@AlexSays: I've heard that kind of logic before, and to a point, it makes sense. If it wasn't for Sony and Microsoft having tons of money earned from other divisions to throw at gaming, the "standard" console power wouldn't be anywhere NEAR PS3 and 360 quality. It might still be somewhat better than the Wii, but not nearly so much. The Wii gets a bad rap on graphics simply because it was made by the company who wanted to make something affordable for both the customer and the company. I'm pretty sure you've been present when this kind of stuff was being discussed before. I guess I could be wrong, though. Shrug

Even with all I've just said above, I do still love what my PS3 can do (and the 360, when it's not busy breaking again or taking four discs for an RPG). But it's not technically necessary at all. They are an improvement over the previous generation of ridiculous proportions, and as such, are in a way overpowered.

@AlexSays..... yeah me and you both

@nintendoduffin.... Just to let you know... Sony just reported that they now are producing the PS3 at a 70% lower cost to company than when they launched the system. They knew when they launched it this would happen. You can NEVER have a system that is Too Powerful. The More Power the more options the Developers have to make games. The 360 will be in need of an upgrade before way too long because its starting to be underpowered by the PS3 and there is a possibility that 360 games will have things "Cut Out" of the PS3 version to be able to run on the 360 much like games cant run on the Wii. That is the problem with MultiConsole games and the Wii fall flat on its face with this one.

You'll know when you're older.

I'm not so sure. I'm 21 and it confuzzles me.

@Ricarco91..... Nice new Avatar.... and thats too true and if your born in 91 well I got u beat quite a bit

That was the post to end all posts.

He's German and I'm offended

Enjoying using our language are you?.

Where's the facepalm when you need it?

I'm not saying a console being powerful is of detriment to the gameplay experience, I just don't think it's necessary. IMO far too much stock is put in graphics, especially in the insistence that HD is essential. I have a friend who owns a PS3 and recently he upgraded to an HDTV and although the difference was obvious and the images were sharper I didn't feel it added anything to the experience. To me having good graphics is more about the style of the art direction than having the most polygons and the newest effects and there are SNES games that look as good to me as they did almost twenty years ago.
My original point was just that Microsoft and Sony decided to make their consoles as powerful as they could possibly be and I disagree with that design philosophy since I see it as being overkill but at the end of the day that's just my opinion, there are no right or wrong opinions but merely different ways of looking at things.

Unnecessary or pretentious noodling (messing around)
thats the definition i got for wankery lol. i don't think its a real word

Except the 360 and PS3's graphics are not all that's "overpowered." Having a much larger hard drive, much faster processor speed, and much stronger internet connection do add to the experience. These are things that directly relate to what is possible for a game to accomplish. Graphics are just the icing on the cake. And if there's anything I've learned from Fat Princess, it's that we all want more cake.

wii is good for its price as are the 360 and ps3

You thing console fanboys are bad? They're kiddies compared to the automotive fanboys! Honduh......

For all those confused about that british word...

Wanking is what male brits do in their bedrooms alone, or accompanied by a nice young lass (or sometimes lad) via video or pictures on their PC or in their magazine. The usual duration of "wanking" is approximately 3-15 minutes, or until mother busts into the room.

And the Wii is so underpowered that it's incredibly cheap to make games for them - practically the same as making GC games, but without the amount of space for game data as the other 7th gen consoles (due to limitations of the optical disc and limitations on wiiware game size.)

Because it's so cheap to make games and there's limited game data space, what we end up with is a deluge of detritus. A menagerie of mediocrity. A sh**load of shovelware. In short, a crapton of crap.

Plus, think how much better so many games would be in HD. You know how you often see either jagged edges or you see that vasoline-like blurriness in Wii games? Well think how much better these games would look with some anti-aliasing and HD resolution. I mean, you can already see some games running in 720p thanks to that wii emulator on PC, and even that looks gorgeous.

HD youtube clip of SSBB

Racing Games have had a HUGE Improvement with the Upgrade to HD. Look at Motorstorm PR, Burnout Paradise, PURE, etc.... the draw distances that are possible now and the frame rates as well make for a gaming experience that was literally not even seemed to be possible just a few years back. Play Burnout then tell me HD gaming isnt worth it.

OH take that little HDMI cord off and plug in the AV jacks and then you will really see what HD gaming is.

@Adam
I guess I just need to play a wider variety of PS3 games because the handful I've played have all essentially been PS2 games with better graphics.
@clicketyclick
There are a lot of bad games on Wii but there have been bad games for every platform ever. Maybe there are a higher proportion of bad games on Wii but it doesn't matter really. As long as there are enough good games (and I would say there are) I can just ignore the bad ones and only buy the ones I want to play. Also, while I can't deny Wii games look good in HD, I just don't think it's the be all and end all that some people make it out to be. I remember when Nintendo announced the Wii would only support SD, the amount of fuss people were making over this fact you'd think it was the worst thing to have ever happened.
@slapshot
I have played Burnout Paradise in HD as it happens, albeit very briefly. Maybe I just need to play it more to really appreciate the difference.

@nintendoduffin..... Yeah if you only played it briefly you didnt scratch it. Just the multiple and I do mean multiple online modes alone are the size of most PS2 games. Then you have the insanely huge single player Games. Game is Massive and fun. It could never run on anything but the 360/PS3. (via next gen it will too ) PSN/ Live Arcade game are lots of fun too.

Sure we can ignore the bad games, but that's not exactly the point. The justification you used for calling the 360 and PS3 overpowered was that companies are losing money making the consoles... and also by extension, companies are losing money making games for those systems. Development requires humungous teams, longer dev cycles, and skyrocketing costs.

But you denied that the Wii is underpowered. That's why I'm bringing up the inverse of the problem you brought up with PS360: because of the rock-bottom dev costs and short dev cycles, devs can put out crap and not lose money. Because they make a lot of money off shovelware, that encourages them to make a ton of shoddy games. Hence the state we're in, where good Wii games don't sell because they're competing for shelf space with tons of popular shovelware and get pushed off within 2 weeks of launch.

If the PS360 is overpowered because companies are losing money when they make good products for it, then the Wii is underpowered because companies are gaining money when they make shoddy products for it. The ideally powered console would then be one that doesn't favour the development of shovelware, but also doesn't require a massive budget to make a good game. No?

@clicketyclick.... You are EXACTLY Right my friend. The Wii has exploded the Shovelware market like never before seen. Even as far as trying to sell FREE Flash games on Wii and DS as well. Nintendo even puts there Seal of Approval on this knowing flat out that they are Rippin YOU OFF. Yes You if you bought it. That is Wrong and NO the PS3 and 360 are NOT doing that.