The PlayStation 3 (like the Xbox 360) does have an image of being only for older gamers, but there are several family-friendly titles out there for you to put on your radar screen. Let’s review two of them…

The first of these would the fantastic platforming action of Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction. The PS3′s premier platforming game has been critically acclaimed as the best in the series so far and boasts all the usual things you get from a PS3 titles – such as HD graphics and high presentation values. But, thankfully, it also manages to be a game nearly all ages can enjoy. The game follows the exploits of Ratchet a Lombax mechanic and his trusty robot sidekick Clank. The game features crazy weaponry a good sense of humor and great level design, all things which have become a hallmark of the series.

For this PS3 iteration the game has, of course, had the expected update in the looks department, but also uses the capacity of the PS3s Blue-Ray disc drive to create bigger environments and stunning locales. At the heart of the matter the game is fun in it’s truest sense and should appeal to everyone.

One of the most anticipated games for the PS3 and generally any console has been Little Big Planet (LBP). The game is on first glance could be shrugged off as a nice looking and cute two dimensional platformer but the game’s real selling point is the fact that it’s basically a huge sandbox to play in.

Players are given total freedom to create levels and even whole game’s if they like using LBP’s special “rope and pulley” building mechanic. Basically anything sort of thing, from cars to calculators can be created using ropes, string, wood and cogs. Of course to create complicated things, it will take a lot of time and some planning, however if you just want a fun game to play about with and help bring out your kids creativity you could do no better. You only need to take a look on YouTube to see the huge amount of things already created by other players if you need any inspiration.

If the variety of player made ideas on both YouTube and the PSN don’t help you think of anything to make LBP also comes with a full single player game where you take control of Sackboy, the game’s main character and what may become the PS3′s new mascot in time, to run through a series of unique and really special platforming levels. The most amazing thing about the single player game, is that every level has been crafted using the game’s editor itself, with only certain complicated things being independently made by the developers.

The true scope for fun and creativity is overwhelming and I’m sure any family would have a great time spending hours creating and playing on all sorts of different levels and contraptions. A sure thing if ever there was one.

There are many games that people like to call, “must have”, but what I’d like to focus on now though, are those special games which plumb the depths of awfulness – those with a certain quality that sets them apart. Now, of course there have been thousands of terrible games over the past two decades of modern gaming, but let’s look at games for the current generation of consoles, and specifically those that were released with quite a bit of hype.

Playstation 3 (Sony) Game To Avoid: Haze

The PS3, even though it has only been out for just over a year now, has had it’s fair share of mediocre titles, and a good few which hit our hype laden criteria. The first of these was a very widely advertised and highly sought game at the time of release, but after the first set of reviews, it’s lacking nature was shown to the world.

The game in question is Haze. Haze, a game about a stereotypical conflict between large faceless corporation and small band of rebels fighting for freedom – think Star Wars with less scope and you have the idea. The “mechanic” for the game is the soldier enhancing drug Nectar. The corporation troops use this to turn themselves into super soldier killing machines, but, to keep things nice and balanced of course these troops can overdose and kill their friends – shock horror.

With the tawdry story out of the way the game was hyped as the next best first person shooter, with great AI, cool weapons and fantastic explosive action! It turned out that the game fell way short of it’s expectations and ended up being another generic post apocalyptic-type game. The levels were brown or a browny shade of grey, weapons were dull and the AI was lackluster. As with most of the games I’m mentioning here, don’t believe the hype!

Xbox 360 (Microsoft) Game To Avoid: Sonic the Hedgehog

As you may have seen from the advertisements, the Xbox 360 has over 1000 titles in it’s extensive library. What it doesn’t tell you is that some of these many titles should have never left the idea phase.
For the 360 though, let’s look at one of the greatest fallen angels of gaming, Sonic the Hedgehog, and particularly his awful HD graphics debut…

Now, anyone who has played games for a few years knows that at the very least, Sonic has seen better days, and this game shows him at his very worst. So in that light, not many people were taken in by the hype, but that didn’t stop SEGA throwing money at the problem with many advertisements on TV and a large number of “exclusive” articles both online and off line.

The final product, after all the money spent, was a game that pretty much lacked every aspect of what a game should be. The controls were the worst part. Games can be saved from bad graphics and a not very good plot, but poor controls will destroy a game quickly and without mercy. Sonic’s main problem was that the controls were so bad, and the game for some reason had to take place on a series of mid air platforms with no side rails. The smallest change of direction or nudge on the control stick would send our old friend careering randomly over the side of said mid air platform: instant death and extreme controller smashing frustration ensued. In other words, avoid Xbox 360′s Sonic the Hedgehog like the plague.

