All Console reviews...

[goodboys]

Sony PlayStation 3 (40GB) Review

Sony has finally responded to criticism that its next-generation console is too expensive, slashing the price of the original 60GB model to £350, and introducing this new 40GB unit, priced at £300.

Apart from the smaller hard drive, the differences are minimal -- see our extensive full review of the 60GB model for more details. Your £50 saving will only lose you two of the four USB ports, the multi-format card reader, an Ethernet cable and the ability to play SACDs. If that was the end of the list, we'd say there was no contest -- get this cheaper unit.

There is one more omission, though, and that's that it won't play your PlayStation 2 games. This was previously handled by a combination of chips and software, but Sony has decided to save money on the chips and let the PS3's games stand on their own. This may not be wise: since release, only the online multiplayer shooter Warhawk has stood out as an impressive title, whereas Microsoft's Xbox 360 has had several high-profile hits in that time.

Of course, this lack of backwards compatibility doesn't matter if you haven't got many PS2 games, in which case, this remains a brilliant multimedia home entertainment system. The 40GB hard drive should be large enough for most users and it's by the far the cheapest Blu-ray player on the market.


Microsoft Xbox 360 Elite Review

Perhaps spooked by the success of Sony's PlayStation 3, despite its delays and hefty price tag, Microsoft has come up with an upgrade to its Xbox 360, less than 18 months after its initial launch. The Xbox 360 Elite is black instead of white, includes a 120GB hard drive (six times as capacious as the previous 360's, and twice as big as the PS3's), and sports an HDMI output for easier and better quality connection to HD Ready TVs.

You can buy the Elite in the US for $480, and it will be released in the UK on 24 August with an 'estimated' retail price £300. You can find our review of the original Xbox 360 here.

The hardware
Except for its black finish and HDMI port, the Xbox 360 Elite is cosmetically identical to the Xbox 360 Premium. The 360 is neither as slick as the glossy PS3 nor as cute as the diminutive Nintendo Wii, but the Elite's matte-black finish is certainly a big step up from the 'iPod white' colour scheme of the earlier Xbox 360s. While the Elite blends in with the other black components in your AV rack, however, it may not match all your accessories -- you may need to mix and match some white 360 accessories, as not all accoutrements will immediately be available in black.



Nintendo Wii Review

Nintendo has ventured off the beaten path with its newest system, and the company knows it. While the Sony PlayStation 3 and the Microsoft Xbox 360 both emphasise their impressive graphical capabilities, Nintendo downplays the importance of graphics on its new console. While the Sony and Microsoft consoles keep the branding of their respective predecessors, the oddly named Wii is a semantic departure from Nintendo's more literally named 2001 console, the GameCube. And while the PS3 and the Xbox 360 both use conventional gamepads bristling with buttons, control sticks and directional pads, the Wii uses a device that looks more like a TV remote than a gamepad to control its games.

These strange choices could have spelled failure for Nintendo's newest endeavour. Underplaying processing power, using a strange new controller setup, and giving the whole package an odd name could have been major mistakes for Nintendo. (Consider some of the company's earlier attempts to go against the grain: the Power Glove and the Virtual Boy.) But if our early experience with the Wii is any indication, this particular Nintendo gamble seems likely to pay off. It's strange, it's new and it's not as powerful as its competitors, but the Nintendo Wii succeeds in its primary mission: there's no nonsense, just fun.

Opening the box
The Wii box includes everything you need to hook the system up to a standard television: the Wii console, a wireless controller with nunchuk adaptor, the sensor bar, a cradle (for mounting the console vertically), the Wii's modestly sized power adaptor, and a set of composite AV cables. Unfortunately, composite cables don't support the Wii's top progressive-scan resolution of 576p, so HD Ready TV owners will want to also purchase a set of Wii component cables (sold separately).

The Wii console itself is downright tiny -- easily the smallest and lightest of the new generation of game machines. At 44mm high by 159mm wide by 216mm deep (when oriented horizontally), it is -- as Nintendo promised -- about the size of three DVD cases. The initial model is available only in iPod-white, but it's a safe bet that we'll see plenty of other colours become available in years to come. As with the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360, you can lay the Wii horizontally or stand it vertically (either by itself or, for added stability, in the included plastic cradle). Like the PS3, the Wii uses a slot-loading mechanism. It accepts the Wii discs (full-size 12cm) and older GameCube discs (mini 8cm), without the need for an adaptor.

The Wii includes 512MB of internal memory for storing saved games, downloaded Virtual Console titles and other data. If that half-gigabyte of onboard storage isn't enough for you, the system has a standard Secure Digital card slot for additional storage. SD cards are cheap and plentiful, and the Wii's support of them is a refreshing change of pace from the proprietary memory cards used by older game consoles.

While it doesn't come with a memory card or component-video cables, the Wii does include one pleasant surprise in the box. The system comes with Wii Sports, a simple but infectious sports compilation that lets users get a feel for the Wii's capabilities without investing in additional games. Wii Sports uses the system's wireless controller as erstwhile sporting equipment, letting users swing and mock-throw it to play baseball, tennis, golf, bowling and boxing.

The different games can support up to four players at a time, but most modes require more than the system's single controller for multiplayer options. Players can swap the remote back and forth for golf and bowling, but players who would like to box or play each other in a tennis match or a baseball game will need to purchase at least one more controller. Wii Sports feels more like a collection of five minigames than a fully fleshed-out title, but it lets users have fun straight out of the box and showcases the system's potential.

Setup
The Wii's simple design makes it very easy to hook up. The back panel of the console has only five ports: one for the power adaptor, one for the proprietary AV cable, one for the sensor bar, and two USB ports for future accessories. Just plug in the sensor bar and put it either on top of or under your television, plug the video cable into your TV, and plug the power cable into the wall, and you're ready to go.

Once everything is hooked together, just turn on the Wii to go through the software setup. Settings such as time and username can be easily selected with the remote control's pointer. The only remotely technical setting most users will have to deal with is the network connection, and the menu system practically walks users through the setup. The Wii's Wi-Fi connection can work with secure WEP and WPA encrypted Wi-Fi networks, so you don't have to make your network vulnerable just to play online. We had no problem connecting to our open wireless router, though we couldn't test the network connection beyond that. If you don't have Wi-Fi at all, Nintendo is said to be offering an Ethernet adaptor that interfaces with one of the USB ports. While Nintendo's servers were not ready at the time of this review, we will update our evaluation of this feature as soon as we can go online.

Once the Wii's network settings are set up, the system is designed to be constantly online through Nintendo's WiiConnect24 service. The Wii can use WiiConnect24 to automatically download system updates, additional game content, and even weather and news.