Having played all 3 systems over the years, I think it's safe to say that each system has it's pluses and minuses, but in my opinion the worst system by far is the Wii.

What's wrong with the Wii (other than the name)? Exactly what "great" exclusive games does it have? It does have Super Mario Galaxy, which was very enjoyable (atlhough I have to say I enjoyed Super Mario Sunshine more). It does have Super Mario Galaxy 2, which is more of the same... and then? Twilight Princess was a great game, but orignally a GameCube game and in fact you can get it for the GameCube, so that is not an exclusive. Fire Emblem Dawn was OK, it was far far less enjoyable than the wonderful Fire Emblem for GameCube. Then there's Zelda Sword which I have not played so I'm not going to comment, but I know some people can't stand it, and I believe among players it had very mixed reviews. I've read reviews that for family "party" games and casual gamers the Wii is very good. OK, I'll take their word, but for those that are looking for more "serious" games, I rank the Wii in last place (by far).

My favorite system is the Xbox. Funny, it was the first of the "next gen" systems, and in my opinion is also the best (well, once the system went "slim")! The games are fantastic! It does have a lot of FPSs which I could care less about for the most part, but it also has a lot of varied and wonderful games from RPGs which are my fav (and distinctly lacking on the Wii) to platforming etc. Also, the 360 is backwards compatible with basically every Xbox game, and you don't need to download anything and intall it on your Xbox (at least not for newer 360s). Awesome job here!

The PS3 is also a great system, and really great when you consider it doubles as a blu-ray player. Still, I feel it falls a bit short of the 360. The PS3 does have some great exclusive titles, but most games that you can get on the PS3 you can get on the 360 and for $10-20 cheaper. Also, for some reason it appears that many games are more glitchy on the PS3. It's too bad the PS3 is not backwards compatible, especially since Sony initially said you would be able to play ALL PSX, and PS2 games on your PS3 (lies, all lies)! At this point I should probably mention that the Wii is backwards compatible with all GameCube games, so that is a plus. However, I still feel the Wii really falls short in quality third-party games. Yes, Nintendo makes great games, but I don't think they are necessarily better than other developers. In fact, it seems like the big N has been concentrating far more on their handeld than the console for years now.

Anyway, I should stop rambling, but if someone asked me which system to purchase I would definitely say the Xbox. Next the PS3, and I would urge people NOT to purchase a Wii. What are other people's thoughts/experiences?

Wii really has a lot of worthwhile games if you're willing to invest the time to look for ones worth playing. Bargain bins are a great place to look. Cursed Mountain, Ju-On, and Calling are all fantastic titles that totally have that useless "shovelware" look to them. Keep your eyes open and be willing to import/mod your system to maximize potential!

Access to downloadable games for old classic systems is nice, too.

Honestly, my only gripe is the lack of an achievement system. I'm having too much fun collecting achievements on 360.

EDIT: 360 wins by default for now because Dark Souls all day erry day.

Just about every game I want on PS3 is out for Xbox. And Xbox didn't totally botch their launch with an outrageous price tag. When it came time to build up my Rock Band library, I bought Xbox when it was cheaper. Now I use that same Xbox for fighting games, all of which appear on both consoles. So Xbox wins.

No sense buying a PS3, since all the games I want for it are already on Xbox. PS3 would be #2.

Nintendo gets SOME credit for things like the virtual console, reviving Punch Out and showing they remember 2D gaming exists in this generation. But I'm not the target audience for their brand of controller wiggling* and family-friendly shovelware, so Wii would rank 3rd. I'm actually glad that the industry has caught up to them, so hopefully, they won't be able to get away with another generation like this.

*Microsoft and Sony are equally guilty of adopting/ripping off the practice of motion controls in one form or another, so the lameness of Move and Kinect cancel each other out and are pretty much moot.

had a wii since 2007,, doesn't get much use,, but i wouldnt mind getting it softmodded so it will run all my nes/snes roms...

Is there something different between the PS3 version and the 360 version? Plus, Demon's Souls is on PS3, which is also a good game to play.

I used to be all about Xbox until the PS3 finally got some decent exclusives.
Then my Xbox RRoD'd THREE TIMES and I switched to PS3 because it's just infinitely more reliable hardware (and still faulty at that). PS3 is pretty much all I play nowadays and I don't think I've turned on my 360 for over a year now.

