Advice from all you gamers

iwb100

If you want to play online get a 360.

If you want cheap, nasty and poorly developed games for children get a Wii.

If you want Blu Ray and a "media centre" get a PS3.

Pretty much the basic outline as a rule of thumb. I own all three and have a kinect for the Xbox. I'd say that Wii is only worth it if you have very young kids. If they are under 3ft then Kinect will not work for them.

Kinect can be added on later as well so you could always wait and see how it develops as a tech and what games come out for it (the limiting factor currently is number of games, its amazing tech other than that). Be aware that you need to ideally place the kinect device on top of your TV (or even mounted on the wall behind/above it) and you will need to be able to stand around 8-10ft away from the kinect device with a good amount of space all around you for maximum play. Thats the amount needed for 2 player games. On your own you can get away with 6-8ft of distance. Worth measuring as MANY people can't rearrange their living rooms to fit. Remember that you can play along the diagonal if space is an issue. It is not very compatible with coffee tables however!

Xbox is the best value console out there IMO. Loads of cheap games to be had on ebay and the basic cost of the console is pretty good.

And the faults have mostly been fixed in the newer models.

bluenoseam

Right, here's where a hundred people will come & attempt to whine at me for this opinion - Wii is NOT a games console for a gamer, it is a toy, the games are poor ports and mostly designed for social gaming on a localised scale. The console itself has your CoD/FIFA/Pro Evo but compared to their cousins on Xbox/PS3 they're nowhere near the same class of game. Beware also the fact the Wii is the most expensive controller set-up of all the major consoles - the remote (admittedly for the official one, like the PS3 the third party ones are generally unlicensed & very unwelcome in Nintendo's world!) is £33, another £20 for the nunchuck & a further £20 for the motion plus making a complete controller set up a minimum of £53 & £73 for certain games.

Xbox is getting more reliable, as you already have accessories & games (i assume) it will turn out to be the most economic console for you as you won't need to buy anything other than the base console to get you started - you also know the lie of the land with the console which is by far & away the best option for online gaming even if it does cost.

PS3 is a solid console, graphically stunning & has a lineup of games which is enviable (although not as many exclusives as Xbox) and probably the most recognisable name in modern gaming. Also has the added benefit of blu-ray which is fast coming down in price, controllers more expensive than Xbox (on average £35-40) but as they are USB chargeable do pay for themselves longterm.