I don't care about which is the less expansive but I will say that 40$ is worth it for a Wiimote, 25$ (which I paid for my extra nunchuk) is rip-off and 50$ (which I paid for my extra 360 controller) is rip-off as well. Also, colored 360 controllers are 10$ more than the plain white one (needless to say I'm not buying a white one).

A few years ago, I worked at Best Buy and bought a PS2 controller (DS2) for about 12$ at the cost price. The stores make a lot of money out of accessories such as controllers.

Just wanted to quote this for those who may have missed it the first time around.

@DGM,

Its easy to falsely define the premise of a situation and come to any conclusion you want.  Of course in this case your premise is false for more than one reason. 

First and foremost its false because you are comparing a fully loaded Wii Setup to a bare-bones PS3 setup under the guise of "what it does best".  Not only are people not fooled by this but folks like Showertea and Blacksaber have called you on it (which you promptly ignored thanks to what is known as "antiprocess").

Of course, in reality your argument applies to the PS3 just as well as the Wii. If you want to play MGS4 or Uncharted the way it was meant to be played (and the way I played them I might add) then you need an HDTV capable of at least 720p and a 5.1 surround sound system (especially for MGS4).  I say especially MGS4 because having played it on my well calibrated HDTV & Surround Sound system and then played it on an SDTV with stereo sound I can tell you its an entirely different (relatively disappointing) experience. But neither of these are requirements, you can play the systems without these things.  But should you want this kind of comparison then you have to be fair about it (which you appear to have no intentions of doing)

Second, your premise is false because you set forth as part of your premise that it's primary purpose as a console is for party games. You imply there are no good single player experiences on the Wii and therefore people MUST have these extra wii-motes to take part in its only good experience. 

Well sorry to disappoint but Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, No More Heroes, Super Mario Galaxy, Fire Emblem, Super Paper Mario, Resident Evil 4, de Blob, Okami, Boom Blox, Medal of Honor, Zelda: Twighlight Princess, Trauma Center (new Blood and Second Opinion), Red Steel, SC: Double Agent, MS: Anthology, Downhill Jam, Godfather: The Blackhand Edition, Prince of Persia: Rival Swords, Scarface: The World is Yours, Zack & Wiki: QFBT, Manhunt 2, Dewy's Adventure, Bully: Scholarship Edition, PES 2008, Blast Works, Brothers in Arms: Double Time (Earned in Blood & Road to Hill 30)etc...etc...are all games that have single player value and are available right now!  Clearly Wii owners can easily get by with a single Wii-Mote and Nunchuk without any problems at all.

Of course there is also Mushroom Men, Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World, Arc Rise Fantasia, Star Wars: Clone Wars, Deadly Creatures, Disaster Day of Crisis, Final Fantasy Chrystal Chronicles: The Chrystal Bearers, Sonic Unleashed, Kid Icarus, The Conduit, Ghostbusters, Quantum of Solace, King's Story, World of Goo, Tenchu 4, Overlord: Dark Legend, etc...etc...are all games that have major single player components and are in development.  I suppose I could technically add a Mario, Zelda, and Pikmin 3 to that list as well =P

And sadly these are only the ones off the top of my head (most of them I own or will own).

Third, your premise is false because you are not required to have 4 Wii-Motes and 4 Nunchuks to play even most party games.  You can easily get by on 2 or in some cases even 1, because you can take turns using the same Wii-mote on plenty of those party games.

Fourth, your premise is intellectually dishonest because you're assuming the maximum price for the WMP peripheral.  The most likely price range has been put at $10 to $20, so an honest evaluation would account for this at $15 as a compromise on the two extremes, where as a biased evaluation maximizes the value to attempt to maximize the point.

Fifth, your premise is misleading because you don't have to spend $40 on Wii-Motes and $20 on Nunchuks.  You can actually get a Wii-Mote and Nunchuk (brand new) for $40 on a number of sites from ebay, amazon, etc..And you can spend even less if you purchase used (which many many people do).

Sixth, your premise is wrong on batteries as well.  For $25 you can get Li-Ion batteries for 4 Wii-Motes along with the charger stand.  It also has the added benefit of automatically recharging the Wii-Motes after every use and never having to worry about swapping in the middle of play.

In conclusion the entire point you are making "the costs of the 2 systems is much closer then most people realize" is based on warped facts and tortured logic.  Or to put it simply, it is a non sequitur. 

To summarize:

1. A fully loaded Wii setup is not a fair comparison to a bare-bones PS3 setup.
2. The Wii offers far more than a party experience, there are plenty of single player games as well.  Not to mention online multiplayer games which I didn't even list.
   
