hey gamers....

[yer ardy]

need some help please...
i don't know the first thing about game systems...any of them...at all.
thinking about possibly getting one for the family for christmas this year.
my daughter really *really* wants the beatles rockband thing. she's a huge beatles fan...

we've never owned a nintendo, xbox, playstation, wii...nothing.
i don't even know what to ask should i go into a store to buy a system.
and because of my ignorance, i don't want to end up with a huge, expensive system of stuff i really don't need but bought because the salesperson knows i don't know...hehe...

some have told me the wii is pretty cool, others say get an xbox.
we're mostly looking for the ability to play guitar hero and beatles rockband.
any suggestions would be greatly appreciated...good, bad or ugly :)

evidence of my confusion: if i buy the guitar hero thing, do i just buy the beatles rockband disc and you can use that with the guitar hero stuff? or do i have to buy the beatles rockband that comes with the guitar, etc.?

i know, i'm a dork.

[Immortal]

Like most guys in my generation, I've played every system that's out there. I'd say the best "family" system is the Wii... I have a 3 year old cousin that plays the Wii sports games, and they also use it in nursing homes for the elderly people to move around. So it's great for all ages. It's also the cheapest of the current gaming system generation.

The Xbox and PS3 are more for the hardcore gamers, or people who are really into graphics and realism. Those two offer HD connectivity, while the Wii does not.

Playstation offers the built-in Blu Ray drive, if that is a selling point to you. The main selling point of the XBOX is the XBOX Live feature, where you can play online against friends or strangers. Playstation has this too, but it's a bit more cumbersome than with XBOX.

Both systems (and the Wii sometime soon) have access to the Netflix "Watch Instantly" service too, if you're a Netflix subscriber.

Rock Band and Guitar Hero are two competing franchises, but it does appear that most of the instruments are compatible with either game. (see chart here: http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2008/11/official-guitar/ ) There are different combinations of sets you can buy, but if you're looking for the drums/bass/guitar/vocal combination, you might as well buy the full Rock Band (or Beatles RB) with the instruments included. Then with future RB or GH games you should be able to just buy the game and be set.

Beatles Rock Band is totally worth it, by the way... Easily the best of any of that game genre.

[reallygroovN]

i got the wii last year for the family prezzie. and we really havent used it, at all!!! lol. well, maybe about once a month or two months, the kids will play it. its really cool, bobby got me the wii fit, for my birthday but i havent set it up yet :nospeak:. i suck. but, like i said.....its cool :rolleyes:

[Not_Trapped]

i know a lot of people who have gotten bored with the wii...

the xbox is cool...but i don't see the benefit of it over the ps3 at this point since the ps3 has the blu-ray capability...

if you have a nice hd tv, i would say to go with the ps3...if you don't and you truly are interested more in the rock band style games then i would say go with the wii...

[mensane]

i dont have a wii...but i love playing it at my friends' houses that do. i say if the beatles thing is available on wii, you should get that. (and grab the carnival game too. fun)

p.s. the little bunny on my avatar is from a wii game...lol.

[Buannan]

we have everything from the atari 2600 up through the PS3. for a family gift, I would go for a Wii. although, I do admit, the games are very limited, but what they do have is very fun. the PS3 has he blu-ray player, as has been mentioned, but the games aren't all that. the x-box probably has the best variety of games and the online feature is much easier to use. although it does still have the typical microsoft issues. you can download updates to fix those though.

I'd go for the Wii or an X-box if you think the Wii is too limited. the wii definitely puts the fun back in gaming though and requires little skill unlike the x-box. I still get confused over all the buttons. I still like my genesis system the best. :)

[yer ardy]

thanks for the suggestions, everyone :)

evidence of ardydorkdom #223490342349:
i actually printed out all the responses and will
take them with me when i go shopping. so thanks
for going shopping with me.... ;)

[Buannan]

mom will you buy me a candy bar...please, please, please....I've been a good girl...pppplllleeeeasssseeee????

[rise above]

hi. i don't know much about these things either but we do have a wii and an xbox 360 and a ps2. my son rarely plays the ps2, he hasn't played the wii in a long while and he is addicted to the xbox since he's on "live" now...people to play with, you know... it's by far his favorite.
how old is your daughter? peter is almost 11 and a pretty big (and recent) beatles fan himself...that (rockband beatles) was one of his requests for christmas also.
i think you can get that for any of the systems and i did hear that you can use the guitar hero guitar for it as well. check out the deals first...i was just going to buy the game without the guitar or drums but ended up getting it for the same price i would have paid for just the game.

