Your next-gen console gets graded: Find out which is best
By Danny Mendez
GamePro issued out grades for all consoles alive and well today. I’ll only focus on and summarize what they had to say about the next-gen machines, since that’s what we’ll be playing the next few years. Are you ready to find out which earns the best grade? Its name doesn’t start with a “P”.
Xbox 360: “The Xbox 360 is in a strong position: it has the games and the technology to pose a major threat to Sony’s lead in video games. But Microsoft must continue to set the pace through exclusive games, price drops, and hardware revamps if the Xbox 360 is to win long-term. The next two years will be crucial.”
Games: B+
Price: B-
Online Play: A
Graphics: A
Innovation: C
Hardware Design: D-
Extras: A-
Overall: B+
Playstation 3: “The PS3 must apply itself more if it is to catch up to the Xbox 360 and Wii. The system desperately needs better games, and more of them. A lower price will also be crucial. Lately, Sony has allowed hollow technological achievements to overshadow other, more fundamental considerations. This approach will not succeed with the PlayStation 3.”
Games: C+
Price: C-
Online Play: B-
Graphics: A
Innovation: C+
Hardware Design: A+
Extras: A
Overall: C
Wii: “As popular as the Wii is, we are concerned with its ability to endure for more than a few years in the hyper-competitive gaming market. The games are highly accessible at parties, but many titles are brief and unsatisfying or gimmicky; many others are just plain bad. The system’s graphics are another point of unease. Nintendo bet right that many gamers don’t care about high-definition graphics, but that fact will change in coming years.”
Games: B-
Price: A-
Online Play: D
Graphics: C+
Innovation: A-
Hardware Design: B+
Extras: B-
Overall: B+
And the student with the best grades is… Microsft’s Xbox 360! The GamePro editors seem to love the machine’s game selection, online gameplay, and cheaper price. But that’s not to say the PS3 and Wii aren’t worth owning.
The PS3 hasn’t matured yet, and the Wii is great… for now. The Wii didn’t win because of fears that the console’s appeal won’t last as long as the 360’s or the PS3’s.
The Playstation 2 also won along side the Xbox 360, but it was not considered since, for this article, I only considered next-gen machines. The DS and PSP were also considered and graded. To see the ratings of the other machines and to find out what else they had to say about each, click here to check out the very interesting GamePro article.
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Tips N4G
August 19th, 2007
Bull fucken shit! PS3 cums on Xbox 360’s face
And it butt fucks Wii to space 
Playstation 3 FOREVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
August 19th, 2007
Yeah….very constructive argument there….
August 19th, 2007
Ahhh, good old fanboys… I love how people defend their purchases like mad for no reason at all.
Good article!
August 19th, 2007
This article hits the spot but theirs just one thing it left out which is the software. Which i personally like the xbox 360 more than the ps3. But I do like the ps3 hardware. But I also think that if you give the ps3 to Microsoft I guarantee that the ps3 would do lot better!
(Note: Sorry for any misspelled words)
August 19th, 2007
This story/opinion is crap. Everyone is allowed their own opinion one what console they like more and why. That’s all fine and good. What’s crap is that the Wii’s highest two grades are A-, lower than the PS3’s A+ and A. And the Wii also has one of the lowest scores of any other console. And some how it still magically gets an overall of B+.
Sure… It’s funny using school grades when this person’s math is clearly flawed. This article isn’t even worth looking at. And no I’m not bitter because the PS3 got a low score. I’m not impressed because when you add all the scores together in this “grade”, each system ends up at about a B or B- average, and the PS3 ends up every so slightly ahead, then the 360, then the Wii. But all 3 are extremely close.
Each system has their good and their bad. Each company is always trying to improve on the bad or work around it. This whole fight over who will win in a few years is funny. I don’t think it matters if you enjoy the system you bought.
August 19th, 2007
I hope hardware design means the reliability because the architecture on the ps3 is aweful. Very low memory bandwith and loong load times. ps3 shouldn’t have gotten an A+. Someone is seriously on something.
August 19th, 2007
God will these ridiculous articles either ever mature or stop being so mickey mouse?
Note to the Editor: This article either was not reviewed or you are responsible for trash journalism.
Graphics for the Playstation 3 is A equal to the xbox 360? This is supposed to be taken seriously how about a B for Xbox 360 and and A for the PS3? PS3 launch games have been superior to second year launches on the xbox 360. If this rating is on capabilities it is just plain wrong if it claims to be for existing games try explaining away Nucleus, Blast Factor Advanced, Super Stardust HD, Resistance F of M, and MotorStorm. There are more but there is nothing on the Xbox 360 that reaches this graphical level of game display. This rating is a joke! Xbox 360 B PS 3 A++
On-line game play Xbox 360 A and PS3 B-. What is this based on? How is playing RFOM or Motorstorm any lesser an experience than other Xbox 360 games? Since the quality of their graphics is not as high as the PS3 games is the experience truly a poorer one on XBL? Or are you trying to say the amount of games is less, at this time, for PS3 gaming online? Which if it is is very misleading. How about B+ for XBL vs A+ for PS3 since their service is free, xbox 360 charges and the quality of gaming (yes for what is currently available on the PS3) is a much better quality than on XBL. Again this category cannot be taken seriously in your article.