As for the Wii, I guess the library of good games is very small, but there are several games in there that I would not have missed for the world (pretty much all of it first party stuff), so I'm happy with it. And Xenoblade is one of the best games I've ever played in my entire life, so there's that too.

I've had all three consoles for most of the generation, though the PS3 was last.  I'd rank them as:

1. Wii - like the Gamecube before it, I found this to be the console where the quirkiest stuff that fit my own tastes landed.  The hesitance of Japanese developers to adopt HD left a lot of the smaller, more creative games on this system and I love it for them.  Just a casual glance over my collection and the number of not-always-AAA-but-all-worth-playing games is substantial.  A Boy and His Blob was charming, fun, and beautifully animated.  Fragile Dreams was a little janky but had some of the most moving moments in any game I can remember.  The Klonoa remake was stunning.  Lost in Shadow was a beautiful swansong for Hudson.  Muramasa isn't perfect, but it sure as heck is also fun and gorgeous.  The Wii Prince of Persia game was GREAT if you like those (and an entirely different game by a different studio than the 360/PS3 one).  Rhythm Heaven Fever is some of the most fun I've had with a rhythm game since Ouendan.  Silent Hill: Shattered Memories I find absolutely brilliant as an experience even if it feels different from the rest of the series.  The Trauma Center games make GREAT use of the remote.  Zack and Wiki is a wonderful throwback to old point-and-click adventures. 

Of course there's a lot of other stuff that's not exclusive but still fun.  The Wii has the best version of Resident Evil 4, and it also gave me the ability to play Sam & Max on a console for the first time.  I had my first encounter with Broken Sword there as well.  Obviously there's the big Nintendo stuff too, and I feel that Nintendo as a first party has been better than they've been in a while this generation.  Mario Galaxy 1 and 2 are my favorite 3D platformers ever.  NSMBWii is a MUCH better game than the DS original and amazing fun with friends.  Metroid Prime 3 closes out that trilogy in brilliant style.  Smash Bros. Brawl wasn't as good as Melee but is still solid, and I've put more time into Mario Kart Wii than any other game in that series.  I skipped over a LOT of games and focused on the highlights, but even dependent on one's tastes, I have NO idea how there are gamers who just think the Wii is worthless (granted there are those who say that every console is crap, even ones I also love like the PC Engine, Saturn, and Dreamcast).

Because it's so amazing it deserves its own section: as far as I'm concerned, Xenoblade is the best RPG of the generation, and one of my favorites of all time.  It hit ALL the right points for me in terms of what I'm looking for in an RPG and now there's finally one that outdoes Skies of Arcadia in the adventuring/exploration department.  And the thing is - the game NEVER WOULD HAVE HAPPENED if it weren't for the Wii's underpowered-ness.  Would a game so massive and ambitious ever have been greenlit by another publisher for an HD console considering how much that would've cost?  Probably not.  So screw resolution - the game outdid anything on the HD twins with crappy 480p graphics but a heck of a lot more soul.

2. Xbox360 - NEVER saw this one coming after last gen.  The original Xbox never enticed me enough to pick one up, even with the Rare purchase and some good Sega exclusives.  The deal with Mistwalker at the beginning of the generation and the promise of Rare's work got me on board early (too bad Rare's output was... iffy at best).

Highlights of the 360 for me: Kameo is a super fun adventure game and Rare's best post-Nintendo work, in my opinion.  Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey provided the experience that I would've wanted from FFXIII and did not get.  Gears of War is a lovely guilty pleasure for me - everything those games ooze reminds me of what I hate about "gamers" and yet they're fun.  Infinite Undiscovery was fun for me even though it's considered bad by everyone else.  Tales of Vesperia was a lot better than I expected.

Mostly the 360 was the place where I picked up multiplatform games since I always looked into what was objectively better on it vs. the PS3 and for most of the generation developers were BAD at PS3 games, apparently.  Stuff like Bayonetta, Bioshock, Child of Eden, GTA4, Nier (my OTHER favorite RPG this gen), Mirror's Edge, and Red Dead Redemption found their way into my collection for this console.  Portal 1 and 2 didn't hurt, either (love love love). 

