So, you're finally picking up one of the current generation consoles, and you want to know which one has the best online. Or you've already got one (or two, or all three), and want to hop online and play against people from all over the world. Which console gives you the most bang for your online multiplayer buck? We'll break it down for you and list the pros and cons of each console's online experience.
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Nintendo Sapphire
Released in March 2008, the Nintendo Sapphire is the fourth home console collaboration between gaming powerhouse Nintendo and electronics giant Sony. It's the most powerful of the three current consoles, and already features a slew of great games, from excellent first-party titles such as Super Mario Flip, Mystic, and Big Bad Hero 2, to third-party exclusives such as Metal Gear Peace and Chrono Break, to versions of most of today's biggest multiplatformers such as Grand Theft Auto II and Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.
How are the games?: If you're looking for online multiplayer titles on the Nintendo Sapphire, you might be a bit disappointed. The system boasts the smallest lineup of exclusive online games, but it does have the excellent fighting game Killer Instinct 4 and the awesome team shooter SOCOM 4. The SOCOM series is probably the best and most successful squad-based FPS on console, and the fourth iteration of the game is probably the best yet, with its beautiful HD graphics and really fun and creative missions, along with excellent competitive play. For all its positive aspects, it doesn't boast quite as many players as Modern Warfare 2, but you won't have much trouble finding a game. Gran Turismo 4 is also an excellent online title if you're into hardcore racing. If you just want to smash cars up, Twisted Metal Chaos is the best vehicular combat game of its generation, and also boasts a sizable online community. And games like Modern Warfare 2 play great and look great on the Sapphire. In fact, if you want to play Modern Warfare 2, the Sapphire is probably your best bet: the game looks slightly better on the Sapphire than on the Xbox 2, and much better than on the iTwin. The Sapphire player base is also somewhat less toxic than the Xbox 2 player base, at least from what we've seen.
How is the community?: And here's another aspect where the Sapphire falls somewhat short. While Sony (who runs Nintendo's online service, at least mostly) has done a great job with Nintendo's online interface, the Sapphire online service still boasts less users than either of its rivals, and matchmaking isn't quite as quick and easy. However, it's free to play, something that Microsoft can't boast (Xbox Live requires a subscription for online gameplay). The Sapphire's online interface has significantly improved from that of the Nintendo Wave, which could often be clunky and didn't have nearly as many players as Apple and Microsoft's services, making it sometimes troublesome to find a game. That said, the Sapphire's online community does tend to be somewhat more amicable than Microsoft's. People are more mature over voice chat, for the most part, and the system also boasts robust parental controls, allowing parents to disable certain features of online gameplay for younger players. The Sapphire's online service has come a long way from that of the Wave, and Nintendo's hands-off approach, allowing Sony to run most of the online community from both a technical and social aspect, has paid off. Expect the Sapphire's online service to continue to improve as more users sign up.
Apple iTwin
The Apple iTwin, while being the least powerful of the three current gen systems, is still powerful enough to run most current games in at least 720p, including hits like the aforementioned Grand Theft Auto II and Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. It launched with the excellent and groundbreaking Pixelworld, which continues to boast one of the biggest online player bases of any game on the market, and its motion controls and exclusive Sega franchises give it a unique edge over other, more powerful consoles. It's also the current market leader, continuing to sell at a pace slightly ahead of the Nintendo Sapphire. While it remains to be seen whether or not Apple can keep up this pace, the iTwin is certainly going to end up being the best selling non-Nintendo console of all time, a title currently held by the original Microsoft Xbox (narrowly over the Sega Genesis).
How are the games?: Depending on what your gaming pleasure is, the iTwin probably boasts the best online slate of any console on the market, and perhaps of all time. Pixelworld is a massive, growing community of players creating and destroying together, and Apple is constantly adding new content to the mix, enhancing the game even more. Every iTwin sold comes with a copy of the game, so there's no added buy-in to join the Pixelworld community. If you own an iTwin, you own Pixelworld, and you can literally spend thousands of hours on the game, probably the closest thing a console will ever get to having a SimSociety. However, if competitive multiplayer is more your speed, the puzzler Chu Chu Rockets is an outstanding and fiercely competitive game, and still boasts a large playerbase. Apple also has exclusivity to the 2K Sports franchises: NBA 2K, NHL 2K, and World Series Baseball 2K. NBA 2K is probably the best basketball franchise on console, and NBA 2K9 is the most widely played online baseball title on the market. There's also Virtua Fighter 6, a fun fighting game that, while in our opinion isn't quite as good as Killer Instinct 4, should suffice for most 2-D fighting game fans. There aren't a lot of exclusive shooters, but No One Lives 4Ever is a decent game, if a bit bare-bones in comparison to other FPS titles. Then there's Phantasy Star Online 2, a massive, sprawling online RPG universe that's not only well populated with hundreds of thousands of players at any given time, but is also free to play once the base game (which usually can be found on sale for as low as 20 dollars) is purchased.
