XBox 360 Or PS3

[HailtotheYo]

Not Really WAY WAY out of proportion

[wolves]

Well I have both so I can give you the pros and cons of each:

The PS3 has the Blu-Ray player and is probably one of the best Blu-Ray players on the market. The online is free though I have never used Home or played any games online. I find their system for handling downloads to be inferior to the 360's. It takes longer per download and for me, I can't do anything else while it I'm downloading something. I do like that they use actual U.S dollars for their currency whereas the 360 uses points.

The PS3 also had lengthy download times when you have to update your game or install it to the hard drive. I've never had an update on the 360 take more than a minute or so. On the PS3 you better go make a snack because you might be there a while.

On the 360 side even though it costs $50 a year, XBOX Live is a far superior online service. I prefer their layout and method of selecting and downloading things. If you don't want to pay for online on the 360, you can still download things but you can't play online with your friends. It all depends on what kind of gaming you do. Also the 360 does not have built in wireless like the PS3 does.

If you have Netflix, the 360's set up blows PS3's out of the water. It's fast and easy to use whereas the PS3 is very slow and sometimes whole menus don't load.

When it comes down to games most can be played on either system. Sometimes though one system has an advantage over the other. That's on a game to game basis though. You have to figure out what exclusives appeal more to you:

The PS3 has: Metal Gear Solid 4, Uncharted 2, Ratchet & Clank, Heavy Rain, MLB The Show, and MAG/SOCOM 4

The 360 has: Gears of War, Halo, Fable, Alan Wake, Left 4 Dead, and Mass Effect. It should be noted that the 360 often gets exclusive timed rights to add on's like Call of Duty map packs and the GTA IV expansions.

My whole theory on it is that I look at my PS3 as a Blu-Ray Player that can also play some incredible games. I look at my 360 as a game machine that can play a DVD or Netflix when I need it. Just look at some of the games you want to play, maybe what system your friends have and make your choice. You really can't go wrong either way.

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

My PS3 60gig got the "Yellow Light of Death" (which I fixed myself but it rebreaks every couple of months).

Just so you know.

[Kaney]

I can't do anything else while it I'm downloading something.

There actually is an option to download in the background whenever you download anything, so yeah.

Personally I prefer the PS3 as a system on the whole, the online service has never given me any problems, and the Xbox's dashboard is absolutely horrific. It's mainly down to personal tastes in games, get the one that has the most games you'd like to play. If you have twenty PS3 games you want to play, then the quality of the online service of XBox or whatever shouldn't really be an issue.

[TCO]

From someone who owned both, but now just the PS3 as had no need for the 360 afterwards. I honestly prefer the PS3, but I'm not going to say it's better, because really it's six of one or half a dozen of the other. I'll just outline the pros and cons of the PS3

PS3 Pros

• Free Online
  
• Blu-Ray Player
  
• Better all-round media hub
  
• Better controller
  
• More reliable console
  
• More mature online community
  
• Internet browser
  
• Heavy Rain
  
  
  PS3 Cons
  
  • Inferior online service
    
  • More expensive
    Long install times on games (not sure what it's like on 360, the feature arrived after I sold mine)
    

  One main thing, really to note, don't buy a Wii.

[Liam]

I can't do anything else while it I'm downloading something.

There actually is an option to download in the background whenever you download anything, so yeah.

I think he meant more when downloading updates and the like, which you can't do anything around.

[Kaney]

I also don't see install times any quicker on the 360, the few times I've bothered with installing. I think the major thing there is that you don't HAVE to install 360 games, while some like MGS4 require several.

EDIT : Ah, fair enough then Liam.

[wolves]

No actually I can't do anything when I download a demo or anything of the like. Even if I select download in background if I then go and watch a movie or play a game, it just pauses the download until I return to the main menu of the system. If that's a problem only I face then scratch it off the list of cons. It's annoying but if it's not a widespread issue then you probably won't run in to it.

