In a previous post, I stated that us gamers haven't had it as good for years, with several months of AAA games coming out, and a healthy line up for 2009. Gaming is one of the few entertainment mediums that is holding its own in this credit crunch, and we have some amazing machines to play them on. The problem is, which is the one to go for? 
The current market leader is Nintendo's offering, the Wii. My partner and I bought one of these for my parents at Christmas, and they love it. Although the machine isn't as souped up as the other current gen consoles, it makes up for it with a natty controller that only adds to the immersion in the games. It also has (arguably) the best version of Resident Evil 4, unique greatness in games like Super Mario Galaxy, No More Heroes and, ahem, My Pet Hotel. My five year old, after playing for 10 minutes, decided that we should buy one for home, and although I'm not a fan, I would buy one, simply for Mario Kart, No More Heroes and Resident Evil 4, as well as games like Madworld that are coming soon. On the downside, in my experience the Online side of things is limited, there is no onboard storage space (especially stupid when you have the retro goodness that is the Virtual Console) and far too many "Cooking Mama" type games to attract anyone other than casual gamers. Oh, and as my mum can confirm, the controllers are pretty expensive. Next up is my current console, the Microsoft Xbox360. Seriously, I love my machine. It has the largest games library available, has the better online platform (although admittedly, you have to pay for this), and it is cheaper than the PS3. My Xbox was stolen about four months ago, and I was so gutted that I went and sold my PSP and collection of games and UMDs to buy a new XBox, but this time with a larger hard drive. Even games that were traditionally Sony exclusives are getting XBox releases, with Devil May Cry 4 and Soul Caliber 4 being released in the last 12 months. There are downsides here too, with the red ring of death, no Blu Ray player and quite a noisy fan to deal with, but it is still my console of choice. 
Sony, once heralded as the leaders of the pack having released the first two PlayStations seemed to get a little arrogant with the release of its third gaming monster. A price tag of nearly £500, a lack of backwards compatibility, too few launch titles and even less must have games meant that, although the PS3 was still in the race, it was running in concrete boots. There are some cracking games on the PS3 however, like Metal Gear Solid 4 and Resistance 2 (with 64 online players) and the online is non too shabby (and free too). Sony have also turned things around recently, with must buy games like LittleBigPlanet and MGS4, and it is the cheapest BluRay player on the market, but I still think that it is too little, too late. Sizeably, it is a beast, and the price, despite recent drops, is still too expensive for the mass public. I'm not a fanboy, having wanted a PS3 since release date, but I am happy to wait until the price drops again and there are more games that I want to play. I'm not going to say what you should buy, that is your choice, and yours alone. I am not going to say which is best, as this can start arguments that will go on forever, but each platform has its own strengths and weaknesses, and it all depends on what you like as to what you should get. Personally, I reckon the PS4 will wipe the floor with the XBox 720 
I must also thank my fiance, Lisa, for a) allowing me far too much time playing and researching for this stuff, b) for being my unofficial editor and c) for coming up with the title. Cheers, love!
To Wii or not to Wii....