360 or PS3?

[Schwaltzvald]

Curiously are the 360s region free like the PS3s?

[BooDidley7]

Neither PS3 or 360 is a perfect solution.

360 online is $50/year, plenty of people use mics, usually has more online players than PS3, more in terms of cheap downloadable games content. PS3 online is free, interface is not nearly as refined or deep as 360, not a lot of mic use in just about every game, less downloadable content, offers Home (but who cares?). PS3 has built in WiFi, while 360 makes you shell out another $80-$100 for an adapter. You should consider what system you'd rather game with friends on as well, if online is big deal.

Games. You should look for yourself to judge what exclusives you like. The general trend after 3 or 4 years is that when there's a PS3/360 game on both consoles, the 360 one is usually as good, if not better in terms of build. This may change, but hasn't yet. 360 is entering it's 5th year believe it or not, released in 2005.

System build quality. 360's RROD is well documented. Is it an issue anymore for new systems? I'd hope not, but double check forums to see or maybe guys here know. PS3 on the other hand has been pretty solid, although, I had a firmware update break my system back in September and Sony told me it'd be $150 to fix. Fortunately I fixed it myself by rebuilding the database, a solution SONY SHOULD'VE suggested. Might not be an issue with newer systems, but Sony has so many slightly different iterations of PS3 now, that as a 60GB owner, I hold my breath when forced to update.

PS3 is supposed to let you expand the HDD capacity by pretty much any plug-in USB memory device (or you can even swap out the HDD for any compatible replacement), while 360 is all special overpriced M$ drives. Probably not a huge deal unless you plan on filling over a 100+ GB's on the drive.

For shooting/driving games, 360's triggers probably feel a little more natural for certain actions. PS3 games that put the trigger button on R1 feel fine, but some like GTA4 restrict you to using the mushy R2 to fire, which I don't like.

But really as a choice, it probably comes down to what games you have to play and what games you can live with out.

[linkspast]

PS3 is supposed to let you expand the HDD capacity by pretty much any plug-in USB memory device (or you can even swap out the HDD for any compatible replacement

.

This is so easy to do its almost insulting.

[Arcana]

Curiously are the 360s region free like the PS3s?

They are not.

[BardicKnowledge]

Assuming you don't need a Bluray player, then my advice is to get whichever console your friends already have. I prefer Microsoft's exclusive stuff (1vs100, the upcoming Arcade) to Sony's (Home)...but not so much that I wouldn't have bought a PS3 over my 360 if all my friends had them instead.

[Bahamut]

I think the differences between the two consoles are pretty minute now, and blu-ray will future proof yourself when it comes to movies since it's becoming more popular, so personally I think I'd recommend a PS3.

I wouldn't have said this a few years ago mind you.

[Sir_Snooze]

Hmm...it sounds like PS3 is in the lead at this point, although there are a ton of 360ians, too. I'm half-way to a coin-toss. Or just buying more SNES games, which are awesome and radically power-cool. The cost of vids is extreme on the new consoles - I'll wait until there's a ton of used stuff. Thanks for the input, everybody!

That's the best feeling, eh? Finding used games on the cheap?

Oh, and sorry for putting this in the wrong place.

[AJ-enova]

I'd suggest PS3

Most games are on both

PS3 has more classic exclusives, like Metal Gear solid 4

Also you have all of the PS3's media features like Blu-Ray, Web Browser and even Vidzone...

[LC]

I own a PStriple and I'm enjoying all the features and so far I haven't had any problems with it. I think it comes down to a matter of personal preference really. the most important thing to look at is exclusivity between the two consoles and decide which one has the games that appeal to your personal tastes.

One thing I will say is that if you decide to buy a PS3, look for the older models that still have PS2 backwards compatibility, it's worth the price to know that the last ten years of gaming content is still available to you if you get the sudden urge to play a classic PS2 game

[Gollgagh]

if you do find one of the older ones, consider getting it professionally cleaned. I think dust gives them problems.

