Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Wii console reviews

[VideoGameCritic]

Thanks - I'll fix that!

[Burk1]

I can't get to the reviews on my tablet. The links keep bumping me back to the mobile menu.

[Geforcefly1]

My two cents on the 360:
  I do agree that the noise levels (coming from the fans) can be pretty bad.  The earliest ones (Xenon, Zephyr) were HORRIBLE (the dual 70mm fans would spin at 4,000rpm minimum, F).  My 2008 Elite model (Falcon) is better (the dual 70mm fans would only spin over 3,000rpm when pushed hard, C-).  But even when the fans weren't spinning at a high speed they were still fairly loud with their buzzing motors.  My slim model is inaudible from a foot away (its sole 80mm fan lazily spins at 1,000rpm max, A+). 

  The optical disc drive noise varies on the older models but is quietest on the Slim.  It's not easy to keep the noise in check when it's spinning a disc at up to 7,000rpm.
 
  I completely agree that the reliability on the older 360s were terrible.  My Elite was plagued with the E74 after 2 years of constant use (I had it in a cabinet that had a 120mm exhaust fan out back so it NEVER came close to overheating; the cabinet doors were always open while the 360 ran and no vents were ever blocked) even though I took as good of care of it as possible.

[Oltobaz1]

Thanks for the reviews! In my experience, I'd say the Wii is far more durable than the PS3, which may be more reliable than the 360, but still very fragile. The Slim revision feels more durable, though. In regards to the Wii, mine never encountered any issues, not even freezing problems, nothing of the sort. Can't say the same about my Wii U, which froze the other day, while loading Super Mario...

[nesfan1]

I think that the PS3's ability to play games from all regions deserves a mention in the review. It's definitely a plus for me as I have already imported a game from Europe (which booted up fine like any other game. I didn't have to do anything special.) and there are a few Japanese games that I plan on importing in the future.

[VideoGameCritic]

I changed the "media" type for Xbox 360 and Wii to optical disc.

Burk: I think I fixed the redirect issue.  Let me know.

Smart phone and tablet users: I don't own a smart phone or tablet, so please to let me know if any of my pages are behaving badly on your devices.  Thanks!

[VideoGameCritic]

The Wii console review now has one of those "Games that defined the Wii" videos for your viewing enjoyment.

[Burk1]

Links work great on my tablet now,thank you. Great reviews, and my biggest disagreement is I thought the original white Xbox 360 was ugly. Electronics should never be white. Just saying...

[JWK1]

Critic, I love you man, but grading the XBox 360 library as an A- and the PS3 library as a C sounds like a joke comment I'd expect to hear in the fanboy section of IGN or Gametrailers.  It's the same basic library!  Sure, some of the games released early in the generation were *better* on the 360, but you're making it sound as if games that you gave A ratings to this generation like Batman Arkham City and Mortal Kombat (which performed the same on both systems but had more content and characters on the PS3) didn't exist on the PS3 platform.  Since about 2009, developers have made the same basic version of the game for both systems (with a very occasional exception like Skyrim-- no forum, Skyrim is the exception, not the rule).  Shoot, according to Lens of Truth and Eurogamer in 2012 alone the PS3 got the better version of Hitman Absolution, Darksiders 2, Resident Evil 6, and had controls on Need for Speed: Most Wanted.  I do think loading times with the blu ray disc can get ridiculous, but some games offer or require installing the game to the hard drive, which makes a game like the excellent Deus Ex Human Revolution perform better on the PS3.  But those are minor quibbles-- these games exist on both the 360 and PS3!  And when one platform gets the "better" version, it's still the exact same experience.  No one buys two copies of the game and plays them at the same time on two TVs with a 360 controller in one hand and a PS3 controller in the other.

Your reviews have been heavily biased toward the 360.  For every one PS3 game review, you review at least 6 360 games.  That's fine.  That's your business; you purchase the game for the platform you want.  But you can't review the systems and then pretend like those games don't exist on the PS3.  The vast majority of gamers (at least that I know) and certainly the majority of critics find the PS3 exclusives better and more diverse than 360 exclusives.  Many of the best PS3 exclusives (the entire InFamous series, Journey, Flower, Resistance 3, Ratchet and Clank: A Crack in Time, Valkyria Chronicles, Demon Souls, Killzone 2, among many others) are not found on your site for some reason.  That list of games alone is far more diverse than what makes up the majority of 360 exclusives (Halo/Gears/Forza).  The only real diversity in its exclusive library is 2d shmups (most of which need to be imported from Japan-- many are region-free, thank goodness).

As a few have suggested, the PS3 games are more collectible because the discs don't scratch, even when used, and they don't come in flimsy, green cases.  The rest of your review, I completely agree with.  Updates completely suck (due to the stupid cell structure of the hard drive) and the controller feels cheap compared to the excellent 360 controller.  But a library is what makes a system.  I understand you don't really like the PS3, but the simple fact that the 360 and PS3 share at least 90% of their games should count for something; I mean, come on!  Add in a deep and generally excellent exclusive library of games and the PS3 should objectively match the 360's grade of an A-... at the very least.  Some objectivity would go a long way with this one.  Your problems with the system are valid.  Your score with the system's library-- especially in light of the score you gave the 360-- is not.  Even the Wii got a higher library score; that's ridiculous.

[Jon1]

I think the VGC made an excellent point when he said that the verdict isn't out on the ps3. They could put out great games in the near future and maybe the grade will go up. Still, the 360 would have better games in my opinion.