360 or PS3?

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snakeboy1
Posts: 1446
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

360 or PS3?

Postby snakeboy1 » December 3rd, 2008, 12:07 am

I think early next year I will getting either an Xbox 360 or a PS3. I've been going back and forth in my head between the two so I decided to get opinions from people on here. I figured I'd give you some info on what I like/don't like about each system, and then you could chime in with opinions and perhaps tell me which system you think would be best for me based on my preferences. So, here it goes...

-The games that I'm most interested in:
 
360:
Condemned (must-have)
Geometry Wars 2 (definite must-have)
Project Gotham Racing 3
Earth Defense Force 2017
Gears of War 1 + 2
Dead Rising
Ridge Racer 6

PS3:
Motorstorm 1 + 2 (must-have)
Little Big Planet
Uncharted: Drake's Fortune
Heavenly Sword
Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds
Resistance
Ratchet and Clank
The next God of War (definite must-have)

Both:
Bioshock (must-have)
Call of Duty 4
Dead Space
Midnight Club LA
Resident Evil 5
Silent Hill Homecoming
Grand Theft Auto IV

-I enjoy all types of games but usually prefer simpler, arcade-like games.

-Some of my favorite genres include racing, horror, and platformers.

-Usually don't care for RPGs.

-Enjoy FPSs but not a HUGE fan.

-I like online services that offer downloadable games, but I'm not that interested in playing games online.

-In my opinion the biggest advantage of the 360 is Xbox Live Arcade, though I hate the fact that I'll have to buy a $100 adapter to go online.

-For me the biggest advantage for the PS3 is its durability. The 3 year warranty Microsoft offers is nice, but I would like to be enjoying my system 5-10 years down the line.

-Not sure if this should have any bearing on my decision, but I love my PS2 while I could take or leave my Xbox.

Any thoughts would be appreciated!

Jake


Julio III

360 or PS3?

Postby Julio III » December 3rd, 2008, 7:12 am

Firstly, for the 360 you don't have to buy an adaptor to go online. There is an ethernet socket right on the back of all machines. If you want the luxury of wi-fi on your xbox then you'll need to fork out for that expensive adaptor.

I'm like you in that I don't care much for playing games online but like downloadable games. I like the way all XBLA games have demos and quite a few disc-based games have downloadable demos as well. I'm a fan of the friends list/achievement thing on the xbox as well.

As for the games you have mentioned, I would say why not choose Project Gotham 4 over number 3 as it is has more cities, more cars and is an excellent game (although lacking split-screen 4-player, which I believe number 3 does as well). And even though Geometry Wars 2 is out now I still prefer the original Retro Evolved and as its available at a bargain price now its definitely worth getting. You also mention Ridge Racer 6 for the 360, but there is also Ridge Racer 7 on the PS3 which I believe is pretty much the same game. There are some other Xbox racers worth considering like GRID, Pure, Forza 2 etc, although PS3 has Gran Turismo and Wipeout.

Another thing to consider is controllers and Blu-Ray. Personally, I prefer the XBox controller but think Blu-Ray would be nice, especially if you have a large 1080p TV. Another thing is the price, the 360 is now even cheaper than the Wii for the basic model.


Steve1
Posts: 285
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

360 or PS3?

Postby Steve1 » December 3rd, 2008, 7:53 am

I can offer my somewhat biased opinion on the matter. I would get an Xbox 360 for the following reasons.

