S/O from Wii thread: Wii or PS3?

[keptwoman]

We are considering a gaming system as a family Christmas gift this year. We have an xBox but MS have stopped making games for it, I dislike the way they don't support old systems like other makers do so I won't be getting another.

 

I can see the pro's of both:

 

Wii: Wii fit! I don't think that PS3 has anything similar?

Lots of fun jumping around stuff

 

PS3: also a Bluray player

Lots of grown up racing car games and stuff like that.

 

So I'd love to know from anyone who has both or has used both a lot, if you could only have one, which one and why?

[plain jane]

We have both, so I can tell you it was a tough choice to decide between the two. :tongue_smilie: Both of ours get used equally, but by different people. I'd venture to say that your 9 and 6 yo would prefer the Wii to the PS3. My kids have games for both systems, but the only time they use the PS3 is as the Blu-Ray player (which dh and I REALLY like having, BTW). Your 15 yo, and dh (if he plays games) would probably prefer the PS3. My dh plays PS3 every once in a while but has never picked up the Wii to play by himself- he does play Wii with the kids when they ask him to join them. When I do have free time, I do play both systems, but prefer the games on the Wii because I can play them and be done in short bursts vs. the complex ones on PS3. However, the graphics on the PS3 are fantastic and I'll admit to snuggling on the couch and watching dh play his games.

 

In your situation, I'd figure out who the game system is most likely to get used by. If your youngers- then Wii, but if it'll be the adults or your teenager, get the PS3. Wii has most, if not all the same games as the PS3 but the graphics capabilities are simply not the same and in our experience (we used to have just a PS2) the superior graphics have really increased our enjoyment of the gaming system.

 

I didn't really answer your question, because we chose to buy both at the same time because we figured they'd both be appreciated but for different reasons. It made for an expensive day at Best Buy, but we've never regretted spending the money on either.

Edited October 21, 2009 by plain jane

[shalom22]

We have both and the pros that you gave are right on. We use our PS3 more than we use the Wii. We watch more movies than play games. The game play comes in waves, my dh plays the shootem and racing games on the PS3 and the kids play more of the Wii games. We are thinking about getting the Wii fit plus, so we will be using it more in the near future.

 

Both are great systems. But if you like to watch lots of movies, you could get more out of the PS3.

[keptwoman]

Thanks both of you :)

Yes, I think the dilemma is really who to cater for more. I tend towards the Wii (I want the Wii fit!) and DH toward the PS3. Sigh. I would get both but the games are just a crazy crazy price here in Australia, and they have regional lock out so we can't buy them in the US (grumble, grumble) so we have to choose.

[secular_mom]

We have a PS3, and have purchased a Wii for christmas. I prefer the Wii for kid friendly, less violent games. Nintendo is just much more kid friendly, IMO. But if you don't care about violence and don't care for more 'innocent' games, PS3 may be more to your liking. We liked watching blu ray movies on the PS3, but we aren't buying them because they are more expensive and the rest of the DVD players aren't blu ray. We were renting them from Netflix until the month charge jumped up to the same price as getting an extra movie.

[Aunty Social]

I think it really depends on who will be playing the most. In our house, both my dh and I love video games - so after the kids are settled down, we'll quite often go down and play. We prefer the ps3 because we like the more adult fps games.

 

The kids play the wii almost exclusively - although there is one ps3 game for them. I like that they aren't just sitting on the couch while playing. My ds will come upstairs after playing lego star wars drenched with sweat!

 

We also play the wii; there are a couple of cool games out there for adults and we play some of the kids game together as a family, but we prefer the ps3 games (I like the wii controllers better, but last time I checked they weren't heavy on the type of games we enjoy).

 

As an added bonus, we use the ps3 downstairs as our video player, so we didn't have to buy one.

 

Too bad you have to pick one or the other....it's a very hard choice! If you and dh like to play, I might lean toward the ps3. If it's mostly for the kids, go for the wii.

[bunnytracks]

we have the wii and really like it. I love that most games require the kids to be up and moving while playing it.

[keptwoman]

Thanks everyone :)

[wulfbourne]

I prefer the PS3. We love having a blue ray player and 95% of the games we play are on it. Of course, it's DH and I that play, kids are way too young, so when they get older our Wii might get more use. For now DH and I like to play RPG's, guitar hero, and racing games for the most part.

 

One thing to note, if you buy a PS3 and you're looking for backwards compatibility you'll want to buy an older model. The new models, including the slim, do not have backwards compatibility to PS2 games.

[Whereneverever]

My vote is Wii, especially for the movement it encourages.