My only disappointment with the 360 is that it came out of the gate strong with Japanese developed games and for the past several years there has been nothing of consequence that I've cared about from Japan on the thing.  Oh well.

3. PS3 - It's turned itself around substantially from the beginning of its kind of sad life, but it's still my least favorite of the 3.  MGS4 was merely okay, Uncharted was a disappointment for me (the sequel was much better but I still consider it the summer-blockbuster-popcorn-fluff, all-style-little-substance of video games).  Likewise LittleBigPlanet really didn't do much for me.  My favorite exclusive is probably 3D Dot Game Heroes, which is a lot of fun.  Katamari Forever was much better than the 360 game, but still didn't capture the greatness of the originals.  As far as non-exclusives, El Shaddai was cool and quite creative.  FFXIII was better on PS3 than 360 but, well, you know how that polishing-a-turd adage goes.  Also picked up this version of Rayman Origins because the dualshock is WAY better for 2D games (though I much prefer the 360 pad for analog games).

Looking at just my disc library, the PS3 seems like more of a dud than it should, so thankfully other aspects of the console somewhat made up for it.  One place it did excel for me was downloadable games.  Flower and Journey are two of my favorite experiences of the generation, and the console became my go-to for Telltale stuff.  I also have a 60 gig model so it's nice running PS2 games on my plasma via hdmi.  Looks much better than through the PS2.  It's also been my Blu-Ray player of choice, which has been lovely.

So yeah, that's where I stand.  But as I always say, I'm well aware that my gaming preferences are not those of the general population, so disagreement would not shock me in the slightest.

Maybe not, but they're surprisingly close to mine, which makes them awesome

Xbox 360 wins by default by...exclusives.  Bullet Soul, Mushihimesama Futari, Mushihimesama HD, Espgaluda II Black Label, Akai Katana Shin, & Deathsmiles...=D

Blame their marketing. Can't tell you how many times I just shook my head walking into a Gamestop and seeing junk like the Wii Balance Board being pitched as the new big thing in gaming. Everytime I picked up a Wiimote and a nunchuk, it just felt...wrong.

Actually, I'll be honest...I was disappointed with two huge non-family oriented games on it: Brawl and New Super Mario Brothers Wii. My friends all played Melee and ended up switching to Brawl around the time I met a lot of them. Competitive Brawl matches just turned into the largest snorefest I've ever been a part of. The game was a hoot with 4 players, items on and all that stuff when the time came, but the 1 on 1 fights with no items (tournament standard) killed it for me. And for NSMB Wii, I have not liked the controls at all. The running feels unresponsive (same issue with the DS NSMB...SMB3 or SMW controls are MUCH preferred) and...yeah, the shaking part. Not game breaking, but enough that I lost interest in it by the 3rd level (we were actually doing it 4p too). 

The best Wii experiences I've had were the new Punch Out and the new Donkey Kong Country. At some point, I might pick one up cheap and mod it, then do some bottom picking for sleepers. Would probably pick up Xenoblade too...The game does look nice.

Not in the slightest. But it's what I'm playing Dark Souls on right now. It was more of a tongue in cheek comment than any serious statement.

I have all three systems but I was happiest with the PS3, overall. I have it on almost all the time (for gaming, the media server and watching movies, Netflix, etc). I'll turn on the 360 if there's an exclusive I want to play but that's rare. I also had 3 RROD incidents whereas the other two consoles have been thriving since I bought them.

The Wii is worth it just for the exclusives. The Mario Galaxys, Metroid Prime Trilogy (granted, 1/3rd of an exclusive), Donkey Kong Country Returns, Xenoblade. Some would say Skyward Sword (I wouldn't).

360 is the best.

Ninja Gaiden 2 (the pure & untarnished Itagaki version). Cave's STGs ports. G Rev's Senko No Ronde ports. Bayonetta (the unbotched version). Dead Rising. Vanquish (this is not an exclusive).

Wii is the worst (and worst Nintendo console).

