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Wii or XBox 360?

T

thankyouterror

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 21, 2013
8
0
Hello! Apologies if I'm posting in the wrong place. Since they both seem to be affordable now and I have a good enough TV at the moment, I'm considering getting either a Wii (not the U) or an XBox 360. I know they're old technology now, technically. I have little to no gaming experience. I'm just interested in it as an occasional hobby. I get too restless to play for very long, but at the same time I've found that gaming can help with intellectual and visual stimulation that I seem to be lacking sometimes. I'm a very visual person and I really enjoy taking in great graphics. As a writer I also enjoy getting inspiration from the narratives and randomly awesome elements of some games.

I don't think I've played anything on XBox 360 before, I just know that it's a good system. The last system I owned was a PS2. The only Wii game I've played all the way through (and at all?) is De Blob 2, which I know might be a kid's game, but I really enjoyed it. The type of game I enjoy is pretty consistent with that format. Really beautiful levels that you can roam around with lenient time limits, little violence. So basically a big component is how great of image quality I can get between the two systems. I know they're not the newest ones so it won't be the best, but I haven't played the One or U so I can't compare it to those graphics anyway.

I also understand that the inventory of games is different between the two systems so I'm hoping someone can enlighten me as to which will have a better stock of non-violent puzzle type games or adventure games with really great graphics. I think I should add that when I say puzzle games, I still want the game to have an avatar that I move through linear levels rather than just straight up doing a puzzle. The last adventure game I played was probably Tak and The Power of Juju on PS2 and it was one of my favorites because I really enjoyed how great the jungle environments looked. I know that sounds ridiculous now, just trying to provide some background... I was originally set on the wii but I'm considering the Xbox 360 because it seems pretty affordable, and because I worry the Wii will have mainly kids games, basically because of how I've seen it marketed. De Blob 2 might technically be a kids game but I still feel like I can retain my dignity when I play it lol. I also really don't like that wii wand controller which seems to be necessary for a lot of wii games? Not sure on that. I think the 360 might have better graphics which is a big draw for me, and I worry there might be fewer games available for the wii. I'm a pretty cheap person so I'm sure I'll be buying all used games. The 360 does cost a little more so if I go with that I want to be sure it's the best option. Just looking at consoles on Amazon I got really thrown off because I don't know how you decide on how much memory you need, or whether it's a smart idea to buy a used console.

One other thing is that I'm a bit of a privacy geek and I have no interest in accessing games over wifi or in MMOs. If it was hooked up to the wifi, I might sync up whichever system I got to my netflix account, but that's about it. I do have a big DVD collection I'd like to be able to play. I used to try playing DVDs on a friend's wii and I could never get it to read it. Not sure if that's a commonality or whether something additional needed to be installed.

I know this a really personal and amateur and lengthy request so I really appreciate any insight from the pros!
 
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If you have friends over often, I'd get the Wii. Super Mario Bros or Mario Kart are always engaging and charming with others.

If you're looking for stuff to relax by yourself, the scope of games is almost infinite with the 360, so that would be a better choice.
 
I've seen used XBox 360 Slims 4Gigs go for $69 (if you don't mind playing of discs).

I've seen used Wii's go as low as $49 (if it includes the original controller without the motion control).

They're inexpensive - so get both...

:)
 
Tough one! Both systems have lots of great games. Personally I'd go for a Wii because of the absolutely phenomenal Mario Galaxy, and the very good Smash Bros Brawl, Mario Kart, and a couple of great Zeldas :)

I dunno how mod-able the 360 is, but it's dead simple on the Wii. I've got mine full of emulators! It was my go-to 'emulators on the big TV' system until the NES Mini.
 
There's definitely also non-kids games on the Wii, but if you want masculine games, the Xbox is the way to go.

But there's Zelda and Super Mario on the Wii, which is more than enough reason to buy it. Do note though, that the Xbox 360 outputs graphics at a lot higher quality, in case that's a thing for you.
 
Dagless said:
Tough one! Both systems have lots of great games. Personally I'd go for a Wii because of the absolutely phenomenal Mario Galaxy, and the very good Smash Bros Brawl, Mario Kart, and a couple of great Zeldas :)

I dunno how mod-able the 360 is, but it's dead simple on the Wii. I've got mine full of emulators! It was my go-to 'emulators on the big TV' system until the NES Mini.
Click to expand...

Both, both, both, both... :eek:

;)
 
Xbox 360. Don't get the fat models, get either the s (slim) or e models, the failure rates were much higher on the older versions.

Buy an internal hard drive, official ones have software so you can even play some original Xbox games in the x360's backwards compatibility mode. Unofficial hard drives are cheaper, but don't have the (partition 2) software installed. Otherwise they work the same.

List of games:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Xbox_games_compatible_with_Xbox_360

A 2tb or smaller USB external hard drive/flash drive will also work as more storage, with a couple of exceptions for games that require the internal hdd.

Get Xbox live gold. $60 a year (or sometimes cheaper during sales) because not only can you play online multiplayer, but Microsoft also gives 2 games a month free to subscribers, so it should pay for itself. 2 Star Wars games (Force unleased 2 & lego Star Wars) are free in May if I remember correctly.
 
Both of them are having different market. Go with wii if you want to play some multiplayer games and Zelda if you are a fan. X360 is should be suitable if you want some serious games.
 
It is a little hard to suggest either one for various reasons. I'll just include some of my thoughts about both consoles and let you ask further questions/decide from there.

A major negative of the Wii for you is that most games will use the Wiimote as it's primary input source. There are a handful of games that will allow you to use a Gamecube controller (Super Smash Bros & Mario Kart Wii) and some allow you to use the Classic controller. But a vast majority will use just the Wiimote or Wiimote & Nunchuck combo.

As for the Xbox 360, I didn't search them out, but I didn't come across too many non-violent adventure games here. Or adventure-puzzle games for that matter. For graphics, the X360 is really the way to go for highly detailed worlds. GTA V & Skyrim are gorgeous (although Skyrim does look a little dated compared to modern games), but are probably too violent for what you're looking for. If you have decent control with first person shooters, you should look into Portal if you haven't already. Super cheap (Portal: Still Alive is a standalone version of Portal 1), 2-3 hours long and a rather enjoyable experience.

I think the Wii would be more likely to fit the types of games you're interested in. The Wii will not be improved too much, if at all, over the PS2's graphic capabilities. Some games do still manage to look very nice, such as the Legend of Zelda and Super Mario Galaxy games. In addition to the ones I mentioned, I would recommend checking out Epic Mickey and Okami if you go with the Wii. Both are very pretty games and have some puzzle solving elements.

For the library size, the Wii will have more games, but so many of them are the same obnoxious 'shovelware,' that there aren't nearly as many quality titles as it may seem. Due to the virtual console however, and as @Dagless mentioned, the ease of modding in other games, the Wii will have a huge number of available games if you put in the time. The older Wii consoles had Gamecube support too, which opens up even more options.

The Xbox 360 didn't see nearly as many super bad games, although I can promise you that they exist. A large portion of the catalog for the console is aimed at shooters and racers. You do get some support for original Xbox Games, but this is a bit hit and miss.

Price of games may be a factor too. Xbox 360 games are generally pretty cheap if buying preowned. Wii games are cheap, unless you are interested in games made by Nintendo... So Zelda, Mario, Pikmin, Metroid, etc. are a good amount more expensive than something like Skyrim, Halo, or Forza.

Best of luck. =)
 
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