Wow. That’s the first thing that comes to mind when I look back to our PS3 vs. XBOX 360 articles (the original, written by a game developer friend of mine when the PS3 launched, and the first annual comparison article written by myself a year later). The feedback I’ve received for these articles has been tremendous, not just in amount but in quality as well. Most people agree that the articles are among the very few on the net that don’t take sides in the argument, and offer a fair comparison of both consoles. They somehow managed to make both groups of fanboys happy.
As always, I will remain completely impartial for this article as well. I am going to keep things as objective as possible, leaving most everything else up to you to decide. If you expect me to tell you which console is the right one for you to buy, or which one “has better graphics” think again. Only you can know that. My goal is to provide you with enough information that you should be able to know clearly which one is better for you. So if you haven’t read our prior articles, you might want to do so first.
Click below to read the entire 4200+ word article :)
Price
What a way to start things off! The prices of next-gen consoles have dropped dramatically since the PS3 was introduced. Last year, we were talking about $500 and $600 models of the PS3, and $280 and $350 versions of the XBOX 360. Console SKUs have changed a lot in the past year as well, especially in the case of the PS3. We have been tracking their changes here and here, so you should go there to see what the latest features are. This is especially important with regards to the PS3, where features seem to be dropped rather than added with every SKU change.
In terms of price, the PS3 can be had for $399 for the 80GB version, and $499 for the 160GB version. It makes almost no sense to pay the extra $100 for the larger hard drive, as the consoles are otherwise identical (except for the fact that the 160GB comes with Drake’s Fortune and Pain, which may or may not make up for the extra cost depending on the type of games you like to play). If you really need the space, a 320GB laptop drive is no more than $80 these days, and it’s very easy to install into the PS3.
As far as the XBOX 360 goes, Microsoft have aggressively dropped the price on their console to the point where the low-end version without a hard drive costs $50 less than a Wii. It even comes with a full game (Sega Superstars Tennis at this time – obviously intended to compete with potential Wii Sports buyers) as well as a collection of XBLA games on disc. If you want to spend no more than $200, and are choosing between a Wii and a 360, the answer is obvious: if you like playing video games, get a 360. If you want to have something sitting around that your friends and family will play once in a while after a few drinks, get a Wii.
The ‘regular’ versions of the XBOX 360 (with a hard drive) are $299 for a 60GB version, and $399 for a 120GB Elite. Both versions come bundled with the same two games at this time; Lego Indiana Jones, and Kung-Fu Panda. So again, there is really not much reason to spend the extra $100, unless you really need the extra hard drive space. Unlike the PS3, you will need to spend that extra cash if you want the space, because the 360’s drive format is proprietary. So if you can justify the need for 120GB, get the Elite. Just be mindful that you aren’t getting much else besides a black paint job and an HDMI cable.
So the main contenders are the Playstation 3 80GB for $399, and the XBOX 360 60GB for $299. For many people, this is all that matters, and they could just stop reading here. After all, XBOX 360 sold over twice as many units at the beginning of the 2008 xmas buying seas as the PS3 (836K vs. 378K – Source: NPD).
One major issues with the XBOX 360’s price is that it still does not have integrated Wi-Fi in the box (no, not even the so-called “Elite”). If you need to use Wi-Fi to connect to the internet rather than cables, you will be required to spend around $100 for a proprietary Wireless adapter. That is absolutely ridiculous for a simple USB adapter that normally costs $20 or so. Here’s a tip: online import stores generally sell them for less, since XBOX 360 accessories cost much less in Asia.
Performance
If you pay attention to actual game developers, and not the angry fanboys, you will learn that no, the Playstation 3 doesn’t have “more graphics power” than the 360. The fact is, XBOX 360’s Xenos GPU itself has far more computing power than the RSX GPU
that resides in the PS3. Does this mean the 360 has “better graphics”? I don’t know, that is a subjective matter, beyond the scope of this objective
comparison, and entirely up to you to decide. If you like what you see
on the PS3, then to you, it has “better graphics”. If you like what you see on
the 360, then there you go. That is all subjective, and not the goal of this
article. The CPU power is another story however; on paper the Cell has a lot more potential than the triple-core Xeon that resides in the 360. Last year, I wrote,
…I fully expect the PS3 to win this category – eventually. To what extent, I’m not sure (very likely it’s only going to be the blockbuster first-party titles that take full advantage of Cell), and when this will occur, I’m not sure either. Obviously, one full year wasn’t enough.
One year certainly wasn’t enough, but were two? That’s a subjective matter,
and up to you to decide. For my money, not many games look better than MGS4 on
PS3, and Killzone 2 is looking really good. However, “Blockbuster” exclusives will almost always look
really good, and comparing one to the other is pretty much pointless.
If Killzone 2 is any indication, it looks like PS3’s Cell architecture is finally beginning to flex its muscle. It is possible that the 360 has already met its full potential, and the PS3 is still getting there, at least for AAA exclusives
are concerned. That is purely conjecture though, and that’s not what this article is about.
XBOX 360 had a huge advantage in most third-party games in 2007. We wrote that first of all, games aren’t really “Full HD” at this point. Games run in much lower resolutions in order to keep the overall quality and effects high. Make no mistake; you need a PC to play games with high detail, full HD graphics; both consoles lag far behind a well equipped PC. But I digress; when it comes to third-party titles throughout its first year, PS3 games were often late and featured noticeably lower quality graphics when compared to the same games on 360. Is that the case now? Sort of, but it’s not nearly as bad. Let’s take a look at some familiar multi-platform games of 2008:
- Fallout 3 – looks essentially the same on both, but PS3 version lacks antialiasing. The PS3 version initially had bugs, but they have since been patched.
- Bioshock – Despite coming out a year later, the PS3 version of Bioshock was pretty much a mess at first. Some of the textures are noticeably lower, and the framerate stutters often. A patch improved things, but the framerate is still lower.
- Dead Space – The developers have been quoted that working with Sony is “challenging” so the old mantra of the Sony and Playstation being tough to work with hold true to this day. Thankfully, they were able to manage a good experience on both consoles, and both versions play about the same.
- Soul Calibur IV – The 360 version runs in a 960p frame buffer, but Namco-Bandai decided to downsample the 360’s resolution down to 720p to smooth the image rather that utilize AA. However, the difference is not significant, so both versions look pretty close to the same (the 360 does have some extra lighting effects). Since you can download both Darth Vader and Yoda on either version, even that has become a moot point.
- Devil May Cry 4 – Remember this one? It came out in 2008 as well. Unlike most games, this isn’t a port from one console to another. Rather, Capcom develops their games on a tri-platform engine (Framework MT), then compile them for PC, PS3, and XBOX 360. Antialiasing is present on the 360 version, since it is essentially ‘free’. To keep it running at 720p with a decent framerate on the PS3, Capcom utilized a pseudo-AA effect by shifting frames and creating a blur effect. It does smooth things out, but during fast moving scenes it tends to stand out.
In the end, I think we can say that multiplatform gaming is getting closer to parity, but it’s not quite there yet. The 360’s superior graphics power is especially applicable to multi-platform games
that do not get a lot of development time to make full use of Cell architecture,
and the XBOX 360’s GPU allows it to run at higher resolutions while eliminating jaggies with “Free” Antialiasing.
Furthermore, Playstation 3 titles tend to ship with bugs that get patched at a later time. This is nothing new to PC gamers of course, but definitely quite new to console gamers (and not exclusive to PS3 either – plenty of XBOX 360 games get patched as well).
You should also consider that many games require a mandatory installation on the Playstation 3, and in many cases load times are still about the same as a DVD would be. With the XBOX 360, you have the choice of installing a game to the hard drive, and when you do you will instantly notice faster load times and quieter operation. Comparing DMC4 load times
on an installed PS3 version to an installed XBOX 360 version is quite significant.
Game Selection
This was a touchy subject for many Sony fanboys who read last year’s article. They stated that it wasn’t “fair” to compare the game selection of the 360, which had an extra year’s worth of game releases. My answer to them is, it doesn’t matter which console came out first. These articles are about what is out there RIGHT NOW.
