360 or PS3?

I only own the PS3, and I have the 60GB version. I can't imagine filling that thing up any time soon, but I'm not as hardcore of a gamer as I used to be, so maybe that would become an issue. You can replace the hard drive in the PS3, though, so you could always pop in a 200GB drive or something if you wanted.

Having said that, I did borrow an XBOX 360 for about a month, so I have gotten to play both.

I would base it on a couple factors.

Is $ an issue? If it is, PS3 has the advantage of free online service and basically giving you a free Blu-Ray player if you don't have one.

How interested are you in the 360's exclusive library? I don't buy enough games anymore to worry about it. There are enough good games on the PS3 to keep me busy... but if you are someone that plays EVERY game you want to play... I could certainly see the 360 being the better system for you.

If I was still a hardcore gamer (and money wasn't an issue), I would go 360. I'm not, and the free Blu-Ray player helped sell me personally (as I use it just as much for BD watching as I do for video gaming).

Good luck deciding!

Well, I meant cheaper in that if you buy the 360 you have monthly fees for XBox live service, and if you want a Blu-Ray player you have to pay extra as well.

If you don't care about Blu-Ray (I assume most of us do as movie watchers) or online play, then yeah, there is no price difference. In which case, I would probably say go 360.

I wanted a Blu-Ray player, I didn't want to pay for online play (wouldn't use it enough), and I'll never get through the good games in the PS3's library, so the 360 didn't make sense for me.

Ignore the pros and cons or either system - 360 users are already used to the fact the console dies quite frequently and PS3 users are used to getting the shaft in regarding exclusives and consistant delays.

Go for whichever system's controller suits you best and if you're using the online component - choose the console your mates have.

Games will diversify across both platforms soon enough.

QFT

Also, I'm wondering why your looking at the elite 360 as opposed to the new 60gig 360 that's only $299? My understanding, and feel free to correct me if I'm wrong guys, was the only difference the elite had at it's launch was the massive jump in hard drive space (back when the 360 pro was just 20gig) and an HDMI connection. Now that the 60 gig is out and has the HDMI connection, do you want to pay a hundred bucks more for double the hardrive?

I bought the PS3 and I do think the big deciding factors are:
a) What your friends have for online play
b) Blu-ray

and maybe

c) I reckon the PS3 has more a bit more in the way of quirky games (MGS4, Little Big Planet) and I appreciate that.

Also, I think this whole generation has been a letdown. Way too expensive to get a decent system, controllers, cables, etc. The games aren't that much better. My PS2 and DS are getting as much use as my PS3 right now.

Doesn't the ps3 have built-in wifi? You have to buy that for the 360. That plus Blu-Ray = PS3 for me.

I own both and the 360's online/community features/integration make me appreciate the 360 more. I like my PS3 but it just is never as seamless experience as my 360.

As far as 360's are concerned, I'd actually just go with the 60GB one. The only thing it doesn't have included with it is the huge (but largely unnecessary) hard drive and the HDMI cable dongle. You can easily get around that lack of dongle by just popping the plastic casing off the standard composite/component cable that comes with it and plug in an HDMI cable and that adapter at the same time (that's what I do).

You can also get a ethernet to wifi bridge for much less than Microsoft's wireless adapter (which is still ridiculously priced at $100). Still, if you're going to be hooking it up via WiFi, I'd do some reading about the best solution first.

Seriously the 360 and PS3 are pretty mucb exactly the same consoles. Even their games catalogue is largely shared between them with exclusives becoming something of a dieing breed. I honestly think that if anyone tries to push the case of one console over another they've probably got an agenda of some kind.

Also if you opt for the 360, buy an Arcade and a larger HD. Arcade's are the newer console and they have far less chance of RRODing, Elite's still use the old architecture.

The PS3 may have free online gaming, but it's utterly shambolic compared to the 360.

My PS3 is a paperweight.

But it's such a quiet paperweight. Especially if you never turn it on.

I prefer the 360 controller so much to the PS controller that it hurts. I've always hated the Playstation controllers, and have no idea why they've never changed the basic shape. I would have been happier with the boomerang they almost went with.

The 360 controller might be the best conventional controller I've ever used. If only they'd improve the mushy D-pad.

The PS3's a great system for people who don't play video games much, or at all.

Also, for what it's worth, my 360 is currently a year old and counting without a single hiccup, knock wood.

Most big releases are multiplatform. The PS3 is quiet, solidly built, wi-fi capable out of the box and plays blu-rays.

and up-converts.

