As with most things in the entertainment industry, it all comes to a matter of taste, specifically for game systems, what types of games you want to play and what you want to do with your system.

Here's a list of pros and cons for each system:

-Wii-
PROS: If you're a fan of Nintendo or have been at any time in your life, you can recapture that love on the Wii, playing modern games with your favorite old characters or playing the games that made them famous back in the day with the Virtual Console. Basically, the Wii has the ability to play the entire back catalogue of Nintendo games as well as other systems (including Sega Genesis, TurboGrafx 16, NES, SNES, N64, GameCube and, of course, Wii titles). The Wii also appeals to a much larger age group than any other systems, making games that you can play with your parents and/or your kids. There are also some real gems that you can download via WiiWare, games like The World of Goo and Strong Bad's Cool Game For Attractive People (SBCG4AP). The Wii is also the leader in innovation when it comes to interacting with your system, with the Wii Remote, Nunchuck, Balance Board and Classic Controller, you can, many times, suit game play to your own liking. Strangely enough, you can also surf the internet (via an optional Opera browser that you can download), read the latest news and get weather updates on your Wii. And, the system is the least expensive of the "big three".

CONS: Innovation is sacrificed for graphic ability. Of the "big three", the Wii has the least amount of graphic power, causing many developers to skip over the Wii when making multi-platform games, especially since online gameplay is almost non-existent. The Wii is also overrun with "shovelware", games that aren't worth the discs they're burned on and were only produced to make a buck by hopping onto the new interactivity bandwagon. Also, unless you hack your system, the Wii doesn't play movies.

-XBox 360-
PROS: This is a really solid system as far as game selection and the feel of the controller in your hands. Though it isn't completely backwards compatible with the entire XBox catalogue, you can play a good chunk of your old games on this system. The 360 has some great exclusive titles as well as a nice-sized piece of the multi-platform pie. Plus, since it's a Microsoft system, it gets some PC game ports not found on other systems. Online play is, perhaps, the best on the 360, with XBox Live!. The Live! Arcade has a nice bundle of fun games, too. You can also watch DVDs on your system and rip music onto the system that you can listen to while playing games. The achievement system also gives you lots of opportunity for bragging rights with your buddies.

CONS: Hardware failure has been a problem with the system (e.g. "The Red Ring of Death"). Plus, you can't really get rid of your old XBox if you want to be able to play all of your old games. And, as far as I know, you can't transfer your old saved files from your old XBox to the 360. You also have to pay extra to get a larger hard drive if you intend on downloading lots of content.

-PS3-
PROS: The system comes with a built-in Blue-ray, and the games are on Blue-ray discs, allowing developers to cram more onto each disc than any other system. The PS3 has the best graphic capabilities of any console out there, though most multi-platform games have negligible graphical difference between the PS3 and 360. As far as exclusives, the PS3 has some really great ones, too. The PS3's 6-axis controller also has some motion detection, allowing for some neat ways of interacting with games.

CONS: The first line of PS3s were backwards compatible with PS1 and PS2 games, but the ones that are currently produced do not. You'll have to buy a PS2 for that, which are conveniently cheap these days for just that reason. The PS3 may also become more dependent on Home for interactivity with the system, which has loads of gamers in a stink. And, because of the Blue-ray technology, the system is the most expensive one of the three.

The truth is, there is a lot of opportunity to have loads of fun with each of the systems. Out of the three, I personally only have the Wii because I had a lot of GameCube games and wanted to "upgrade" and play all of the old games. (I also have an old XBox, which was given to me, and a PS2.)

The trick to picking the system that's right for you is picking the games that you want to play most. Go to a friend's house and play their systems. See which games they're playing and who you could play with online.

I hope this helps.

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