Last year, the overall quality of exclusive titles was clearly better on the 360. With games like Bioshock, Forza 2, Halo 3, and Mass Effect, the 360 had many “Editor’s Choice” worthy titles, as well as a few “Game of the Year” contenders for 2007. Meanwhile, Sony’s best exclusives were Ratchet & Clank, Heavenly Sword, and Uncharted. Good games to be sure, but not exactly the same caliber. So have things switched around in 2008? Let’s take a look:
| XBOX 360 Exclusives released in 2008 | |
| Title | GameRankings Score |
| Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts | 80 |
| Command & Conquer 3: Kane’s Wrath | 75 |
| Culdcept Saga | 77 |
| Dance Dance Revolution Universe 3 | 72 |
| Dark Messiah Might and Magic: Elements | 53 |
| Fable II | 89 |
| Frontlines: Fuel of War | 77 |
| Gears of War 2 | 94 |
| Guilty Gear 2: Overture | 60 |
| Infinite Undiscovery | 68 |
| Kingdom Under Fire: Circle of Doom | 56 |
| Left 4 Dead | 90 |
| Lips | 72 |
| Lost Odyssey | 79 |
| Namco Museum Virtual Arcade | 74 |
| Naruto: The Broken Bond | 81 |
| Ninja Gaiden II | 82 |
| Scene It? Box Office Smash | 76 |
| Spectral Force 3: Innocent Rage | 60 |
| Supreme Commander | 59 |
| Tales of Vesperia | 83 |
| Too Human | 68 |
| Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise | 83 |
| Warhammer: Battle March | 57 |
| You’re in the Movies | 56 |
| Zoids Assault | 47 |
| Playstation 3 Exclusives released in 2008 | |
| Title | GameRankings Score |
| Buzz! Quiz TV | 82 |
| Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice | 80 |
| Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds | 81 |
| Gran Turismo 5 Prologue | 80 |
| Haze | 57 |
| LittleBigPlanet | 94 |
| Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots | 92 |
| MLB 08: The Show | 86 |
| Monster Madness: Grave Danger | 55 |
| MotorStorm: Pacific Rift | 82 |
| Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm | 76 |
| NBA 09: The Inside | 64 |
| Resistance 2 | 88 |
| SingStar | 83 |
| SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Confrontation | 66 |
| Valkyria Chronicles | 87 |
This table includes games that are “console exclusive” but are also available on PC.
Green = over 80% score in GameRankings
Bold = Worthy of Game of the Year consideration (this is regardless of their GR scores)
These lists cover the entire calendar year of 2008. Keep in mind that the intention of displaying exclusives like this is not to determine which console “is better”. It is assumed that the multiplatform games are essentially equal on both, and there are plenty of really good multi-platform games. In fact, looking at these lists, only 3 to 5 exclusive games are really worthy of GOTY consideration.
What we can see by looking at these tables, is that the 360 certainly has a lot more shovelware (especially from Japan). Aside from the crap, both consoles offer about the same amount of “good” exclusive titles. And finally, it sort of shows the futility of aggregated scores; are SingStar and Buzz really “better” than Banjo-Kazooie and Disgaea 3?
Looking ahead into 2009, the future of exclusives on XBOX 360 seems somewhat questionable at this point. Little is known about many of the titles, and they have yet to have their desirability (or even 2009 release dates) confirmed. Some of the titles we’re looking forward to are Forza Motorsport 3, Halo 3: Recon, Star Ocean, and (maybe) Alan Wake. Mass Effect 2 is questionable at best. XBOX 360 is however getting some nice exclusive downloadable content, like GTA IV and Fallout 3 (hope you didn’t trade those in!). On the PS3 side, we have Heavy Rain, Infamous, God of War 3, Uncharted 2, Killzone 2, and White Knight Chronicles to look forward to. Gran Turismo 5 may even make it by the end of the year, but probably only in Japan. Those are some pretty big sequels right there, but much of it is conjecture at this point, so we can’t comment on it too much. In November, we’ll look at how each console’s year went ;)
Online Support
Sony has come a long way in the year since we last did this comparison. Can you imagine playing a game, and not having access to your friends list? And whether you like it or not, a lot of people can’t live without achievements. Sony has added these features to their interface, while maintaining free online access. It’s not as good as it sounds however; chatting with friends is still clunky as hell, and it’s still difficult to invite them to games (there is still no auto invite function).
Some games have added better interfaces (Burnout Paradise comes to mind), but in the end, PS3’s online functionality is very poor in comparison to XBOX Live. I guess you can still say “You get what you pay for” in this case.
Another issue is the fact that there are fewer people buying Playstation 3 games. Not only is the console being outsold by quite a significant margin by the XBOX 360 (4.62 million compared to 2.56 million in 2008 alone, and 9.15 million compared to 3.25 million in the lifetime of the consoles), it also sells less games per console. That means that you will find many more online games of Call of Duty 4, for instance, on the XBOX 360. Also, even your multi-console friends will probably choose to play online games on the 360, because of everything I mentioned here.
New Interfaces
Both Sony and Microsoft launched their big interface upgrades right before the holiday buying season, and if there was one thing that set the consoles apart, these new features are it. On the Microsoft side, the entire console interface has been retooled. I mentioned in last year’s comparison article:
I prefer the PS3’s interface to the bright, flashy, sluggish interface of the XBOX 360. Turning on the PS3 to watch a high-definition movie feels like a classy, almost ‘high end’ experience. In contrast, fire up the XBOX 360 and you are treated to a whining fan, screeching DVD drive, and bright flashy colours on your screen.
The “New XBOX Interface” or NXE replaces the annoyingly low-framerate, bright flashy interface with a sleeker system that actually works somewhat similar to Playstation’s “Cross Media Bar” or XMB. It still isn’t as “classy” as the default PS3 option, but it is a HUGE improvement. And if you don’t want to play around on it, simply hit your “X” button on the controller to gain access to all the functionality in a compact window.
Since last year, PS3’s XMB has added theme functionality (both free and commercial themes are available on PSN). NXE also has themes, and it actually does a better job of separating the content you are browsing from the theme itself. Some XMB themes that have light backgrounds are impossible to use because of the white text.
That brings me to Playstation @Home. If you haven’t tried it by now, you’ve surely heard about this ambitious project. Meant to be a sort of “Second Life” for video games, the “beta” launch of @Home can be considered a complete flop by all gamers (Sony fanboy or not). If you know nothing of it, let me try to describe it for you.
Picture this scene: A stark looking “futuristic” city garden, populated by zombies that all have the same blank expressions on their faces, same clothes and same hairstyles. Wherever there is a female zombie, she will be surrounded by at least 5 male zombies, all of whom are showing off their best dance movies. Also, bubble machines are everywhere.
That’s @Home in a nutshell. I am not even going to bring up the absurdity that is asking people to pay to make their zombies look slightly different. I was in the @Home closed beta for a while, and I can admit that it is somewhat fun to win special clothing and furniture by playing games (the Namco prizes are especially cool). The problem is, there is absolutely nothing to do with this clothing and furniture once you’ve won it, except wearing the clothing and placing the furniture on floors.
Since @Home isn’t exactly an interface replacement, we can’t really compare it directly to NXE. Instead, we can simply consider it as being an ‘extra’ to the PS3 that pretty much nobody is using at this point. It may improve, but right now it should absolutely not be part of the reason you decide to buy a Playstation 3.
NXE on the other hand improves the XBOX 360’s interface to the point where it is at least as enjoyable to use as XMB. Personally, I
hated the original XBOX 360 interface, so this new one is a huge improvement. Also, being able to install games to the hard drive (completely optional) is a really nice feature. PS3 games often require installation to bring load times up to DVD speed (or slightly faster). With NXE, you are beating DVD’s already quick load times (and quieting down the ridiculously loud DVD drive).
Playstation Network Store vs. XBOX Live Arcade
The initial interface of Sony’s online store was, to say the least, crap. However they revised it last year, and it is now very easy to find games, demos, and other extra goodies. There are even ‘branded stores’ for companies like Capcom who offer many titles.
Big titles like Mega Man and Street Fighter HD are available on both programs, and usually run well on both consoles. Both consoles have good indy support as well, with all the PixelJunk games and such on PSN, and games like Braid on XBLA.
Microsoft tends to do a better job of adding retro games, while Sony only occasionally adds the odd PS1 title, and has a few arcade games available. This is one thing that drives retro fans like
myself crazy; with hundreds of great games that can easily be made available on PSN for little cost, it’s frustrating that there are so few.
As far as demos go, both PSN and XBLA have time fee-based demo exclusivity. For XBLA, it’s in the form of XBOX Live membership, where if you’re a paying member (which all online gamers are), you get early access to demos. For Playstation Network, you have to subscribe to their “video magazine” Qore to get monthly exclusive demos, the value of which is questionable.
Multimedia
When I last compared the two consoles, the PS3 had just received an update allowing it to play DivX files using the AVI container format (in other words, the most common format used by people who “share” movies and TV recordings). Shortly after that, XBOX 360 received similar features.
As it stands, basic multimedia functionality of the two consoles in terms of playback is pretty much the same. One major advantage of the PS3 is that not only can it stream media, but you can store media on it as well. The 360 was only ever intended to be a “Media Extender” so you can’t do things like save your AVI files on the hard drive.
There have been rumors for the past year that Microsoft would begin supporting Blu-Ray on the XBOX 360 following the demise of HD-DVD. Those rumors have been pretty much completely squashed, so that leaves PS3 as the only Blu-Ray playing video game console for quite a while. And as a Blu-Ray player, the PS3 is fantastic. It supports all the latest features, and has responsive controls and high video quality.
Netflix
Depending on your situation, this may be a HUGE deal for XBOX 360, something that you need to consider if you like to rent movies. With NXE, XBOX 360 added the ability to stream movies in near-DVD to 720p quality to users with XBOX Live Gold and Netflix Unlimited accounts. At a low monthly cost, users have access to over 100,000 titles, including movies and TV shows. Keep in mind however, that this feature is only available to US residents at this time.