If you're on a budget? Go with the Xbox360.

It has a bigger library and you can pick up used games at gamestop a lot cheaper than for the limited library of the PS3. Sure PS3 may pick up steam in the next 24 months as titles are released but more then likely they'll be, as someone noted, cross platform.

I've had my xbox360 for a little over a year and there are a lot of games I still want but don't have time to play \ buy -- while for my PS3 that I bought about two months ago I've picked up about 15 titles and I can't find a single other title I want that is out there*. Also most of the titles weren't available used that I was interested in. (I got Drakes Fortune & Resistance Fall of Man used though...)

* it's of note, most of those titles turned out to be crap ... like the Borne Conspiracy and Battlefield: Bad Company that are also cross platform but I wanted to build my library.

You played 15 games in 2 months?!?! I'm lucky to make it through 1 or 2 a month.

I haven't played all of them yet, I just wanted to build my library. Plus games like The Show 08, Maddon 09, Tiger Woods Golf 08? (I don't remember if it's a yearly title), World Series Of Poker 08 are games I like to play mostly with friends and don't play by myself so we're equals.

The real question is basically, would you rather play Gears of War, Halo games, Rare games, so-so JRPGs, and PC ports or would you rather have whatever really bizarre random stuff that Sony will eventually come out with (plus Team Ico, God of War, Twisted Metal, Resistance, and whatever Naughty Dog is working on). Oh, and MLB 08: The Show is way better than whatever the 2K sports baseball game is.

I've had my PS3 for a year and a half now and they're still saying 'down the road' and 'in the future' while the 360 is basically at its peak RIGHT NOW. And by the time the PS3 is starting to get mastered and up to par in all the areas, there will probably be a new Wii or Xbox out by then anyway.

I'm completely satisfied with my PS3. I haven't turned on my 360 in 6 months.

There should be a new 360 controller with an improved D-Pad out soon. I'm at work so most video game websites are blocked so I can't find a link, but it was unveiled at one of the recent game conventions.

EDIT: Apparently it's a limited edition-only green controller which will only be available in Europe, Asia and Latin America. Why they wouldn't make the improved D-Pad a standard feature on all future controllers is beyond me.

I read about the improved 360 controller on IGN, but I thougt it said we were getting it sometime this fall.

Will PS3 or XBOX 360 work on my 27" analog TV, or do I need to wake up and smell the 21st century and get a new television before I upgrade to a next gen console?

i gotta say the PS3 pulled me in for its blu-ray, but i don't play games on it. if i do play a video game, it's on the wii.

Not sure the PS3 has less exclusives, Sony may actually have more. I believe Sony has a larger group of 1st/2nd party game studios. I'd figure out who's exclusive games you'd prefer play.

As far as the 80GB hard drive on the PS3, it is a nice size and you can always upgrade it yourself with whatever 2.5" SATA HDD you'd like in the future. I think if you find the 120 GB on the 360 to be small, which I don't think you would, it currently can't be upgraded any higher.

Either way, unless blu ray is really important to you, you'll probably be happy with either one, barring a RROD, I suppose. I have a PS3 and I'm very happy with it.

They both will work on your television. Of course, they will look much better on a HDTV.

Firstly, if by the time the PS3 really lays down the gauntlet games-wise (It'll be end of October, 2008 fyi), the next Xbox is out - this isn't saying anything negative about the PS3. Merely that you, as a consumer, are aiming for the shortest lifespan of a console's generation since the Dreamcast.

To categorise the entire PS3 library - both past, current and future as merely "bizarre random stuff" says your definition of bizarre random stuff involves playing "games" on a "television" with a "controller".

It was an unneccesary jab in a forum where PS3 owners are aware of their library being smaller - but that it's a solid library, with very little shit padding out the numbers.

90% of the PS3's library is available on the 360. What's left are the exclusives, which, while there's some quality to be found, is nowhere near as extensive as the 360s, and the PSN, which currently isn't fit to hold XBox Live or the Arcade's jock.

Again, it's all about priorities. If you can live with a Blu-Ray player first, games machine second, meaning you have the patience and enough apathy about the industry to hold out for Home/LittleBigPlanet/whathaveyou to save the day, more power to you.

Trust me, I used to be one of the most vocal defenders of the PS3 on the boards here. I was one of the guys who got it in the first 3 months of it being out.

That being said, I picked up a 360 about a year ago and GENERALLY have found it to be a better gaming system. It is louder, which is really annoying and they do charge for online. The flip side is that they won't let game makers require an install and that online is much more solid than it is on the PS3. When a huge game comes out, how many times has the network gone down on the PS3? Look at Call of Duty 4 or GTAIV. With both of those games, you couldn't hardly play online for the first week because of the server issues.

