Sony's Play Station 3, and Nintendo's Wii haven been out a while now, so how are they doing? So far bugs have been minor from your TV not having the updated HDMI port to people throwing the Wii controller across the room. All in all, things aren't doing too shabby.
 For starters Sony's PS3 started out its launch with a bang, and now all that is left is smoke. Sony has only shipped 200,000 units of the PS3 so far, and it is hoping to double that by March. The only problem is, the PS3 sales have slumped after the Christmas rush, but Sony is remaining optimistic that they will reach their goals. However, Sony isn't the only one having bad sales. The PS3 games aren't selling well either. This is largely due to the fact that the new and old PS2 games play on the same system and cost less than the new games. However, the PS3 will not play around 200 of the PS2 games because of audio problems. Game makers are starting to feel the burden. It is really expensive to make a blu-ray game and they have to sell at least 500,000 games to make a profit. So far, people are buying the console and then playing PS2 games on it and waiting for the prices on the games to come down. I know because I will be guilty of this when I buy my PS3. Another thorn in the PS3's side is the HDMI port. People have reported getting everything from black screens to poor video quality. Sony suggests turning off the PS3 and manually setting your TV to HDMI and then turn on the PS3 and hold the power button for 5 seconds until you hear the beep. This should tell your PS3 to automatically find the resolution of your TV and adjust all settings to that particular TV. This works, but now if you have surround sound, don't expect it to work. Some TV's are too outdated for the PS3's taste and you need to either buy a new one, or see if the manufacturer has an update for your HDMI port. To make things worse, the PS3 is crashing, or lagging on Sony's online store for the PS3. So downloading updates can be a hassle. However, Sony is optimistic, saying that all of these problems will be fixed and available for download on the site.
The Wii has started off to a slow start, but it is gaining ground fast. The interactivity and over all fun is causing a lot of problems. People are throwing the controller at TV's, out windows and not because they are angry, but because it won't always stay in your hand while your playing tennis. To combat this issue Nintendo has supplied a wrist band to hold the controller on**. That's fine until it restricts your movement, but it's better than shattering your window. The Wii has also had problems connecting to its site. WiiConnect24, the system, tries to update and then crashes. People are receiving new consoles because the update damages the factory drive causing the console not to save games properly. Also if you want two or more controllers you can't just plug and play, you have to sync the controllers together which can be annoying. Also, there are bouts of characters moving on their own, which Nintendo says you have to recalibrate the nunchuk part of the controller. If that does not work, then simply replace it. Otherwise, the Wii is looking pretty strong. If you can get through the flying controllers unscathed, this is the best choice for a console that is interactive… literally
The Xbox has age on its side, and now that it's been out for a while it's pretty solid. It is a good solid middle ground out of the three. It has good graphics, and so far both Sony and Nintendo can't touch Xbox Live with a 10 foot pole. The real test will be time. As soon as Wii gets its controllers to stay in people's hands, and the PS3 gets its multitude of problems under control, the Xbox will need to step it up a bit. The PS3 hardware spanks it in number crunching and over all power, and the Wii out weighs it in over all fun of getting off the couch and interacting with the games. Right now it's the most solid of the three consoles, and well, it's basically a computer, and updating it is a cinch.
All in all, I think that in the long run, the popularity of the PS3 will carry it far, and the blu-ray capabilities will take it farther into the future as blu-ray is starting to take hold and do what the DVD did to the CD-R. However, I think the little Wii will be the victor as people are starting to want more interactivity. Every one who has played the Wii has had nothing bad to say about it, they loved it actually, and the graphics didn't matter at all. The Xbox is strong, and I think it too will last for a time, but in order to keep up, and dominate, it will have to become a PS3 and a Wii all together, and I think that is what Microsoft planned all along.
** go here for the latest wii controller incidents:
http://www.wiihaveaproblem.com/latestdamage.php
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