With some effort, you can do the same with the PS3, but nothing beats turning the 360 into a media center that allows you to easily browse through thousands of movies and shows, and instantly start streaming them with decent quality. PS3’s Blu-Ray support is more geared for video enthusiasts, where Netflix streaming is more for the casual crowd. So it’s up to you to decide which is better for you.
Other Considerations
There are of course some other things that we need to consider when comparing the consoles that may not fit under certain categories. For some people, this is what will make or break their purchasing decision.
- RROD. The issue has seemingly been taken care of, as reports of recent XBOX 360 models have been few and far between. However, if you are using a launch unit, the longer you play it, the closer you are to disaster. I am knocking on wood at this point, but it just seems that having your XBOX 360 die on you is not a threat, but an inevitability.
- Import Gaming. I touched on this last year – the fact that the Playstation 3 is completely region free for PS3 titles makes it the easy choice for import gamers. If you are into playing the latest whacky titles from Japan, then the decision has been made for you pretty much. Furthermore, it’s very easy to create PSN accounts in other countries, allowing you to play demos intended for other regions. Without a credit card, you won’t be able to purchase PSN games, but this is still a nice feature to have.
- Piracy. The PS3 still has yet to be figured out by modders, so pirates are still left with one choice between the two. That said, Microsoft is constantly battling piracy, in the form of completely banning consoles that play online with pirated games. The Playstation 3 will almost inevitably be cracked, but when it happens and how easy it’s going to be are unknown at this point.
- Folding@Home. Again, not a big deal to most people, but folders who are on the fence about which console to buy will want to consider the PS3. Believe it or not, there are some pretty hardcore folders out there who care a lot about how many points they make.
- PSP Connectivity. This function was added just after I wrote my last article, and it’s only gotten better since then. The interoperability between the PS3 and PSP is nothing short of impressive. Browse the console from anywhere, stream music and video, play games. It’s really cool. Unfortunately, the PSP has become somewhat irrelevant in the last year, due to a lack of.. any games worth playing at all.
- Backwards Compatibility. If you are interested in playing your PS2 library on your shiny new PS3, forget it. Any system bought in a store today has absolutely no PS2 functionality whatsoever. Not even emulation. On top of that, PS2 emulation on the old 80GB version was extremely sketchy. If you really want a backwards compatible PS3, you need to buy a used 60GB or 20GB. In the meantime, Microsoft is expanding their backwards compatibility, and adding new Original XBOX games to their online library from time to time.
- Display Connectivity. When I wrote last year’s article, you had to buy an Elite XBOX 360 to get HDMI output. Since then, every single XBOX 360 has HDMI output (even the $200 Core System) so this is no longer an issue. What may be an issue is that you will need to use a custom cable if you want to use optical audio with HDMI video. This costs around $40.
- Open Source Operating Systems. Again, PS3 is the only console that officially allows you to install Linux on it. You can’t play PS3 games while in Linux, but you can switch back to the XMB easily. There is still a group that is working on a version of Linux that can be installed on XBOX 360.
Conclusion
So, which is better, XBOX 360 or PS3?
The answer is……. Neither! Look, each console has its “pros and cons”. If you primarily play online games, you will want to get an XBOX 360. If you have a nice HDTV and want to enjoy beautiful Blu-Ray movies, you will want to get a PS3. If you are an “achievement whore” you will want a 360. If you like to play import games, you will want a PS3. If you want to easily stream near-HD quality movies and TV shows, get a 360. It goes on and on. If you like Halo games, get a 360. If you are more of a Killzone kinda guy, get a PS3. If you want to spend less than $400, get a 360.
If you think the PS3 has “better graphics” get a PS3. If you think the XBOX 360
has “better graphics” then get an XBOX 360.
The fact is, the decisions that influence your purchasing decision are entirely up to you. What matters to you may not matter to the next person. But hopefully you have a clearer picture of “what matters” to you, and how the consoles compare after reading this article. If it’s exclusive titles, fine. Go with the console that has the games you like. If it’s “which multiplatform games play better on this console” the answer is… Well the 360 is a bit better, but the PS3 is improving in this regard (and buggy games do get patched).
I’ll finish off with some comments that are purely subjective. It is my personal opinion that it just ‘feels’ better to play games on the Playstation 3. After reading this entire article, the PS3 has some advantages and some disadvantages, but for some reason I just like playing games on it better. It’s quiet, I don’t have to worry about it Red Ringing on me, and I actually prefer the DualShock 3 controller (when the connection is not cutting out, which seems to happen with less frequency now that I think about it). I am more of an offline gamer when it comes to consoles, so the XBOX 360’s huge advantage of being the superior online gaming system doesn’t apply to me. I just want a console that will do what it’s supposed to do, and do so quietly. Other people will feel just the opposite, and that is perfectly fine. I have my reasons, and you have yours. And neither of those should affect one another. That’s the whole point of writing this article in the manner that I have.
Comments are welcome, keeping in mind that fanboy crap will not remotely be tolerated. If you have a comment to make, try to do so in a respectable manner.
I don;t understand why people throw the RROD in the conversation when talking about which is better. I personally have had a Xbox 360 since day 1, yes day 1 and I have only had the RROD once, yes once in 3 years. Yes i play a lot. I play on average 10 hours a day. Yes I have a life and yes I play a lot. So it might just be the piece of shit taking care of the gaming console. I personally think the xbox is better FOR ME cause xbox live, Halo, Gears, and things. If you think PS3 is better, thats your opinion. Neither one is BETTER. And for you people saying xbox sales is more cause of RROD, then divide the sales in half and it STILL sold more, but who really cares. Just PLAY you fucking game and SHUT THE FUCK UP.LoL
I agree with everything you mentioned here. However, I have only had my 360 for a year and 2 months and i got the RROD. A good friend of mine has had a PS3 since launch and has had absolutely no problems. It does speak to the product reliability of Microsoft. One would think that after a year or two of problems they would correct the problem after a generation or two of the console, but then again it is certainly all perspective. if you like online play I still would recommend a 360, and if you get a 360 get a gold membership, like the article said you get what you play for. If you want reliability in your hardware, equal game quality (I’m not saying better), and a Blu-Ray player at a higher price by all means get a PS3. Might I also mention that I have had a Wii since launch and have no problems with it. It is fair to mention I only play one game on it and that is rare when i do, but my wife abuses it like a 3 year old in K-Mart.
This is my second RROD and I’m done with my 360. I do play SF4 a lot online and love having nexflix stream Dora the Explorer for my screaming kids, but I’m done. I need reliability with my system. As soon as my 360 comes back I’m selling it. All my friends are slowly moving towards the ps3 anyway due to the RROD.
RROD, yeah I’m currently waiting for my 4th replaced xbox from Microsoft. (second in just as many months) I’ve had a 360 since the beginning, but I’m giving strong consideration into bailing in favor of ps3 now…
I own all three consoles. I mostly play on the Xbox 360. I had one console RROD on me, it was not a launch console (I am a techno whore and had traded up to get HDMI). It took 8 days including shipping for repairs–all of which was free. I then traded up to a Jasper. My PS3 is the 80 GB version, I tried to find a 20 GB to upgrade the HD and have PS2 compatibilty but none had USB connectors that were not corroded.
Linux installed on a PS3 sucks eggs. So if you want to make this a computer replacement your choice is use the browser to get access to online apps, lots of online productivity apps are available, as well as streaming movie sites (free). Problem is the browser sucks.
Question is how do I improve the browser to Opera or Firefox quality and make My PS3 a PC surrogate?
OK>
Here is my opinion on these consoles.
Xbox = better online, and more people online,
Ps3 = OK online, home, better games (in my opionion–killzone 2, MGS4, socom, and MAG, which no one has mentioned: it has 256 player online rooms…CRAZY and will not lag due to new engine AND is made by zipper interactive who made the SOCOM name great)
ps3 also has bluray, more hard drive space, and wifi capabilities
AND ps3 has PSP compatibility, which means the psp can access your ps3 from across the world
but i am dissappointed that the ps3 took away ps2 BC
dont get me wrong, xbox is great but…
Yes. I admit it. I am a ps3 fanboy (by the was ps3 has a quiet fan compared to xbox irritatingly loud fan) but I am trying to be polite.
Kirk,
People throw the RROD, & E74 etc about, because reliability is a factor when purchasing anything that has the potential to breakdown. As an example, I have been buying Japanese cars for years because they have a reputation for being reliable, & so far that reputation has been proven correct, to me at least, & on the couple of occassions I have bought other makes (Ford, & Fiat) & had to get rid of them as they were going to cost too much to fix, rather than just wanting something newer. It is unusual to have to consider this with a piece of ectronic equipment though, but with the 360 it is an issue.
I’m not suggesting for a second that your decision (or anybody elses for that matter) to buy a 360 is wrong, & I’m glad you’ve had minimum problems with it. You obviously have to pick the console that has the exclusive games you want to play (after all, what’s the point of getting a console for games you don’t want to play?!), & to consider how that piece of equipment will fit into your home & life. The PS3 works for me, obviously the 360 works for you.
