consoles

L.A. finally has the Wii

LOS ANGELES--The crowd counted down the seconds to midnight, "Five, four, three, two, one," and then they went wild.

Inside the EB Games store at Universal CityWalk here, a phalanx of reporters awaited the midnight arrival of Jonathan Mann, the first person in line to buy one of Nintendo's new video game console, the Wii.

Seconds after midnight, as an explosion of streamers coated the ground outside, Mann came inside the store, walked up to the counter, and got some bad news from Nintendo senior vice president of marketing and communications George Harrison, who was standing behind … Read more

Wii mania not extending to eBay

While the previous few days have been filled with headlines trumpeting the thousands of dollars some people have seemingly been willing to pay for PlayStation 3s on eBay, the same mania doesn't seem to be extending to the Nintendo Wii.

The Wii--which retails for $250--launches tonight across North America. And on eBay, one can buy the rights to one of the pre-ordered consoles for roughly $500.

Now, that's double the retail cost. Which, extrapolated to the PS3's top-end $600 price tag equates to $1,200. And in fact, PS3s are now selling on eBay for just a … Read more

PlayStation 3 generation has begun

SAN FRANCISCO--Sony is fond of saying that each new generation of video game consoles doesn't really begin until it launches its entry.

If that's so--and Microsoft would certainly have some quibbles with the notion--then the next-generation console era is most definitely on.

At just before midnight Jack Tretton, Sony Computer Entertainment of America vice president and co-COO, handed over the first PlayStation 3 bought on the West Coast. The lucky recipient? Chris Toribio of San Francisco, who, along with a group of friends, had been waiting in line since 8 a.m. Wednesday.

It was a scene straight … Read more

$500 for place in PS3 line?

SAN FRANCISCO--There are about 1,000 people waiting in line at the Metreon here, all of whom have their eyes on the prize: Being one of the very first people to be able to buy a PlayStation 3.

Sony tells me that everyone in line will get that chance, but only some people have been given wristbands guaranteeing that right.

So it seems as though there may be a perception, among those at the end of the line, that they won't be able to get one.

And that may explain why, at around 7:30 p.m., a gentleman … Read more

Where have all the PS3s gone?

SAN FRANCISCO--When the doors to the truck opened and it was possible to see all the boxes inside, each containing the ultimate prize, PlayStation 3s, it looked like there were many, many hundreds.

And that was good, since there have to be around 1,000 people waiting in line here at the Metreon for the official West Coast PS3 launch.

Sony told me that everyone in line would get the opportunity to buy a PS3, so that means that they expected to have at least 1,000 available.

But when the Sony folks finished the hoopla of pulling out the first box, … Read more

Must-have Nintendo Wii accessories

The Nintendo Wii goes on sale on Sunday, November 19. Thanks to the inclusion of the simple--but infectiously fun--Wii Sports game, the Wii is the first console in recent memory that lets you have fun straight out of the box. Still, there are a few key Wii accessories you'll want to pick up to maximize your Wii experience--especially if you're buying it as a gift.

Extra controllers: Like all recent consoles, the Wii ships with just a single controller (well, one two-part controller: one Wiimote, plus one nunchuk). But the real fun of the system is playing … Read more

PS3 fans line up to make a buck

SAN FRANCISCO--All those people queued up for a chance to lay down $500 to $600 bucks for a shiny new PlayStation 3 aren't just gaming fanatics--many of them are entrepreneurs as well.

Mingling with the bundled-up fans under dark gray San Francisco skies, I was hard-pressed to find anyone planning to keep one for themselves. (Note to New York Craver Caroline McCarthy: We have long lines for the bathroom on the West Coast too.)

Several people balked when I asked if they wanted a PS3 to keep. As they cited the thousands of potential dollars to be made by … Read more

In Manhattan, pining for the PS3

There are just a few short days left until the PlayStation 3 launches in the U.S., but a handful of New Yorkers decided they just couldn't wait any longer.

Lining up 80 hours in advance--in the rain, to boot--was a hard-core batch of PS3 fanatics who wanted to make sure absolutely no one beat them to the punch. Problem is, the powers that be at the Circuit City in Manhattan's Union Square put a collective foot down and insisted that no one line up until 24 hours prior to the launch--the tent-and couch-filled line, they said, was … Read more

Next-gen gaming consoles go mano-a-mano

And then there were three.

The Xbox 360 has had the next-gen mantle to itself for a year, but it's about to get some major competition in the form of the Sony PlayStation 3 (November 17) and Nintendo Wii (November 19). We've compared the final shipping versions of the two newcomers with our tried and true 360, and we've posted our hands-on reviews of each.

Note to fanboys of all stripes: before you unleash venomous attacks that question our sanity (whoops--too late!), please keep a few things in mind.

With these reviews, we've focused on … Read more

PS3 vs. Wii: What do gamers think?

As Sony and Nintendo launch their newest gaming devices in the United States, the buzz is deafening. Yet the products are difficult to compare: While Playstation 3 is aimed at hard-core gamers as the most powerful console ever released, the Wii is far less expensive and targeted at the masses. Watch our video interviews with gamers and industry insiders who are handicapping the race.