Nintendo Consoles

"As mentioned above, the N64 was home to a lot of classics and games that literally changed the direction of their franchises, but it was also home to a lot of lesser-known titles that bring out my nostalgia. Glover, Snowboard Kids, Toy Story 2, that weird South Park snowball-fight game, and so many more. One of my favorite things about the N64 is that it had something to offer for everyone, even outside of the classics we all know and love. With the console being home to so many games, each person who played it is sure to have a set of their own, personal classics that fit right in with the more well-known games of yesteryear."

"Nintendo thinks that good things should come in small packages, and the affordable GameCube, about the size of a squat lunch box, certainly proves that point. Unlike the PlayStation 2 and the Xbox, which aspire to be DVD players and living-room minicomputers, this is exclusively a game machine--and a fun, powerful one at that, offering games suited to a broad audience. playback, but you'll need the $30 component-video connector and an HDTV to take advantage of the superior picture quality. We tried out a third-party S-Video connector and found the picture to be quite sharp with titles such as Metroid Prime and Super Monkey Ball 2 on a standard 4:3 TV, as well as an HD-ready Samsung set. So long as a game is optimized for the GameCube, its graphics best that of the PS2, and, in some cases, match that of the Xbox. Overall, however, the Xbox offers slightly superior graphics and performance."

"Those expecting their next-generation games consoles to be big and bulky (a la the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3) will be more than surprised when they see the Wii in the flesh. The console is smaller -- much smaller -- than either the 360 or the PS3. Although not as petite as a slimline PS2, the Wii is compact and discreet enough to be a nice fit in most living room situations. Just like the 360, the Wii can either be stored flat or on its side. Nintendo have provided a special grey stand for those wanting to store their Wii sitting up -- this stand lets the Wii sit on an attractive angle. The unit itself is available only in pearl white in Australia. The smooth exterior of the Wii looks quite appealing, and is overall a much better finish than the off-white the Xbox 360 comes in. Most of the unit's surface is clutter-free. The front of the Wii features the disc loading slot, which glows a nice shade of blue when inserting or removing discs. The top of the unit (top when you have the Wii stored on its side, that is) features a power and reset button, while the bottom has an eject button. Along its edge is a discreet panel which can be lifted open to reveal the Wii's SD card slot and Wii remote sync button."