I'd like to add into the mix of console debate, as a Nintendo fanboy, that their "purchase games online" strategy fell really sadly flat. Back when it launched, the promise of an unlimited back library was really incredible. People thought it was a new era for gaming. Then the Wii Library (or whatever it's called) turned out to be pay-per-game, and they released games slowly (despite the games being basic emulator roms), and they were angling it as a counter to the XBox Live Arcade. Original content versus oldies which are free online.

The Wii has a lot of potential. I think that the control scheme is second-to-none, and that after Mario Galaxy (which showed just how effective it was) we ought to have seen a proliferation of good third-party add-ons. As it is, Nintendo is carrying the console itself, but it's proven itself fallible. It's still the single best game developer in the world, and its design team is head-and-shoulders above the competition. But the rest of the company isn't quite as top-notch, and it shows, and it unfortunately means Nintendo's ridiculous advantage over Sony and Microsoft is being entirely wasted.

I have wondered why that back catalog isn't much larger. You would think it would be trivial for them to slap every game they made on there, plus license entire catalogs from other companies, given that they're just roms.

Their online gameplay was half-baked from the start. The day I got my Wii (2 days after it launched) I also bought Madden, only to end up pissed when I realized there was no online connectivity. It took forever for that stuff to actually work, though I will say that now that it's there, and unlike Xbox it's free, it's pretty nice.