The Latest Generation of Consoles

[LaochEire]

I have a PS4, XB1 and Wii U.

Wii U has the best library, but it is a horrendous console. The Gamepad is awful so you'd need to consider a pro controller. You also need to be a fan of Nintendo IP (which is great) and not 3rd party software as it's non existent on that machine. So if you like your COD, Assassin's Creed or anything like that avoid this. If you missed out on the Wii and it's criminally underrated library it's also fully backwards compatible with Wii discs.

(Recommended games: Zombie U, Wonderful 101, Super Mario 3D World, Mario Kart 8, The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker HD.)
(Recommended upcoming games: Xenbloade Chronicles X, Splatoon, Bayonetta 2.)

XB1 has a poor exclusive library, but since it has dropped kinect I think it's actually cheaper than the PS4. It's interface is nice and it launch exclusives are fun. There's not much more to say really. I think it's a decent media device if you want to use if for more than gaming. IT's 3rd party support is slightly weaker technically, but I think the whole resolution gate thing is overblown crap. It doesn't have the first party support Sony's PS4 will have though.

(Recommended games: Dead Rising 3, Forza, TitanFall)
(Recommended upcoming games: http://www.primagames.com/games/halo-5-guardians/feature/11-xbox-one-exclusive-games-get-excited-about )

PS4 is probably the console I use the most out of the three. It's layout is ugly, but efficient. It's the most powerful and is second behind Nintendo with exclusives right now. It's library is decent, nothing special. I thought Killzone: SF was 2nd weakest in the series and Infamous SS was poor compared to Infamous 1 & 2, but still hugely enjoyable games. Has a decent controller for once as well. If you're anyway interested in JRPG's or Japanese games I'd consider this your first choice. Resogun is pure radical awesomeness though so consider that!

Recommended games: Killzone: Shadow Fall, Infamous SS, Resogun, Transistor, Velocity 2x, Sound Shapes, Hohocum, The Last of Us Remaster.)
(Recommended upcoming games: Bloodborne, Drive Club, The Order 1886, No Man's Sky, Uncharted 4 and Persona 5)

3rd Party games like Mass Effect 4 or Assassin's Creed Unity will be fine to play on either the XB1 or PS4. They'll probably never make it to Wii U.

So, just look at those games, see what interest you to most and go from there.

 

[Artina89]

I am hoping to get a PS4 for Christmas with The last of us, InFamous:Second son, Wolfenstein and The Evil within. The best bit is that my parents are giving me half the money for the console. As for why I chose the PS4 is because I am a bit of a Sony fangirl and the PS4 interests me far more than the Xbox One.

 

[Rozalia1]

Good point regards my gaming tastes. Have to say that my fave games have become RPGs. Dragon Age:Origins, The Witcher 2, Mass Effect, Fallout 3 - these are the games which suck me in the most now. I enjoy many others though, but racing games aren't my cup of tea, and I can't stick games that are all flash and little soul (Gears of War, COD, Mass Effect 3 etc.)

Wii U may well be something I look at. I'd never considered one before because I've never really liked handhelds, but thinking about it more - and their rep for having good JRPGs - it may be something I look into.

Well than I can safely say that western RPGs are going to be quite irrelevant in your choice as you'll find those on anything (except Wii, handhelds, phones, and possibility Mac/Linux but outside the computer platforms they couldn't care less).
If JRPGs is a significant thing than you'll do well with both a PS4 and Wii U (though we shouldn't forget both 3DS and Vita). A lot of Japanese third parties create games exclusively for either Nintendo or Sony (you'd think they'd be overlap...but often not).

If you had to stick with a single platform than the PS4 is likely the "better" package (subjective), but the Wii U's worth can't be denied.

We have emulators for older versions of windows and for windows itself with linux.

So backwards compatibility is not an issue, its still more reliable and easier than keeping an old console around and having to switch them out. You can still play DOS games, in fact steam sells X-COM (1994) with a ready made DOSBOX to play it right out of the box.

For controllers you can play with a playstation or xbox controller. All multiplats support them. You have third party controllers too.

And stay away from windows 8. Stay with Windows 7, because anything past that point is being locked down to try to muscle out competition from steam, origin, uplay, etc. They want you to shop from Microsoft's store which is full of scamware to the point you shouldn't even bother.

You can still buy windows 7, don't let the "OEM" versions scare you. Its just a scare tactic. Its the exact same version of windows.

So keep that in mind for the future.

As always I have to note that unless you are buying the games at a legal storefront that sells the emulated games, emulating such games is illegal. This is important to note as it means legally the PC isn't actually fully compatible with every game out there (unless someone can provide evidence that every such game are all available on legal storefronts...I don't envy whoever decides to check that), something that is often peddled on this site (though small potatoes compared to the practically piracy promotion that I see on a lot of posts).
Additionally and less importantly I'm pretty such emulation isn't the correct term when you're doing it to windows, but I'm not 100% certain on that.

 

[Rozalia1]

Emulating a game you already bought and paid for is not illegal. Its only when you pirate the game does it become illegal. I know people who use wine to play their windows games on steam after they switched to Linux. Bootcamp for the mac is an emulator meant to bridge the gap in compatibility between windows and mac.

Hell, window's compatibility mode is an emulator for older versions of windows standard on all windows since Vista. If that was illegal, Microsoft wouldn't have put in compatibility mode.

Its only illegal if you emulate stolen software.

We've been over this before. If you are emulating a game you once owned in your youth than that fact is irrelevant, its illegal as you no longer own the game and thus have no rights to it. If you do still own it and have the means to get its data (either through extraction of the data, or by means of popping in the physical media) than its legal.

Sony has a PS1 emulator in their PS3, doesn't mean emulating PS1 games off ISOs you find on the net is legal.

 

[Brain Tumor]

To be honest, only the WiiU has enough games I would want to play, to consider buying a console. Of course that is because I have a strong PC, so the only thing Xbone and PS4 can do to get me to want them, is to have exclusives I want. Unfortunately, neither of them have enough exclusive content that I have to play. I already own the Wii U, so I am pretty much covered, unless the PS4 ends up blowing me away with content made for their Project Morpheus VR headset, that hasn't even been announced as actually being a product that will release...

Who'd have thunk it eh? Both consoles paling into comparison to the Wii U. Whatever happens I hope that the games industry will have learned a that hype & change alone do not guarentee sales.

Well, in their defense, if I didn't own a games-worthy PC, then one or both of them would be appealing to me. So I am definitely not hating on the Xbone or PS4, but with a PC you don't really need them, yet.

 

[Tanis]

WiiU is worth it, if only for Smash & Kart.
-Plus there's all those Wii games you missed out on.

PS3 has games like Ni No Kuni.