Mass media favour Wii over PS3

It seems that more and more mass media are favouring the Wii over the PS3, the Washington Post being the most recent example. I have compiled some of the more snappy quotes below.

This comes after Gamasutra found that the majority of developers were personally more excited about the new Nintendo console.

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In the Wii-PS3 Playoff, Nintendo Upsets Sony on the Fun Factor

Most of my friends who picked up the PS3's controller ended up frustrated. The typical game for the system requires players to have memorized where all the buttons are, and it's much harder to just pick up a controller and have a good time. Some of the verdicts they offered are unprintable. (...)

While the people in my group preferred looking at the PS3's games, they preferred playing the Wii. (...) I have never seen a bunch of non-gamers get into this stuff like this, and I have never heard anybody laugh so much while playing any video game. A few of them now say they plan to buy the system for themselves. (...)

Nintendo got one feature right with the system on Day One: It's just darn fun.

Washington Post

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Sony's Playstation 3 is Not Worth the Hype

People who have been camping out for days finally get their PS3s today. Sadly, both their time and money has been wasted. (...) I wouldn't recommend buying one, not even for the regular price, which is plenty expensive without the import markup. (...)

Sony's launch line-up just isn't that interesting. Almost all the PS3's outstanding games — F.E.A.R., Madden NFL '07, Need for Speed: Carbon, Call of Duty 3 — are available on the Xbox 360, and most (all except F.E.A.R.) are out for the Wii, too. There just isn't the leverage there to make buying a PS3 de rigeur. (...)

Give it time. The price will (probably) come down. Sony's online strategy will (probably) mature. More decent games will come out — the Playstation3 is notoriously difficult to develop for, and game-makers are still figuring out how to get the most out of it. Next holiday season, it just might be worth it. For now it's pretty much moot anyway.

TIME magazine

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A Weekend Full of Quality Time With PlayStation 3

Howard Stringer, you have a problem. Your company’s new video game system just isn’t that great. (...) Sony blithely insisted that the PS3 would leapfrog all competition to deliver an unsurpassed level of fun.

Put bluntly, Sony has failed to deliver on that promise.

Measured in megaflops, gigabytes and other technical benchmarks, the PlayStation 3 is certainly the world’s most powerful game console. It falls far short, however, of providing the world’s most engaging overall entertainment experience. (...)

“What’s weird is that the PS3 was originally supposed to come out in the spring, and here it came out in the fall, and it still doesn’t feel finished,” Christopher Grant, managing editor of Joystiq, one of the world’s biggest video-game blogs, said on the telephone Saturday night. “It’s really not the all-star showing they should have had at launch. Sony is playing catch-up in a lot of ways now, not just in terms of sales but in terms of the basic functionality and usability of the system.” (...)

If you can’t find one, don’t fret. Sony still has a lot of work to do. As Mr. Grant of Joystiq put it: “Maybe in six months it’ll be finished. Maybe by next fall I’ll be able to do all the cool stuff. I’m still kind of waiting.”

New York Times

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PlayStation 3 can't hide its flaws

Cut through the hype, and the desire for the newest, flashiest gadget and the product is not as compelling as it might seem. The PS3, for all its power, feels incomplete at launch. (...)

Controlling games is pretty close to what PlayStation veterans are used to. The major shift this time is Sony has included a motion sensor in its controller (which has been redubbed the Sixaxis). In "NBA 07," for instance, twisting the controller will let you juke around an opposing player.

The problem is that the motion doesn't feel natural here, as it does with the Nintendo Wii. (...) You get the impression they were caught off guard when the feature was announced -- and rushed to find some way to include it.

Gone also is the rumble effect from the controller -- an omission that has upset many Sony loyalists. Personally, I miss the shaking. The feeling of a slight rumble in your hands as you fired a virtual weapon added to the fun. (...)

If you're somehow able to find a PlayStation 3 on a store shelf this year, is it worth buying one? Sadly, the answer is not yet. The system is too expensive for what most people will get out of it -- and the initial slate of games don't offer enough innovation or thrills to justify the purchase.

CNN Money

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Playtesters say 'Wii' to console war question

After plowing through several hours of gaming and many boxes of pizza, the resounding favorite of our playtest was ...drumroll please...the Wii. (...)

“I’m definitely more excited about picking up a Wii,” said Eisner, a serious gamer. He liked the fact that he could not only play the Wii with his daughter but that, as our play test proved, the Wii quickly turned game time into party time.

With the PS3 and the Wii each hooked up in neighboring rooms, we found the PS3 sitting all alone at several points during the evening (hooked up to a giant high definition TV no less) while all the gamers gathered around the Wii and played together. (...)

The Wii just can’t compete with the visual splendor that pours forth from the PS3. In fact, games played on the Wii look like they're being played on nothing more than a slightly souped-up GameCube.

Most of our guest players didn’t seem to mind so much. Still though, for us game reviewers it was something of a disappointment. The PS3 and the Xbox 360 set the standard high, and once you get used to living in that kind of luxurious visual world, it’s hard to go back.

MSNBC

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WII GOT GAME IN CONSOLE FACEOFF

While scuffles are breaking out over the PS3, our testing of both machines found that the Wii was more entertaining - at less than half the price. With its innovative Nunchuk controller, you'll be waving around your arms to battle enemies or swing a baseball bat. (...)

