Setup

The Wii is supplied with a single pre-synced Wii Remote, so it's ready to go straight away. The Wii has an online play network, the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, but it's even more basic than the PS3's. To add friends, you need their 'friend code', and they need yours. This 12-digit numeric string is automatically generated by your Wii's WiFi ID and a game.

A far greater priority for the Wii is the creation of a 'Mii', which is essentially a local user account, although to apply such dull language to it is like referring to Everest as a big rock. Each Mii is a little person, drawn in a simple, distinctive oval art-style that's partly based on Kokeshi, traditional Japanese dolls.

You can customise your Mii's appearance, and it's easy to see this as a game in itself. You can try to create an effigy of yourself or opt to mimic Mr T or a Cylon. The Wii will then track stats for your Mii, which also appears as your player in a variety of games.

Setting up a PC is something we have, to put it mildly, covered in some detail in the past, and while the process is both enjoyable and satisfying, we'd be the first to admit that building a PC isn't without its frustrations. This time around, our gaming PC POSTed first time, and as Vista is much easier to install than XP, we had our gaming machine up and running very quickly. The only problem we experienced was connecting the motherboard's Intel HD Audio to the speakers: it supplies only a stereo signal over the optical S/PDIF as there's no Dolby Digital or DTS encoder. Installing drivers is an activity to which most CPC readers are probably very accustomed. Given the choice, however, I suspect it's something we could live without, especially with the escalating size of the drivers to download and the increasing frequency of updates. Authenticating Windows takes less time than setting up either the 360 or PS3's online account and, for all the outcry over it 'phoning home', you don't need to add payment or personal details as you do with both the 360 and PS3.

Of all four machines, the 360 is the easiest to set up, and it also makes great use of Microsoft's existing PC technologies, which is something CPC readers will appreciate. The Wii is easy to set up, aside from some tinkering to get it working with an LCD TV, and the concept of the Mii is charming. From the moment you turn it on, the entire experience feels like a game.

Getting a PC up and running with Vista is much easier than it was with XP, thanks to its more capable installer (no need for RAID drivers on a floppy, for instance), and a comprehensive set of default drivers. While building your own PC is a rewarding process, it's time-consuming, and assembling the hardware means that irritations will happen. Still, we prefer the PC to the PS3 when it comes to setup; build a PC and you know what you are (and aren't) getting. Sony's machine is unpredictable and unhelpful, and the fact that it lacks an HD output cable in the box when it's clearly designed, marketed and sold as an HD console is just mean.

• Tidy your cables
• Modify an MSI Wind
• Hide your ATX power cables
• Monitor your PC with an analogue meter
• Cool your VRMs
• Make your own SSD for less than £20
• Create a 3D animated Logo
• Set up a secure browsing environment
• Remove motherboard heatsinks and heatpipes
• Remove a GPU cooler

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