I’m not old enough to remember when Pong first came out, but I’m definitely part of the generation that enjoyed countless hours playing Destroyer, Space Invaders and Centipede.  For those of you too young, or too ashamed, to admit to knowing about these video games of years gone by, this is what an old Atari system looked like.  As you can tell, these systems had simple controllers: a joystick with one button.  I had to go to my friend Tony’s house to play, but boy did we have some fun.

Current game systems, sometimes called next-generation systems, play games much, much more complicated than those we played as children.  In fact, current game systems aren’t just for kids anymore.  Connecting one of these systems to a high-speed data connection to play online or receive updates is a given.  They do so much and vary in their specialties to the point of asking what we would do without them.  Oh, what would we do without them? 

Nintendo Wii

The Nintendo Wii seemed to come out of nowhere.  It wasn’t taken seriously at first due to Nintendo’s recent failures at console systems and the offerings of Sony and Microsoft.  But when it hit, boy did it hit big!  I think the system has been out for about two years and it is still hard trying to find one – a PS3 or Xbox 360 can be picked up whenever.

The big draw is the controllers that force the players to actually get involved and move.  Taking this one step further, Nintendo came out with the Wii Fit (pictured).  The Fit is a way to further get involved and lose weight while having fun.  I don’t own a Wii so I can’t really speak as to wether it works or not, but the Fit is a hit too.

The Wii’s specialty: player physical involvement.

Sony PS3

It was ridiculous how successful the Playstation and Playstation 2 have been.  People are still playing them like they just came out.  Unfortunately for Sony, the Playstation 3 (PS3) hasn’t been as successful.  Microsoft is partly to blame, but Sony must take a hit on this one too.  The system price was too high (some parents think it is still too high) when it came out and it has yet to get enough game titles to make most happy.

Putting aside its shortcomings, the PS3 plays Blu-ray discs.  As a matter of fact, it is still considered one of the best Blu-ray players out.  Blu-ray, conveniently a Sony thing, has yet to totally catch on, but the picture is better than DVD and the only gaming console to play the discs is the PS3.  How about a two-in-one device?

The PS3′s specialty: Blu-ray player.

Microsoft Xbox 360

This is the system I own so I’m sort of biased.  The Xbox took a while to take off, but like everything Microsoft, we get comfortable with a Microsoft product and it almost becomes the standard.  The Xbox 360 improved on the original Xbox and there are no signs of a slowdown any time soon.

If you want to play games online or be part of a community Xbox Live is the preferred method.  The funny thing about it is the fact that Microsoft thrives on a $50 online community which should be free.  Hey, I happily pay my money so I can’t really complain right?  The graphics are great, I can play with my nephew who lives in Indiana and there is much more.

In November Microsoft updated the dashboard for the 360 and along with it came the ability to watch movies from Netflix.  The user must have a Netflix account and only movies available for instant viewing can be watched but it is still a neat feature.  A Netflix user without a 360 will have to purchase an additional piece of hardware to watch movies instantly so this is another reason to buy a 360.

The Xbox 360′s specialty: streaming Netflix movies.

It is much more than simply playing Donkey Kong or Astroids with the current crop of gaming consoles.  I didn’t even touch on the day Madden Football comes out – basically a holiday for gamers.

The point of this all is to get us closer to one device that does all we want it to.  One device that allows us to play, watch and browse whenever we want to seems to be within reach.  Now if the ISPs will play along and not apply download limits.  Another subject for another day.