The holidays are closing in, and some people might be thinking about buying a video game system.

First off, make sure you consider the users. The systems appeal to different types of people. The Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 have more Mature-rated, action-oriented games, while the Wii is better for families. The PS3 also is a Blu-ray player, for those who care about high-definition movie-watching.

The DS and PSP are both great for gamers on the go, but the DS has a better selection of games, and the PSP has the ability to play movies. The DS also is sturdier for those with a tendency to break things.

Here are the options:

-- PlayStation 3: There have been many versions of the system, each with a different amount of hard drive space. The options now in stores are 120GB ($299.99) and 250GB ($349.99). They are of the new, slim variety.

If you look hard enough (likely online), you may find the fatter 80GB and 60GB systems. Only the 60GB system is fully backward-compatible with PlayStation 2 games, and it will be nearly impossible to find.

-- Xbox 360: You'll find in stores the black Elite system with a 120GB hard drive ($299.99) and the white Arcade system ($199.99), which has only a small internal hard drive of 256MB.

Most players will fill that space quickly just with game saves. For this reason, I recommend getting the Elite; you'll spend more in the long run if you buy an Arcade and a separate hard drive.

-- Wii: There's only one Wii, which sells for $199.99. But you might want to consider a number of add-ons.

The Wii's emphasis is on family multiplayer, so you'll probably want at least one more remote/nunchuk controller combo. Those will run you $39.99 and $19.99 respectively. You also might want more memory, which would require buying an SD memory card.

Some Wii games use the new MotionPlus accessory, which makes the controls more sensitive. This costs $24.99 for one, or you can get a remote/MotionPlus combo for $54.99. Games using it will indicate so on the back of the box.

-- There are multiple versions of both handheld systems floating around:

PSP: The new, smaller PSPgo ($249.99) has no disk drive; it's downloads only.

The PSP 3000 ($169.99) is the disk-drive model you're likely to find in stores, though you may find the 2000 and original models online. The 3000 is an improvement on the previous two.

DS: The DSi ($169.99) and the DS Lite ($129.99) both can play all DS games, but there are key differences.

The DSi includes two cameras, a microphone and slightly bigger screens. The DS Lite has a slot to play older Game Boy Advance games.

If you have no interest in the somewhat-gimmicky cameras, the DS Lite is a perfectly fine choice.

For all these systems, be on the lookout for bundles that include the system and a few games. These are usually great deals and should be considered, especially if the games are ones you'd want anyway.

Reach Aimee Green at 473-7326 or Aimee.Green@lee.net.