The Quest for Multi-Platform Gaming, Part 1.

To begin, I am most certainly not staging a full-scale exodus from all Nintendo gaming. I have played Nintendo games for many years and I am currently both enjoying the good games that are out and anticipating the games that will be coming out for both the Wii and the DS. I am, however, a firm believer in the idea that a good game should be played, no matter the console it is on. That said, I have born witness to a number of extremely high quality gaming experiences on the other two major game consoles. This has brought to my attention the fact that the time seems ripe for me to expand my horizons and venture into the yet uncharted realm of either the PS3 or the XBOX 360.

Now, in a perfect world, I could own all three major game consoles and easily purchase every good game that comes out. I would have fun, my girlfriend would have fun, the villagers would rejoice, and true Nirvana could be reached.

This is not, however, a perfect world. Alas, I will likely be able to fund the purchase of only one other game console and the games for that console. Now, would the selection of one over another really leave me all that disappointed? Probably not, but since we are dealing with what will no doubt be an expensive purchase I'd prefer to first weigh the pro's and con's of my choices.

We'll start with the 500 pound Gorilla in the room, the XBOX 360.


Now, the XBOX 360 has quite a bit under it's belt motivating me to make it my next console of choice. Because the system is so very close to a PC, development of games has been streamlined allowing for numerous very polished, very expansive projects. Most multiplatform games are designed first for the 360 then ported to the PS3, placing the often better product squarely in hands of the Microsoft faithful. There are still reports of frequent system failures that leaves me feeling what is little short of pre-buyer's remorse. It's just not something I want to deal with if I can help it.

The XBOX 360 does, however, seem to have more games I'm interested in, and the recent announcement of Final Fantasy XIII opens me up to the possibility of actually owning one--Previously, FFXIII's exclusivity to the PS3 locked-down the choice in the my mind. With heavy hitting exclusives like the Gears of War series in addition to the often superior multiplatform titles, I can't help but look at the 360 as the currently superior gaming console. The 360 also possesses the better online multiplayer service in XBOX Live, although there is the more than slight downside of having to pay for it. I never was a huge fan of the XBOX controller though...

The different SKUs also scare me off a bit. This isn't a problem exclusive to the 360 by any means, but I'm not entirely sure where the happy medium is when choosing which flavor to get. I'm really not looking to lay down $500 or more, but then I don't want to end up with a completely gimped system because I wanted to save a couple bucks.

To wrap it up shortly...

Pros:
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+Developer support and strong game history
+Robust online multiplayer and download service
+Newly more affordable
+Final Fantasy XIII
+The primary headliner in game technology

Cons:
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-Different SKUs
-Longevity questions
-Attracts a certain type of gamer, and thus a certain type of game
-Online multiplayer costs money
-No convincing reason outside of games to purchase