UPDATE 2011: Our latest article, written two years after the one below, can be found here: XBOX 360 vs Playstation 3 – After Four Years. Much has changed, so it is suggested that you check that one out instead! Or at the very least, read that version once you are finished with this one.
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.
its true what your saying about the xbox 360 and the ps3 and like u i am just more of a ps3 lover and gamer
My brother owns a 360 and I own a PS3 so i have plenty of experience with both systems and i found that the games that are newer and just coming out looks better on blue ray if you have at least a 720 p LCD rather than the HD xbox. Both systems are chill but Xbox is more reliable online. Every now and then i will lose connection on madden and ive never lost connection on COD world at war on my bro’s xbox. BUT! The newer games that are comming out that look sick look niiiiiiice on PS3. KILL ZONE is gonna dominate on FPS games, so look out for that and of course COD 5 modern warfare
to be huge. My ps3 however has never scratched a game of mine and all my games work fine. I moved my friends 360 for him cuz it was in front of his tv and his game got a freaking CANYON of a scratch in it you cant move those things at all when a game is in it. Also bluerays are the future of movies and HD discs are just obsolete now so 360 i think is at a very good point but reached its potential and PS3 is at the same overall quality give or take but is still on the rise.
I have a xbox 360 and I had to get it repaired 2 time within 5 months, I haven’t had it for a year yet. I have the elite and it stops reading disc eventully. And my cousin has one also and it stopped reading disc. Everyone I know that has a regular xbox, it got the rings of death. So I think you guys should mention this in your little fuckin article. My uncle has a ps3 and he has never had a problem with his. So FUCK XBOX, they fuckin people that work with them wont take my xbox back for repair, AND IM NOT PAYIN $100 JUST TO GET IT FIXED SO IT CAN BREAK AGAIN. I dont care if xbox has more games, all i know is that ps3 has the games i like. It aint like i play every game i see. I could give a shit less about online shit. So me and my family aint ever using xbox again.
FUCK XBOX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
“So I think you guys should mention this in your little fuckin article.” Shawna
June 7, 2009 at 4:51 pm
Actually, they did comment on the subject of the red ring of death on the xbox….
“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.”
Try swearing less and make a constructive and articulate argument for you viewpoint. Most people pretty much disregard this type of opinion as obvious bias rather than a true experience for people to learn from.
Rhetorik, while Infamous could go either way for me, LittleBigPlanet is a personal favourite of mine, mostly due to a love of 2-D platformers that it appeals to for me. The same way games like New Super Mario Bros. and Braid appeal to me.
As far as racing games go, I do play them occasionally but actually favour games that allow powerups effecting other races in the same vein as games such as Mario Kart and Twisted Metal. While I’m sure both games you mentioned will be absolutely great, I’m not into them enough to analyse and compare them all that well. I’d likely favour whichever dumbens the process of tuning a vehicle as I much prefer to actually race in something that feels fast.
And I work security in a state of Australia that currently has a severe guard shortage. Negotiatable wages ftw!
Kaden, looking at Lara’s arse is indeed a good incentive to play a game, especially when the graphics are as good as they are now. That said I actually preferred the graphics on Tomb Raider Underworld a good deal more than I did Uncharted. I too preferred Tomb Raider Underworld in general.
As far as the 360’s costs go it can be cheaper to run a 360 than a PS3, but you have to go without a few things to do so and when you have the money… why not get the best? And to me the experience is a big part of my gaming needs. If I wanted the highest resolution, best fillrate and all the other ‘important’ stuff I’d game on a PC exclusively. But that’s just not as good an experience to me so I only play games I can’t get on consoles on the PC.
Silver,
Infamous is worth a look if you like the idea of Grand Theft Auto sandbox meets Assassins Creed & a little bit of Sipdey: Web of Shadows thrown in – I’m finding it very entertaining. I also agree about LBP as it’s a brilliant game, which is strange for me as apart from Mario Kart I generally can’t stand Mario, & I’m not a fan of Sonic or any 2d platformers as a rule.
I understand your take on the racing genre about having to wade through menus of tweaking before you get to race, but I never found GT4 to be that bad compared to some games – you could spend hours tweaking or you could just buy a better turbo & some good tyres, stick them on & go, I kind of hope that GT5 offers a similar experience. The only thing that I do find annoying is the menu reaction/load times. GT4 was always a little sluggish. UFC 2009 is a prime example of good game bad menu system – it’s so tedious it does my chuffing box in. To simply put a new sponsor logo on your shorts which you need to do to increase your cred involves going through about 10 menus/submenus, each one having to wait a second or 2 to load, & getting back out is just as bad.
