Wii360, When the Xbox 360 And Wii Unite

Both the Wii and the PS3 launched with sold-out results. But the Wii sold out more, sold out faster, and keeps selling out. People are now trading in PS3's for Wii’s. Or in some cases, gamers have been passing up the PS3 until more shipments of the Wii arrive – something I witnessed first-hand with a group of college students at K-mart. The all but quiet group of young males planned to purchase some 360 games and a Wii. But they were willing to part ways with the merchant after finding out the store was sold out of Wii's, but still had a single PS3 SKU. Even though the PS3 is supposed to be harder to find than Osama Bin Laden, gamers would rather pass it up in search of a more powerful combination of hardware.

It's the new force that’s been building since its sly mentions after E3. Microsoft and Nintendo reps have been hinting at this duo with subliminal marketing tactics, and games that perfectly offset each other. Sons and Daddies get Gears of War, while Mothers and Daughters can play Wii Sports; who would have thought the Wii360 was so accommodating? What Bradgelina is to Hollywood, the Wii360 is to video games.

A marketing force of unmentionable potential, the Wii360 is already making gamers hate the name and it hasn’t even appeared in EGM yet. But what’s more, is that gamers have already adopted this trend well before the name came about. Polls from Gameindustry.biz, VGCore.com, and Gamepro, etc., have all hinted at what systems people would most likely purchase, if at all. And guess which two systems people preferably wanted paired together? Microsoft’s ingenious Xbox 360 Core system and Nintendo’s casually affordable Wii. And better yet, the Wii360 still equals less than the $600 PS3. While it may be more than the $499 PS3, a combination of two systems for the price of one...that’s what makes it look like such a good deal. Despite the amount of money gamers will have to dish out to play both.

Realistically, gamers will pay far more for both systems (i.e., including peripherals, controllers, software, etc.,) as opposed to buying either PS3 console. The Wii’s controllers alone (an extra Wii-mote plus a nunchuck is about $50) will put dents in the pricing gap that so many people are supposedly afraid of with the PS3. Can you imagine playing same-console four player games on the Wii and having to buy extra controllers? Talk about turning your wallet into ashes. That’s not to say that the PS3's peripherals aren’t expensive, only a Wii360 experience is going to loop the amount of money it would cost to buying extra controllers for a PS3. Considering that one extra Wii-mote and nunchuck and one extra Xbox 360 controller already puts the total amount close to $100.

While software may be equal for the Xbox 360 and PS3, and seemingly cheaper for the Wii, gamers still aught to be cautious of the “Wii360 is better than PS3" slogan some gamers have been tossing around. Even online play will get pretty costly with the Wii360; Xbox Live, microtransactions and Virtual Console titles could easily add up to unneeded expenses if left unchecked. Again, Sony still has microtransactions waiting in the wings like a thief in a New York City ally. But right now Sony’s free service looks a little less money hungry than Microsoft’s current beast, Xbox Live. But that’s not to say that gamers shouldn’t snatch up a Wii360 if they have the opportunity, and more importantly the cash. They just aught to count the cost before counting out the PS3.