[share]

we've got them all and every time we get a new game the kids want it on the ps3 - and you can watch movies on the ps3 so you don't have to reconnect everything

they use the xbox more for xbox live but that seems to be a guy thing!

[Burrandi]

Get a Wii. It's the most fun of all the systems. Especially for people who are not "gamers" but enjoy games with friends.

[yer ardy]

we are totally not gamers at all... my girls have only played on the game systems of their friends and that's few and far between. my oldest (20) played a lot of guitar hero in college and my youngest (14) has a good friend who has a Wii and loves it.

i'm definitely leaning toward the Wii simply because of the non-gamerness of it.. and it looks appealing to the whole family.

i'm still confused, however. so, say i buy the Wii "system"... in order to play beatles rockband, i still have to buy the "instruments" via guitar hero or rockband, right? i've seen the massive "beatles limited edition rockband edition" which was like $230...but what comes with that? do i really need to get that to play beatles RB?

then i saw just the disc of RB, so i assumed that would be all i needed as long as i have the Wii system and the instruments via GH or RB, right?

oh, and i did notice i have to make sure i buy the BRB for Wii, eh?

yeah.
i'm a dork about this.

[Buannan]

you do have to purchase the version for wii and you do need the instruments. they sell just the game disc, the game disc with the instruments, and the game disc with beatles instrument replicas (that's the pricey one). personally, I would get the beatles rock band special value edition. it has the game and the instruments.

http://www.amazon.com/Wii-Beatles-Rock-Special-Value-Nintendo/dp/B002I7A832

I do think that for your situation, the wii is the way to go. wii bowling is a blast!

[share]

rockband update from the daughter

graphics are not good on wii and you can't download new songs if you want

[yer ardy]

rockband update from the daughter

graphics are not good on wii and you can't download new songs if you want

how does the downloading thing work? like if you wanted new songs?

>clueless<:puzzled:

[brokenarrow]

make sure you don't Wii Bowl the control into the tv set!
:silly:
Weren't people doing that when it first came out with all of the throwing games? :bigsm:


I'm not a gamer, we have everything also though.
The boy loves his xbox, the girl loves her playstation, wii and her old Genesis Sega system.

They are both serious gamers,

[share]

how does the downloading thing work? like if you wanted new songs?

>clueless<:puzzled:


I have to check with the kids - none of them are here right now - I think for the second time in 24 years we don't have a kid in the house!

you download them from itunes or something

I'm clueless!

[smellrose1]

Don't quote me on this, but when I was looking at RB for WII last year for my niece and nephew, I had read, too that the graphics weren't as good and the thing about downloading music. But, I had also read that the latest version that was coming out at the time was going to remedy all that, and that was Dec. 2009.

Paulette has WII and Beatles Rock Band. Maybe she has some insight.

Hey Paulette!!

:)

[Burrandi]

I don't get the graphics thing. I mean if you want your video games to look like real life then fine. But considering that I like to play my games because they are games, I think the graphics on the Wii are great. I don't need Mario to look like a real human, I think he looks fine as a cartoon.

Anyways, all the best games are on the Wii. My whole family can get together and play and have a great time.

As far as downloading more songs, I am pretty sure you can purchase upgrades from the Wii store if you hook your Wii to the internet. I have done it before.

[jetta282]

Wii graphics for Rock Band are fine. You can download songs. You buy Nintendo points from the online store and once your in the Rock Band store you use them to buy the songs. Sorry it took me so long to respond. Midnight shift is kicking my ass.

[yer ardy]

thanks so much to everyone for their responses.
ended up getting the Wii - came with the sports pack
bought an extra remote so two can play...

also got the BRB Limited Edition Bundle Pack for Wii
but had a devil of a time finding it instore....
everyone is "out of stock".... found it at my
old standby amazon.com... may have paid a little more
than i should have but at least i got one.

i'm excited :)
you're all the BESTEST!
thanks a million :)

[oblio]

http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/gadgetlab/images/2008/12/31/wii_humiliation.gif