Lucky you – I work in an office in the UK, not only don’t I get to haggle over my pay (which isn’t bad to be fair – I also get to enjoy the British weather, which is glorious when you’re at work & persisting it down on the weekend).
As for Lara’s arse, I was trying to rise above it but okay. As for Unhcarted, the graphics are better than TR, but I much prefer the look & style of TR, & it has more replay value for me (especially now the slack gits finally put Trophy support in halfway through me replaying it. I’ll start it again when I’ve finished Infamous).
I did really enjoy gaming on the PC until I got the PS3 – I know a console isn’t as powerful but I much prefer spagging in my armchair & it feels more sociable (my better half likes to join in with the like of GTAIV, & enjoys watching games like UFC, & Infamous – she’s not so keen on Final Fantasy to put it mildly, but that’s hardly a spectator sport, & I understand completely). I think the only games I’m interested on PC when they turn up is Fable II & Alan Wake.
ps3 is better there you have it its over :)
LOL this won’t be over till the next gen comes out
I’ve had my PS3 for about,….close to 2 yrs. It’s still working awesomely. I placed my old HDD(20gb) with a HITACHI 160gb from NewEgg and it works just very nicely, everything is the same but much more space to store games and movies.
Sonys press conference at E3′ 09 really impressed me. I mean, all those games coming out(250-350) and some exclusives. Exclusives aren’t very impressive, but at least Sony is bringing some exclusives back for the fight. The PSP Go looked very nice, especially with the new design that I think would be more fitting and easy to use. I sure the features are better on it, but….$249.99 is a bit too much. I know the Tech. Is good, just that they didn’t learn anything from the mistakes on the PS3. The PS3 tech. Is the best of all the consoles, it’s the most powerful and it took a lot of $$$ to make it al well. So they had to sell it for a lot of money to make a profit. Gamers know it’s the most powerful and most advanced console, but the price comparing to the 360 was too much. Everyone heard good reviews of the xbox live/games and went and got a 360. What I’m saying is that Sony is at the edge of tech. And needs to think of ways to make ppl think a console that is shitty is awesome and a good buy.
That’s what nintendo did. They made a cheap console but made a huge profit out of it. They lured ppl in by this ” motion sensor tech.” which sucks.
The new PS3 motion controler looks awesome and much
More accurate then the wii remote. Can’t wait till it comes out. I gotta say that the 360 full body motion sensor looks awesome and I would totally get it, but that looks a bit too amazing
For the 360. I mean Sony is truly the future of tech and they don’t even have that, so I’m kinda dissapointed. Yeah, just have to wait and see. Oh the wii motion plus looks kinda cool and is coming out soon(June 9, tommorrow) since I have a wii, I might just get it
Hey Carl, thank you for this amazing article, it really confirmed many of my theories. I am personally and Xbox 360 fan and to be honest I was happy to read many of the good this about it.
I’d like to start by saying that, since the demise of the Dreamcast, I pretty-much swore off consoles. I stuck to PC gaming. Then, I started down the path to media servers, a networked home, DVRs, Media Center, extenders and all that stuff… It was for this reason alone that I went with the 360. I got it for a birthday present and only wanted 2 games for it… Resident Evil 5 and Fable II. I’m not much of an online console gamer… and for online gaming, I’m a FPS fan, which is more conducive to a kb/mouse control on a PC. So, the online components of the 360 wasn’t a drawing factor. I must say, the extender functionality of the 360 has impressed me. I have linksys extenders, but they aren’t updated to handle a lot of media types. The 360 has the horsepower to deliver a smooth experience. I understand that they’re currently too loud in certain situations to be used as set-top boxes but there are manufacturers making custom enclosures for the 360 internals that address this issue. (A-Tech Fabrication’s “HeatSync Three-sixty” looks like a winner) From a games standpoint, I have been impressed as well. Had it not been for the fact that I already owned 2 blu-ray players and needed extender functionality, I may have gone with the PS3.
I have both systems a ps3 and a xbox 360 Of course it is like my 4th or 5th xbox even went out and got another 1 so i could buy another new warranty. All things aside i would not be without my 360 i would pay for the fix but if my ps3 broke i would not bother replacing it. I think for me that shows what i prefer as i would spend the money again.
My other half would keep the ps3 and throw the xbox so both systems are great just depends on the games you want. singstar and buzz for her and project gotham racing forza etc must have the xbox as generally the ps3;s driving games are not up to much i am sorry to say.
