Video Fu (For Will & Nancy)

So, you seek the path of enlightenment? Be not hasty in your deliberations – consider first the games that you wish to play and only then buy the console on which to play them.

If Animal Crossing is your goal, then you should buy a Nintendo DS, or better yet two, for then you will be able to have two villages and visit each other. The DS also has a notable selection of good games of many genres, including Zelda – Phantom Hourglass, Phoenix Wright, Advance Wars DS, 42 Classic Games and Brain Training.

For a tv based console, the choice is somewhat more complicated. If you’ve got a high definition widescreen tv, then you should consider the xbox 360 and the PS3. The xbox has a large selection of very good games, although they are largely in the first person shooter, action adventure and racing genres – the essential titles are Halo 3, Bioshock, Half Life Orange Box and Forza Motorsport 2. The PS3 is more expensive and has fewer games, but you can play Blu-ray discs on it.

If you have a bit less to spend, or a more modest tv, then the choice is either a PS2 or a Wii. The PS2 has a huge library of games, available cheaply for the most part. The Wii has fewer titles but the unique controls really do make a big difference to way you play games. The triple A titles on the Wii really do shine – Wii sports, Super Mario Galaxy and Zelda – Twilight Princess.