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Screencast Smackdown: Wii vs. Xbox 360
When you have as many kids as I do, video games are a necessary part of life.
My family’s been hobbling around on the original Xbox for a few years now, and I’ve decided a game console upgrade is long overdue. If I were more patient, I suppose I could wait until Christmas — but patience is overrated. I supposed the release of Halo 3 has me chomping at the bit. (At least I’m not the only one. Check out how Halo 3 is moving Xbox consoles.) So, I’m trying to decided whether I want to buy the Wii or the Xbox 360 now, and which one will have to wait until Christmas. The only thing up in the air is which console I’ll buy first.
To help me make this decision, I’ll go online to visit each console’s main site. This screencast documents my journey and, ultimately, the winner:
(If you’re reading this via RSS, click here for video.)
I could’ve made dozens of suggestions for each site, but it was the category pages that made the biggest difference in helping me make my decision. The Xbox 360 game listing page looks good. While it did give me the ability to sort and search games, it was limited compared to the Wii. New games or not, sometimes these subtle differences are enough to send comparison shoppers like me to the competition.
Xbox 360 does a few things right:
- Great use of game thumbnails
- “Buy Now” call to action
- Top searches
Some suggestions for the Xbox folks:
- Add a “view all” function, so we can scroll the entire listing
- Allow sort by more criteria (e.g., # of players, release date)
- Printable & sharable listings
While the functionality of the Wii’s listing page was superior and helped me make my decision, that doesn’t mean this page is great. The Wii page is far too complicated and looks out of place in comparison to the rest of the site. So, raw functionality wins, but this doesn’t exactly feel as effortless as using one of those magic wand-like Wii controllers.
Here are a few suggestions for the people over at Wii:
- Add thumbnails to the listings
- Include a call to action
- Change dreary page color to match the rest of the Wii site
- Add “view all” function to scroll entire listing
- Printable & sharable listings
- Nobody wants to read your sh**!September 21st, 2009
- Redesign? Ask The Right Questions!September 18th, 2009
- Cross-post: How to Improve a Product Page, Part 1September 15th, 2009
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September 28th, 2007
10:59 am
[...] post by Anthony Garcia aka "Shaq" and software by Elliott [...]
September 28th, 2007
11:17 am
Go with the Wii. It’s just as addicting, and it’s the only console that will get them off the couch.
September 29th, 2007
7:16 am
[...] Screencast: Conversion Rate Smackdown — Wii vs. Xbox 360Check out how Halo 3 is moving Xbox consoles.) So, I’m trying to decided whether I want to buy the Wii or the Xbox 360 now, and which one will have to wait until Christmas. The only thing up in the air is which console I’ll buy first. … Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. [...]
September 29th, 2007
8:30 pm
[...] Cheat Beast wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerpt [...]
September 29th, 2007
10:37 pm
[...] unknown wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerpt [...]
October 1st, 2007
6:06 pm
Well, it depends… having 12 and unders are a straight shot to Wii – while being or having any gamers (war, racing, strategy,etc.) in your home would require you get an XBOX 360.
49 years old love nascar and war games and shooters – just can’t get it on Wii.
October 1st, 2007
9:40 pm
Interesting screencast Anthony. I actually thought that the WII site was pretty poor really. I was suprised at how the content was inconsistent and disorganised.
Whilst the Xbox site didn’t have the functionality you were looking for, it was predicatble and well formatted. Even though it didn’t meet your needs, it did seem to be thought out from a users perspective.
I hope both the WII and the Xbox website teams read your post!
October 2nd, 2007
7:52 pm
Well to help you there as a guy who has all three current gen consoles (and writes for an Australian games mag) the one to get at the moment is the 360. However that is not what I wanted to post.
Just wanted to clarify one of Nintendo’s decisions regarding its listings that you made a comment on, namely the distinction between games published by Nintendo and games not published by Nintendo.
For your average Joe it may seem like an odd distinction, as you said, “like anybody cares”. However there is a significant number of long time gamers who care a lot.
Nintendo has long held a reputation of having weak third party support (ie games being made by non-Nintendo developers) as there is a strong trend with Nintendo systems that the fan base only tends to buy Nintendo systems for Nintendo developed games as Nintendo does have some of the best game designers as a part of their studios (consider Mario creator Shagiru Miyamoto). As a result this list break up is primarily for the informed gamer, someone for whom this is a big hobby. Two types of people will make up this crew: those who buy a Wii for Nintendo’s games or those who may be unsure about buying a Wii due to fears of poor third party support (which is an issue which practically killed the Gamecube in terms of market share).
So yeah, not a distinction that will help your average consumer but a very important break up of the catalogue for those who identify themselves as gamers.
November 14th, 2007
12:11 am
Dear Shaq,
I was browsing on google and found your inquiry on shopping for auto and getting your questions answered about your soon to be teen driver.
I have the answer to your questions- your good neighbor State Farm agent! I AM ONE , and can tell you that then you have a relationship and can speak to a real person who cares to take the time to help you . That’s the added value we offer. try to call one of your local reps.
Good Luck, best wishes
Gary
PS You can call me probably you dont live in my area or even State but still I will be happy to answer your questions my cell 215-327-3275
March 19th, 2008
1:32 am
I have owned a Wii since it was released and I love it. I know the Xbox 360 has better graphics but the Wii controllers are very cool to control.
April 21st, 2009
4:00 pm
Good review… I think it all depends on what kind of gamer you are… I would like to try the wii and i think i might be getting one soon so will say more about it later… I think the thing that i like most about wii is the ability to exercise and stay active while playing games and not just sitting down or laying around…
July 2nd, 2009
4:19 am
My PS3/360 Vs. Wii Review:
I have the PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii. I decided to get the Wii after buying my PS3 and 360 partly just so I could say I own all three consoles
. But the Wii looked so cool, neither PS3 nor 360 could allow you to interact like the Wii. The problem is that I’m quite lazy and the Wii still hasn’t changed the fact that I’m lazy! So basically, if you are lazy and enjoy top-notch graphics then I highly recommend PS3/360, if you enjoy the outdoors and activities then go for nothing more than the Nintendo Wii! I still hope that I will start using the Wii more though – I actually got Wii Fit which ive tried out a few times. It’s an ideal system for losing weight if only you have the motivation.
July 17th, 2009
10:27 am
Good review.I like the 360 and the wii. I have both of them.
September 1st, 2009
7:31 am
I love both xbox 360 and Wii but Wii is more exciting (for me), you get to stand up and play like you are playing the real game. But if i want to just sit back and still enjoy myself i just plug in the Xbox 360.
September 15th, 2009
4:46 am
wii is so fun and i love the graphics and animation. the characters are so cute.
September 30th, 2009
5:08 pm
I think the wii is better