I'm not trying to crap on the PS3, but when it comes down to it, the 360 makes it easier to use more of the functionality of the console than the PS3 does. If you're just buying one console and aren't clamoring to get Blu-ray it is hands down in the 360's favor (at least in the US).

As far as 'Year of the Playstation', it always seems to be 'next year.' I mean, Little Big Planet and Resistance 2 are going to be good, but I don't think they're the IT games. I think God of War 3 or Team Ico's next project or even Heavy Rain are going to be really great games, I just don't know if they're better than Gears of War, Mass Effect, and not having to deal with a lot of the delays of PS3 versions.

Trust me, as the owner of both, the 360 is the one that's currently less frustrating to own.

Sorry bro, but I played Call of Duty 4 on the PS3 was fine at launch. The servers for CoD4 on the PS3 didn't go down until a month and a half later around Christmas/New Year. In Sony's defense, the only game with server problems at that time was CoD4, which provides their own servers, so technically, PSN didn't go down, only CoD4's servers did. I do recall Xbox LIVE as a whole, going down this past holiday season because of the influx of new users, which admittedly, is a nice problem to have, but one Microsoft should have been prepared for. I will give you the problems with GTAIV on the PS3 at launch trying to play online, but I seem to remember that Xbox LIVE had problems trying to play GTAIV online as well.

I will add, so as not to be a total Sony apologist, that while not a PSN problem, when Warhawk first came out, the game's servers had a problem keeping stats in ranked games for about a week or two until it was patched. Many of my wins and kills were never recorded.

I've got a wired setup that suits me just fine and cheaper options are available. After a year of usage and my biggest download to date (Death Magnetic for GHIII = 1.4 GB), I've still got 8 gigs left. And you get what you pay for with Live. The service is worth every single penny, especially if you buy the 12 Month Card.

The biggest thing I've "had" to buy for the system was a Play and Charge kit.

Does anyone actually pay for this on a month to month basis?

What's with this talk of a new Xbox game console? Is it really time for a new console? I've owned a 360 since launch and it still feels like it was only yesterday that I first got my hands on it.

This is the Xbox 360's third birthday this year. I'd imagine that within the next 2-3 years we'll be getting a new Xbox. I also would assume that MS did their homework and has a lot better process for keeping backward compatibility in the next generation so that people don't feel like they just dropped the old system.

You know what has a massive library of games?

PC gaming. Probably the smarter move.

Riiiiiiight......

Sorry. I should have put some sarcasm marks in there somewhere.

It was a dig at the "size of library - versus the amount of actual quality" argument.

Hey this is a console knife fight, don't be muddying the water with your weird PC gaming ways.

Just a question but aside from Little Big Planet what is actually coming out as an exclusive for the PS3 this year? I say this with genuine interest because I'd love to have something to play on the black monolith.

A new SOCOM, Resistance 2, and Home. I can't remember whether Wipeout HD's still happening this year, but, there's that too.

Everything else, far I know, is multiplatform.

Every single time somebody mentions Resistance 2 as an exclusive I'm taken aback that people give a shit about the Resistance series.

It's desperation I've noticed. If you're in the desert, and someone gives you a glass of tap water....

I'm in the same boat, in that I could go either way on purchasing a 360 or PS3. Although lately I've been leaning more towards just getting a PS3, mostly since I don't play that many games anymore on a frequent basis, and would use it mostly for Blu-Ray.

Yeah, I wasn't that excited by the original Resistance - an 8-player co-op in the sequel is only fun if the engine's particularly solid in the first place. I found it played like a soulless, heavy-engined call of duty game with terrible hit damage that wanted desperately to be Halo.

Since i'm pretty screwed - LBP, Fallout 3 and Bioshock are all coming out in such a short space of time and can't really afford all of them, I think one exclusive's enough to tide me until Killzone in Feb.

Wipeout HD's apparently October too though, if we're adding exclusives to the pile. (EDIT: It's now due September!!!)

Motorstorm 2's apparently October?

Neither of those two are beloved exclusives for sake of - the originals are more than solid games.

It depends on if you want a gaming console or a Blu-Ray player.

It also depends on if you want to walk out of the store feeling embarrassed about your purchase, hiding it in shame as you walk to your car, or if you want to feel good knowing that you're part of the cool herd and everyone will want to be friends with you and make out.