Though the graphics are stunning, the PS3 isn't that much different from the PS2. And compatibility issues mean it won't play as many old PlayStation games as were originally promised. The $500 version, meanwhile, isn't worth it. You have to pay $600 to get the complete package - a huge expense for a video game player, even if it does play DVDs as well. (...)

The Wii offers up a truly unique take on playing video games by getting people off their couches to play, introducing a new skill set (coordination is a must) and inducing much smack talk (like when you whiff every time you swing in Wii Baseball). Plus, Nintendo intends to ship 4 million units worldwide, so chances are you'll be able to get your hands on one soon - and for half the price.

New York Post

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Release of PlayStation 3 Becomes a Waiting Game

Kaz Hirai, the chief executive of Sony Computer Entertainment America, said that the company wanted "to elicit an emotional response from you, good, bad or indifferent." He said that creating such an emotional bond was the first step in making a sale, but that Sony also wanted to convey that the system is a good deal.

"It's not too expensive," Mr. Hirai said. "We're offering fantastic value to consumers." Future marketing efforts will emphasize Sony's position that the PlayStation 3 is built with high-end components that will still work in 5 or even 10 years. "Look at how long you'll be able to enjoy your investment," Mr. Hirai said.

Jim Louderback, editor in chief of PC Magazine, who recently reviewed both the PlayStation 3 and the Wii, said that idea did not sound realistic. "Considering there's a new generation of video game consoles every five years, that doesn't make a lot of sense to me," Mr. Louderback said.

International Herald Tribune / New York Times

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System Check

Clad in a stylish tuxedo-chic shell and accessorized with cutting-edge electronic gadgetry, the PS3 is all dressed up...with no place to go. Many gamers, especially those who don't own an HDTV, are paying $600 (or more, if they give into the eBay vultures) for features that they (for now) can't fully appreciate. It's going to take a while before game programmers figure out how to harness the PS3's power and deliver some truly next-gen gaming experiences. Its online network is also a work in progress that has a long way to go before challenging the Xbox Live service. While it's human nature to want something that someone else wants, it's a smart move to resist temptation and sit on the sidelines until there are more compelling and practical reasons to commit to the PS3. B (...)

Not quite a next-generation console, the Wii must rely on its unique game interface — and a steady stream of titles that make full use of the Wii-mote and the companion Nunchuck. Is the Wii-mote a novelty that will soon wear thin? Beyond the healthy legions of Nintendo loyalists, the Wii's low price, strong lineup of nonviolent titles, and gentle learning curve might actually attract the kind of players (women, parents) normally put off by testosterone-fueled games that reward mastery of a dozen or more buttons. B+

Entertainment Weekly

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Review: PS3, Wii Boost Gaming Experience

The Wii was the most fun and the easiest to use. It can deliver on Nintendo's promise to bring more non-gamers into the fold. (...) It's not that I wasn't impressed by the PS3 games, but after breaking into a sweat from a few hours with the Wii, sitting on my couch to shoot aliens in "Resistance: Fall of Man" felt pedestrian. (...)

Declaring one of these systems an overall winner is impossible, mostly because of the oddball Wii. It's just so different from its rivals, it's almost unfair to compare it to the PS3 or the Xbox 360.

But the Wii's unique controller and approachable $250 price could make it the surprise hit of the three.

ABC News

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The Wii: One Small Step for Nintendo, One Giant Leap for Gaming

Nintendo's Wii home video-gaming console (...) will put to rest any fears that it won't be able to compete with Sony's super-powered PlayStation 3 and Microsoft's already established Xbox 360. (...)

Despite its technical shortcomings, the Wii is a whole lot of fun to play. And the suggested retail price of about $250 makes it an attractive competitor to the $399 Xbox 360 and, especially, the PS3, the "full" model of which costs a whopping $599.

With that kind of price point, hardcore gamers might even consider picking up a Wii alongside a PS3 or Xbox 360. The Wii will simply play games — and come up with new ways of playing them — in a way that none of its competitors will be able to match.

In fact, after playing with a Wii for a while, PlayStation and Xbox can start to look like an exercise in nihilistic thumb gymnastics.

FOX News

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A Wii Workout: When Videogames Hurt

The new console has been wildly successful, selling out at stores and winning high marks from critics and game buffs. But as players spend more time with the Wii, some are noticing that hours waving the game's controller around can add up to fairly intense exertion -- resulting in aches and pains common in more familiar forms of exercise. They're reporting aching backs, sore shoulders -- even something some have dubbed "Wii elbow."

"It's harder than playing basketball," says Kaitlin Franke, a 12-year-old from Louisville, Ky. She has been camped out in front of her family's TV, fine-tuning her bowling motion and practicing boxing footwork in two of the Wii's games. Almost immediately, she says, her right arm started to feel numb.(...)

Another hazard: collisions. All those flailing arms can sometimes inadvertently smack into lamps, furniture and even competing players. IGN.com, a popular site that reviews videogames, said one player testing the Wii lost her grip and sent the controller flying into a wall. Blaine Stuart of Rochester, N.Y., mistakenly whacked his fiancée, Shelly Haefele, while playing tennis and also accidentally hit his dog while bowling.

Nintendo itself warns players about this risk just before some of the games begin. A message flashes up on the screen saying: "Make sure there are no people or objects around you that you might bump into while playing." Some Wii games also have pop-up reminders every 15 minutes advising gamers to take a break.

Wall Street Journal

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EDIT 1UP has compiled a similar overview of mass media commenting on the Wii and on the PS3, respectively.

Thanks to: Zeldaphr3ak, GoNintendo