
machines, although both companies are still selling their previous
models at a significantly lower price, but with older configurations.
Upcoming
trends: Motion controls and games with specific peripherals. While it's
been the Wii's point of distinction since Day 1, both Sony and
Microsoft are planning to release new motion controllers sometime in
2010. Sony's doesn't have a name yet, but Microsoft's Project Natal
received the most hype at the E3 trade show and has released a long
list of companies working to create games with the new technology. The
selling point is that it's actually going to offer controller-free
gaming, which kind of flies in the face of peripherals as a trend, but
we have to see how it actually plays before we pass judgement.
Tony Hawk's Ride, meanwhile, comes with a skateboard-shaped deck that you stand on, and DJ Hero
features a turntable controller for mixing songs. Having tried both
games, I can say they are both incredibly fun and cool, and will likely
spur other specific tools, just as these were obviously inspired by the
massive success of fake instruments in Guitar Hero.
More
awesome games: While we've touched on platform-exclusive games, another
great trend du jour is games that work on multiple consoles. The
recently released Batman: Arkham Asylum and Beatles: Rock Band are two amazing titles that you can't go wrong with buying. Modern Warfare 2 looks to be an amazing first-person shooter. Hockey fans will be blown away by NHL 2010. Heavy metal fans have been looking forward to the hugely hyped Brutal Legend, which drops next week.
Toronto Star