Just need to point out a coule of flaws in your argument about xbox sales not being because of the RROD. Firstly, I do believe that some people have bought 2nd, & maybe more 360’s due to faulty units either not under warranty, or because they want a spare unit whilst theirs is being repaired, & I do believe that a fair number of 360’s have been put in the bin, but like most people, I do not know what that percentage is, & I suspect it’s reasonably low (I know I occassionally make sarcastic remarks about xbox selling more due to this, but honestly, I think it happens, but not as much as some PS3 fanboys would like to think).
Secondly, if you split the 360 sales in half, it would have sold just under 15 million, which is less than the 21 million plus units the PS3 has sold.
Oh, & telling people to shut the ***** up isn’t going to work. it’s a forum, it’s here for discussion, & if you’re entitled to say your piece & state your opinion (including the choice language) then I think everybody else is, regardless of their opinion.
Kaden,
are replacement 360s even counted in the number of units each sold? Just wondering if anyone actually knows this as it would really kick that argument in the balls if the number was strictly units sold and not units replaced. Most people tend to use the warrenty if their 360 does die, especially as it’s been extended to three years.
And I support Kirk’s right to tell people to shut up. Just as I also support the right of anybody else to ignore any words to that effect. lol
As for reliability, the PS2 had a lot more units break down than the original Xbox did. Which was the better console? To me and I’m almost sure many others, it was the PS2. Reliability and better hardware mean jack if there’s fewer games you like. Or to most people who like their consoles for playing games anyways.
I know this is a bit late, but do you really go out and buy cars like fucking candy? Cars have nothing to do with the current arguements floating about, (We’re not talking about the reliability of a car, we’re talking about gaming consoles). I think you’re in the wrong blogging space.
I prefer to rent limos.
It actually works out to be cheaper than a taxi if going long distance half the time.
Once again, it’s all about the experience. I love being driven around in a car with ample legroom not having to care how drunk I might be. :D
I think that technically speaking, the PS3 is better but if I was buying a console to play online, which is usually what most people do, I wouldn’t mind the subscription fee and get a Xbox.
Actually, I think it all comes down to the games. The 360 used to have the edge but some amazing PS3 exclusives came out or are going to be released soon. I would probably pick my games first, and then get the console that goes with it.
Technically speaking both consoles have their strengths and weaknesses which those making decent ports will have a load of fun struggling with unless they’ve gained some prior experience there. lol
But you’re totally correct with that last part. Picking a console with the games you want should be your main priority. If you’re buying a console strictly for it’s multimedia capabilities, there are cheaper units that do it all better available these days.
I’ve had a xbox 360 for 3 years and wouldn’t hear a bad word against it. However, alot of my friends brought PS3’s when they came out and I felt that the 360 had the upper hand graphically with the PS3 being young and finding it’s feet. I have recently purchased a PS3 after seeing Killzone 2 and was totally taken back by it’s brilliance. Now, after having a PS3 for over a month I haven’t touched my 360 of which I’m ashamed to say in many ways, (purely because I have defended 360 for so long) that I prefer everything the PS3 offers to the 360 (blu-ray, looks far more pretty as a system etc) . Certain games like the COD’S for instance, there isn’t a great amount of difference between 350 and PS3 graphically. However, I did feel FIFA 09 was better on the ps3.
Now that I own both consoles, I have to concede that I prefer the PS3 (as painful as it is for me to admit that because I’ve defended the 360 for so long) However I really do feel it depends on what you want from your console like this well balanced article has said.
For me, there are just TWO important things you should consider before buying.
1.On which console you can play Metal Gear Solid 4.
2.With which console you don’t have to PAY for games.
on the one hand, it sucks to pay 50$ or whatever for every game you want to play,
while with the xbox I could simply download everything, just like on my good old PS2.
on the other hand, what point is there to buying a next gen console if you can’t play MGS on it?
I’ll get a PS3.
also the Dualshock3 is way better in my opinion, and it’ll suck playing PES with xbox controllers.
Graphically 360 is the best.the only reason mgs4 was so amped up is bcause of its blu-ray storage space.dvd doesnt have nearly as much space but if it did we mighta seen it go multiplaform.but i think re5 looks a lil better than mgs4 anyway and with it being multiplatform it should look better than ps3’s re5.
i think the xbox would be a better choice but you are right Solid Snake the dualshock3 controllers rock. If you buy a ps3 you can’t play online with friends that stinks and the games cost 50$ to 60$ thats a lot of money when you can just download games on the xbox and on the ps3 somtimes on my uncles ps3 it freezes when you try to turn on the system and turn it off. it all so freezes when you try to get online so please get the xbox
Erik,
WHAT? Games are same price on both systems AAA’s are 60 bucks downloadable games are 5 or 10 bucks (some times more) on both systems. What in this article lead you to beleive you couldn’y play online with freinds? Xbox is faster online (I think a little, maybe not) and has some nice features like party chat and auto-invite and some others.
Also why does everyone say no one plays home? when i go on(which i rarely do) there are always lots of people on. Maybe no “gamers” play home but it should still be a consideration for people who like to talk to alot of people and make new psn freinds. Also i think right now it has 12-15 game spaces each having their own interactivity/games some more than one. Plus theres the Xi thing which is kinda cool.
SOOOOO many exclusive AAA’s announced right now for ps3 compared to 360 (prob gonna change at E3. this year (in total): Killzone 2, Infamous, God of war, MAG, Heavy Rain, Uncharted 2, gran turismo 5, ratchet and clank, fat princess (psn game)
PLUS the fallout DLC is coming to Ps3 and exclusive dlc for batman but i wont go into this because xbox beats ps3 on exclusive dlc by sooooo much.
I have owned my 360 for less than 12 months. I have had to return it for repairs 3 times. Twice it scratched the snot out of my discs. This last time it simply froze up. I was playing Fall Out 3 and it froze. I put in Xmen Origins Wolverine and it would freeze up just after the copyright info. No other game I put in it would work.
I have scoured the net for a comparison of the 360 to the ps3 and here is what I have found: The only reasonably measurable difference is reliability. I went to every major retailer of console games imaginable and I heard this 3 different times, “I’ve never had a ps3 come back for repairs.”
I purchased a 360 for Gears. I will miss playing it but I am done with my 360. I get this one back, the console, my games, everything will hit ebay: ps3 here I come.
PS: MLB 2k9 is awful. Given this day and age of graphics that game would have looked bad on a Sega Genesis.
yeah so dude, microsoft also does disc repair and exchange for a small fee. you might want to look that up online
To be honest I’m pretty sure I’m done with the 360
I have gone thru two systems because they tallied up on me.
One likes to be a Dj Screw-up with my games and scratch them like crazy.
They other infamously RROD on me.
I think the first one took less than a year to do so.
Don’t get me wrong, I loved Halo 3. I was good at it. However, whats the point if the system is going to talley up one day, no if ands or butts, its going to one day.
I finally got a job now and I’m gonna save up (after I pay my ticket) and most likely buy a PS3
I have a bunch of 360 games and gonna sell those to Gamestop for I don’t care how much; gas money and a 99cent hamburger, I’ll take it.
Hi Silver,
Sorry I didn’t reply to your post a week ago, but was on holiday. It was awesome but after a week with no technology it’s nice to be home.
As for your point, I don’t think the repaired/replaced units would class as sales, but there is definitely an element of some serious gamers buying second or replacement units when theirs goes faulty out of warranty or just to have a second unit in case of faults. As I stated before I don’t think it’s as high a number as some PS3 fanboys would like to make out, but it’s definitely there. I’ve read it enough in forums (unless it’s a lot of sad PS3 fanboys trying to make the 360 bad, which could account for some of it).
You can defend Kirks right to tell people to shut up, & I can defend my right to tell him that telling people to shut up isn’t going to work, but that argument could just go round & round forever, but I get your point.
As for the PS2 reliability, the only problem I had was the laser, & I suspect that was because it was chipped (I did hear that chipping a PS2 was a major reasons that a lot of lasers failed. It was just a rumour, but it was a persistent rumour none the less).
Meh, I had several PS2s die, those slim ones tend to die quickest. Bleh.
But even though I haven’t had one 360 die on me thus far, the PS2s I owned tended to go the extra mile which is why they fried/failed. We’re talking 72 hour straight RPG runs and the like, especially as I had the time a couple years back. I bet I could kill a PS3 doing the same sort of thing honestly, and a 360 wouldn’t stand a chance neither.
But yeah, PS2s did get a few problems time to time, just as the 360s did and in a few cases still do. Never mattered to me due to warranties and loving games so much a few hundred bucks every so often didn’t seem like so much. I always went for the machine with the games I liked most, and in this case it was and is still the 360.
That said, I got another PS3 again and am wondering if the winds might be changing soon. Eternal Sonata and Vesperia updated with expanded content and enough exclusives to start making me look more seriously at the PS3 I guess. But until a few more tidbits are sent my way, I’ll be 360in’ it all the way.
