Topic: If each console were the same price....

I would pick my DSi over any other no matter the price.

I'd still buy a Wii as the first-party Nintendo franchises are among my favorites.

But my point is it is an easy cop out even if you were 'torn' in the hypothetical. (responding to Adams post)

Want to play GTA4? - buy it for PC
Want to play Bioshock - buy it for PC
Want to play Halo - buy it for PC

Want to play Wii Sports? - buy a Wii
Want to play New Super Mario? - But a Wii
Want to play Wii Fit? - Buy a Wii

Easily the biggest factor in buying a Wii is the Nintendo exclusives - wether you view the Wii (and therefore all) current gen consoles as a 'supplement' or as this hypothetical asks - your 'only' current console

I cant get it cuz there are no torrents for mac, and if i buy it, i dont think it runs on mac, i might be wrong, maybe if i can run it will be my first BOUGHT PC GAME! cuz i really wanna play it

Well, you could just as easily say:
Want to play Warhawk? Buy a PS3.
Want to play Fat Princess? Buy a PS3.
Want to play Little Big Planet? Buy a PS3.
Resistance, Resistance 2, MGS4, Disgaea 3, Valkyria Chronicles, etc. etc. It is a system that has a lot of exclusives plus multi-platform games.

Also, you list Halo, but Halo 3 (I assume you mean this, not the original, since it's the first of the series on 360, not regular Xbox) is actually 360-exclusive. No PC version, at least not at this point in time. According to Stuffgamer or Chatham, I forget who, there are only six fully-exclusive games on 360 if you consider which games on PC, though, so you do make a good point about the 360, even if that specific example I don't think applies.

I understand a lot of people think PS3's exclusives are no good, and that's fine, we all have different tastes, but there is a wide variety, so I don't think it's fair to say that it's a non-question. PS3 is distinct from PC, much much moreso than 360, from what I know of it (never owned a 360 myself, so I'm reluctant to be too harsh on it based on word of mouth, as much as I trust those who've told me this).

I would buy a Wii.

Obvious choice to me.

what he said.

I composed a list of games that interest me from all systems
Wii 31
XBOX 360 8
PS3 2
PSP 3
DS 7

@Adam: That would be Chatham. I think that's a slightly exaggerated number, though. Halo 3, Halo Wars, Gears 2, Banjo Nuts & Bolts, Kameo, Lost Odyssey, Blue Dragon, Infinite Undiscovery, Culdcept Saga, Crackdown (that never hit PC...right?)...oh look, I've already passed 6, just counting from my own retail game collection.
I don't mean to sound as though I'm adamantly defending the 360, of course. I do like PS3 better, as you well know, and it quite simply DOES have a lot more exclusive titles than the 360 when you cut away stuff available on PC and last gen systems. I just like to point out underestimations when I see them.

Yeah but the point still stands - you can get a large chunck of what ppl consider PS3 or 360 gaming on the PC - as for Wii - not at all.

How many ppl would not have bought a Wii or GC is they could get a handful of tiles - Smash Bros, Mario Zelda, Metroid - on pc???

PS3 versus the VC and GC games.

I'd take the Wii by just a smidge since I'm lovin' the VC and I've tracked down most of the best GC so it's pretty good. I'd most definitely like a PS3 though.

It doesn't matter if some games on PS3 or 360 are playable on PC. The fact that there are plenty on each system that can't be found on PC (only a small fraction of which Stuffy and I have already named) means there is still plenty reason to get these systems. Why would I care if Ubisoft and EA's games are multi-platform if I'm not playing them? The question was which system would you get if cost were not a factor, and obviously it's a fair question or else you'd have only seen one answer so far.

Plus, even if every game on PS3 were available on PC (not by a long stretch), there are still advantages. I don't have to continually upgrade a home console so that it can run the latest game. I can much more easily play local multi-player games. Online play is more unified. And you're assuming that everyone has a PC that can run modern games anyway. Mine barely manages to play your average 2D indie games, so I'm not even going to bother trying to run Street Fighter IV.

Cost is not the main factor adam - ever. Exclusive software is always the #1 seller of game sytems.

according to wiki the top 5 selling 360 games :

Halo 3 (8.1 million)[24] (360 exclusive - for now)
Gears of War (5 million,[25] may include PC version) - available on PC
Gears of War 2 (5 million) (360 exclusive, for now)
[26] Grand Theft Auto IV (4.074 million ( PS3 360 windows)
[29] Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (3.772 (PS3 360 PC Wii)

Only 2 of 5 are system exclusive, and likely they will not remain so, Heck one is even going to come to Wii now.

It does matter. It is a BIG factor. Everyone know Nintendo Wii games are not going anywhere - if you want to play them, buy a Wii. Even ppl who are huge critics of the wii help Nintendos cause buy buying the system for a handful of games - the power of exclusivity....

PS2 had a 3rd party thang going to make up for Sony not being the developer powerhouse Nintendo is. But that is lost now. PS3 suffers greatly because it shares most game with 360 or PC. Less and less reasons to buy one - regardless of cost. In fact - just as with GBA, DS and PS2 - the PS3 slim will target ppl who ALREADY OWN a PS3 first and formost...the disehard fans are ALWAYS the first in line....

Regardless of harcore/casual marketing tripe - thew WIi PS3 360 and PC all exist because of mainstream gaming tastes - sales of each platform represent that, this is what every big name publisher strives for. The big name publishers ALWAYS dominate. Wii enjoys the most system exclusivity by far. A major factor in EVERY console 'war'.

And very relevant for this topic.