Wii (Nintendo) Games To Avoid

Nintendo’s Wii is the home of the largest collection of what is affectionatly known as “shovelware”. Cheap development costs of the Wii, coupled with the huge demand for the system, has resulted in many developers jumping in to make a quick buck. For the Wii, there is a simple way to avoid these types of games (3 quick rules):

1. Anything related to a movie – Avoid
2. Selections of mini games – Avoid
3. Things that just look cheap – Avoid

With these points in hand you can avoid most of the rubbish that has been shoved out the door from various companies. Some do still slip through the net, though. One of these such offenders was the total fail of a launch game, Red Steel
. Hyped for it’s first person controls using the Wii remote (sword fights, etc) it was hoped to usher in a new era for new control methods and the start of the dominance of the Wii.

Terrible graphics marred the game from the beginning. Then there was the awful, unoriginal plot and then of course, as I’m sure you’ve guessed, the controls were awful. Flimsy and unworkable, the sword fighting was a joke. Do yourself a favor and ignore Red Steel too.

Here’s a nicer, printable version of Video Games to Avoid for PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, and Xbox 360

Although the song playing in the background gets a little annoying, you can still see how to upgrade your Sony PlayStation 3 hard drive in this video.

Accessories are small add-ons that can potentially add a lot of features and functionality to your game console. From the helpful and sleek to the elaborate and clunky, gaming accessories come in many different sizes. Let’s check out some of the best, must-have add-ons for each game system.

Wii (Nintendo)

The Wii has so many different random add-ons, most of which are different types of replica sports equipment to stick on to the Wii remote. Now while these are all well and good, they aren’t exactly essential. What is essential is a charger kit for your Wii remotes. Numerous companies such as 4Gamers and Nyko make these invaluable accessories, because as anyone who owns a Wii knows, the remotes rapidly drain their batteries.

Also if you have a TV that can take component connections, it is best to invest in a set of component cables as the graphics will be significantly improved. So an accessory which makes sure you’ve always got juice to play your games and one that makes them look a bit better – effective, yes. Fun? No not really.

For fun you need to look no further than Nintendo’s own range of game specific add-ons such as Wii Balance Board and the Wireless Steering Wheel. The peripherals are as you’d expect fantastically made and awesome fun. The only real downside is that they cost a bit and there is limited use for them outside the games they come bundled with (Wii Fit and Mario Kart respectively).

Xbox 360 (Microsoft)

The Xbox 360 has a few really essential accessories which (most people think) really should have been included in the console box itself. Things such as the “Play and Charge Kit” and the wireless adapter are for quite a few people greatly needed. Aside from these two things, the other things you may need are extra controllers and more chargeable battery packs.

Obviously there are some well publicized 3rd party extras and games such as the venerable Guitar Hero and Rock Band franchises now featuring guitars, microphones and drums! One really good homegrown Microsoft add-on you can get is the snappily titled “Official Xbox 360 Wireless Steering Wheel with Force Feedback“. Great on racing games such as Forza 2 or Project Gotham Racing 4
, full force feedback and the great build quality which comes from a Microsoft original.

Playstation 3 (Sony)

The PS3 doesn’t have a huge amount of peripherals at hand and most are replacements for the stock HDMI cables. Now, as the PS3 does come with a blue ray drive, the large amount of cables on offer will appeal to the home theatre nut who decided they couldn’t wait for a stand alone player to be released. Obviously there are your normal add-ons such as game pads and headsets for talking to your friends over the PSN, but one accessory you may not have considered is a wireless keyboard. Now, this may seem a bit odd to get for a games console but because of the well functioning web browser included on the PS3, and if you are in the situation where you household PC/laptop is shared this might be a good idea.

When you hear people say PlayStation, you primarily think of great games on a great game console. You think of Sony as the developer of a one-of-a-kind high quality game console and you also think of a gaming console that changed the way people think about home entertainment systems.

Today, one of the most enthusiastically awaited game consoles in the market is the PlayStation 3. This gaming console promises to yet again, revolutionize the way people play games on game consoles all over the world. With features that are considered as state-of-the-art and integrated technology that are highly advanced, people will really want one for their own home.

Aside from the sleek and attractive looking outer shell, PlayStation 3 packs one of the best technologies in the gaming console world. This particular gaming console is expected to be one of the greatest gaming consoles ever developed and released in the market.

