PS3
PS3 has a few flaws IMHO. Blue-Ray may be nice and all, if you don't have a HDTV
(and countless of people still don't) then it's not going to make much difference over DVD
and in that case it makes no sense to pay so much for game console.
It's also a little early to say which format will win the format war anyway (if there
is even going to be a winner, like with DVD+/-R). With the Xbox 360 you have the option
of using it as a cheap HD-DVD player, but if you don't want it... you can leave it out.
No such deal on the PS3 though: it's Blue-Ray or bust.
Then there is the issue of games. Lots of nice-sounding games have been announced,
but how much good games will really be available is not yet know. The PS3 can probably
lift on the success it's predecessor and get lots of developer support though, so eventually
there are probably going to be lots of good games for the PS3.
Last problem for the PS3 is that ALL previous first-release models of Playstations has
exhibited some kind of problems: PS1 had heat/optical unit issues, PS2 had optical unit
issues, and PSP had dead-pixel issues. With so many new parts and a complex new
optical unit in it, I expect a lot of issues with early model PS3's. That along with the
price is another good reason to wait.
Xbox 360
Then there is the Xbox 360. It's a pretty good console, however right now it has one
major flaw: relatively few good games are available for it. This is expected to improve
significantly in the next year or so though.
In terms of hardware issues the Xbox also seems far from trouble free: there are some
reports of overheating Xbox 360's. Microsoft claims 5% failure rate, but whether that's
true or false remains to be seen: I've seen one guy claiming he was on his 5th Xbox 360!
(the fact that in the US the Xbox 360 only has 90 days warranty isn't great either)
Last thing is the price: 399 euro/dollar isn't that bad, but personally I'll probably wait
for the next hardware revision (less chance of failure), more good games and a price
drop before I'll buy one.
Wii
Wii has it's flaws too: an image issue ("Nintendo is for kids") and a power-issue, as
as anyone knows the Wii is the least powerful console of the three.
I suppose with all the good publicity the Wii is getting the developer support will hopefully
be better than that of the GameCube, which ended up few good games for it IMHO.
Another issue is the Wii controller. It's a great novelity. But the thing is: you either like it
or hate it. If you like it, Nintendo has you hooked, as no competitor is offering the same.
If you don't like it however... then you'll probably won't touch the system all together.
The thing is: how many people won't like the Wii controller and how many will?
Round-Up
I got all consoles in the current generation: bought my PS2 some years after release
when the price had dropped and availability was better (I don't hope the PS3 is going
to be a repeat of the PS2 in this regard), I bought a GameCube on the European launch
day, but haven't played with it much and I just very recently bought a Xbox to get all the good
games I didn't realize it had (like SW:KOTOR).
Assuming I'll get all consoles again this time around (probably not, it costs a lot of course)
then I predict this order of purchase:
Wii -- soon after launch, probably Q1 2007
Xbox 360 -- after hardware revision & price drop, Q3-Q4 2007
PS3 -- after significant price drop, probably sometime 2008