And this one takes the cake - Innovation C for Xbox and C+ for the worlds most advance gaming/media console the PS3. Here the xbox 360 boasts the worlds worst quality globally launched electronics product ever in the history of electronics. All features are essentailly piece meal and comprised of pc components. This is really a D. Now the PS3 has the most powerful next generation parallel processor ever invented for a consumer product, includes an industry best storage system in Blu-ray, and the Blu-ray player is the most advanced player available in the HD media today - yes across all players HD and Blu-ray. It boasts spatial sensors in its sixaxis controls almost identical to the Wii minus directional screen pointing. It supports full DLNA media streaming, was the only console (still is) with full HDMI output, and provides enough processing power to support Sony’s free social networking environment HOME launching later this year. This is an A+++ for the PS3.
I think the writer of the article and the editor of this site should be very ashamed of this article and embarassed by its lack of professionalism.
In less than 12 months from now xbox 360 games will look old and tired, if you have had the privledge to play the Halo 3 beta you already now what I am talking about, and the PS3 games are going to be looking like pixar movies.
To steal from a few movies “remember what you write here today as it will echo through eternity”. I for one would not want to been seen as the Dork who wrote or approved this garbage.
August 19th, 2007
actually mike your went wrong with your comment. Surely with the Wii having 2 A’s, 3 B’s and a C would make it get an average of a B? A C and and a D wont make it go down much with it having 2 A’s….
Another thing is that some of the catorgories are probably worth more than others. If you have a console with a good grade in price, games and online play, sure its going to get more than a console with “hardware design.”
and also if you add the grades together im sure you will find that ps3 does come last. but yes its true they all are very close.
August 20th, 2007
I think this is a crock of you know what. Based off the grades they gave each system the Xbox 360 and the PS3 both scored an overall GPA of 3.5 while the Wii scored 3.33-. So why is it that the PS3 gets a “C” for it’s overal instead of the “B” or “B+”.
Another problem I have is why is the Xbox 360’s price grade a “C-” for $20 more than the Wii you can own a 360, either raise that grade or lower the Wii’s price grade (The Wii should have only been $199 to begin with for christ sake it’s not even a CD or DVD player which you can buy for $20).
The 360 didn’t deserve a “D-” in hardware it may overheat :), but the hardware is still powerful enough to push out some of the best graphics ever.
The PlayStation 3 should have got a much better score in the innovation section. With the SIXAXIS controller, Home, and games like Lair, Little Big Planet, Folklore, Warhawk, Echochrome, and more Sony is doing plenty of innovative things to make sure it keeps up with Nintendo.
Finally Extras I agreed with everything except for the PS3. I think the PS3 deserves an “A+” in this category. It comes with WiFi, a blu ray player, Internet browser, PlayStation Network, plays music, movies, can upload pictures (plus one of the best slide shows ever), has limited Remote Play :(, not to mention you can add other Operating Systems to the Ps3 (Windows XP, Yellow Dog Lunix, and more) making it a computer. The Wii should have got a “C+”.
It’s not like I’m ragging on the Wii, or anything like that because I bought one at launch. It’s just that if your going to evaluate anything you need to do it fairly.
August 20th, 2007
so ons ps3 you can upgrade all these things for uploading music pictures and movies?? comes standard on 360. Remember its made by microsoft. Also the ps controller is no comparrison to the 360 controller. 360’s is so much more comfortable. blu-ray disks are before their time. Too much space and developers are leary of using them because it costs so much to try and fill the space. yes 360’s hardware makes it get hot…buy a 20 dollar fan. ive been running one and haven’t had a problem yet. its a very close comparrison between the two but until ps3 can get better game selection and have as many online players as 360 they will be losing the race.
August 20th, 2007
Good article, although I would have thought the Price of the Wii would have earned an A rather than an A-
August 20th, 2007
we shuld compare both the consoles after six months which will give us a better idea fuck xbox 360
August 20th, 2007
namunthia you’re crazy if you think there is no games on xbox360 that can’t compare to anything on the ps3.. i own both systems and there is no game out yet on the ps3 that can touch what the xbox360 has to offer. you can tell your a fanboy, and yes the online play is better on xbox live, but thats for me personally. I also play online on ps3 and its good as well, but there is issues that ps3 has to fix. you get what you pay for……
August 20th, 2007
This year there is no denying that the xbox 360 is better when it comes to games(Too many to count, Halo 3), graphics (Madden anyone and any sport games), and online. People you guys need to give props when it’s deserve. Next year will be interesting seeing Sony and Microsoft go at it. Sony needs to sell millions and catch up to Microsoft, while xbox just needs to keep the sales steady. This Year sony and Microsoft have good games coming out. Xbox has Halo 3 and Sony Has Heavenly sword.
