I'd go with a Wii, assuming your brother isn't too old. In that case you might get more joy out of a 360 or PS3.

Keep in mind that the Wii is bordering on obsolete with regards to specs - many multi-platform games will be very scaled down graphics-wise.

Dance Central + Kinect is the correct answer.

I have a Wii, so I'll offer some positive points on it.

- You say you like railshooters, and the Wii has some very good ones. Resident Evil: Dark side chronicles, Resident Evil: Umbrella chronicles, and Dead Space: Extractions are, in my opinion, almost worth the cost of the system alone these days. Playing these games with a Wii blaster was one of my most refreshing and fun gaming experiences in recent years.

- As already mentioned elsewhere, it has great party games. Mariokart and Super Smash Bros Brawl, among the many sports offerings cover this segment very nicely

- Gamecube compatibility

- Virtual Console. Buy and download classic console games to your Wii. You get games from systems like NES, SNES, Sega Master System, TurboGrafx, Megadrive etc.

- The WiiU is coming out later this year, and Wii controllers will be compatible, so you can save some cash if you end up upgrading.

While it's true that the Wii has a lot of shovelware, it has several truely unique games as well. And just face it, PS3 and 360 have their share of shovelware as well, the way I see it. How many AAA shooters do you have to play before realizing it's just the same crap over and over again? Besides, if the PC is going to be your main system anyway, you're not really adding anything much with a PS3 or 360, title wise.

I think the main disadvantage for getting the Wii at this point is that you won't be seeing many good new titles, as the focus is going to be more and more on the WiiU library from this point on. Both the PS3 and 360 have a couple more years to go before getting replaced, so historically speaking, they have yet to see their finest titles.

In my opinion, the Wii is a better compliment to a PC, simply because it adds something different. The other systems are pretty much a PC-in-a-box with gamepads and connected to your TV.

And lastly, if online mulitplayer is your game, well, let's just say the Wii isn't the strongest contender.

It is funny how different opinions on this is....
The only one I know that got a Wii is a couple where the guy is almost fifty and the female well above , but OK they also had a "Gameboy" (I think it were) before .
The only one I knows that got an X-Box is myself - but that is a Developer Kit Console and I have never used it to anything. I also got an 8 bit Nintendo I used years ago with Mario (the only game I got for it) and a secondhand PS1 I have never played on either.....

The new modern X-Box 360 model may have "Kinect" but surely one can get a lot of "cool" extras to the Wii also !!!

I've just skimmed this thread, but it doesn't seem too many people actually own all 3. I do, so I'll give you my personal experience, not what I've heard through the grapevine.

The PS3 has a pretty bad UI. There is no question, it has the worst out of the 3 consoles. It has some decent exclusives for FPS and hardcore gamers, and has by far the best potential for graphics, but it isn't really good for casual gaming. As mentioned previously, it has a blue-ray player, so if you're looking for entertainment bundled with it, the PS3 could be a good choice. Also in my experience, the HDMI cable has been a pain in the ass to set up.

The XBOX has by far the best UI. I don't know who it was that said the Kinect was bad, but that person obviously doesn't have much experience with it. I have all the motion controls for XBOX, and the PS3, and of course the Wii, and I think that the Kinect is by far the most fun. The console just has a good...feel to it. Not to say it doesn't have downsides. You have to pay a relatively high cost for Gold. The hardware also doesn't have near the potential as the PS3. I've heard a lot about bad hardware, but I've never had even the slightest problem with my XBOX. Not even a crash.

I would stay away from the Wii unless you really want only casual games. The motion controls on the Kinect ans PSMove are a lot better IMO, and have graphics head and shoulders above the Wii. Also with the Wii U coming out soon, it might be a good idea to wait and see what that has to offer.

Wii Sports Resort
Resident Evil Umbrella/Darkside
Mario Kart
Zelda Skyward

That's a solid set of 5 games for any child/family.

I've had a PS3 for four years and I have absolutely no problems with it. Yes, the XMB is pretty bad (still better than the Vita's bubble UI though), but I would say that it is an excellent console for casual gaming, not least for the PSN minis, which I have on both my PS3 and PSP.

The Xbox 360 is a competent enough console, but bear in mind that you have to pay to play online, and LIVE's online community is one of the worst out there. It's not uncommon to get some kind of abusive message from sore losers that you've played against. Keep your kid brother OFF Xbox LIVE. I've thought about buying one a few times, but between the PS3 and PC, there's very few real exclusive titles for the 360, and the real exclusives usually do end up coming out for PC.

I've used a Wii enough to know that you should avoid it like the plague. I've seen plenty of kids playing on Wiis and a 12-year-old's patience is just not enough to deal with the shortcomings of the Wii's motion controller (lag, small sensor window etc.).

Umm, which one does he want? That's the one I'd get him.

You didn't say his age, but the XBox 360 has a bigger selection of a wider maturity range of titles.

Yeah ! , The Play Stations (1-3) has always been great favorites where I live too - especially in families with kids. But I think that choices to greeat extend are socially influenced and as someone else writes about (or mentions or recommend) in this thread then a lot of people tend to buy that which people they know have or what their kids' playmates have.....

You can set communication settings for kids' accounts that keep this from happening. You can even prevent friend request. Before Live Gold Family was out this is what I did for my daughter's account.

If you get the Wii, you MUST own both the Resident Evil Remake, and Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles (just skip the sequel). The former because it's freaking amazing, and the latter because it is also freaking amazing.

As far as games that are fun to play together, you can't go wrong with New Super Mario Brothers Wii. The co-op is absolutely INSANE, but a blast with the right group of people.


As far as choices go...if he wants a "neither hot nor cold" console--something that does a little of everything, then 360 is your bet. If he wants better exclusives, go with the Ps3. If he wants unique quirky games, buy the Wii.

Wii multiplayer, like all Nintendo multiplayer, requires "friend codes" and these suck beyond all possible description.

Xbox is a lot more programmer friendly.

You can compile xbox code in visual studio and the API is not flawless, but it is a good effort.

I've set up a PSP programming environment and it was a royal pain in the neck. All the components were piecemeal and they often didn't play nice with each other. Apparently, the PS3 is better, but not as good as the Xbox.

I've been told that you need to be a PS3 guru to take proper advantage of it's "avanced" hardware. In complexity, you need to go all the way down to assembly-level optimization.

Programming software is enough of an error-prone task as it is. You can come up with an architecture that has great potential for optimization, but if using it properly requires rocket science, then few people will use it well and the "powerful hardware" functionality will just go to waste.

You need to factor in how much complexity the human brain can reasonably process. The vast majority of the time, slightly less efficient, but more usable is way better.

You can say that about all 3 though...

On another thing I swear some people with all 3 consoles have blinders on when they walk into game stores nowadays "My fave game of the moment is on ps3 so i'll ignore that great new exclusive you have and get another game for ps3!!!!111one"...

But back onto the main topic first thing you should do if you intend to use the console is walk into a store go to the display consoles and try to play a game more than 5 minutes with the controller if your hands are on the larger side/not used to ps controllers you'll probably prefer the xbox controller with the wii you'll want to get a GC controller for many games that don't use motion control...