Carl,
I just wanted to say thanks for your ‘1-yr later’ and ‘2-yr later’ articles. I know very little about game systems and am trying to decide which one to purchase (and with the price involved I don’t want to make a mistake and suffer from buyer’s remorse). I don’t know if your articles solved my quandary, but they certainly gave me a lot of data to make an informed decision. Thank you, Carl, for taking the time to write these–they were very helpful!
Dave,
Whilst I respect that you prefer your 360 as a games console, & it’s an opinion you’re perfectly entitled to, I cannot get my head around anybody who is happy to have a product fail 4 or 5 times, & then go out & spend money on the same defective product. Maybe we just live in an age where the quality of a purchase is no longer relevant, & the customer no longer has any expectations. I guess if I lowered my standards (& IQ) to comply with current consumer acceptance then maybe I’d understand, but I can’t bring myself to do that.
I just hope that Microsoft isn’t setting a precedent for other companies to follow.
Disclaimer: this rant is in no way casting aspersions about the user experience on a fully functioning 360. The malice is purely aimed at the stupidy of customers blindly defending a company who knowingly released a defective product just to beat the competition out of the gates – I know it worked, but that doesn’t make it right.
Meh, basic Design and Technology class here dude.
Pretty much everything is made so it will eventually fail which actually helps the economy. If you buy a product from before the time built-in obsolescence became all the rage, it might last throughout your lifetime whereas many modern day items tend to die within a few years. Electronics in general don’t tend to be built to last these days. But things needing to be replaced means more jobs and more incentive for people to innovate existing items so people may be persuaded to jump onto the next similar yet slightly more futuristic thing.
Only downside is the cost. Believe me that while a lot of 360s are failing prematurely, there will be a time when PS3s start dropping like flies. The insides of a device that advanced just won’t withstand the test of time.
I have had experience with both consols (PS3, 360) and though I’m usually not very picky when it comes to consols (most of my games are on the PC) I can fully agree with the statements of “If you enjoy online gaming, get a 360″ – the functionality and user interface commands are simply more convienient than the PS3 – for right now anyway. HOWEVER, just in my experience, the kinds of people I’ve played with on the 360 (usually Halo 3, Call of Duty and GTA IV) have been total assholes, whiney children/teenage boys (or the unfathomable combo of BOTH) and have more frequent appearances in sessions than my time on the PS3. I’m aware that this is because of more Xbox Live accounts/users than PS3 online users, and that there are (and will be) unpleasant people to play with everywhere. But the rather frequent encounters I’ve had has mildly turned me off of the xbox live online community.
If you’re looking for a performance consol for your kids to play and enjoy, and are worried about their online experiences, as a lot of parents are these days, I’d reccomend the PS3. Little Big Planet is amazing to play online and offline, and from my perspective, it performs pretty much the same as the Xbox when playing online – just the interface is a little different and online service is free.
I have not had many problems with my xbox in terms of defects. There’s the odd freeze or ‘hiccup’ but it doesn’t happen very often and it’s usually minor and fixes itself after a few seconds.
“Little Big Planet is amazing to play online and offline, and from my perspective, it performs pretty much the same as the Xbox”
Sorry, I meant to say “From my perspective, the Playstation performs pretty much the same as Xbox online…etc.” not LBP ^__^;
Silver,
I admire you trying to put a positive spin on it, but there aren’t many products out there that get that amount of publicity about failure rates. I know that pretty much all products fail at some point, & not every 360 owner has this bad experience, but when you hear repeated statements about being on their 4th or 6th console in 3 years, that’s unacceptable to me.
I’m not stating that people shouldn’t keep getting 360’s as they are usually warranty replacements. I’m not even suggesting that they shouldn’t purchase a replacement if it’s out of warranty as it may still work out cheaper than replacing a large game collection on a different console. My problem is people defending Microsoft & their working practices regardless of how many problems they’ve had.Trying to justify their console choice & even using the warranty scheme as an encouragment in choosing the 360.
As for your comment “there will be a time when PS3s start dropping like flies”. That’s complete speculation, & I actually expected better from you. I’m not saying the failure rate won’t increase as units get older, but the point is the units are actually getting a chance to get older, & even older units may not fail to the quantity that the 360 has.
No, all of them will die eventually unless steps are taken to preserve the hardware.
The more tiny electrical components the higher the chance something will fail and all modern consoles have a shitload of complex circuitry.
It might take a decade or so (personally I’m thinking less as consoles are almost like PCs and most PCs used for entertainment purposes tend to fail after a few years), but they will fail. As an electronics enthusiast I’m almost sure of it.