As a fan i wish Microsoft would recreate Killer instinct……
August 20th, 2007
I would actually rather play Killer Instinct on Playstation 3… the controls just seem better for a fighting game to me.
August 20th, 2007
Ha ha I love it when people diss Blu Ray. It makes me laugh when that teddo217 says ‘Blu ray is before it’s time’ and ‘developers are scared to use it.”
Please tell that to Mark Rein of Epic that is saying how great Blu Rya is for Unreal 3. Please say that to Rockstar who is coming out with exclusive PS3 games to take advantage of Blu Ray.
People can argue all you want but DVD9 is restricting and lack of dedicated HDD hurts too.
MS really needs this holiday season to move systems. They have great games no doubt coming out but how many will move systems like Gears did?
Halo 3 will sell millions but MS needs most Halo buyers to not have a 360 already. Is there a massive amount of people that were waiting for that killer app to get a 360 and Gears wasn’t it?
We know that a lot of people are justing waiting for PS3 to have some more games and that killer app and the more games are coming this Christmas and then MGS4 & Killzone 2 next year so their lineup is pretty well nice.
If MS doesn’t move systems like hotcakes this holidays they might have a problem. GTA4 being pushed back hurts them more since they had the exclusive content
August 20th, 2007
Dear Danny Mendez you really dont understand nothing about next gen in my opinion youre just a little boy frustated because his mom gave him a xbox or a wii because she dont have money to give him something better like a ps3. in my opinion the ps3 is with no doubt the best console ever created on universe…
August 20th, 2007
to bolitas100:
I have both a PS3 and an Xbox 360. I enjoy both consoles very much. Both have their strengths and weaknesses. I prefer the Xbox 360 for FPSs and I prefer the PS3 for everything else. I have no preference other than that for the consoles.
I said the “it’s name doesn’t start with a ‘P’” line to get Wii fans excited that they’re console might have been chosen only to break their hearts later.
August 20th, 2007
Numanthia………ur a bitter bitch just because ur ps3 got a shit review…….it’s quite true that the ps3 in the long run is crap…..sure the ps2 was amazing but we are moving on to better and more advanced times………get with the program xbox live kicks ass and the ps3 has nothing close plus ps3 games are almost just as bad as the wii nothing new or different all the same……halo is three times better than any ps3 game that comes out………AND U KNOW IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
August 20th, 2007
and bolitas100 ur pissed to cause u just realized what shit console u bought
August 20th, 2007
Bob, take a chill pill, go get a drink, or go smoke some weed. I’m getting a ps3, since my 360 recently got the red rings of death. Oh, and once my 360’s repaired should i buy a copy of Mass Effect, once it’s released?
August 20th, 2007
If you add up all the ps3 scores it would be a solid B by your stats. Yet you gave it a C? weird even though its better then people like to admit, see the biggest problem I see with this console war is that the internet effectively makes everyone a journalist and gives them rights to publish stupid articles with ovbvious personal opinions regardless of being objective and only producing the facts or at least giving a balanced argument to support the conclusions they come to….. meh
August 20th, 2007
I think the creator of this is a homsexual. Thats the only reason i can think of for this.
August 20th, 2007
GamePro is a bunch of dumb fucking retard.PERIOD
August 20th, 2007
I like everyone out there that owns a ps3 and has seen the difference between that and the 360 knows that the ps3 is superior graphically and i also know that by the end of next year when ps3 has had time to get going properly ppl that own 360s will be missing out and will buy a ps3.The games that are made for ps3 will have more content better AI better physics and better graphics than the 360 will be able to handle the only thing that a 360 will be used for is heating up water for tea and coffee when ur friends come round to play the ps3
August 22nd, 2007
Danny Mendez is a raving homosexual, like most of his kind.
Y’know, the type that come from banana republics?
He likes it up the ass…. And mouth. He’s a legendary cock sucker too! :p
August 26th, 2007
I have both Consoles , the 360 broke after 8 months of use , i decided to purchase the ps3 out of curiosity more than anything , The Ps3 is a great machine and has been desined to last for many years , i have only today also purchased another Xbox 360 because I am a Halo Fan and i think Bioshock is going to be fantastic , Both consoles are great machines , i personally believe that given a couple of years the Playstation 3 will be producing games unlike any other console , look at UT3 they need the Bluray Disc space.
September 17th, 2007
how can Xbox get an A for online play and ps3 get B- ?
Have you forgot xbox is pay and ps3 for free?
you got those scores wrong way around me thinks matey