1) The new systems out there don't seem to be experiencing the Red Ring issue (certainly not as often as before, if at all)
2) Price. The Arcade model is cheap at $199. Microsoft also has an upgrade offer to get a 20 GB harddrive for $20. I have the 20 GB model and still have 5 GB left after getting launch system (no red ring by the way)
3) Games/price. I put games and price together for one reason. Some games, while not exclusive to Xbox anymore are cheaper on that platform. Bioshock is a good example. You could get Bioshock and Earth Defense Force 2017 for the price of PS3 Bioshock (roughly). Not to mention, I just think Xbox has a better selection of games - I'm sure people will disagree
4) Arcade. I didn't know how to respond to this since I  admit a lack of knowledge on PSN offerings. You also didn't mention what kind of arcade games you are looking for. This would be an issue because there are some compilation discs available and that would not require you get on Xbox Live. I know Popcap has 1 disc out and 1 coming soon. Also, there is the Namco Arcade just released (although I don't know how that would work since it seems tied to Xbox Live even though it is on a disc). I would however suggest getting on Xbox Live (even with the Wireless adapter at $90-100) because of games like Castle Crashers, Braid and many others. Again, I don't know what type of arcade you like.

Good luck. I'm sure you will enjoy either system.

riftt

360 or PS3?

Postby riftt » December 3rd, 2008, 2:06 pm

buy an xbox360 if you want the red ring of death

ps3 has wifi, it has totally free online gaming, and it has blu ray.  Once you watch a blu ray movie on your hdtv you will never go back. 

ps3 also looks nicer, has a better controller, and has mgs4

Roperious1
Posts: 248
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

360 or PS3?

Postby Roperious1 » December 3rd, 2008, 3:15 pm

Keep in mind that for PS3 the next Uncharted is coming, and of course MAG (Massive Action Game) as well as Killzone 2 is shaping up to be a killer app- providing it lives up to the hype. The PS3 is just a more complete system, no core/arcade/elite distinctions to pick between when you look at Sony's line. Only hard drive space and a pack in game (Uncharted with the 160GB), but remember you can always upgrade your hard drive yourself with a standard laptop hard drive, which can be purchased on sale at many big box retail stores at discounted rates that make it [I]much[/I] more affordable than upgrading your 360 hard drive with their proprietary drives. My vote is for the PS3.

Chris D.

360 or PS3?

Postby Chris D. » December 3rd, 2008, 3:33 pm

If I had to choose between the two I would get the 360, even if price was not a factor. I like the game selection better, the controller works better for me, and the selection of downloadable games is more to my liking (you can still download games with a free Silver Xbox live membership).

To my knowledge, if you're buying a PS3 now, you're not going to get backwards compatibility, so that is another area where with the Xbox you at least get BC with several hundred Xbox titles. My PS3 is the MGS4 bundle and the PS2 BC works fine however, and it's played every PS2 games I've tried so far.

As far as price goes, if you get the 360 Arcade for $199 you can purchase a 20G hard drive from Microsoft for $20. If you download older arcade games off Xbox live I would say this would still be plenty of storage. If you're wanting it to store movies, etc. then obviously you would want bigger.

I would get a PS3 if I cared more about Blu Ray and multimedia, but for gaming I think the 360 easily wins with the more important exclusive titles (IMO) and better graphics when titles are available for both systems (like Fallout 3).  I have all three systems and I probably spend the most time playing the 360 followed closely by the Wii. My PS3 rarely gets used, and that's mostly to play PS2 titles, though I try to rent most of the bigger exclusive titles for it. Just my opinion after having all three systems around for a while. I was a big Sony fan last generation, and I'm glad they're still trying, but I think they're failing miserably when it comes to getting value for your gaming dollar this time around. With the 360 you can be playing games in HD for half the price of the PS3 if you don't require a wi-fi adaptor and a huge hard drive. After that it comes down to exclusive games and which are more to your liking.

snakeboy1
Posts: 1446
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

360 or PS3?

Postby snakeboy1 » December 3rd, 2008, 3:43 pm

Oops, forgot to mention that I don't have an HDTV and don't plan on getting one soon, so BluRay means nothing to me.

Julio, the reason why I didn't mention the first Geometry Wars is because I already have GW Galaxies for the Wii. And the reason why I am more interested in Project Gotham Racing 3 over 4 is only because the Critic gave it a better score, and I trust his judgement.