How is the community?: In a word, thriving. SegaNet has existed in some form for the past 13 years, and continues to form the core of Apple's connected online service. Each game has its own community, consisting of a Friendster-style online message board where players can make challenges and post about their favorite games, and most of these communities are well-moderated, enough to keep out most of the riff-raff that plagues a lot of online gaming communities. These communities can be accessed from any Apple device, including the iTwin and the iPhone, and also through the iTunes service as well. It's easy to find friends and potential opponents on the SegaNet service, though it's not quite as easy to find hardcore competition as it is on Xbox Live. The SegaNet service seems more tuned to casual players, with most games lacking in ranking ladders, and tournament play also a challenge to find for most games. However, for some players, that might be a benefit, as the focus on "fun" play instead of hardcore play leads to less overall hostility toward newer players or during heated matches. SegaNet is currently the most popular console gaming community. Unlike Nintendo's service, it costs 49.99 per year to play most games, but the SegaNet subscription comes with a slew of perks, including free downloadable games and access to premium community features, making it arguably a better deal than the similarly priced Xbox Live service. SegaNet also includes family-friendly features, with robust parental controls. It's Nintendo's service, but with a lot more polish, and is arguably one of the best reasons to buy an iTwin.
Microsoft Xbox 2
The Xbox 2 was the earliest of the current generation consoles to be released, launching in late 2006. It started off strong, but faded somewhat with the launch of the iTwin, and faded bigtime with the launch of the Sapphire. It's currently the least best selling of the current gen consoles on the market, and that's counting its 16 month head start over the Sapphire. However, it's a powerful console, with about 80 percent as much under the hood as the Sapphire, and at a hundred dollars less than either of its rival consoles, it might just be the best deal out there.
How are the games?: Pretty damn good, actually. In addition to being able to play most of the current multiplatform hits, it boasts some incredible online titles such as Cyberwar 3 and Techno Angel: Immortal. And for all the thrashing it got from reviewers, The Covenant 3 is still a pretty good online third person shooter, and continues to boast a huge community. The Modern Warfare 2 player base is also the biggest of the three consoles, though the Sapphire has been catching up recently. Predator is a ton of fun, and U.S. Army Rangers: Confrontation is a splendid squad-based shooter, arguably better than SOCOM 4. If you love playing online shooters, you'll absolutely want to play them on the Xbox 2. It's still the best system around to play FPS titles on, and has some of the best exclusives in the genre. However, as for other genres, you might be better off somewhere else. There aren't any major online RPGs to speak of, and the sports games on the Xbox 2 aren't as good as the ones on Nintendo and Apple's consoles (though it does boast an outstanding Madden community). Business IS about to pick up if you're a racing fan, as Forza Motorsport 3 is coming out very soon. However, if you already have Forza 2, there are still plenty of players on that game, and so it's not quite as big a deal as the launch of a new shooter title might be.
How is the community?: For all the flak the Xbox community gets about player toxicity, it's actually not as bad as some would have you believe. There are plenty of fun people out there who just want to have a good time playing Cyberwar 3 and Modern Warfare 2, and the Xbox Live community is almost as big as the SegaNet community and probably boasts more serious players. Xbox Live's matchmaking system makes it easy to find a good, competitive match, and there are tournaments practically every day for most of the popular games, especially Cyberwar 3. Cyberwar 3 might just be the best online FPS of all time, even better than Modern Warfare 2: it boasts a slew of fun modes, has literally millions of players, and has a thriving competitive community. Even though it's trailing in sales, the Xbox 2 and Xbox Live aren't going anywhere anytime soon, and Xbox Live is probably the best place on console to find a squad you can party up with on a consistent basis.
The Verdict:
If you're buying a console strictly for online play, we'd recommend the iTwin or the Xbox 2. The Nintendo Sapphire's online community is definitely "good enough", and getting better every day, but it doesn't quite have the user base or the game selection that Apple and Microsoft's networks do. From there, decide what your favorite genre of game to play online is and you're all set. If you're looking for strictly competitive play or a good shooter, the Xbox 2 is your system. Looking for a casual or co-op experience with a wider range of genres, such as puzzle games, fighting games, and RPGs? Get the Apple iTwin. That said, online gaming on console has never been better, and will probably never be worse. More and more players are getting faster and faster connections each day, the number of online games continues to grow, and the games themselves are getting better and better. Our personal choice for favorite online console community would be the iTwin, but we might change our mind to the Xbox 2, if only it could get a good exclusive MMORPG...
-from an article on Kotaku.com, posted on June 30, 2009