Also I underestimated the Wii’s fun factor. Virtual Console and newer titles like House of the Dead and Mad World kick some serious ass, and Mad World actually had me liking the Wii controllers for the experience.
I’ve had a PS3 for one year and 3 months. I enjoyed it, but it never has had any advantages over XBOX and never will. It’s power simply will not be tapped before the next gen systems start coming around. Just the other day, it suddenly decided to stop reading ALL discs (I didn’t play it for hours on end, it was stored in a well ventilated area and I NEVER physically abused it, so you jack holes out there who want to try to accuse me of this can stuff it). It won’t read games, BR, or DVD. Nothing. Period. From what I can tell this is a frequent problem (though Sony claims there is only a 1% fail rate to which I call BS). Of course it is out of warranty now and they want to charge me 150 dollars to fix it, thus making an obsolete machine 600 dollar cost to me. As far as I’m concerned they should be required to extend the warranties on these pieces of shit. I can tell you safely that I will NEVER again do business with Sony. If I want to continue my gaming I will have to go with XBOX. Sony is dead to me.
Yeah Shaun, 1% seems a lot worse than the 43% failure rate on the Xbox 360. I got an Xbox 360 on release and have since had 4 break on me. Enjoy paying 100 bucks for the wireless adapter and your dead format HDDVD peripheral, just to have the system break on you…again… I’m going to go watch a blu ray and maybe surf the internet wirelessly on my working PS3. Hell, maybe i’ll even play 60 person online resistance 2 on severs without paying 60 bucks a year for P2P online ya tool.
Where’d you pull 43% from, eh?
Too bad web surfing and movie watching seems to be what many PS3 owners do. I always tended to play games on my consoles as that seemed most logical to me. No, my kickass entertainment unit tends to play blu-ray’s a lot better than the PS3 and any of my computers can trump the PS3’s computing performance including machines that are several years old. Higher resolutions too, it’s AMAZING!!!
I’m gonna be playing games while I surf and chat to my buddies on MSN and XBL. Hell maybe I’ll go buy some nice Cubans that those struggling to afford XBL can’t afford. The ironic thing is you called Shaun a tool when you’re only too happy to fork out on a console that’s still rather pricey and hasn’t met it’s potential and mightn’t before more consoles are released. Oh I bought it too, but then again I don’t go calling people tools for buying the experience they want unless agitated first. =)
After reading miles of comments, I haven’t reached to conclusion yet.
Basically, I reside in Pakistan, my brother is in London, and he’s coming to Pakistan in a month. He told me to decide b/t Xbox 360 and PS3. Neither of us know which one is better..
I need your people advise
I’m a game player at home not an online player because net speed in our country is not good coz 256kb/s speed package give me constant speed of 40kb/s, so I think online gaming won’t work.
Reliability , we don’t have trust worthy service centre from both Microsoft and Sony…
Heard a lot of RROD issue in Xbox 360.
What is the feature of HDMI?
How much Process speed in both console?
Thankx in advance
@shaun: baka. maybe u are the damn 1%!? i mean look alone at the comments. from around 500peeps talkin about their ps3 ur part of a unbelievable small minority complaining that their PS3 fails. so congrats…ur a 1% guy…
and btw. no hardware is failsafe. the question is just how fast and how many die. get happy with ur xbox…i wonder what ya play when(not if…WHEN) that one brokes…stone, paper, scissors?
@inspire:
take a PS3 if u dont use online play. u also have a nice blurayplayer then :)
to some up:
online: xbox360
offline and bluray: PS3
1%guys: stone, paper, scissors?
My 360’s never broken and neither have most of my mates. :)
Especially not with the newer models.
And don’t diss Rock Paper Scissors damnit.
Beats half the stuff on both consoles.
This guy is a joke, Ive had both 360 and ps3
by far my ps3 is better no dout.
He lies about the online, hard to track mates, hard to talk to them wtf -.- clearly this guy hasnt got a ps3. although the xbox does the same they are at the same level at this point.
he shows the exclusives that xbox have and then ps3! he misses AHELL of alot off the ps3 exclusives from this year, Killzone 2, Resistance 2 << Should be BOLD, burn zombie burn and AHELL of ALOT more jesus -.-.
Im no fan boy although what i said directly says i am, Im just defending the consel and the biased remarks this guy says!
Tbh Constermer support for ps3 is 100times better then i ever got on xbox! My worenty on ps3 lasted 3 years on my ps3, ive had it since it came out. NO FUALTS, NEVER sent it Out to be fixed. With my 360 i sent it out at the least 6 times and it took weeks to be brought back.
on the up side, 360 graphics are better, Gears 2 is amazingly lush. BUT Killzone 2 is the most beautiful game ive ever seen, not in the sence as dark, grim, as the game through most of its campaign and online mode is. But everything is smooth, not clunky, Fps is perfection graphics are amazing.. i must say better then any xbox 360 game i owned.
+ ive noticed xbox 360 are the same graphics just with abit of light and shine in some area’s i agree it makes it look better in most cases but thats really the only diffrence i see.
Conclusion
Ps3 are the better consel to own and play, and have great costomer support and i have had countless fun with mates and random peeps playing various of games!
Xbox360 better graphics in some cases, has Un-believbley shit costomer service, social such as, friend – messaging, talking, playing games with mates, achievments basicly the same as ps3. online is flooded with yankies which make me wanna just leave games.
Wii Buy one if you have a life :)
I personally own a Wii and ps3 got rid of the 360
O_o Right….
Let me start by saying you lost me on that bit about Zombie Jesus or whatever it was.
Now Tom, this article’s exclusives…
Take a look when this article was written. I believe the guy does say he was comparing the two consoles for that year. Yeah, it’s in the graph. Exclusives of 2008. Not 2009, 2008.
You might not be a ‘fan boy’ but you seem quite biased (as most of us are including those who lack knowledge of what the word means) and the funny thing is that the reviewer himself claimed to prefer the PS3.
Customer support I suspect to differ by region as they’re both totally incompetant here with Sony being worse due to not knowing how to solve any serious problems. They’re good at things like telling idiots how to get online and things like that, but useless for the important stuff.
Conclusion:
I agree that the PS3 might be the better consel as I don’t know what a consel is and you seem to be quite an expert, but I don’t see it as the best gaming console. And PS3 trophies still aren’t at the level of 360 achievements. A gamer who owns both consoles would also recognise how much better the 360 handles the social aspects, especially in terms of how they’re integrated into the interface.
I personally own all three as well as a few PSPs and Nintendo DS/is. Doesn’t make my opinion infallible.
I own all 3 consoles and have played countless hours on each one so i believe my opinion is a good one. Let me get the Wii out the way, this one I play the least but was the most addictive at first because of its interactivity but got really old so I gave up on it. Yes my 360 had the RROD and really pissed me off but after sending it back via phone to some Indian guy who I could not understand I have since had no problems with it and graphics wise isn’t much different from my ps3 but i spend the most time on this one because of its far superior online gaming. My ps3 has some major issues when it comes to the bluetooth connectivity with the controllers, they always don’t respond by not connecting the signal and its more annoying the the RROD. This isnt just my problem, Ive read forums and others have this problem. The 360 has the best interface and its my pick but after many hours of COD on ps3 I have grown more attached to the feel of the ps3 control then the 360’s simply because its much lighter and more comfortable, to bad bluetooth sucks bloody balls. If it were not for the online gaming however I’d go with my ps3 simply because Blu-ray discs are WAY better they dont scratch and the console makes less noise plus the ps3 looks way better. ( unless you own an elite which looks pretty cool )
They so totally do scratch, they’re just more scratch resistant. I noticed personally while less likely to scratch even a more minor scratch can make some games totally unplayable.
I’ve heard there is a TDK manufactured blu-ray disc that is almost impervious to scratching, but the average disc seems to scratch just as easily as most dvds have.
Hi kaden… a quickie from me…
I am considering buying XBOX 360 but here in India, its much more expensive than US, UK. One of my friends is in UK and i am thinking to buy a used piece from UK, bundled with many games along with it.
My question is – Do you foresee in my using it in India? Also, I know the DVD region is different in India and UK – would there be a problem running the dvds here?
Do you foresee any other problem that I dont in this?
Hi Varun,
If you’re after a 360 I personally wouldn’t suggest getting one second hand from the UK for a few reasons, but this is just my opinion.
Firstly, & most importantly the 360 is DVD region coded for games (as far as I’m aware), so you’d have to import PAL region discs to be able to play them. If you google -xbox 360 dvd game region – it looks like there may be ways to hack the xbox to play other regions, but I’m not sure what it involves, & you don’t want to destroy a second hand console.
Secondly, new 360’s are apparently a lot more reliable than the old ones, & depending on the age of your UK friends 360, you may end up with problems down the line (you may also get away with a console that works flawlessly for years) & it’s a risk I personally wouldn’t want to take.
Thirdly, power. If it’s a UK unit, it will have a 3 pin plug designed to work on 240v mains. I’m sure you can pick up an adaptor to make it work if it’s not the same power supply there, but it’s going It could be extra expense you could put towards a new 360.