I have a backwards compatible PS3 that I bought second hand and it occasionally miscalculates vertices that go to infinity causing odd looking sticks that come out of geometry (on PS3 games only)

but other than that it plays games perfectly

[AJ-enova]

I own a PStriple and I'm enjoying all the features and so far I haven't had any problems with it. I think it comes down to a matter of personal preference really. the most important thing to look at is exclusivity between the two consoles and decide which one has the games that appeal to your personal tastes.

One thing I will say is that if you decide to buy a PS3, look for the older models that still have PS2 backwards compatibility, it's worth the price to know that the last ten years of gaming content is still available to you if you get the sudden urge to play a classic PS2 game

If your in Europe. or at least the UK, thats near impossible. Only the 60GB model (which I'm lucky enough to have) has backwards compatibility. The only way you'd get one is through amazong and the price would be ridiculous!

[Red9]

Also forgot to mention that more and more PS games are becoming availble to download on the PSN for about $10 US. According to the website, PS2 games are next on the list as well.

[Gollgagh]

Also forgot to mention that more and more PS games are becoming availble to download on the PSN for about $10 US. According to the website, PS2 games are next on the list as well.

what is "the website"

[Elsewhere]

I've had an Xbox 360 for about a year now, and it's already stopped working. So PS3 definitely has better build quality.. You can't even touch your 360 while a disc is inside or you're set back another 50-60 bucks >_>. That's happened twice to me so far.

But as for the games, It's really just preference. PS3 also has free online, which Xbox lacks. One thing I like more about the 360 though is the controller. It's usb so you can use it for your PC too, which is a bonus. I don't like the PS3 controller much. The only real reason I have a 360 instead of a PS3 though is that at the time of purchase, I didn't know a single person in my province that had a PS3..

If I had my time back I may have just bought one anyways.

[Necrotic]

But as for the games, It's really just preference. PS3 also has free online, which Xbox lacks. One thing I like more about the 360 though is the controller. It's usb so you can use it for your PC too, which is a bonus. I don't like the PS3 controller much.

There's drivers you can get online to hook up your PS3 controller via USB. There's also ways to hook it up via Bluetooth. It's pretty cool for anyone that's interested.

As an owner of both a 360 and PS3, my vote goes to PS3. Blu-ray, the fact that it's cheaper now, and has more exclusives not available on PC. I also feel it's worth noting that while the PSN is lagging far behind Live in terms of functionality, I rarely have to deal with 12-year-olds who have their hands on a headset and ruin the experience so that's a plus. 360 is FAR superior with online functionality though. It's almost silly how far behind the PS3 can be in terms of voice chat options outside of games, or how Modern Warfare 2 and a bunch of other games I've tried utilize this silly "message box invite" system that's made really tedious to use because of the way the XMB works and stuff.

[Zipp]

I like the PS3's design a lot better, plus it is much quieter and infinitely less prone to breaking. The menu design is easier to navigate on the PS3, too. And the Blu-Ray player is nice. In a couple of years, Blu-Ray is going to dominate the DVD market, so it's nice to have a player available for that.

Ultimately, it really depends on what games you'll be playing. Xbox has a stronger online community (though there are a lot of assholes, more so than on the PS3 community) and better shooters. It's also got Mass Effect, which is far and away its best exclusive.

The PS3 is more for innovative or single player titles and much better on the RPGS, with titles such as Heavy Rain, Little Big Planet, Valkyria Chronicles, and Uncharted 2 gracing it and it alone. MAG is also exclusive for the PS3, if you do happen to get the online thing going.

A lot of games go cross platform, like Arkham Asylum, Dragon Age, and I think Resident Evil 5 and Dead Space as well, though I could be wrong on those last two. In any case, it's not like owning a Wii, where you miss out on 95% of the games that are released. Both systems only have a handful of exclusives that are worth their price. Just depends on which exclusives you are more interested in.

