Gamers...Need a Litle Help

tigersword

Munchkins will be 10 (daughter) & 7 (son) in November...they each have a DS right now; so they are familiar with a lot of the Nintendo games. Their dad has a PS3 with the motion controllers; so they've been exposed to that too (like bowling, ping pong & stuff).

If Dad already has the PS3 with move I would suggest getting that. I'm sure Sony will have PS3 with move bundles. It has awesome capabilities. I love loading special family photos to show friends. The blue ray player is also nice. The PS3 is very versatile and I found the user interface easier to use. I actually sold my wii because I wasn't using it.

Because Dad has one, the kids can bring the games back and forth between the two households. If one child is at dads, and one at moms, they can chat with each other online while playing games.

The games available are almost the same with a few exceptions. Nintendo has mario... PS3 has Little Big Planet. I'm biased. I LOVE little big planet. It's not only fun to play, but teaches them physics and gives them the ability to create.

Go to youtube and check out Little big planet.

I'd recommend the PS3 for sure!

Yes, I actually stream photos to my PS3, and I use that with a streamed playlist from my computer as background music for my daughter's birthday parties.

Mike_Roe

All I have to say is that I'm a serious Playstation 3 fan. playstation 3 is one of the only systems I know that comes with free wireless internet capabilities, has a free exclusive playstation network system with advanced oersonal security, parent security options, has a wide variety of exciting and fun games with great graphics and addicting gameplay, comes with many free apps for the XMB page which can be found on playstation store, a free playstation home gaming system with a free customizable avatar, and i could go on and on. Playstation 3 comes with alot more than you think, i totally recomend it. I ERGE you to get it for them, they'll be happy you did.

TaraTLC83

We have the PS (original platform, 1st gen), PS2 (original platform, 1st gen) and the PS3 (original platform, 1st gen, upgraded hard drive)

The games are capable of playing on the next higher platform. So, if my PS is down, I can play them on my PS2... or my PS3...

<nerd>
This isn't necessarily true. Only some of the older games work on some of the models. Older models with skus reading CECHBxx/CECHAxx (where xx = numbers) will play pretty much everything. They actually have a PS2 piece of hardware in them as well as the PS3 hardware. Sony was actually losing money doing this. The PS3's cost more to make than what they were selling them for in order to stay competitive with XBOX. Because they weren't making any profit, the next batch they put out had only software emulation and can play most, but not all 1st gen games. Those models are CECHCxx /CECHExx. Still, they were bleeding money... so...ALL of the models after that were created after around 2007 and don't support old games.

I did a lot of research about this before purchasing our PS3 in 2009. We actually paid MORE for a used "1st gen PS3" than a brand new one. I waited months for a used game store in the city to call me that they had one brought in on trade... and oh I paid a pretty penny for that LOL.

You can get more info here (if you are remotely interested!):

http://us.playstation.com/support/compatiblestatus/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_3

</nerd>

*edited to fix a spelling error*

Karen_145

I'm a strict PC gamer though we do own a Wii and a few older consoles.

This site has a comparison of all the 2011 platforms:
http://video-game-consoles-review.toptenreviews.com/

Some things to consider:

Wii generally has a lot of party games and whatnot. It's great for when you have groups of kids over at the house (or adults) but I wouldn't consider it for serious gaming, particularly as the kids get older.

Playstation is basically a free blue ray player as well as a gaming console. My husband wanted to buy one for that feature alone!

Whatever platform you get, make sure it is compatible with a lot of games. Not all games are available for every platform, and you're kids are going to hate it if they can't play online with their pals or if they're the only kids on the block with a system that doesn't play the hot games.