In the aftermath of E3, its time to search through the debris and see how the Nintendo Wii has emerged compared to both the Sony Playstation 3 and Microsoft’s Xbox 360.

The Wii secrets are out

Nintendo finally revealed the remaining secret about the Wii remote controller (Wii-mote for short) at E3. The innovative new controller has taken another step in evolution with a built-in speaker.

Wii-mote now with built-in speaker

How will it work? An example in relation to “The Legend of Zelda”, one of the Wii’s launch titles, is when the hero fires his bow-and-arrow at his latest nemesis. The sound made upon the arrow’s release will emit from the Wii-mote’s speaker while the impact sound it creates will come from the screen!

Pretty nifty, if I do say so myself. No doubt, the built-in speaker will add a new level of immersion and enhance what is already a unique gaming experience.

The Wii-mote speaker announcement comes on top of the recent revelation that the nunchuk expansion will also be equipped with an accelerometer. This motion sensing technology will be able to sense when the unit is tilted up, down, left, right and in a number of other directions.

At E3, Nintendo announced the launch of Wii Connect 24, a service that connects the Wii permanently to the internet and allows it to download game updates and other information even when it is on standby.

Nintendo also revealed that the Wii will join the DS in supporting the Opera web browser. The browser will let gamers navigate the internet using the Wii’s unique controllers.

Unfortunately Nintendo failed to mention when the Wii will be released and for what price, only saying it was scheduled for the fourth quarter. Fingers crossed it’s not to far around the corner!

Sony packs a punch with PS3 price

Sony choose E3 as the place to announce the Playstation 3 launch date and drop a PS3 price bombshell. The PS3 will sell in two configurations, one with a 60 GB hard disk drive for a whooping USD $599 – a record high price for a gaming system – and the other a 20 GB HDD for $499.

The PS3 will go on sale in North America, Europe and Australasia on November 17 and on November 11 in Japan.

The 20 GB PS3 package appears to be inferior in more ways than just having a lower storage capacity, with the exclusion of a HDMI port, a memory card slot and no WiFi connectivity compared to the 60 GB version. The omission of the HDMI port is the most surprising given that one of Sony’s major selling points was the ability of the PS3 to output dual 1080p video. That would not be possible using the cheaper Playstation 3 model as a HDMI port is a necessary requirement to perform at that level.

The DualShock controller design is back for the Playstation 3 after Sony decided to permanently ditch the ‘boomerang’ shaped controller it unveiled at last years E3. In a new addition, the refined version of the DualShock will come equipped with its own motion sensing technology. Gee, I wonder how Sony came up with that idea?

Xbox 360 steady

Nothing revolutionary or unexpected came from the Microsoft camp during E3. The biggest news came in the form of confirmation that Halo 3 was in production and will be available in 2007. The Halo 3 teaser was disappointingly short and showed nothing to indicate what the actual game will be like.

A host of new Xbox 360 accessories were revealed by Microsoft with an external HD DVD drive headlining the bunch. Others included a wireless steering wheel, a wireless headset, and Xbox Vision, a camera peripheral expected to have a similar function to the PS2’s Eye Toy.

Microsoft announced a new feature to Xbox Live called “Live Anywhere”. Live Anywhere is a system meant to allow for cross platform gaming between Xbox 360 and Microsoft’s new Windows Vista platform, and possibly even mobile phones.

Summary

Nintendo has revealed all there is to know about the Wii-mote and the Wii console system. Now all that’s left to do is ponder how much it will cost and exactly when it will be released. Wii can only hope that an announcement is not to far away.

The Playstation 3 is building up to its launch in November by revealing its exact launch plans, which I must add are eerily similar to the Xbox 360’s with two separate packages and a worldwide simulatenous release date. Coincidence I’m sure. As is the new motion sensing technology for the PS3’s DualShock? controller…

Microsoft continues to build on its market share for the Xbox 360 by announcing a new wave of games, accessories and Xbox Live features.

At E3, Miyamoto, Iwata, Fils-Aimes and a lucky member of the audience engaged in a game of tennis, played by swinging the Wii-mote like a tennis racket. It looked awesome and promises real life intuitive game play – just as Nintendo has always promised. With the Wii, the revolution in video gaming has finally arrived.

“Demand still appears to exceed supply, and we believe that shortages could persist through the remainder of the year, including the key holiday period,” commented Lazard Capital Market’s Colin Sebastian.

Additionally, despite increasing production up to 1.5 million per month, some analysts question whether Nintendo’s console will maintain long term interest amongst casual gamers.

“Its appeal is primarily to casual gamers, and there’s a serious question about how long casual gamers will stay engaged with the platform,” said Gartner Inc. technology analyst, Van Baker.

“It wouldn’t be surprising to see them lose interest after a relatively short amount of time.”

“The Wii in a couple of years is going to look like old technology with low resolution and it’s slow performance. People may not be accepting of that,” he added.

Despite this, a recent poll conducted by Frank N. Magid Associates clearly shows that consumer interest in the console remains very much strong, with 31% of voters insisting they will be playing their Wii’s in a year’s time. In contrast, this number falls to 21% amongs Xbox 360 owners.

The consoles sales numbers likewise compliments these findings, with a massive 360,000 Wii units sold thruout North America in April.

Nintendo sold 270,974 units of the Wii in the four weeks ending on June 24, compared with 41,628 units for the PS3 and 17,616 units for Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox 360, according to data from Japapanese-based Enterbrain.

The Wii’s lead compared the PS3 has been continually rising; 4 to 1 in April and 5 to 1 in May, and now 6 to 1 in June!

The Wii’s strong performance, coupled with a continued strong demand for the Nintendo DS, helped the Kyoto-based company shoot past Sony in market capitalization last week and become one of Japan’s 10 most valuable companies, amongst the ranks of other Japanese giants such as Toyota, Honday, and Canon.

Shares in Nintendo were up 0.2 percent at $50 by late morning on Monday, while Sony, a company with sales eight times as big as Nintendo’s, fell 0.3 percent to $52.

The Wii has won more customers than its two rivals since its Japanese launch late last year by offering innovative ways of playing console games.

Sony, which has dominated the $30 billion global gaming industry over the past decade with its PlayStation and PlayStation 2, saw a slow start for the PS3 due mainly to its high prices and lack of attractive software titles.

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Still wondering you should get a Wii or not ? Check this guy out !

He lost 9 lbs in 6 weeks just by playing Wii Sports 30 minutes each day !
http://wiinintendo.net/2007/01/15/wii-sports-experiment-results/

Playing Wii Sports games makes you fitter !

Wii Console system comes with 5 Sports Games (Baseball, Bowling, Boxing, Golf, and Tennis)

Wii Remote – Do everything with it.

Nunchuk Remote (Connected to Wii Remote for 2-handed play)

Brand New Nintendo Wii Console Gaming System will include:

1. Wii Console

2. Wii Console Stand

3. Wii Remote

4. Nunchuk

5. Sensor Bar

6. Wii AC Adaptor

7. Wii AV Cable

8. Wii Sports Disc (5 games: Baseball, Tennis, Golf, Bowling and Boxing)