Correction appended: A caption on page 1B of yesterday's Daily incorrectly described the photos on the page. Clockwise from top, the photos depicted a Wii video game controller, a PlayStation 3 and crowds gathering around the Nintendo booth at the Electronic Entertainment Expo, a video game trade show. The expo photos were taken by Forest Casey.

This is an article in two parts. This is the only way to discuss the new Nintendo Wii and the Sony PS3.

You see, technology writers have to write for the lowest common denominator. They can leave nothing to question, because they are serving as an interpreter does in a foreign land.

And this is great - the first aim of a newspaper is to inform, and a good tech article will do that precisely. The only problem is that this takes up too much space, leaving only a few sentences for a proper review. So you have an 800-word article about the Bugatti Veyron supercar with three paragraphs explaining how a turbocharger works and a scant three sentences about how it goes like hell.

This is patronizing to those who don't understand (those who might not need to understand) and boring to those who do. This is why this article is split into two. The first part is opinionated and reductive, but it hopefully will lend some help to those who are going to be stuck in conversation about these new video game consoles until the end of the holiday shopping season.

The second part is geared toward those who have been following the console wars closer than the most recent elections. My opinions come from hours of playing both the PS3 and Wii at the Electronics Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles this summer. Hopefully it gives more thought to the single toughest question of the year: Nintendo or Sony?

Level 1: Beginner

The Wii is for those who, as children, could not help but touch every toy in the store.

The PS3 is for those who could not help but pay $500 for a Motorola RAZR when it came out.

The Wii's controller senses every motion of your hand and translates it onto the screen. No more will there be cries of "Button masher!" when you are using the controller to chop, slice, flip, swing and shake your way to victory.

The PS3's controller tries to copy the Wii, but it lacks precision and the very rumble feature that made their previous controller stand out from the rest.

The Wii is for those who like to have fun.

The PS3 is for those who strive to be "hardcore," who sacrifice their grades and their social lives on the altar of the 40-hour RPG, who kill their eyesight looking at statistical menus and can explain (and subsequently brag about) the Cell Processor and 1080p.

The Wii is for those who like being outside, still dream of playing real sports and possibly like to cook.

The PS3 is for those who like to be inside playing video games.

Level 2: Expert

If you are still reading, you might have gathered that I am slightly biased toward Nintendo's latest effort. You would be right - I think that the creativity and restraint that went into engineering the Wii is nothing short of epic. I think that Nintendo will surge back into the top rank for consoles sold, a title it has not held since the Super Nintendo more than ten years ago. And I think that this is the kind of comeback that only fate could guide.

Sony has a much different path to take. I feel mixed about their chances of success. I think that Sony Chairman Ken Kataguri's bold statements about the superiority of the PS3 are the same kind of huberis that sunk John Romero after the release of "Dakitana." I think that the price is too high and the Sony brand too weak. I don't like having to buy all of my favorite movies once again in a different format, and Sony's Blu-Ray will passively push me into doing so.

I'm tired of playing the same game over and over again. All of Sony's "killer apps" remind me of a joke I once heard in Chicago's Second City Theatre, one where a beleaguered video-game designer decided to combine the most popular trends, coming up with a game that featured zombies and aliens in a WWII first-person shooter. That sounds an awful lot like "Resistance: Fall of Man."

After playing the brand-new Gran Tourismo HD on the PS3 this summer, I left with no proof that I experienced the next generation. This is truly a console built around the principle that Electronic Arts introduced with the "Madden" franchise - crank a new one out every so often with some updated stats and a fresh look and you're golden. "Madden" has no real competition; it doesn't have to innovate.

After playing the Wii, my heart was pounding.