You’ve obviously made your mind up on which console you want & I’m not going to try & persuade you otherwise. I gather cost is an issue, but personally I’d save up for a new 360 locally & try to find the best deal either in shop or online.
I can’t really offer any more advice as I don’t have a 360, so what I have stated is mainly quick research off Google, & what I know of the 360 from forums like this & general internet browing. I suggest asking Silver if you need any more information as he is more knowledgeable in the ways of xbox than I am. (Sorry I’m a PS3 man myself).
Hope this helps somewhat, & if I’m wrong on any of these points, it would be appreciated if somebody could correct me & offer Varun some sound advice.
I live in Australia and have a few friends who prefer importing US consoles for the exclusives and the like.
The only things I can think of are that you’ll need to buy a new 360 power cable (or adapter) and possibly a new set of AV cables which can be fairly cheap if you opt for third party (only applies to PAL cables in an NTSC region and vice versa). Also bear in mind that some games are region locked so you may need to check a game is multiregion before you buy it (most seem to work regardless) and in the cases of games that are locked to a region you’ll just need to import those titles or purchase imports from a local import store.
The best advice I can give is to look for an online seller who includes cables for your country with the 360 you’re after. There are some good sellers out there who do the work for you as buying the cables in bulk can actually mean they make a bit more money while you pay less than you would have for the console and cables seperately.
Varun,
Just had one of my infrequent ideas (it happens occassionally). If you can get the power issue adaptor sorted cheaply, & find out that hacking the 360 to make it run your local region discs without any risk is an option, then you could consider buying a new unit from the UK or US if it works out cheaper.
Just a thought.
Ill admit that for games they are BOTH good, but in terms of a MULTIMEDIA center its HANDS DOWN for an extra 100 bucks. You want a blu-ray player, a browser, potential better graphics YES (uncharted 2 will actually USE the ps3’s hardware unlike 90% of the game developers who SLACK ass. Like come on quit bitching and figure out the hardware, in other words DO YOUR JOB) not to mention free online membership AND a dvd/cd player as well. The ps3 can do EVERYTHING the xbox 360 can + lots more eventually doing it much better. Your thinking of buying a system don’t give me that poor shit, if you can afford a 360 you sure as hell can save an extra hundred bucks that month and get quality.
Quality is why I prefer to xbox game. Even if I went through a couple 360s a week, it’s my preferred experience and I’d be all too happy to pay that amount. I don’t give a toss about how well gaming can be in the future, as far as I’m concerned I’ll play whichever plays best in the here and now and jump ship if there is a swing around.
The PS3 can’t do everything the 360 can just as the 360 can’t do everything the PS3 can. They’re actually quite different beasts under the hood and I don’t think some people understand the degree the hardware differs. Horses for courses.
Haha yes I have a Ps3 and everyone I know who owns a 360 has had to replace it at least once. 360 has great exclusives, but better than PS3 probably not they are about the same. Yes, I agree that for some multiplatform games 360 looks better, but nothing I have seen on the 360 matches MGS4 or killzone 2. The major gripe I have with the PS3 is that none of my close friends have one. Xbox online is definitely better with more people playing it. I just looked at the playstation store and it has a section with movies and tv shows just like Netflix, although not as good. PS3 has blu ray and free online. I dunno if i could afford both I would but I can’t risk a xbox breaking after i throw 300 at it and the blu ray is like a 300 dollar value alone. So ya PS3 is a better bargain and i believe will ultimately be the better system regardless of sales. And plus id like to see microsoft out of the biz and put sega back in there haha. Have a real head to head sony vs. nintendo (who by the way is outselling both 360 and PS3 by far
@kaden and silver,
Many thanks for your suggesstions. I dont think power adaptor should be a concern after all, coz 1. there are a lot of cheap convertors available and 2. UK has 240v output, so does India, so I might not need one at all.
I am more concerned about:-
1. the RROD problem, and would get the product which is under warrenty. Is the problem still existing with the newer pieces now that MS “knows” there is a problem with their machines?
2. The difference of DVD region codes. Not sure how many of the good games are multi-region configured.
3. Someone told me of the “motion sensing feature” of the Wii ! Boohoo!!! I am again confused!
1. I have heard a few people with newer consoles online saying they’ve gotten RROD, but I’ve never known one to locally and most I know tend to use them around here. The worst thing that I’ve known to happen is there’s still a few units that aren’t quiet though most new units seem to be. Just make sure to keep your 360 dust free if you get one.
2. Most of my Australian games seem to work on my mate’s US console so I think it’s a minority. I’ve heard it’s often games that are released at very different dates in different regions or that have differences due to rating systems and the like.
3. I wouldn’t buy the wii for the motion sensing, but if that’s what you’re into it’s a good seller. I personally prefer VC and games like Smash Bros where you can use a wired gamecube or a classic controller rather than the motion sensing controls. But lightgun games are sweet and some games such as Mad World are still wicked fun with the Wiimote/Nunchuck controller.
Hi Varun,
1. I only know what I got told by staff at Game (Uk Store) a month or two back. They told me that they still get 360’s back daily with various problems including the RROD & E74 errors, & this includes the Falcon & Jasper chipsets. Obviously this was a statement from just one shop in the North of England, so feel free to take this with a pinch of salt, but they are a busy shop that always has lots of customers, & I don’t see why they would lie to me as they generally support & advertise the 360 more than the PS3 (seen as Sony won’t pay for advertising). On the other hand, lots of 360 owners & Microsoft advise that the newer 360’s are a lot more reliable, & I think they probably are, just not reliable enough for me. If you’re going to get one, make sure it’s got a warranty with it.
2. The different DVD region codes. As far as I’m aware, the main differences are that if you put a PAL disc in an NTSC machine, it probably won’t work, & vice versa. There are 8 individual DVD regions & if you’ve got a disc from that region, you need a machine that matches it. There are “ALL” region DVD’s that will work on any machine, but you just don’t see thses discs around. Not sure about games, but DVD movies sometimes have different content depending on the region (it’s an old example, but Terminator 2:Ultimate Edition wasn’t quite as ultimate in the UK PAL region as it was in the USA NTSC region – it had extra scenes cut from the movie in the UK). I’m not sure how much of this still goes on, & I don’t think games suffer this, so it’s probably just the language options on games that are different.
3. The Wii is fun, for a while. My better half has a Wii & she thinks it’s great, but it wouldn’t be my first choice. The Wii-motes do make controlling the games interesting, & some work really well (Mario Kart, bowling, boxing, tennis, etc), but the game catalogue is mainly casual games & Wii-Fit. You’re not likely to see Grand Theft Auto 4, or Call of Duty on a Wii. Also the graphics & power of the machine are nowhere near that of a PS3 or 360. Graphically, it’s not hi-def, & the games look very similar to Nintendo Gamecube games, but with a new control scheme. It’s a good laugh with mates for an hour or two now & then, but I couldn’t sit down with it on my own, & play a serious game on it. That’s my personal opinion.
Not a virtual console fan, Kaden?
Seriously, the Wii was made for retro gaming. =D
And good point about the movie DVDs. Movie DVDs are all limited to machine region unless region 0 which’ll work in near anything. Game DVDs however are different and most seem to work on any 360, but I’m only talking 360 games here, I’m not sure on the original xbox games which I suspect will only work on consoles of the right region. The plus side to an import 360 is it’ll play DVDs of a region your main DVD player mightn’t (personally I prefer a decent multi-region player, they really aren’t expensive these days).
Hey Silver,
Just regarding your Blu-Ray scratch comment earlier. I’m not saying that they don’t scratch at all, but my personal experience with the PS3 is that I haven’t so far seen a single scratch on any of my games, or the one Blu-Ray move I’ve got (Cloverfield is awesome in Hi-Def). Most of my old PS1 & PS2 games were scratched to buggery, & I was suprised that they read anything at all.
In fact the only disc problem I have had was that my first copy of Grand Theft Auto IV actually cracked the inside of the disc when I took it out or put it back in the case, & I think they need to rethink the bit in the middle of a DVD case that holds the dics in place. Certainly on GTAIV it was way too tight a fit, & made a horrible cracking noise everytime you put the disc back into the case. The replacement I got (luckily under warranty) has been fine, but then I’m a lot more wary using the DVD case than I was before. The rest of my games & cases don’t seem to have this problem. Maybe it was a one off.
CD’’s, DVD’s & Blu-Ray are not as indestructible as the manufacturers would like us to believe, but I’ve not had a single scratch issues on Blu-Ray at all so far, but that’s just me.
Different people have different experiences.
But I’ve seen plenty of hairline scratches in blu-ray discs, including a couple on my copy of Valkyria Chronicles which though it still works, led to me buying another copy just in case. I love that game…
I’ve heard that a shallower scratch will do more damage to a higher capacity disc in general and do know I’ve heard of some PS3 games failing after small scratches. But that’s the reason for the blu ray DVD’s scratch resistant coating which sadly merely makes the disc more resilient to scratching rather than making it impervious. Heard wonderful things about TDK’s take on the scratch resistant coat though.
