If you don’t know by now, I’ll go ahead and let you know: I love technology. I’m the biggest techno-geek I know. I have so many gizmos and gadgets; I don’t always know what to do with them all. I’m also a gamer. I’ve played just about every console in existence. The recent incarnations are from the big three: Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft. They each have a console that has been out for two years now, and you parents out there are probably wondering which one(s) you should get for your kids, right? Well, here’s your rundown of what to expect from each one. It’s Technically Speaking’s Holiday Console Rundown special.

Sony PlayStation 3

The Good

• Ready to go out of the box.
• Able to play in 1080P
• Still the cheapest Blu-ray player on the market
• Comes with composite cables
• Gran Turismo 5 Prologue is $20
• Uncharted 2
• Finally have some good titles to carry it through the holiday
• The PS3 slim is finally out
• PSN is free
• A new Ratchet & Clank game
• Accepts all media card types, so you can view your pictures and videos on your PS3
• Hardcore and episodic gamers get their egos stroked
• You can surf the Web using wifi or Ethernet

The Bad

• Price for the console is still $299
• It’s a huge hulking piece of machinery
• No backwards compatibility anymore (sorry, PS2 owners, you got screwed here)
• STILL no streaming video or movie service
• Games are Blu-rays, which makes them $60 a pop
• Load times in-game are longer than other consoles, so kids will probably die of boredom from waiting for a level to load
• The SIXAXIS system
• Not many games for players under the age of 17
• PSN is buggy and clunky
• Still no Kingdom Hearts 3
• Casual gamers still get a giant middle finger

The Games

All games mentioned are out now, unless otherwise noted

• Gran Turismo 5 (March 2010)
• Uncharted 2
• Assassin’s Creed 2 (November 17th)
• Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare 2 (November 10th)
• Tekken 6
• Fallout 3
• God of War 3 (March 2010)
• MAG (January 26th, 2010)
• Metal Gear Solid: Guns of the Patriots
• Burnout Paradise
• Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack In Time

Nintendo Wii

The Good

• Casual gamers rejoice
• Great for little kids and (a few) big kids alike
• Wii Motion Plus is actually an improvement
• A lot of titles are out for it
• Backwards compatible with GameCube games
• Super Smash Bros. Brawl
• Up to 4 players can play at once
• Online play is free
• Price point at $199
• Games are priced around $30
• You can buy other Nintendo and Sega titles from the online store on the console
• A few games are finally out for older gamers
• Quick load times
• Many of the games have some replay value to them
• Rayman: Raving Rabbids
• You can surf the Internet using wifi in your house (it uses Opera’s browser)

The Bad

• The games for older/hardcore gamers phone it in hardcore
• A giant middle finger to hardcore gamers
• Hard drive on the console is a lot smaller than the other systems out
• No DVD player
• No HD gameplay
• Few games use Wii Motion Plus
• Wii Sports Resort
• Wii Fit
• Your kids will probably be bored of it once the holiday season ends
• The endless gimmicks and peripherals that were made for it
• Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat

The Games

All games mentioned are out now, unless otherwise noted

• Super Mario Galaxy 2 (February 10th, 2010)
• Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat
• Wii Sports Resort
• Wii Fit
• Wii Play
• Rayman: Raving Rabbids 2
• New Super Mario Bros. Wii (November 15th, 2009)
• Red Steel 2 (February 16th, 2010)

Microsoft Xbox 360

The Good

• A HUGE online community in Xbox LIVE
• Halo 3
• Halo 3: ODST’s Firefight mode
• Rock Band 2
• You can stream and rent movies from Netflix right on your console
• Customizable avatars
• Lots of games for lots of age groups
• You can finally control your DVD playback with the controller
• A wireless controller comes with certain consoles
• Lots of downloadable content in the Marketplace for games
• Complete arcade market for casual games and new game developers
• ‘Splosion Man
• The Achievements you can get from games
• Facebook and Twitter integration will soon be added

The Bad

• Project Natal is still months (or a year or more) away
• Microsoft thinks you’re made of money
• Three levels of consoles (Arcade, Plus, and Elite)
• Many games are still in the $39-$45 range
• No Blu-ray playback
• Even with the Elite console, you still have to buy and HDMI cable
• The Xbox LIVE gaming community
• You have to pay for Xbox LIVE Gold member status to get pretty much anything cool out of the console
• No free online play
• The Red Ring of Death problem is still around
• Too much emphasis on multiplayer in almost every game
• No Internet surfing capability
• You have to buy the 360 Elite to enjoy most of the perks

The Games

All games mentioned are out now, unless otherwise noted

• Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare 2 (November 10th)
• Left 4 Dead 2 (November 17th)
• Lego Rock Band
• The Saboteur (December 8th)
• Burnout Paradise
• Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2
• Halo 3
• Halo 3: ODST

Well, out of all the good and bad in each of the consoles, I made my decision on which console I recommend for this holiday season. The winner is:

Xbox 360

Because of the replay value most of the games have, I recommend this console. Also, because multiplayer is easy to connect to, ready to go, and encouraged in most of the games, this console gets my nod. Though it doesn’t have the kiddie games like the Wii or the capabilities to play Blu-rays like the PS3, the games on the 360 look fantastic (when played at full resolution). Once again, the replay value with them is worth it alone. I’ve played through Halo 3 a few times now, and I have a different experience each time. Microsoft did a good job with their console this year. They really did do what they set out to do, make a great entertainment console. The Netflix integration is probably the biggest selling point of this console for me. It’s the only one that has this kind of capability at all. Though the 360 isn’t geared toward you soccer moms out there, it does have something for everyone, and is probably the best buy out there for this holiday season (if you’re willing to spend a few bucks, of course).