Steve, if I get an Xbox Arcade system, how would I go about getting the 20GB hard drive for $20? Also, as far as arcade games go, I enjoy almost all kinds. The only ones I don't really like are fighters. My favorites are shooters like Centipede and Galaga. However, I do already own a lot of compilations for the PS2.

Anyways, thanks for all the comments so far!

wdm0744

360 or PS3?

Postby wdm0744 » December 3rd, 2008, 3:53 pm

People will disagree, but you are taking a chance getting a 360.  The reliablitity is just too dodgy.

I treated mine like gold (I even set up a fan to cool them and put them on top of a stool in the middle of my living room to make sure they wouldn't overheat) and I still experienced frequent freezes on various games (and often after only a short time playing) and a red light in the 4th position (equally as deadly as the RRoD and caused by downloading mandatory system updates).  All told I went through four 360s before I finally switched to PS3.

PS3 is just a more durable product, and while it may not have some exclusives like Gears of War, it performs equally as well (or, in some case - in my opinion - even better) on multi-platform games. 

Drakes Fortune and Rachet and Clank are both great games, and you can only get them on PS3 (as you know).  I haven't had a chance to try Little Big Planet yet, but it looks great too. 

I also think that PS3 has a great graphics capability.  Drake's Fortune and Motorstorm are absolutely the most gorgeous games I have ever played. I know that these games aren't on 360, so we can't judge screenshots side by side, but - then again, maybe these games wouldn't even run on a 360?

Now, it must be said (as many have lamented here) that game installations and system updates on the PS3 are a pain.  It's the only disadvantage I can think of, although, bear in mind that not all games need installation and the system updates have indeed improved the PS3 overall.

Two last things:
1. Don't discount the advantage of blu-ray.  Not only do you get a great blu-ray player (I think C-Net uses it as their test model) but the extra disc compacity will allow for games that are too big to fit on one dvd disc to be played on PS3.  I believe that the dvd drive on the 360 will prove to be a gaming disadvantage in the long run.

2. If you ever do decide that you want to play online (I wasn't that interested in online play either, until COD4), you will have to fork out $50 extra a year to play on Xbox Live.  All online features are free and available on PS3 right out of the box.

Hope this helps.  Good luck.

Steve1
Posts: 285
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

360 or PS3?

Postby Steve1 » December 3rd, 2008, 7:25 pm

I may have spoken too soon on getting the $20 HD attachment. I can't find it anymore on the Xbox website (although I admit I didn't look that hard - it was right up front last time). Having said that, even if I went with the Pro model ($299), I still think it is a better deal than the PS3 - especially that you have no interest in Blu-ray. The bottom line is games in your case and I just find the Xbox more appealing. It would be interesting if someone could say what is available on the PS network because I think the quality of games on Live are among the best available. You can check the reviews of some of the games I mentioned in my first post.

2 other comments:
1) People using the Red Ring argument now just can't come up with any other reason to not buy an Xbox. While noone is disputing the problem, I don't think you will have the problem with the new systems.
2) Xbox Live is $50 per year ($4 /month). I think that is small price to pay for what you get. Also, if you are not the kind of person who plays online, you might not care about your gamertag, etc. In that case, you could probably live off all the 3 month trial subscriptions that are available all over the place. I know someone who did that and never paid the $50 - of course, they just had a new gamertag every three months.

I hate to be wishy-washy but I'm sure you would enjoy both systems. I just think the 360 has an edge.

Chris D.

360 or PS3?

Postby Chris D. » December 3rd, 2008, 9:49 pm

You can still get a cheap hard drive from Microsoft if you bought the Arcade system.

For $29.95 you get a 20 gig hard drive and three months of Xbox Live Gold membership. 

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/hardware/hddoffer/default.htm

For many people this is all the hard drive space they will ever need.  Actually, if you don't download games you could get by with just a memory card, but there are some good games available for purchase online so it's nice to have that freedom.


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