Personally I think the PS3 is better. I have had it for nearly two years, but the disk drive recently stopped working. :( So I have to send it in and get it repaired which sucks because the 1 year warranty is over. It’s an old 80gb to so I hope it can still play PS2 games after I send it in to get repaired; if anyone can comment on that, please do. Anyways, I still will stick with my PS3. I wish I could watch my netflix.com movies on it though. LOL
-Brandon
This is a great article.
I’m from Brazil and I’ve been trying to decide which of the two platforms I should buy. Here the prices for both are very high, specially the PS3.
I always loved online gaming during my PC gamer era (Counter-Strike and Battlefield). But I wouldn’t like to pay monthly for XBOX Live, since I’m not even sure we have it here.
I had the PSX and still own a PS2, which, despite old games and graphics, it’s still a lot of fun to mess around with.
In the end, it’s the game prices that truly breaks my legs, (AGAIN) specially for the PS3.
NEVER THE LESS, I decided to go for the PLAYSTATION 3. I’m used to the control, I can play GTA 4, Metal Gear 4 and Killzone 2 which seems, to say the least, an “orgasmic” experience to play. hehe
Thanks again for this amazing article, it helped me decide.
All the best.
Silver,
3-12 months for 360 vs “decade or so” for PS3. Yep, that’s exactly the same product lifespan. I really don’t know what I was complaining about!
So by your figures, a single PS3 might last up to a decade or so, but it’s okay to have to buy a new 360 just over every 3 years when the warranty runs out & it goes kerplooey.
Maybe my maths are a little rusty, but until very recently I still had my original shape PS2 (gave it away still working) so it isn’t like I’m not interested in keeping my PS3 for the long term.
Turns out it is actually cheaper to own a PS3, who knew?
My guess was actually less than a decade, though some will likely still be around after that mark. I wouldn’t be surprised if some start failing at around the 3-5 year mark from wearing out. And I don’t mean faulty units, no those are dying relatively quickly…
I’m honestly a little skeptical that it would take 3 years for any 360 user to go through so as many faulty units as would take 3 years, even if the rate was as high as some make it out to be.
As far as the PS2 is concerned, whilst there were a few faulty units, the older models were generally hardier than newer consoles and contained less sophisticated circuitry than the PS3 and 360 (and I’m pretty sure the Wii as well considering the gamecube was technologically superior to the PS2 spec-wise). I’d imagine they would in general outlive the PS3 in terms of years working.
And I certainly knew the PS3 was cheaper even without having to replace a 360 console due to other expenses such as peripherals and xbox live. But hell, a 360 unit isn’t much more than a new slimline PS2 pricewise these days and as everything else is that damn well built replacing the unit is no real biggie. Not that I’ve had to, though I do admit to having another unit or two stored away just in case, but then the same can be said for Nintendo DSes, PSPs and some of the older consoles that I’m dreading possibly losing.
Then again peripherals are another part of the experience where PS3 is trailing behind a bit for me. Take the console’s respective controller keyboard things. The 360’s is nice, firm and well integrated while the PS3’s is looser, makes the buttons it covers feel shitty and just generally cheaper. It was worse before the PS3 controllers were dualshock as combined with the lightness of that controller it REALLY felt cheap.
Silver,
I am aware that not all 360 owners will experience the level of failure that I mentioned, but you do hear quite a few stories from different people so it does happen.
As for the PS3 keyboard clip-on thing, I think I would agree with you. I haven’t tried it, but the position above the controller just seems wrong somehow. I personally use the Logitech Mediaboard, it’s only £10 more than the clip on thingy, It’s bluetooth so no farting about with USB plug in’s. it’s a full size slimline keyboard but without the numeric keypad, & It’s got a laptop style mouse/scroll pad on it, oh, & the four playstation face buttons marked on it (no start or select, but then again how far away is your joypad ever going to be). I find this works an absolute treat.
Sounds like something I might be interested in.
Don’t suppose I could trouble you for a link so I know what I’m asking for next time I go shopping?
i bought a ps3 only becouse i heard final fantasy 14 is going to be a ps3 only title. Givin the ps3 is still around. But i also got a xbox 360 a month or so later from my uncle going to iraq. The 360 was a elite and the ps3 was a 80g. i love my ps3 way more than my xbox. I like it for many reasons other than final fantasy. It is way easier to recharge my controllers if it matters to you. There is built in wifi. The wifi mattered to me alot because my modem is really far from my router/modem. The speed is pretty good. I like the psp to ps3 abilty. But that may be beaten when the zune hd comes out. The ps2 still has a reltivly good asorment of games out. The xbox died pretty fast. I want my consele to last a little longer after market. i also like blue tooth it makes communcating to my friends online super easier. The one thing i like on my 360 is xbox live.