PlayStation 3 has a powerful graphics chip together with a powerful 3.2 GHz CPU and 512 MB of RAM that will make you experience a one-of-a-kind game play. Another contribution for maximum enjoyment is the Blu-ray drive. The Blu-ray disc can handle data 5 times higher than your conventional DVD. This means that game developers will have more leverage in designing PlayStation 3 games and this will result in more realistic characters with detailed and also realistic environment.

Because of this, games will far more be realistic and detailed than ever before. In fact, Playing PlayStation 3 games on blu-ray discs will make you feel as if you are a part of the game itself and not just a person on the outside world playing with some game.

PlayStation 3 can definitely give you that extra spice you want in a game.

Another great contributor in PlayStation 3 is the game controllers. The game controllers for PlayStation 3 games are Bluetooth capable. This means that you can play PlayStation 3 games wirelessly. This will give you more freedom when playing with your PlayStation 3 games. For example, if you like football or soccer, you can literally run around your room like a football or soccer player who just scored a goal while holding your PlayStation 3 controller.

PlayStation 3 controllers are also integrated with the multi-axis motion sensing system technology that will allow you to control the game in real time and with maximum precision. With this system, the game controller will virtually become a natural extension of your body.

PlayStation 3 also has a backward compatibility feature. This feature will enable you to play with your old PlayStation and PlayStation 2 games in this console. This means that your investment in your old games will not be wasted. With PlayStation 3, you can play all your PlayStation, PlayStation 2, and PlayStation 3 games. In fact, because of the HDMI features of the PlayStation 3, it will even further enhance your old games.

Not only that, PlayStation 3 will enable you to play your DVD movies, and Audio CDs. PlayStation games aren’t the only discs that this game console can play. It is a game console that is also a DVD player and CD player.

So, investing in this game console is definitely not a wasted investment at all. So, watch out for it when it is released on November 2006 in Japan, United States, and Canada and on March 2007 in Europe and Australasia.
When you hear people say PlayStation, you primarily think of great games on a great game console. You think of Sony as the developer of a one-of-a-kind high quality game console and you also think of a gaming console that changed the way people think about home entertainment systems.

Today, one of the most enthusiastically awaited game consoles in the market is the PlayStation 3. This gaming console promises to yet again, revolutionize the way people play games on game consoles all over the world. With features that are considered as state-of-the-art and integrated technology that are highly advanced, people will really want one for their own home.

Aside from the sleek and attractive looking outer shell, PlayStation 3 packs one of the best technologies in the gaming console world. This particular gaming console is expected to be one of the greatest gaming consoles ever developed and released in the market.

PlayStation 3 has a powerful graphics chip together with a powerful 3.2 GHz CPU and 512 MB of RAM that will make you experience a one-of-a-kind game play. Another contribution for maximum enjoyment is the Blu-ray drive. The Blu-ray disc can handle data 5 times higher than your conventional DVD. This means that game developers will have more leverage in designing PlayStation 3 games and this will result in more realistic characters with detailed and also realistic environment.

Because of this, games will far more be realistic and detailed than ever before. In fact, Playing PlayStation 3 games on blu-ray discs will make you feel as if you are a part of the game itself and not just a person on the outside world playing with some game.

PlayStation 3 can definitely give you that extra spice you want in a game.

Another great contributor in PlayStation 3 is the game controllers. The game controllers for PlayStation 3 games are Bluetooth capable. This means that you can play PlayStation 3 games wirelessly. This will give you more freedom when playing with your PlayStation 3 games. For example, if you like football or soccer, you can literally run around your room like a football or soccer player who just scored a goal while holding your PlayStation 3 controller.

PlayStation 3 controllers are also integrated with the multi-axis motion sensing system technology that will allow you to control the game in real time and with maximum precision. With this system, the game controller will virtually become a natural extension of your body.

PlayStation 3 also has a backward compatibility feature. This feature will enable you to play with your old PlayStation and PlayStation 2 games in this console. This means that your investment in your old games will not be wasted. With PlayStation 3, you can play all your PlayStation, PlayStation 2, and PlayStation 3 games. In fact, because of the HDMI features of the PlayStation 3, it will even further enhance your old games.

Not only that, PlayStation 3 will enable you to play your DVD movies, and Audio CDs. PlayStation games aren’t the only discs that this game console can play. It is a game console that is also a DVD player and CD player.

So, investing in this game console is definitely not a wasted investment at all. So, watch out for it when it is released on November 2006 in Japan, United States, and Canada and on March 2007 in Europe and Australasia.