XBox 360 Features

Fake Consoles: A Parental Awareness Article

By Stevie Smith Jan 31, 2008, 12:14 GMT

In a videogame market well stocked with console options, it's already difficult enough for the technologically ignorant to accurately differentiate between the Xboxes, PlayStations, and Nintendos of the world, without low quality hardware imitations making consumer choice even harder. The Vii, not to be confused with the Nintendo Wii. Credit: WiiWii.TV

The Vii, not to be confused with the Nintendo Wii. Credit: WiiWii.TVSo, if you're a discerning parent looking to avoid the tear-strewn young faces that only substandard knockoffs can guarantee on Christmas and birthday morning's, then you'd be wise to study the following examples of what to avoid when looking to secure little Johnny's gaming dream.The Nintendo Wii is currently the world's most popular home-based videogame console – and rather difficult to find through a great many retailers – so it perhaps makes sense that desperate consumers would try looking further afield to secure a unit.However, the easily mollified should exercise extreme caution if they happen upon the Vii, which at first glance looks very much like Nintendo's hugely popular console... though it certainly isn't. Bearing more than just an obvious physical resemblance, this blatant Wii cash-in actually flatters to deceive by offering a selection of games that are even built on motion sensitivity.That being said, anyone falling foul of the Vii will find themselves presented with such gaming gems as Happy Tennis, Catch Fish, Free Craps, and our favourite Fry Egg – not a Wii Sports, Metroid Prime 3 or Super Mario Galaxy in sight.One look at the following commercial (we’re amazed it even has a commercial) should reveal to even the most technically inept of consumers that the Vii should be avoided in favour of logging an order with a trusted retailer.

Sony's powerhouse PlayStation 3 is fast closing the gap on its commercial rivals which is probably why the atrociously named PolyStation 3, which is a mock mini PlayStation 3, has recently popped up on the Chinese market. Despite obviously being much smaller than Sony's authentic piece of kit, the PolyStation 3 is unable to play anything remotely resembling a next-gen title, and offers anyone unlucky enough to purchase it a tiny LCD gaming screen.Hopefully the PolyStation won't find itself lovingly wrapped under any Christmas trees this year, and that even the most gullible consumers will have their alarm bells wrong by its tiny sizing, pop-out screen, and the fact that it's powered by batteries.Check out this video clip of the PolyStation 3 in action to help you avoid alienating beloved members of your family.

Microsoft's Xbox 360 might not be performing especially well at the commercial level outside of the United States and Europe but that hasn't stopped Hong Kong's Cheer-Tech Industries from offering up its 360 lookalike, the PX-3600.Equipped with classic 9-pin controller ports more readily associated with consoles of yesteryear such as the Atari 2600 or Vic-20, this particular imitation comes complete with a selection of built-in videogames, and a pair of controllers (one of which even reportedly has some form of rumble functionality).If there is an upside to the PX-3600 – and there really isn't – then it arrives in the knowledge that Cheer-Tech Industries will only accept wholesale orders of 1000 or more for its game ‘console’ – so only extreme Mormon families looking for seasonal Xbox bargains should perhaps exercise caution in this case.