Silver,
Try this
http://www.cclonline.com/product-info.asp?product_id=28516&tid=gsearch
or this (CCL links are bit iffy sometimes)
http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/gaming/playstation_3/all/devices/3616&cl=gb,en?WT.mc_id=ps_google-adwords_trademarks_emea&strf=Paid_Search&WT.srch=1&gclid=CMS33feFhJsCFaAU4wodp1iJpg
Make sure it’s the Mediaboard Pro, the black one. The first mediaboard that Logitech released was silver & didn’t have the playstation face buttons on it.
Only one negative about it. It’s Piano black so it looks lovely when you open the box, but it loves fingerprints.
So it’s like a small full keyboard? I like the clip on kind as normal keyboards tend to get lost under a sea of electronics as far as my gaming area is concerned. ^^;
Still they do make typing easier as I’ve found on both consoles.
I agree that one should choose their system based on what makes him or her happy. I bought a PS3 for the simple fact that I have loved Sony since my first PS1. I couldn’t wait til it came down in price to a level that was comfortable to me and when it did I bought it right away. If Microsoft and Xbox is what makes you happy, so be it, buy one and be happy. The greatest thing I could wish for is that both systems found a way to play the multiplayer games online against each other. Maybe if that could happen we would all be one big happyy family and not get so carried away with the fanboy crap. I will finish up by saying that I am 100% satisfied with my PS3 and hope that those who bought a 360 are equally satisfied with their systems. Happy gaming to all of us no matter which side of the fence we standf!
I’m going to play FIFA 09 and other soccer games only.
Can you pls advise if PS3 or XBox360 better for FIFA 09 and other soccer games?
I asked my mate as I don’t play soccer games too much and he told me he finds the PS3’s button layout a lot better for soccer games. He’s been playing the FIFA series since it came out, so he’s likely got some decent knowledge of it.
Your RROD comment is spot on, though we’ll have to see if it’s really been addressed – I’m on console #2 (almost, it hasn’t arrived yet). I was really considering a PS3 out of frustration and lack of confidence in the 360, but at the end of the day I have become slightly addicted to online gaming, and after this year’s E3 announcements with facebook, twitter, last.fm, project Natal (big wow) etc, I think I’ll take my chances with whatever they send me to replace my 360. Combine this with programs like TVersity to stream media, and the Xbox does more than I hoped it would do when I bought it… be it somewhat less reliably.
You’re a very good critic. It’s the first time Ive seen a critic who dosen’t side with any of the two consoles. I liked it when you mentioned the 360 has reached it’s full potential and the PS3 is improving which is true. I hope all the fanboys see this. Good job!
for me 360 should have been the best if not for that stupid rrod. that’s the main problem for the 360. up to now i haven’t heard a rational explanation for this liability that has been a big thorn for microsoft. due to this stupidity microsoft has already lost billions that should not had happened in the first place if not for their negligence. i own an xbox. it died after 5 months as soon as i bought it.luckily i know someone who can permanently fix it, he made a fortune out of microsoft’s error, and up to now my xbox is still alive even if i use it 10-12 hours daily.it has been a year already and im still pissed off with microsoft. as a sign of disgust, i modified my console.
If by “modifed”, you mean so it plays copied games, you ain’t going to “get even” with Microsoft by doing that, you’re just going to rip off the game developers/publishers, & sorry to say that getting a friend to fix it is actually letting Microsoft completely off the hook, & by not sending it in for repair, you’ve probably invalidated the warranty. I don’t think MS are going to sweat it.
If by “modified” you mean something different you need to elaborate as that could mean anything (wheels, jet engines, pulley system for delivering sandwiches, hair dryer conversion?!), please tell!
Maybe he got a custom faceplate saying something derogatory about Microsoft.
I have an anti-windows custom boot screen on an XP desktop which I find delightfully ironic… Is ironic the right word?
i can just about put up with the jet engine noise of the 360, and the fact that the online community IMO is so much better makes it the console for me. The only thing i prefer about the ps3 is how it is free to use the online services, £35 for one year seems a bit steep to me, especially if you get RROD and wait half that time to get it back :(
I’ve seen those alternative XP boot screens (the one with the big pirate skull on it is quite good).
If you haven’t got your 360 for 6 out of 12 months I’d demand your money back, & buy something different. I thought they turned them around quite quickly these days – isn’t like they don’t know what’s wrong with them by now.
Maybe that’s why I prefer the PS3, I don’t care about the online community that much. Even when I go online to play KZ2 or Motorstorm:PR I don’t really want to associate with them, I just enjoy the challenge that real people present (my friends list is quite small – on purpose), & I much prefer a solid single player experience – roll on Final Fantasy anything.