Personally I always preferred cart based mediums. Yeah, they couldn’t store as much information, but look at the loading times. They were generally near non-existant.
Hi Silver,
I just can’t make my mind up about the Wii. The bowling & Mario Kart is fun now & then, & it’s a smart little machine that due to it’s size & look fits in well in the room. I’m just not inspired to play it as a single player unit.
Even my other half doesn’t play serious games on it. She got No More Heroes & Resi 4 when she 1st purchased the Wii, & probably spent 3 or 4 hours on NMH, & Resi 4 has had about 5 minutes use.
I guess I just like my PS3 too much. What can I say, I’m spoilt.
As for the DVD region code thing. That’s why I aksed Varun to check with you or other 360 owners as I can’t guarantee that anything I say about the 360 isn’t complete bullsh… I’m not intentionally trying to be wrong, it’s just a talent of mine.
The Wii’s one of my favourite things these days.
Not for the two or three physical media games I play on it regularly neither.
No, it’s all in the Virtual Console and to a lesser extent (soon to be higher extent) the Wiiware. All the old classics from both the SNES and Megadrive/Genesis as well as half a dozen other consoles. And Wiiware’s got a few good titles with some really noteworthy games popping up such as the official sequel to Final Fantasy IV.
Buy some Nintendo points and browse around the shopping channel and you might be pleasantly surprised. ;)
Haven’t used a cartridge since Mine Madness on the Commodore Vic 20 (am I showing my age?). Never had a Megadrive, or SNES, or Master System, or Gamecube. Straight from Vic 20, to C64, to ST to Amiga, & then onto the PS1, etc. Anyways discs look shinier, if you look at them right, it’s like looking into a rainbow….mellow sigh, & if you really get peeved with a game you can snap the disc in half dramatically. I imagine trying to snap a cartridge in half would make you look like Dominic Diamond trying to rip up a yellow pages (I’m showing my age again).
Depends on the cartridge.
I’ve seen an original gameboy cart crushed one handed which was pretty cool.
Only thing I’ve disliked about carts is that sometimes (and I hear it’s an eventually it will happen rather than an it might happen) the battery backup goes meaning no ability to save. But then again, disc based media requires memory elsewhere for saves as well so it’s kind of a moot disadvantage.
With higher capacity cartridges available these days I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s only manufacturing costs that prevent them from being used in modern consoles. Disc based media gets marked up ridiculously.
You all xbox 360 fans are all POS cos have i explained on page 5 near bottom plus my friend rudemanz that 360 is and are a huge WOM so 360 owners only cos the ps3 is more expensive than 360 you go and buy it but OFC a better console will be more expensive so just FUCKING put you hand in you pocket and pull out a huge wad of cash and buy a fucking great ps3.
add me PSN – KAZACKSTAN
Hey Kazackstan,
Nice little rant there. Nothing like a well thought out & well constructed argument to put your point across.
I hope you don’t mind, but I think I’ll pass on adding you to my PSN list as you disturb me somewhat!
The best article of the issue i have found!
I am looking for next year. :)
Carl, thanks a lot, that was incredibly informative. Confirmed my suspicions, but made me feel confident with a future PS3 purchase. I really wish Sony would beef up their web content and video streaming, but you’re right, I’d be buying it for the Blu-Ray experience anyways. Keep up the great articles!
I want to thank you for your review. I am actually still not sure which to get, but my opinion goes to the PS3, but I don’t have an HDTV yet so the quality will not affect my choice a lot.
Thank you again for this review!
Well to be frank i feel so sorry for you guys, RROD eh Inevitable you say, well here is something you should know, my beloved 360, bought easter weekend 2007, has only just now finally got the dreaded RROD, this despite many ALL NIGHT race sessions and playing gears and gears 2 till the sun comes up.
To much of anyones belief, there is a lot of truth to both sides. Right now I have a 360 it has its good and bad. I also want to get a PS3 for other reasons. But that’s not to say that the 360 is bad, it has some terrific content, but same as the PS3, it has its flaws.
1) Recently I find myself not playing my Xbox anymore because there aren’t any games that get my fancy. Most I have beat or just do not seem interesting to buy. But what I also find is much of the games on the XBOX market is repetitive to past games. (ex. Gears of War 2 game play to Terminator Salvation game play- – - – Grand Theft Auto game play to Saints Row 2 and The God Father 2 game play) There have been many times where I feel I’m just playing the same game I played last year but with a different storyline and characters. Though I will say if i do sell my 360 and get a PS3, I will be sad that I wont be able to play future games such as Mass Effect 2 and Halo: Recon and older titles like Halo 3, Halo 2, Fallout 3, Fable 1, 2, Gears of War 1,2 and many others.
2) Personally I think my Xbox is slowly failing. The graphics on my console seem to decrease, rendering has become much slower, to the point where it takes about 10-15 seconds for texture to come in. (halo3 and mass effect have been the biggest problem) Loading menus are slow to pop up on the home page and there has been an increase of game freezing with my xbox where I must restart the console to just to get it back moving again. But even then that would mean re-doing everything i had just completed in the game. Thankfully the RROD has not happened, but even now there are times when it acts slow or does something weird and I always look at the power button to see if it will happen. And even if it doesn’t I don’t believe i should worry about things like that with my console. I should never have to fear it shutting down. I remember when stories about the RROD first came out. It became a nation wide epidemic, people feared it and we shouldn’t have to worry about that. But I will disagree with Car Nelsons article, it doesn’t sound like a jet engine taking off, it sounds more like a Rocket going off. ;)
3) One big thing that I always love in gaming is online game play. Its addicting that’s why i got the xbox1 and continued with the 360. But the one thing I don’t like is having to pay $50 every year for Xbox Live, even now when I don’t play online as much because of school or work. Money down the drain. Sure every once in awhile I’ll get the urge to play online, but 30 minuets pass and I’m already bored. Connectivity has been a problem with me, I have fast internet, my computer can prove it. But the 360 has many times disconnected right in the middle of a match and I would have to restart my adapter to be able to connect. And the PS3’s integrated WiFi and free online looks really good.
I am not saying that the 360 has failed for me in anyway I have always been a die hard fan for it. But now I want a change in scenery and game play. Personally I would get the PS3 for such upcoming games like Final Fantasy 13 (the one not coming out for the 360), Metal Gear Solid, MAG, and Killzone 2. But even during the golden years of XBOX I had always wanted to play Japanese imported games but was restricted since I did not have a PS2 or 3. If PS3 fails for me then I will get the 360 again or the next Xbox console after the 360.
(This is my opinion of both the PS3 and 360. You are free to disagree with me. Comment if you want or correct me on any false info. But if profanity or use of strong words are used against me then just know that nothing you say will mean anything to me – its my opinion)
Lolz i don’t know why everyone is flipping about the RROD thing going on because it is completely irrelevant. It’s easy to prevent RROD. Just don’t play for like 7 hours straight. And for those hardcore online gamers out there;
a) Should take regular breaks for the health of you and your xbox
b) Just buy an xbox cooling fan for like 15-40 bucks on like walmart.com or amazon or something.
Oh, and if you follow these directions, you shouldn’t get RROD, but if you do, then hopefully you still have a warranty on it. If you don’t, you can always use the towel trick :P
Seriously tho, xbox whoops ps3 in more ways than one. i mean, fuckin seriously they are game consoles not mutha fuckin dvd/blu ray players so idk why the hell that even comes into consideration when you are buying stuff like this. You should have one of those before you even think about getting a game console. Anyways, i guess if you are just starting college or some shit like that and got some big ass flat screen and give a lot of shit about memory, storage capacity, media functions, and graphics/picture quality on movies, then go for a ps3, but if you want a game console then get a frikin xbox.
Personally, i like the xbox 360 because of online play, and i am sure as hell not a fanboy because i have played both online and offline and ps3 does just as good of a job as the xbox on online play. Although one time i did experience a freeze and had to restart the ps3 because of some similair IP adress shit and entering the plane at the same time on Warhawks. Idk i think it was a one-time thing but i still prefer the xbox. but for the quality of P.S.N. for free of charge, it is an excellent online play quality.
So just take what i said into consideration when buying your new game console. And if you aleready have one idk why you are reading a review…….
I am debating on whether to purchase a 360 or a ps3. I really enjoy playing COD online, it is most likely what I will be doing the most. I have read that the 360 is the best for online, what are people’s experiences with playstation online?
I guess the main thing holding me back from the 360 is the chance of failure.
The PS3 online is fine. It’s a perfectly good service. I play Motorstorm: Pacific Rift, & Killzone 2 online with no problems at all.
I get the impression that xbox live is better if you are more of a social animal. If you just want to play the game online, chat within the game to any friends you know with a microphone then it’s fine. If you want to chat with your friends regardless of what game they are playing, & you want to be more sociable online then the 360 probably is more what you’re after.
