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Game Consoles

Game Console Buying Guide Console gaming has been around for a long time, many, many year...
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Game Console Buying Guide

Console gaming has been around for a long time, many, many years in fact, I can remember back to playing this little console with two knobs that attached your TV that played Pong essentially or a variation thereof. The Graphics were abysmal compared to todays consoles, with their full colors and high-definition capabilities, of course newer consoles came out and along the way I got those as well, so I've been playing games for many, many years on consoles and PCs.

Consoles are great for gaming and the technology has come to the point where the games are extremely realistic and it feels almost as if you're in the game, it's very easy to get lost for hours while playing. Consoles today have the ability to access the internet as well for many things, but mainly for online game play which allows us to compete against real players across the world through our consoles. It allows us to chat with them and interact as if they were right there in the room with us. It creates an online community of people that just get together to have fun and enjoy themselves.

When it comes to consoles though you've got quite a few choices out there for not only the actual console style but the hand held versions as well. It can get a bit confusing when you're thinking of purchasing one, many people in fact own several of them or even all that are on the market. The main reason to own several consoles is the exclusivity of games, some consoles will get a specific game and others never will get that game, so if you want to play all of the latest games on the market today you've got to own different consoles or game systems.

You won't find many reviews of actual console systems out there, there are a few, but they're usually published when the consoles first come out. You will however find numerous reviews for games for the various gaming systems and reviews for their accessories as well, you'll see those popping up all of the time.

Personally if I was looking to purchase a console today I would look at the features and the games that are available for it, the games are the main reason to buy a console of course, and depending on your favorite games that's most likely the console you'll purchase. Some consoles are specific to certain games, or series of games, like Mario, he's only on Nintendo, so if you're a fan of the Mario series you won't want to buy and Xbox. Of course though many games are cross-platform, meaning that they are available on all of the console systems and oftentimes you can find the same games on the handhelds as well.

Compatibility is another issue you may want to take into account, if you already own a console most times your old games will play on the newer version of that console as well. So if you own a Playstation 2 then you might want to buy the Playstation 3 instead of an Xbox360 so you can still play your old games on the newer system, of course the Xbox360 works the same way as well. I have heard though that not all PS2 titles are 100% compatible with the PS3, and there's also rumor that it won't get fixed any time soon.

With the latest generation of consoles on the scene, the prices of last generation ones have dropped drastically so you can pick them up very cheaply and many companies are still making games for them as well. With the new generation of consoles here, you'll also find a flood of used consoles and their games as well on the market so used versions of last generation consoles can be had very cheaply as well.

If you've got younger children in the house you might want to consider a console that is easier to use for them and more child friendly, the Nintendo Wii has become a favorite for children with it's motion sensing controllers. The Wii is great for the first time gamer, and is a very family friendly console system, but it's graphics are sub-par compared to the PS3 and Xbox360.

The Playstation 3 is a gamer console, as is the Xbox360, and they're both more for teens and adults, but the PS3 comes equipped with a Blu-Ray player while the Xbox360 does not. Many people opt for the PS3 just because of that reason alone, professionals have said that the Blu-Ray player built into the PS3 is one of the best on the market today. So if you purchase the PS3 you not only get an advanced gaming system but the ability to play high definition Blu-Ray discs as well on your television. The downside of course to the PS3 is the price, it's more expensive that the other consoles out there today and it's larger in size than them as well.

With the consoles you can also get different versions of them, each with their own features and storage capacities, like with the Xbox you can get Standard, Arcade or Elite versions, and the PS3 has it's own versions as well.

If you're thinking of getting a handheld console so you can take your gaming with you you've really only got three choices today, unless you buy something older, the Sony PSP, Gameboy Micro, and the Nintendo DS/Lite. The PSP is a much more powerful unit and features more functionality than the DS, but it costs more. That added cost gives you the ability to watch movies The Gameboy Micro is really just a smaller Gameboy Advanced and can play all of the same games.

For handheld consoles you've also got the choice of accessories, there are many companies out there today making cases, add-ons and lots of other things to use with these portable consoles. Also Nintendos DS and Wii can communicate with each other as can the Sony Playstation and PSP, so if you already own one of those consoles that might be a deciding factor in you purchase.

Well of course you could go retro as well if you want to relive your childhood, many of the older systems and their games are still available out there today for purchase, with some companies even making special editions like the Atari Flashback which is an upgraded, smaller version of the original Atari containing many popular game titles.


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