I bought it and got No More Heroes. It's a very stylish game and I had fun with it. However, the flaws are overwhelming on critical analysis once you get past the aesthetics. I bought the console for Brawl. When I got Brawl I enjoyed playing it and unlocking all the characters through vs mode against lvl 9 cpus (lol at those who played story mode). However, when playing it outside of this "honeymoon" period I have realized how far back HAL has taken the series. I can't play the game now against friends without getting bored and depressed. Then I got Mad World which carried on the flaws on NMH (shallow combat system). When my friend asked me to turn off the music and show off the game I realized how shallow it was with this inquiry "do the enemies attack you?". Then I got Wii Play. Most of the stuff is garbage, but Wii Tanks is a great game. It should have been fully developed into a standalone game. Then I bought Metroid: Other M which again is not a solid game. I really wish Itagaki was on Team Ninja when it was being developed to understand the concept they built (no exploration or talking Samus or crappy designed enemies; all fight or flight).

I have borrowed Super Mario Galaxy and New Super Mario Bros Wii from a friend. SMG is an awful game which has dumbed down the Mario series considerably and done irreparable damage. NSMBW only interest to me is the multi-player. Even then I don't think the game was designed for 3-4 people. [There is one castle level which lets you scale up a vertical space by platforms that move in and out of the walls. If you botch the fall you fall back down to the bottom. However, if you fall when both you and your friend ascend the climb you die!! Makes no sense and that level is extremely easy 1-player but nightmarishly difficult to clear without dying with 2-4 people since there is no platform space for 2 people to progress at the same time (unless maybe you carry 2p -- you can't carry 3p and 4p)]. Not only was it not really designed for multi-player, but I don't think anyone has friends that are on the same skill level for the later levels. So they will either kill you or really slow you down. Ugh.

Haven't bothered with Zelda: Skyward Sword on Wii. (Twilight Princess is a GC game, sorry folks.) I don't like motion controls for sword slashes and I think the Zelda series has become irrelevant after Majora's Mask. Haven't played Metroid Prime 3, but I'm not too thrilled to.

I've said most of what I could say on Wii and the console gen in regards to Nintendo here: Riselem. I'll get around to playing the non AAA games one week when I just rent everything. I can't trust anyone anymore when everyone ass kisses games I rank low as if they are 4 or 5 out of 5 star titles. Nor am I thrilled about confirming my disinterest was right when playing these titles.

PS3 is irrelevant.

If you made the decision to buy 360 there are only crumbs left.

While SMG was not my favorite Mario game, I thought it was very well done and very enjoyable. My complaints about it would be that it's still the same cliche story (princess kidnapped) and despite the different gravity scenarios, it still reminded me of Super Mario Sunshine. That said it still had great music, good gameplay, good boss fights, all of which makes it an excellent Mario game. I think that SMG 2 loses much, since it's really just SMG 1 + Yoshi. Still, both are far better platform experience than SMB on the DS. Also, I thought NEW SMB, that 4 player 2-D on the Wii was lame.

RPGs are definitely my favorite games. Which in some ways is not good since they're such a time sink! Anyway, I've heard good things about Xenoblade, but I'm not a huge fan of JRPGs. On the other hand, people rave about the "open world" of Xenoblade, which makes me wonder if said people have ever played a Western RPG in their lives? Still, to each their own, and I'm not saying Xenoblade is not a great game, I just haven't gotten into it, and I'm not sure I ever will play it, but who nows maybe I'll be moved to purchase it some time.
Speaking of Western RPGs, if you have an Xbox, you should definitely get Divinity 2 the Dragon Knight Saga which in my opinion is one of the best RPGs of this generation, and a little known gem (and not availabe for any other console). I honestly can not recommend the Dragon Knight Saga enough to people. If you enjoy RPGs, you should play the Dragon Knight Saga, really, you should. If you have a PC you can also download/purchase it for the PC, but I've heard that the Xbox version is actually better. Also, another Xbox console exclusive is Witcher 2, which I have not played, but from what I've seen and read about it, this is a phenomenal RPG (by the way, the first Witcher was PC exclusive and a fabulous RPG). Of course, the Xbox also has the Western-like Japanese RPG Dark Souls which is fab. As I said earlier, each console has some exclusive titles which are great, but for me it's definitely 360>PS3>Wii

Yes, most of them have.
The thing about Xenoblade's open world is that it's just brilliantly designed and it contains very little "fluff" so to speak.

One more important aspect is that it's not actually 1 huge open world, but rather several large open areas connected to each other in a linear fashion. What this means in effect is that each area has its own unique visual style and personality, rather than just trekking along one giant Capital Wasteland without much visual variety.
What also helps is that the people who made it actually know how to build really interesting and original environments.