I should celebrate, I got my first Platinum trophy this morning for acing Infamous. It could at least give you a little fanfare for getting a platinum instead of the normal “bing”, is a few trumpets too much to ask? To be fair, I think Infamous is a trophy whores dream game as it’s not that difficult to get them all (unlike Mirrors Edge which is a “just one more try, oh bugger I fell of again” nightmare).
After reading all three past articles i’m pretty convinced on both systems being brilliant at what they’re built for. I have wanted a ps3 for a while but I didn’t know if it would be worth it to get the only console in this generation that I didn’t have. I prefer playing alone to let some steam off in some world that will have no affect on me, so ps3 is pretty nice in that respect. plus i’m more multimedia than just gaming so it would do what i want. Don’t get me started on reliability. being able to know that the system will probably live to see the next generation is a beautiful concept. so i think that i might just pick it up.
Well my 360 just died.
Know what it took to kill it?
Not time, nor hardware failure under normal conditions…
No, it took a mate stumbling and dropping a 52″ TV on top of it destroying both the TV and 360. Thankfully the store I went to allowed me to grab a new TV as I’d only just bought it and what was really cool of them was I told them what actually happened and they said it was no biggie. Unfortunately the 360 warranty doesn’t cover act of klutz.
Now I need to decide whether I want the replacement red, black or white…
Decisions… lol
i am about to buy a new game console , i want 2 buy an xbox 360 because of it’s excellent features but i have also heard that of late there are still cases of that red ring of death thing. i mean if any 1 that bought a console in like 3months ago still has that problem please free free to tell me so i don’t make that mistake and so that i can use the money instead to buy a psp 2000 and keep the spare change :)(
Why is everyone still complaining about RROD? Ive had my XBOX for what must be close to a year now, and havent had a single problem with it.
It definitely is a bit noisier than my buddies PS3, but installing games to the 360 HDD fixes that. I havent seen a single game on PS3 where the graphics “beat the tar” out of 360 graphics, they look pretty equal to me from that point of view.
Ive been following the “console war” since it started in 2005, and honestly, the big deal is, if you wanna play 360 exclusives like HALO and Gears Of War, you buy a 360.
If you wanna play PS3 exclusives like Metal Gear Solid and Killzone, you buy a PS3.
Simple as that.
People are still complaining about the RROD because it still happens a lot more than it should (but less than it did).
I do agree with your statement about buying a console for the exclusives though, after all, why on earth would you buy a console that has games you don’t want to play.
hmmmmmm
PLEASE READ THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have a 360 and i would love to say its better, but its not.
I bought an elite 360 and never got the red rings(i have had it for 2 years)
so Mr.Fuckthisfuckthat fuck off.
i love the netflix but i am a hardcore movie lover!
also i have a 64inch moniter in my room and i say past 46inch graphics are worse on a 360,
smaller than 46inchs they are better.
so i say get a 64inch moniter bose speakers and…
Play Station 3
all considered this is the ultimate combo for the ultimate gamer
Yes, it’s true. For movies a PS3 is way better on a decently sized screen.
Gamewise though I honestly feel the 360 is great. Granted my monitor I currently use is only 52 inches as anything beyond that is way too expensive for my tastes even with a decent warranty, but you did use 46 inches as your measure and at 52 inches my 360 still looks nicer than my PS3 in most cases.
Know what looks better for movies when you have the cash to get a 64 inch screen and some sweet audio? A purpose-built entertainment unit. Hell my current one’s got all kinds of shiny things. I can jam near any memory stick with audio/video into it, it plays at full HD, plays all formats including some now more or less dead (HD-DVD, anyone?) and has a ton more jacks for more devices.
Why settle for any console as an all in one when you got the cash? Seriously. And don’t use the space argument if you’re mentioning a screen over 60 inches.
I agree on the feeling that a PS3 gives when I am playing. Although I do play online often, and only own a PS3, and have played online with the Xbox 360, I find little differences between the two consoles. I had the same troubles in finding open game sessions (like in COD) on both consoles.
