Comparing the Xbox 360 To Its Competition

By Arnold Thomas

In recent years, the so-called console war between Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo was probably at its fiercest level because of the launching of the original Xbox. Of course, it was designed to compete head-on with the Sony Playstation 3 popularity and the emerging consumer awareness for Nintendo's GameCube. With the launching of the Xbox successor - the Xbox 360 - the console war just reached new levels of competitiveness although it must be said that Xbox won the war for about a year after its release.

Sony and Nintendo had no intention of simply surrendering the field, and quickly released their own seventh generation gaming consoles, the Playstation 3 and the Nintendo Wii. This time, gamers had more choices and it was harder to pick between the three since each console offered its own unique strengths and weaknesses. To make it easier on the consumer, this is a brief comparison between the Xbox 360 and its competition.

Xbox 360 wins hands down when it comes to the sheer quantity of games available with almost a thousand titles to choose from. While the Playstation 3 offers more exclusive franchises, the the Xbox 360 has more exclusive titles, as well as having more titles with positive reviews and rankings. Consumers and critics alike have pointed out that many of the adventure and fighting games offered by the Playstation 3 are very similar to those offered by the Xbox 360.

The Wii has taken a slightly different path when considering what titles to offer, and focuses its orientation on games the whole family can enjoy, from children to adults. There is less violence, less murder and gore with the Wii than one will find in the Xbox 360. Even so, while there are fewer comparisons when looking at the available games, there are still a few that share similarities with the Xbox 360. So, the battle will have to move away from games and onto another field.

For quality of graphics, the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 have very close competition that a draw must be declared. Some quarters, however, will insist that the Playstation 3 possesses more intense visual and audio components than Xbox 360 but it will depend on what your definition of good graphics is.

The Wii, however, simply is not in the running in this competition, either with the Xbox 360 or the Playstation 3. The Nintendo Wii has chosen to turn its focus to areas other than graphics engines or audio components and so, if you want jaw-dropping graphics and excellent audio, you should purchase either an Xbox 360 or a Playstation 3. And, something to keep in mind, the Playstation 4 offers Blu-ray support, a decided advantage over the Xbox 360, which launched in 2001.

Looking now at the controls, the Wii has a fighting chance with its innovative motion controller which can mimic the movement of your hand, with buttons to push, bats to swing, and even bowling balls to bowl. However, this can be a disadvantage when you consider that the Xbox 360 offers both wireless as well as wired controllers.

The verdict: The many features the Xbox 360 offers continue to make it a trailblazer in the industry. However, this doesn't mean the Xbox has won the war. Far from it. The war isn't over by a long shot. In fact, it may be just about to begin again. For now, though, the Xbox 360 continues to dominate the field. - 29872

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