I think it depends on your country, but I also notice the available content (arcade games, themes/wallpaper etc) seems to have a wider selection on the 360. There’s also that most countries don’t have a way of buying PSN credit without a credit or direct debit card. Australia for example. In fact I believe Japan and possibly the US are the only countries that do allow codes to be redeemed for credit.
I’ve always preferred to pay in cash, so lack of another option such as Microsoft’s MS points and Nintendo’s Nintendo points irks me somewhat.
im fed up with my 360 had one since day one the it broke it went off to microsoft then it broke again cudnt be arsed with it so sold it on ebay for £59 then bought a elite which was a waste of fucking money now going to buy a ps3 insted of that shitty fckin 360!
Hi there, in my opinion I think that I can find more use to the ps3 than the 360. Well when Im bored and I want to watch my video files from my computer I just need to activate the media server and it is ready for watch videos. Also I think that ps3 games have more quality than the 360 games but well thats my opinion.
Petition to keep Facebook and Twitter off the couch.
“SERIOUS GAMIN GOING ON HERE GUYS!”
“Seriously tho, xbox whoops ps3 in more ways than one. i mean, fuckin seriously they are game consoles not mutha fuckin dvd/blu ray players so idk why the hell that even comes into consideration when you are buying stuff like this.”
I just want to make sure this comment doesn’t go unnoticed. How ridiculous.
the new 60GB XBOX360 has solved a lot of problems, no more overheating, MUCH quieter and no more RROD
it just seems that you get more from the xbox for you money. sure you don’t get blu-ray, and it costs to get XBOX live but it is less expensive and all-in-all better
It’s the same system with more hard drive……….. So idk what ur talking about” its MUCH quieter”. My friend has. 60gb system and it’s the same but larger hard drive.
Rhetorik,
The PS3 is a serious gaming machine, having the Blu-Ray is just a bonus & extra storage for games – it doesn’t detract from the games. Also, what’s wrong with it having a DVD/Blu-Ray Player – it saves me having yet another piece of equipment cluttering up my living room. I’m not saying it came into consideration when buying a games console, but it’s just one of those nice extras that’s there on the odd occassion I might want it.
Jared,
You don’t get more for your money, because you get less. But as you pay less in the first place, this makes perfect sense. I’m not saying you get less of a games console, but the PS3 does have extras built in, which is why the price is higher, & better is subjective. You buy what suits you or your wallet.
Kaden101,
May I direct you to this comment: http://www.hardcoreware.net/playstation-3-vs-xbox-360-two-years-later/comment-page-6/#comment-6486 This is what is ridiculous.
I know that the ps3 is a serious gaming machine which is why I have one. I am 100% ok with all the crap they are putting on the 360, because I don’t want any of that. I want to watch blu-rays, and play high def, quality games, which is exactly what you get with the ps3.
Also, Sonys press conference at e3 was pretty damn sweet. UNCHARTED 2!!! (the beta multiplayer demo is awesome, I’ve been playing it)
I’m gonna talk about the price of the PS3 and if it’s a really good deal or it’s really do expensive. If you look at the 80gb ps3, and $400. look at what it is capable of doing. Compare this to the 360 pro. The pros about $100 cheaper. But one biggest thing is the Blu-ray player that is built in. If u buy a Blu-ray player by it self, it’ll cost about
$299-399 and more. Unless u buy a piece of shit one, then sure it’ll probably be $99-199. Blu-ray is going to overtake DVD’s in like along time, but it won’t be awhile.
The other thing is that, it’s got a built in Wi-Fi so if u don’t have ur router close u can still connect to ur Wi-Fi.( 360 wi-fi needs to buy separately and costs $100) that is if ur router is not close enough or don’t have a game room( most of u do I’m guessing) for me it’s useful though.
The ps3 does look a bit fat eh? If don’t consider the power supply is built in and creates less mess( of course if u don’t care). Oh another thing is that u can barely even hear the fan in the ps3, the 360……..woo quite loud eh?. LOL, when PC builders built thief PCs they always check it nice a quiet. Some ppl have their 360 right next to their nice quiet computer. Seems to me that they’re quite retarted.
I gotta say the xboxlive is amazing compare to the PSN. So I agree u should pay $50 for it’s awesomeness. One time I heard this 360 fan say” U get what u paid for” and he was applying this to xboxlive. He’s right bout that. But, why can’t u apply that statement for the PS3? Everyone knows it’s a better console but still say it’s WAY expensive.
It’s totaly true the games for 360 is better but ps3 is comming out with many other games as well. At E3, Sony announced….I think it was like 350 games this years? Idk but something like that.
Oh one other thing, I watched. Video from this 360 fan loser saying that the PS3 hard is perminate; that 360’s u can replace with a new 60gb and 120 hard drive. I gotta say this fan loser sure can be retarted. He got one thing right, that the HHD for 360 can be replaced with ONLY a new 60 and 120gb. The PS3 can be placed with any 2.5″, SATA and is 5400 RPM or higher to 7200 if ur funking retarded. Microsoft wants u 360 fans think that the 360 is truly cheaper, but u don’t know that the accessories cost the most of the 360 system. I mean y did they make a special HHD and are only the kind u can replace ur old, they want to rip u off and make u think it’s cheap. here’s a fact: microsoft came out with the 360 elite so that it can still compete with the PS3. Just like this article or the other article said. Why pay an extra $100 for a identicle system with 60gb more?( oh here’s a retarted part: it’s black so it looks different). These ppl are retarded same goes for who ever wrote this article. The PS3 is 80gb more and costs $100. I think that’s a better deal( for the 160gb).
Oh I forgot to mention that the hard drive breaks down after awhile. And even though the 360 is fucking loud…. The cooling still sucks compare to the PS3.
No shit the peripherals make the 360 more expensive. I have pretty much every console available (including the totally awesome GP2X Wiz which unlike the PSP, actually supports open source software as well as emulators for old greats such as the older Sega and Nintendo Consoles), and I still prefer the 360 experience to the PS3 experience even if it does end up costing me more money.
Some of us don’t need to give a damn about price, so buying the best system available isn’t a matter of having to make do with a low or mid range model of any console. Damn I LOVE my job.
As a gaming system, the free anti-aliasing and similar smaller touches make the 360 my console of choice, even for single-player games. I also love the much larger games library. And the better online experience. If you feel Uncharted 2 is a selling point for a console I wonder about you. The first struck me as a tomb raider where you had to stare at a dude’s ass rather than Lara Croft’s and I certainly prefer Ms. Crofts. Granted Tomb Raider is on both newer consoles BUT it was the Uncharted franchise you chose to mention.
Here, I’ll give this to the 360. The controler has a better grip and feels better in the hands, overall a comfortable controler. The ps3 controls are a little small and not so fitting compare it to the 360, but is more advanced and better tech(dualshock3).
xbox 360 is better because of online and choice of games like halo 3, gears and that new game out yesterday ‘prototype’. The home page of ps3 looks cheap compared to the 360s. Theres also achievments on xbox 360 and reputation. Iv had the 360 for about 11 months now and my mate has the Ps3. Any one seen the new fishing pole comin out for the 360, Pc and wii?
You’ll probably say the same thing about Infamous, and express your dislike towards Little Big Planet. Next you’ll say that Forza 3 will be better than Gran Turismo 5. I like how at Microsofts E3, they said that Forza 3 will be the best looking and most advanced racing game. What a laugh. As far as gaming is concerned, PS3s future looks better to me than the 360s.
Lucky for you, your a high up business executive, but just looking back at some of the comments for people wondering which system to buy, price does have a lot to do with it. If you want an inferior made machine, with less built-in features for cheaper money, go for it, buy a 360.
I saw both Microsofts & Sonys press conferences & was impressed with both of them.
When I first saw the trailer for Forza 3 I was extremely impressed, but the cars on GT5P still look better (the scenery on Forza was way better than GT5P though), & I thought that GT5 has some serious competition. I then saw the GT5 trailer, & it blew me away – they’ve got the scenery sorted, & I always love the driving on GT games. I still think Forza 3 is a damn fine looking game and a contender, but I’ve a funny felling I’m not going to be dissapointed with GT5 when in comes out in 2057 (okay, slight exaggeration, but I’m get impatient now, one of the Polyphony bods recently commented that they could release it now, but they just keep tweaking it & making it better, I understand but hurry up will ya).
I think the actual phrase that Microsoft used was the “definitive racing game of this generation” over & over & over – it got tiresome & I just wanted him to shove a sock in it so I could watch the pretty cars & the pretty forests. He doesn’t know it’s going to be the “definitive” racing game until both Forza 3 & GT5 come out any more than I do, & even then something else could turn up.
Silver, do you just play Tomb Raider to look at Lara’s arse? I thought Uncharted 1 was a very good game, but I couldn’t find any replay value in it (I did actually prefer Tomb Raider:Underworld, but that’s not the common view). I am, however, really looking forward to Uncharted 2, & I have no designs on Drakes arse at all, not my type, far too blokey.
It’s wierd to see somebody say that the 360 experience costs more whilst the rest of the internet is moaning at Sony to bring the price down – just an observation.