If you're a Final Fantasy fan, go for the PS3, because FFXIII plays much better on the PS3 than it does on the Xbox.

My only problem with the PS3 has been that my fans happen to be louder than the earlier models of the PS3, but it's still quieter than the Xbox360 and it's not that hard to switch out fans if it really bothers you.

[Necrotic]

The PS3 is more for innovative or single player titles and much better on the RPGS,

Debatable, the PS3 really doesn't have a lot of RPG's. In fact, I found Lost Odyssey more enjoyable than anything offered on the PS3 right now (Valkyria Chronicles a possible exception, but it's not my kind of game), and that was a 360 exclusive.

As for whether the titles are more innovating for single player titles, also debatable. One things for sure though, a lot of the catalogue the 360 had in terms of exclusivity (like Bioshock or Fallout's DLC) is now multi-platform, and in the case of Mass Effect and many other titles still considered "exclusive", you can find find them on PC (with a varying quality.)

If you're a Final Fantasy fan, go for the PS3, because FFXIII plays much better on the PS3 than it does on the Xbox.

1up.com's Jeremy Parish sang a different tune. Until the full game comes out though, we'll never really have any way of knowing (it's not on 360 in Japan.)

[Gollgagh]

also why oh why did square change the confirm button on all of their games to X for all of their US games since FFVIII? for every game previous that, it was always the right face button (A on SNES, circle on PS1)

this has bothered the fuck out of me since then and I have taken every opportunity to remap the confirm button to circle that has presented itself to me. (this of course made me extremely angry when I found out that you can't remap buttons in FFXII)

Of course, the 360 edition of the game comes on multiple discs thanks to the system's lack of Blu-ray support, but I survived the PlayStation era and its ghastly four-disc games and never particularly cared that I had to swap discs once every 15 hours of game time. I can't imagine it'll make a difference in 2010, either. Given all the time eaten up on modern consoles for installations and updates and patches, 30 seconds to insert a separate disc is utterly trivial, and honestly I feel sort of embarrassed for people who think it's a genuine issue.

this is exactly how I feel about multiple disc games

[SpanishFly]

My vote would go to PS3 for obvious reasons. I mean, I've NEVER been close to a Microsoft supporter really and from everything I've been able to tell, the 360's games seem much more like they're either fighters (which are also on ps3) or FPS's, with the odd racer. It just feels like it's essentially a PC that breaks every year to me. I've had my PS3 for a while now, and I don't regret getting it at all. That being said, I've also got a Wii in my house so I pretty much get access to any console games that aren't Halo/Left4Dead/Mass Effect.

[prophetik music]

I like the PS3's design a lot better, plus it is much quieter and infinitely less prone to breaking.

i hear this constantly, and it's something i need to correct.

with the advent of the jasper motherboard around when RE5 came out, squaretrade reported that console failure rates in the first year of usage dropped abruptly from around 31% - 1 in 3 - to around 4%, which is WELL below industry standards for high-end electronics. some 90% of these failures were either the power brick failing (due to insufficient cooling, even though jasper bricks are significantly cooler than the old metal ones) or dvd drive failing. only .4% of total failures were motherboard related (aka, RROD).

all new 360s in the Arcade and Elite boxes are jaspers. you might find one from a year and a half ago still on a shelf somewhere - this is easily noticed by looking at the manufacturing date. if it's in 2008, it's likely not a jasper.

i should note that the PS3's failure rate - be it blu-ray failure, psu overload, or hard drive failure - still sits between 7 and 8 percent in the first year.

tl,dr: jasper 360s fail less than slim PS3s. around 45% less.

that said, it comes down to exclusives. gears of war, halo, left 4 dead, mass effect, alan wake, splinter cell, and fable top the list of console exclusives for microsoft. i'm not as familiar with the list for ps3, but i know it includes, god of war, heavy rain, and most of the good JRPGs available. often microsoft will pay for console exclusivity for a time on a game, like fallout 3's DLC and bioshock's 18-month release delay. this can be good - for fallout 3, it worked out for 360 in a great way. it can also be bad, like Star Ocean 4, where the 360 version was basically a paid beta for the PS3 version that recently came out with significantly improved graphics and bugfixes.

