With Christmas on the way, your children might be clamoring for one of the home video game systems, but you might not know which one of the big three out there to get. Well, I will try to help you out on this endeavor by giving the parents some information about each system since there's just too many factors to make a decision on.
First, there is the Nintendo 64. This system is one of the two major sellers right now. The Nintendo 64 (N64) is available at most stores for $99.99. It includes the system, two controllers, and everything to hook it up to your television. The only thing that it lacks is a game that you can get separately for anywhere between $30 and $60. If you have other children in your family, you can get additional controllers for about $30 each, and they come in different colors so that each child can have one of their own and not get confused with their siblings. A big selling point is, if you have a lot kids that want to play, you can have up to four play certain games at once. The N64 system is probably the more well known because Nintendo has been in the home video game business since about 1987 when they released their Nintendo Entertainment System. The only drawbacks to the system are that there are a small number of titles for the system as compared to the Sony Playstation, and the price of the games are somewhat higher than those for the other two systems.
There are all sorts of games that you can get for the system. If you have a Star Wars fan in your house, then you can choose from three different games; The Tomb Raider esque Shadows of the Empire, the starfighter flying X-Wing Rogue Squadron and the racing fan's dream game, Star Wars: Episode I Racer. For the sports enthusiast, there are all sorts of Baseball, Football, and Basketball games. By far, the football games NFL Blitz and NFL Blitz 2000 are for the hardcore football fan who really do not care about strategy and just want to have fun. Younger children might like the driving games like Mario Cart 64 and Diddy Kong Racing. They feature characters that they might already know from other games. For fans of fighting games, there are all sorts of ones you can get. One we just rented and had a good time with was Smash Brothers. The characters are from games that both older and younger players might know, and the moves are relatively easy to execute so you don't have to worry about knowing a lot of stick movements. It's bloodless and up to four players can play. Older kids that are able to handle it might enjoy games like Starfox 64, Goldeneye, The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarna of Time or the recently released Jet Force Gemini. The mature Gamer would enjoy some of the first person shooter converts from the PC like Doom, Quake and Duke Nukem. Mature gamers might also like some of the kiddy games for their simplicity or the escape of it all.
Second up is the Sony Playstation. It is the other system that sells for $99.99, and is in direct competition for dollars along with Nintendo. For the price you get the system, one controller, and everything to hook it up. Like the N64 it does not come with a game, and a game will run you somewhere between $20-$50, depending on how new it is and the number of disks needed to run the game. Much like the Nintendo 64, you can purchase additional controllers for your system for about $30 a piece and they come in less of a variety of colors than the Nintendo ones. The Playstation games come in a compact disk format rather than cartridge format like the Nintendo 64. This means that they are able to hold more data for the game and produce better graphics and sound. A big drawback to the system is the fact that since it is on a CD it means it takes time to load, so those of us who are used to the instant reaction of the Nintendo games will find this awfully annoying. Also as with any compact disk game on Playstation or CD-ROM, they are prone to crashing or locking up. Just look at some of the demo systems they have set up at various stores.
The games for the Playstation are generally geared towards a more mature audience, unlike the Nintendo 64. Most of the games for the system seem to require a lot of time to complete, and require some thinking. The best example of this is the game Metal Gear Solid. Playstation also has a lot of games in the genre that Nintendo has been missing out on as of late and that is in the realm of role-playing games. It has, from what this author has heard, two of the best role-playing games for home consoles. They are Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy VIII (which was just released). Playstation has probably the best selection of sports games. They generally get more sports games than the Nintendo 64 and they also are able to do more with the space on a disk. They also have a lot of PC imports as well. They have various shooting games like Doom and Duke Nukem. Finally, for the players who want to relive the various games from their youth like Pac-Man, Galaga and Dig Dug, all on one disk, as well as a separate disk full of games from Activision.
The last game system was released almost two months ago. The Sega Dreamcast is a newcomer to the home gaming arena. This system is about twice as powerful as either the Nintendo 64 or Sony Playstation. With this power comes a higher price, about $199.99 if you can find one. There are additional controllers to purchase, but they do not have the color selection like the other two systems, but it's a new system and things are still working themselves out. At that price, you get only the base system and one controller as well as everything to hook it up to a television. The unique thing about the Dreamcast is the fact that you can hook it up to a normal phone line, and through a Sega internet provider you can do anything from surfing the web, to sending e-mail, to getting on with a friend and having a head to head game of football or other game.
The games for the Dreamcast come in the same format as the Playstation, but hold about twice as much information. This allows the games to be vary graphically intense and the sound to be realistic. Right now, there are a rather limited number of games for the system, but as the holidays grow nearer there will probably be more released. Right now though, the system is vary heavy with sports games, and a few shooting games, some flight simulators, and fighting games.
In case I have not given you enough information, or you want to find some reviews of games you want to consider getting here are some sites that I recommend to help you in your selection:
This is the Nintendo main page. They have some information about upcoming games, already released games, and codes and tricks for some of the more popular games.
This is the main page for the Sony Playstation. They have information about the games for their system as well as a troubleshooting section.
The Dreamcast web site. Vary graphic intensive, not for slow modems.
Very good reviews of games for the various systems so you can make an informed choice. They also have Quicktime movies and screen shots of games to view so you can see the game before you buy it.
That about wraps up this half of my It's that Time of Year articles. Be sure if you have not read the other half of the article then read it now.
[As always this is the work of me and nobody else. If I find you have posted it on your own site and claim it as yours, without my permission I will handcuff you to a chair and make you watch a marathon of Shasta McNasty.]