Which System?

The answer to the question "which system?" depends upon the user population of your library. Who comes there and uses the consoles? Teens? Adults? Children? Perhaps you want to survey your user population, or see how much volume use games take up in your computer usage, or track who has used the previous console(s)/how many times it has been checked out, if you have a prior system. If you're not seeing much use of the current system, is it due to obsolescence or disinterest? You want to know this before potentially breaking the budget on something few would use.

You may also want to see what user preferences are. Do they have systems at home? If I know that the majority of my YA population has a particular system at home, do I want to duplicate those systems, or introduce something new? Also, is this for in-library use, in a game room, or to check out?

Finally, what is my budget? What do other libraries use, and what has their experience been with certain systems?

I think my 'dream system' would be a Wii. My reasoning would be that there would be plenty of cross-use among adults and teens, and it is still exclusive enough to be something not everyone would have at home. The availability and expense could be prohibitive; however, it would have a longer shelf-life, being relatively new, than an older system that might be replaced in a year by newer technology. You don't want to purchase something cheap that no one wants to use. The Wii has enough excitement factor built in to generate use and enthusiasm.