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I've been playing videogames since the Atari 2600. I graduated from that to the Commodore 64. Anyone remember Ultimate Wizard? From there, I eased into the land of consoles with the Nintendo Entertainment System and have been a pretty loyal fan ever since, even if I don't own any recent consoles to speak of. Mainly, I'm a PC gamer. I like the customizability of a computer rig. Most Asian guys like upgrading their cars into rice burners. I upgrade my computer. Anyway, that's not to say that I don't follow the console wars whenever one pops up.

We've got 2 consoles on the horizon: the Playstation 3 and the Nintendo Wii. I'm curious to know how the gamers on this site feel about them.

Despite Sony's reputation in the past, I think the PS3 has its work cut out. It's got a $600 price tag and is already getting bad press since it backed out on its promise for an internationally simultaneous release. Looks like Europe is now getting shafted a good six months. Then again, Europe always gets shafted when it comes to videogames. Sure, the PS3 supports 1080p resolution, but I don't think that's going to be a major selling point since HDTVs aren't that prevalent. And I doubt a gamer is going to drop another 2k on a TV after shelling $600 for the console itself. Blu-ray discs are fine and dandy, but if game developers aren't going to take advantage of the extra space, who cares how much those discs can hold? Really, the only major selling point to the Sony machine is its Final Fantasy series, but since Square Enix appears to be branching out to other systems, Sony may lose that edge as well.

On the Wii side, it's retailing for $250 and will give access to the entire Nintendo library of games (for a fee, of course). That means you can challenge friends and family to Double Dribble if you want. It's got a really innovative controller that may turn off hardcore gamers, but will make up for the loss by attracting more casual gamers.

My money is on and for the Wii. How 'bout you?

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