I have had my PS3 for 2 1/2 years and it has just started to act strange (not saying its completely broken yet, i think the optical lens just needs to be cleaned.) Meanwhile, i have a friend who had 5 360s over a 4 year period. He switched to the PS3, has had it for about a year, and its still working great. Even if the PS3 costs more, it is definately more worth it then 360 in the long run (w/ free online gameplay and less extras to pay for)
Yep, it’s awesome for those on a tight budget. :D
people need to stop saying that after you buy every for the xbox its more expensive then a PS3
thats not true…. HDMI cord bought for the PS3 $25 PS3 headset 50. charge base for contollers because the 4′ cable you get from sony is too short thats another 20.
ive bought 95$ worth of stuff I had to have to play the PS3 on line
the only thing i had to buy for the 360 was a 13month live for 7.9cents a day ($50)everything else is included.
please explain to me where this comes from? the 360 comes out of the box ready to play on line the PS3 does not…you do get a 1month free to live, so out of the box the 360 is ready go.
Okay so this actually helped settle an argument between me and a PS3 lover (I personally am a 360 fanboy but I don’t think either console has a true upper hand on the other) I know PS3 has it’s blu-ray player and its got @Home and can install linux but the whole thing is these are gaming consoles people GAMING CONSOLES! not computers which actually beat both of these consoles into the ground but that is beside the point. Both have good games it just depends on what you prefer, me I like FPS games and RPG’s which the 360 has some of the best out there. But on PS3 you have the same thing gamewise and personally if I had the money I would buy both systems because I want to play Metal Gear Solid 4 and Little Big Planet but if you really think about it that’s all that’s worth buying now people okay so Killzone 2 is coming out but what else really? Oh well okay God of War 3 if you’re into that thing. But really people quit starting wars over a game console alright my opinion is biased but I’ve had these arguments so many times and most of the time the only end the argument comes to is none because one or both sides will not give in or they agree that both systems are decently equal and play their respective hearts out on their respective systems.
Chris,
I can’t argue with you about the HDMI cable, but you can pick them up pretty cheap if you look around, & you’ll get a perfectly decent picture with the supplied cables until you can get one (I do think Sony should’ve thrown one in the box though considering it’s toughted as a hi-def console).
You can pick up a headset cheaper than that, or buy the Playstation Eye which doubles as a microphone.
Charge base – you didn’t “need” one, it was a purchase you could have easily avoided.
1. It’s a wireless controller, how often do you need the cable.
2. The battery lasts for ages.
3. Just turn on the PS3’s power save feature so it turns itself off after an hour or two of inactivity, & plug the PS3’s controller in after you’ve finished using the console, it’ll charge the controller & then turn itself off…or…
4. If you have more than two controllers just swap them around & use one whilst the other is charging, they don’t take long to charge up….or….
5. Charge the controller via a PC if you’ve got one, or a Wii (if you leave the Wii’s 24Connect thing on it’ll charge from the Wii when it’s in standby – yes it was stupid of Sony not to think of that one, but it’s hardly a big deal).
I’ve seen those charge bases, & thought of buying one, but it’d just be spending money for the sake of spending money, or you could just buy an extra long mini USB cable, I’m sure they are a lot cheaper than those charge bases.
A lack of HDMI cable won’t stop you going online, & neither will not having a headset (we’re PS3 owners anyway, we’re an unsociable bunch, we don’t want to speak to other people, we just want to kill or race them, or maybe that’s just me!). The PS3 is ready to play online straight out of the box. If you need wireless then it’s more ready than the 360 (I couldn’t possibly run a cable across 2 rooms, it would have to be really long, & routed really carefully to not look a completely mess).
There’s pro’s & cons to both consoles, & I don’t think you can say that either of them are overpriced. You get a lot of games console for very little money with the 360 (at least the Arcade is very cheap), & you get a lot of games console with the extras built in with the PS3, but you pay a premium for having it all in one nice neat tidy package. If anything I think it’s the Wii that is overpriced at this point considering how little it costs to make against what they charge for it. I think the boardroom at Nintendo is just a group of suits dancing around in a room 2 metres high in large denomination currency laughing their @rses off, & who could blame them.
Silver,
Was that sarcasm I detected? The highest form of wit.
Very possibly. Which part were you referring to?
pesonally i like the ps3 more. aside from the games you can use third party accessories. like controllers, any bluetooth headset (i use the one from my phone) and for me wi fi is a massive bonus becoz i dont have many 30 metre ethernet cables. that being said xbox still is good online but psn is almost as good and dosnt cost anything
Quote “Yep, it’s awesome for those on a tight budget. :D”.
Seemed a touch sarcastic to me, but who can blame ya.
Oh, that bit wasn’t sarcasm. That was an accurate observation about how the best experience with an xbox 360 costs more than the PS3. Also if you’re not a fan of optional hardware the PS3’s probably a bit better right out of the box although I dislike the whole not including cable for a wired connection thing. Because even if there are wires it is better for gaming. It’s things like that which make me feel the big companies don’t care about the hardcore gamers no more. That and how all of them are trying to gain a casual audience. Some casual games are awesome, but a diet of mostly casual games would kill me.