Don't get me wrong, I love the Elder Scrolls series too, and Skyrim was amazing, but Xenoblade just has the kind of world that only a Japanese dev team could come up with, I think.

I have 6 games left the Wii(alphabetically):

1) Disney Epic Mickey (3d platformer)
2) Donkey Kong Country Returns (sidescrolling platformer)
3) Final Fantasy Crystal Bearers (3d action RPG)
4) Kirby's Epic Yarn (sidescrolling platformer)
5) Muramasa, the Demon Blade (sidescrolling platformer)
6) Okami (3d action RPG)

can you tell what me favorite genres are? havent been too exicted about the Wii. it's in the end of its life cycle too, so these the last games Im ever getting for it. prolly wont keep Crystal Bearers, as it's kind of broken game. if I ranked them accoding to how favorite of mine they are, it'd be: Okami, Muramasa, Mickey, Donkey Kong, Kirby, Crystal Bearers. that said, I kind of like having small, intimate game collections.

usd to have Fragile DReams ~ Ruins of the Moon, but I eated it/ finished it. started out rly well. but dint like the plot twist at the end , even if it made sense (e.g., the reason why the world's abandoned). those featureless cement tunnels that comprised the last dungeon or two of the game dindt make me leave the game on a high note, either. endign was decent. yes, there were a couple of tearjerker moments. combat system felt a bit stinted, but ultimately, the game felt easy, money was easy to get, hence weapons and heals easy to get, diminished the challenge of what was supposed to be survival horror game. usd to Resident Evil making me choose my purchases strategically and wisely.

avoided Metroid: OTher M anmd Skyward Sword, ever since I heard there were gamebreaking bugs that prevented you from finishhing the game, saw the patch for Skyward Sword available for download. still not interested.

Super Mario Galaxy was good, but I rented it and finished within that time. dint see the need to own it permanently.

You really should give The Dragon Knight Saga a try. Trust me, the "brilliantly designed" and "very little fluff" and "unique visual style" and "1 huge open world" all bring to mind many Western RPGs I've played, including the recent Dragon Knight Saga. I actually have NOT played Skyrim, although I think we're all aware of the numerous GOTY awards it has received. However, in contrast to Skyrim, one of the things I loved about The Dragon Knight Saga was the well told story. I believe in Skyrim you really develop and tell your own story which can be wonderful, but just as wonderful in the DKS there is a "deep" story that gets flushed out in various cutscenes which never overwhelm the game.  Also, the DKS is produced by a small Belgium company which I feel makes games because they love it, rather than because they think they're going to get rich this way. Lastly, I've said this before, but the music to the DKS is fantastic! I'm hoping you give DKS a try, I'd really like to hear what you think about it.

I have to be honest and admit that I had never even heard of Dragon Knight Saga until you mentioned it just now.
It looks interesting, but judging by the screenshots it looks a lot like Kingdoms of Amalur (and Fable etc.) which left me cold. It doesn't look unique at all to be honest.

On the other hand, Skyrim doesn't look unique in the slightest either (all Western devs are capable of is Tolkien-esque fantasy it seems) and it's still a fantastic game, so I won't judge the book by its cover.

When I first saw the screenshots for DKS I thought the exact same thing you did. Still, I gave it a try and found it to be one of the best RPGs I have ever played. Also, when I first heard and saw screenshots of Xenoblade, I immediately put it into my "typical JRPG" pigeonhole with no intention of ever looking at it again. Clearly, never judge a game by screenshots alone! Also, DKS is produced by a small developer (Larian Studios) while Xenoblade was published by Nintendo, and being one of the very few RPGs on the Wii it got a lot of press. Unfortunately the DKS got overlooked by many, but if you read reviews from those that played it, you'll find a true gem. Hope you get to enjoy it!

Yeah, that's not really true.

Anyway, I think the games I've had the most fun with this generation have been on the Wii, but I'd say the PS3 is probably the best overall system. I had tons of fun with Super Mario Galaxy 1 & 2, No More Heroes 1 & 2 (less so with 2), Metroid Prime 3 and Other M, and the two Zelda games.

