Why should anyone choose the Xbox 360 over the other competing game consoles of the day? It's more advanced than some but boasts fewer benefits than others. It also happens to be the oldest of what is now considered the holy trinity of gaming consoles: The Wii, the Xbox and the Playstation. With all that choice out there, what makes this, the older one-by a whopping year and a bit-the one worth choosing?
Microsoft beat Sony to the next level of gaming by pushing up the Xbox 360 launch date by almost a full year. This push could have been a vast mistake, had the 360 been riddled with the problems of its predecessor the Xbox. The Xbox's complications and bugs are understandable, as it was Microsoft's first attempt at a gaming console. Bear in mind that Microsoft, at that time, was a software/hardware designer for personal computers...not gaming systems.
The Nintendo Wii, released long after the 360, has sold roughly two thirds as many units worldwide than Microsoft's console was able to sell. As for the third outing for the Playstation brand, well that's just embarrassing just about everybody. Either way, Microsoft and Sony keep referring to each other as competition but claim the Wii isn't something they consider competition. That means Microsoft gets to brag about being the best. But how is that so? The Xbox 360 is a gaming console and the Wii is a gaming console. How do these things not count as competition?
It's been pointed out time and again that gamers who own a Nintendo Wii will often own either an Xbox or a Playstation to go along with it. This is pointed out to underscore the fact that the Wii doesn't meet all the needs of a gamer; however, it could be argued that the opposite is also true.
Microsoft has said time and again that their Xbox 360, like the PS 3, goes after a demographic that is more into gaming, as they say. Their demographic is one made up of hardcore gamers who want the best graphics, the best sound, and the most action packed games. The Wii on the other hand apparently doesn't want that demographic, but instead wants the families who aren't necessarily into gaming much themselves.
Whether it was the fault of the Wii or the fact that people just didn't want it, the PS 3 didn't sell well. This means less people are using it which means a lot of the gaming experience that the Xbox 360 and PS 3 are built around are simply better with the former. With the online gaming world, for instance, would you rather play the games amongst a fan base of 30 million people with the Xbox, or less than 15 million with the PS 3?
Until there comes a time when there is a clear-cut, winning console in the gaming world, there is always going to be personal opinions as to what machine is better. It may be just a slight difference of better suited controllers or it might be the colors that encase the machine. Any way you look at it, gaming comes down to a choice.