Sorry, came across as sarcastic, I misinterpreted. Damn the internet & it’s inability to translate tone of speech!
I’m actually more suprised that Sony don’t include a HDMI cable – I know they’re not expensive, but seen as they tout it as a hi-def console, it should really come with one, & it only has to be long enough to get from the console to the TV. Every ethernet cable I’ve ever got included with anything (modems & routers) has always been way too short for me, & wireless seems to work fine.
If you ask a 360 owners they’ll moan because the PS3 doesn’t with the a HDMI cable or a headset, or an ethernet cable. If you ask a PS3 owner they’ll moan because the 360 doesn’t come with Wi-Fi or bluetooth or a Blu-Ray drive.
Can’t please half of the people any of the time. My excuse is I’m English, we like a good moan, oh & a cuppa tea.
very nice article.
Im a ps3 owner. my only bitch about the system is the online experience on multi platforms.
I started with a ps3, playing online was becoming work with the lagging and loosing connection! I played cod 4,5, and forza 2 on my friends xbox 360 and well the online worked just fine. I actually sat and played online for hours with no lagging at all. I am a huge online gamer so i also bought a 360. The only game i play on ps3 is gt5 which yes lags alot but i like racing games. In the future i beleive as of now i will be buying games for the 360, forza 3, cod, halo. I still like my ps3 there well built and blu ray player but for me its online gaming, ps3 over hype games, take to long coming out and ive owned my ps3 from the beginning and where are these games that are going to blow the 360 away with amazing graphics. In 2 years or so won’t there be new consoles out??? Im a 360 guy now
ps3 lied to me. Microsoft are doing what ps3 want to do…..
well i have been an xbox fanfor a while, i started out on nintendo and graduated to ps2, then bought an xbox. i can honestly say that i like the 360, but im not with the sending it back and replacing it every so often. i play games to take my mind off this world, even for a little while. i like to pop final fantasy in and just let my mind go while playing in a different world. to me a console has to be there when i need it, at any hour. besides the final fantasy, i also love the metal gear saga. games like that can keep me playing for days on end. its important that when i need to “get lost” and away from this world, that my console is there waiting and not enroute, or on the delivery truck, or in the store waiting to be picked up. and it always happens at the wrong time doesnt it? (RROD) SONY-PS34LIFE
Seems like the lag users are experiencing on the ps3 is on their end. I’ve never had any lag issues with it. I guess ymmv. Good chance it’s either you or the other players your gaming with.
Actually I noticed the same thing.
While xbox live was always reliable for me apart from when the server was down for maintanence, online gaming on the PS3 had it’s ups and downs. Nowadays I stick to the PS3 for exclusives and usually only play it offline whereas my 360 hogs all the multiplayer action. Only problem I have is with the crappy d-pad on street fighter.
The 360 d-pad is indeed quite awful.
ok I don’t see why it matters if the xbox 360 has the red ring of death. Any console will eventually have issues and most sony fanboys’ statements similar to “I’ve had my ps3 for 2 years and it still running great!” is not as great as it sounds because the general complaint by sony fanboys about the RROD is that of “What good is having a console if it breaks after 3 years?” It doesn’t take a genious to figure out that because the 360 has been out longer it has more reports of break downs. The ps3 is really only runnin on its 3rd year and sure the argument arises “But it breaks down less often.” Really because what happens if at the end of this year ps3’s start breaking down faster than 360’s did? well just about same lifespan and considering there WILL be another set of next-gen systems, repairing your 360 could only cost as much as $100 to maybe $200. after the price difference of buying the console the ps3 both cost relatively the same.
the xbox controller actually has trigger the ps3 controller has shitty like square buttons. The xbox controller has the joysticks were they’re most used. The d-pad is hardly used in the ps3 and xbox. The xbox has overall better positioning than the gay ps3 made by some twiggy little japs.
Anonymous,
We don’t know what the failure rate of the PS3 after 3 years will be, most of the consoles could work for a decade or more without problem, or they could start breaking down – it’s speculation either way, which is basically making stuff up.
RROD matter because we actually have evidence of the failure rate of the 360 because it was initially that bad, & still isn’t exacly great.
DIablo666,
Are you sure you’re name isn’t Cleetus or Roscoe or something similar. Do you have a shotgun & a younger brother with sticky out ears who plays the banjo – squeal piggy squeal. Do you still think black people should be your slaves working the fields? You xenophobic, homophobic, IQ deficient hick.