3. Even if you do focus on the party game experiences, you don't need 4 wii-motes
4. You assume the absolute maximum reasonable price to inflate your point. While this is only a minor change in the price it illustrates the way you approach the issue.
   
5. Your position ignores alternate purchase methods that many Wii owners take advantage of.
6. You attempt to overestimate the battery cost by accounting for a doubly expensive and less effective battery setup.

You gave me a good laugh today.... thanks :)

... off to play my no fun what-so-ever Mario Galaxy.... i am going to be so unhappy...

@blaze did I say anything about SMG? but since you brought it up, it does get my most overrated game of the year award. close 2nd to GTA4.

@sqrl

1. The PS3 doesnt have a bare bones package. Thats half my point.

2. Which games have sold the best on the wii? I say 9 of top 11 best selling games for wii require either 2+ controllers or other additional controllers to enjoy to their max. (wii play, wii sports, mario kart, wii fit, guitar hero, smash bros, mario party, mario & sonic, big brain academy) fyi 0 of top 10 ps3 games need more then 1 controller to be enjoyed to their max

3. see 2. I dont know ANY wii owner that doesnt have 4 controllers.

4. All prices were taken from bestbuy.com . you have a problem with this??

5. what???

6. again all prices were taken from bestbuy.com


You seem to have a problem with the prices coming from central high volume retailer. Eliminating variables like sales and discounted items are crucial to doing a comparison like this. And it wasnt MY premise that the wii if for party/multiplayer games - its everyone's thought. Just look at the sales charts for Wii.

so in summary

The only thing anyone has pointed out is that to maximize the PS3's value you need an HDTV. So who is comparing a barebones setup to a maximized setup? The whole debate hinges on wither you think 4 controllers are a must for a wii or not. I think they are and so does every Wii owner I know. I know a few PS3 owners that play on SDTV's though. Plus the Wii also needs a TV and a nice one if you want to maximize your wii experience with 480p. And if you are pricing a TV to compare startup costs you are going to buy a HDTV for both systems. Price drops have all but killed an old school tube tv if purchasing today.

You don't know many Wii owners. Of the eight that I can think of off the top of my head, one has four sets of controllers. (And that is a family of eight so Uncharted wouldn't be much good to them.)

I dont like the cost of the new controllers but the added functionality and the development of the technology is what you are paying for. I started out with two controllers for my Wii and now have 4 (complete with nunchucks). I have 2 PS3 controllers and do not intend on getting any more due to the fact that I havent played any PS3 games that need more than two. I don't mind paying the price if they are strong and last a long time.

 90% of my Wii play time is single player. The times I do have a multiplayer blast it is usually with Wario Ware, Guitar Hero, or Super Smash Brothers Brawl and none of those use more than one wiimote. I bought an extra wiimote and nunchuck at launch an barely use either quite honestly. I wouldn't have my third if it weren't for a friend giving me Wii Play (no third nunchuck). It is ridiculous to try and claim they are required to enjoy the system.

 The best part of this is you seem to have lost any ability to make a rational arguement to back your point. You list Guitar Hero, Wii Fit, Big Brain Academy, and Mario Kart as games that require either specialty controllers or extra controllers. Big Brain Academy is an almost entirely single player focused title, Wii Fit and Guitar Hero come packaged with the controller needed, and Mario Kart has online multiplayer that is surprisingly good. You are grasping at every straw and making a fool of yourself along the way.

I am not trying to prove anything. This started as a discussion of controller prices. Then the wii boys tried denying that the wii is most reliant on multiple controllers for max enjoyment.

What has been the point is that Wii controllers w/nunchuck cost $60! And most people are going to want multiple controllers. Somehow this has been disputed and it has been asserted that people are buying Wii's for single player fun like Tony Hawks Downhilll Jam, Medal of Honor, Red Steel and Manhunt 2!!! (sqrl)


Who will disagree with either of these 2 statements?

The Nintendo Wii is the most reliant, of any current gen system, on 3 to 4 controllers to maximize the fun factor.

The most expensive fully functional controller is the Nintendo combo of Wiimote + Nunchuck at $60.

It does not require 4 controllers to get a ton of enjoyment out of it is what you are ignoring. I would heavily dispute you will want 4 controllers. It highly depends on the type of games you buy the system for. I have owned it since day one, and I love the system. I have 3 controllers and only really use one of them. The others get pulled out when I have to tool someone who thinks they are good at Wii Tennis.

And you think people are buying the PS3 for the amazing single player experience found in Haze, Lair, Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer, and some other crap game I don't care enough about to actually bother looking up? Using hyperbole while ignoring arguements that contradict your earlier statements only weakens your position.

I do not think you even need 4 Nunchucks.

To prove me wrong name any game that requires 4 Nunchucks.