It only matters if you assume that all the posters here are mindless sheeple that buy only the best selling games. The question was a personal one, and I am completely free to enjoy PS3 for its exclusive games regardless of your silly sales figures, just as anyone else could choose the 360. No one is trying to decide the absolute best console here; it's pure personal preference, and just because you think Wii's exclusives are better than PS3's doesn't make it so.

If all consoles were the same price (and they quite nearly are now, all within $50 of each other), I would choose the PS3 because almost every game I play on it is in fact exclusive to it, and most of the games I play on Wii are on VC, which I could just play on the original consoles. Plus, if there ever were a PS3 game I liked also available on PC (none at the moment, despite owning 30+ games), I would prefer it on PS3 because I like the PS3 controller and my PC can't run games well, plus I can play it on my big screen TV in a more unified online experience.

To make it easier for you to understand, here is a list of my PS3 games, beginning with exclusives, and leaving out the three games available on PC (incidentally some of my least favorite games on the console) such as Soldner X. I uploaded the list as a text file since there are no spoiler tags here (who knows why) to keep the giant list from taking up the whole page. And that's not including games I've rented or borrowed like Uncharted or the Resistance games.

I second this. If the Wii was more expensive then the others I would STILL buy the Wii simply because the big titles that I enjoy all come from Nintendo. There's no price point that would make me buy any other system first. If it was a ridiculous price, I would simply skip the generation all together or wait for prices to go down/buy a used version.

That's the reason I skipped the Gamecube gen, I didn't think there was enough to justify a purchase.

Assuming the price of PS3 and Xbox 360 games were as low as the Wii's, I'd strongly consider an Xbox 360.

And you're assuming people care about PC gaming why? If there's one thing that the current state of PC gaming shows, it's that people are far less interested in it than gaming on consoles. So you could easily say:

Want to play Bioshock? Don't buy a Wii.
Want to play Halo? Don't buy a Wii.
Want to play GTA IV? Don't buy a Wii.

Most gamers ARE mindless sheep Adam - games sales, game sites, and message board forum confirm this :

'Should I sell console X because ppl in forum Y, influenced by the writers of game site Z trash it because it is not like console W?

How many times do we see that topic? Over and Over again.......game hype and group think for any system is the motar holding the bricks in the wall together....

I was NEVER suggesting there was a right or a wrong answer to this question - just that - because of exclusivity - this question is a self answering one for many ppl.

It is not an attack on your tastes, nor a confirmation of them. Just that Nintendo has BY FAR the greatest exclusivity and attraction of any game or console company this generation. There is very little little software erosion even between Wii and DS. Mario Kart, New Super Mario and ANimal Crossing Exist on some level on both platforms, but Brain age, Nintendogs, Wii Sports, Wii Play, etc, etc, etc, do not.

You simply are not getting my argument.

I'm not getting it because it is not what the question in the original post is asking. The question was what we personally would choose, not what sales charts show most people choose, and not what you think most people would choose based on sales charts or personal opinion of which exclusives are "greater." That's a valid question. I would choose a PS3. The fact that we have different answers means it's not a non-question.

Just for reference:

Not what console would the people who bought Halo and Gears of War get. Their choice is obvious, they went with the more expensive console even before this theoretical "all consoles are the same price" question came up.

Also, on a side note, people asking for others' opinions on a console is fair game. It's not like they're taking a poll and then going with the majority's answer. They're seeking details from other forum users that they either can't or don't want to get from game journalists (and who can blame them? I still haven't found a single site covering PS3 that I particularly like as I do this site for Wii and DSi). They can then weigh these opinions on their own because, not owning the system, they obviously don't have the experience with it necessary to justify a blind purchase.

For example, if I needed a new car, I would definitely ask for outside opinions because I don't know enough about cars I haven't already driven. I'm not going to buy whatever someone tells me, but I'll take their knowledge into consideration as I build a knowledge base of my own. That's being intelligent and admitting you don't know everything, not being a sheep.

My point has alwys been that price has nothing to do with it - it is exclusive software.

Lets say all console are a $1000 - software decides

All console sare a $100 - software decides

If PS3 had kept the exclusive franchises PS2 had, for example, it would be a much greater force than it is today. But it has been hamstrung by sharing previous exclusive with 360 and PC. It is hamstrung by decisions to embrace a console PC build instead of a traditional plug and play console build.

The contrast is this : Nintendo puts their TOP people on their most important software and new IP's and then directs and hires independent contractors to work on less important existing franchies and ideas.

Where as MS simply buys game companies and maybe they come up with something - think Molneaux and Milo - the fate of Motion plus rested on EAD, the fate of Natal apparently on Milo?

Also EA - nowadays the big ideas fropm EA come from the outside in - Will Wright, Steven Speilberg

• while they simply rehash their existing franchises, espcially the sports ones. Creativity is stifled. EA is diminished as a force in gaming. They are as predictable as plum pudding.

Nintendo will always win the exclusivity market when the 3rd party juggernaut of a PS2 no longer exists and large pubishers do not pick winners and losers and simply port their games to all systems. Because Nintendo has guts and vision and money and talent. They lead. And all of their games are exclusive. No, if, ands or butts. All of them!

And your car example is poor on that other tangent - becuase the person in question has often already bought console X and now - drama! - should I sell console X!? because the posters on fromun Y, taking their talking points from Game Media site Z are trashing it - and me? I am so insecure I must go along with them!

The other side note - hardcore/casual - yeah marketing. And the people who think they are elite and informed buyers are simply riding the mainstream popular 'gamer' train and let their tastes be determined by the crowd....the great game melting pot....