I give the overall nod to PS3 because it's such a dynamic system that can do pretty much anything, it has a better selection of exclusives (IMO) than the 360, it doesn't charge you a fee to use streaming video services, the controller is much better, and you aren't assaulted by ads every time you turn it on.

As for the 360, I like that every downloadable game is required to have a demo (hooray demos!), you don't have to install a game after downloading it, and that Xbox Live downloads are MUCH faster than PSN downloads. I also like that there is an Indie Game Marketplace on the 360, even if most of those games are crap (there are some gems, though!).

Didn't know about any of these. I think even Nintendo hates Wii. The Gamecube version of Twilight Princess didn't have the Wii version's gamesave glitch and now this Wii Zelda exclusive has this gamebreaker again.

I also have not gotten to this boss in Other M, so it's nice to know beforehand how to avoid this glitch. However, I will now never know if I would have run into it on my own and been able to bitch about it. I really don't understand how they could have coded a door in Metroid to be locked after backtrack saving. How sad. Watching the video I am disappointed to see another ugly designed boss in this game, a Metroid game. Tecmo should be embarrassed. (But it's not like Nintendo really cares anymore for creature design for their games -- look at the newer Pokemon).

And I don't play with multiple save files fyi!

my policy of keeping a log of save files started because of glitches just like these, back when I was still playing PSX & PS2 games. also: point-of-no-returns, if I missed a collectible, dint want to have to restart the whole game just to get it.

P.S. isnt the PS3 actually a more powerful console than the 360?

Yes, but from what I understand it was the complexity of the innards that kept developers from really making the most of that power that led to games the first half of this generation generally performing better on the 360.  I haven't seen a big difference in anything in the last couple years (Bayonetta was the last I can think of... when was that?).

my main consoles this generation were PS3, DS and PSP.

the portables were mainly used for RPG/SRPG and 2D games like ace attorney. the rest was PS3 for fighting games, yakuza etc.

i couldn't buy into the 360 RROD scam and yearly online fees, which made it the most expensive mainstream video game console in history.

Wii had some fantastic games, i still have to catch up with that console.

the 360 ver. is hacked. if you don't want to play versus invincible players online, play on PS3.

Multiplatform releases have been pretty smooth lately with the notable exception of last year's Skyrim.

Yeah, this. The Wii has so many lesser known good games off the beaten path, it's ridiculous. I own all the home consoles, but my Wii still gets the most playtime by far and I've still got the biggest backlog for it despite constantly active playtime since getting it at launch. I really like the Wii's renaissance of 2D/retro style games like Muramasa, Cave Story and Contra Rebirth (and La-Mulana just came out) and the Virtual Console doesn't hurt there, either. And looking at my playtimes on the Nintendo Channel for something like My Life as a Darklord is just surprisingly huge. (I've succumbed to some of the DLC for that, natch.)

As for second best, the PS3 has some rare gems like Valkyria Chronicles and 3D Dot Game Heroes, really worth playing, but other than those, it's mostly functioned as a movie player for me.

The 360 is a neat piece of hardware, but it's sadly lacking in the types of games that I like to play.

lol, as of now IGN has taken down its Wii section. Seems like a silent declaration of its death. And no, I don't frequent IGN.

Can I just say, the Saturn is an awesome gaming system, because it had awesome games. It makes me sad to think how we may never again see such wonderful games as Shining Force III (by the way, we only saw the first scenario here, THANKS a bunch Sega...)

I wonder if there's any chance SF III, Panzer Dragoon, and the like will ever make it to the virtual console or be released as a compilation?

this entire post just made my day. Thanks for sharing the saturn love, Avatar.

Totally! The Saturn was an amazing system! If you look inside, the chips spell out "awesome", because it's awesome. Of course back then Sega was an amazing game developer... what went wrong? Someone took the road less travelled. All that's left now is to read some Frost. I like Frost, he was also awesome, but in a melancholy way. Which kinda reminds me of Panzer Dragoon Saga

I would slap my mother for a copy of Panzer Dragoon Saga.

They've just combined it into the new Wii U section.

still have mine in pristine condition. don't slap your mother please.

Haha, I remember shortly after Saturn had died and Electronics Boutique was clearing out Saturn stock, I saw Panzer Dragoon Saga and was like, "$59.99!? That's insane! Not gonna pay that." I still think like that though. lol