according to metacritic, 360 exclusives generally score about three to five points higher overall. this is raised by some 360/PC games which aren't technically exclusives. metacritic doesn't really showcase anything specific, though, since it's just an amalgamation of review scores.

in general, on cross-platform content, it's rare to see a game developed lead on the PS3 - meaning that generally these games look better on the 360 despite the PS3's superior hardware (bayonetta and ghostbusters are recent examples of this issue). that said, when a game's developed lead on the PS3, it look incredible compared to the often shoddy 360 port. FFXIII is likely going to fall into this catagory.

if you're into high-definition content, the blu-ray player is nice but somewhat negated by the availability of netflix on the 360. it's kind of a push.

[Zipp]

Look man, I've heard all sorts of statistics around failure rates. I don't really trust any of them anymore.

What I DO know is that I don't have a single friend with an Xbox360 who hasn't returned at least two of them, while of all my friends who own PS3's, only one had a problem and their PS3 was pre-owned. Also, it was fixed within the week by Sony and they were sent the same model of PS3.

In my entire life, I've never had a Sony system fail on me but it seems every time I go over to play Xbox at a friend's house, it's a new system.

So I'm gonna go off my personal experience on this one and say that Xbox's are an accident waiting to happen.

Note that I'm not calling you out, or anything. Your statistics may be spot on. But I'm not going to change my argument because, aside from a couple internet posts, I have absolutely no evidence that Xbox's don't die frequently.

[Malaki-LEGEND.sys]

Mephisto would know about it.

Right now if I didn't already own a 360, I'd probably say go with the PS3. My big problem with either console however is shelling out 60 bucks a game and even 50 just for a new controller though.

[Schwaltzvald]

I'm not going to change my argument because, aside from a couple internet posts, I have absolutely no evidence that Xbox's don't die frequently.

My argument against the 360 is that for the most part, the games that debut on it usually have their PC counterpart come out at the same time or eventually. With that logic I don't need another machine that can play 360 games when I already have one called a desktop pc that I built personally to be able to play them if it came down to it.

Not to mention the 360 controller still sucks imo.

[Dr.Flintlock]

Mephisto would know about it.

Right now if I didn't already own a 360, I'd probably say go with the PS3. My big problem with either console however is shelling out 60 bucks a game and even 50 just for a new controller though.

Bargain gaming is your friend. Wait a couple months or so for the stuff to drop in price. Unless you're looking for an exclusive, they usually drop down to 50 or 40 by that time.

As far as my stance goes, I'm going through another 360 now (My last one crapped out on me when I tried to load my berzerker on Borderlands.....I haven't touched the poor bastard since). I would've picked up a PS3 instead because generally speaking, the price cuts on the system have made it appear a little nicer, and I'd hope I would've have to worry about as many hardware crashes. Unfortunately, I've invested a small fortune in downloadable games on my 360 (around 35 games or so) and would thus lose all that if I switched over. Kind of a shame seeing as many of the games are available on PSN...Oh well.

I'd say the PS3 unless you REALLY want the exclusives the other system has to offer. I'd personally rather be playing stuff like Uncharted and Ratchet and Clank instead of Halo and Viva Pinata.

[Sir_Snooze]

I'd say the PS3 unless you REALLY want the exclusives the other system has to offer. I'd personally rather be playing stuff like Uncharted and Ratchet and Clank instead of Halo and Viva Pinata.

Very true, very true. I'm thinking of PS3 when Tales of Vesperia is confirmed for it in N. America. Tales is the only reason I'm joining the new generation (except for the Wii, which is my family's machine, despite the fact I bought all the stuff for it...) I might get another Wii, though. Miss out on a lot of stuff, but get Nintendo's roster...