[Kaney]

I know it does work because I downloaded the GoW3 demo while playing Heavy Rain. It might be the case that you can't download things while playing an online game, but that is the same for the 360. Even if you don't actually go online, most times if a game has online capabilities it'll pause, so maybe it's the same on the PS3.

[wolves]

Yeah it's possible, to be honest I haven't downloaded much on the PS3 so for all I know I'm just doing things wrong.

[Cactus Drags]

I have both, bu I get a lot more use out of my 360. The online service is much better and it doesn't take an age to install every game you buy. The controller layout is virtually identical to the Dual Shock, so there's not a lot new to get used to. PS3 tends to have cheaper accessories like wireless headsets however, because Microsoft are cunts and won't license third parties to make wireless kit. PS3 is also wireless-capable out of the box, 360 needs an adaptor. 360 has a wider library of games. When people ask this at the shop I work at, I basically tell them it comes down to two things, the exclusives, and whether you're going online with it (in which case, check what your friends have). 360 has stuff like Mass Effect, Halo, Gears of War and Left 4 Dead. PS3 boasts Uncharted, Infamous, Killzone, Heavy Rain etc.

I've had very very few problems with the online service for PS3, pretty much ever. There was that one day where it was down, and Resistance 2 has crapped out on me online about... 5 times total. Every other time I've played online or used online for the store, it's been 100% fine.

I know 360 people like to think there's is the better deal because they're paying for it, but honestly I've played both (more PS3 than 360, but a fair bit of 360 non-the less) and as far as I can tell, neither has any advantage over the other when it comes to online. There are also a fair few more PS3 exclusives than that, Metal Gear Solid 4, FF Versus XIII & Gran Turismo 5 when they come out, Little Big Planet & Resistance 1 & 2 to name a few more. Not to mention with the PS3 you can get all the Playstation 1 Classics, such as MGS1, FFVII & VIII, Crash Bandicoot, Oddworld etc.

Well obviously I wasn't going for an exhaustive list of every exclusive title. There are Xbox Originals as well, I'm not really down for paying £8 to download a PS1 game (not that I'm buying Xbox Originals anytime soon, but eh). And perhaps there's not a lot wrong with the PS3's online service, it just feels a lot more barebones than the 360.

[mrmayhem87]

Thanks everyone. I decided to go with a PS3, I had to place an order on one. Gamestop told me they would call me when they got a new shipment.,

[LL!]

I hope you don't get a webcam thingy. Nobody wants to look at that hideously creepy face of yours.

Just saying.

[Liam]

I have both, bu I get a lot more use out of my 360. The online service is much better and it doesn't take an age to install every game you buy. The controller layout is virtually identical to the Dual Shock, so there's not a lot new to get used to. PS3 tends to have cheaper accessories like wireless headsets however, because Microsoft are cunts and won't license third parties to make wireless kit. PS3 is also wireless-capable out of the box, 360 needs an adaptor. 360 has a wider library of games. When people ask this at the shop I work at, I basically tell them it comes down to two things, the exclusives, and whether you're going online with it (in which case, check what your friends have). 360 has stuff like Mass Effect, Halo, Gears of War and Left 4 Dead. PS3 boasts Uncharted, Infamous, Killzone, Heavy Rain etc.

I've had very very few problems with the online service for PS3, pretty much ever. There was that one day where it was down, and Resistance 2 has crapped out on me online about... 5 times total. Every other time I've played online or used online for the store, it's been 100% fine.

I know 360 people like to think there's is the better deal because they're paying for it, but honestly I've played both (more PS3 than 360, but a fair bit of 360 non-the less) and as far as I can tell, neither has any advantage over the other when it comes to online. There are also a fair few more PS3 exclusives than that, Metal Gear Solid 4, FF Versus XIII & Gran Turismo 5 when they come out, Little Big Planet & Resistance 1 & 2 to name a few more. Not to mention with the PS3 you can get all the Playstation 1 Classics, such as MGS1, FFVII & VIII, Crash Bandicoot, Oddworld etc.

Well obviously I wasn't going for an exhaustive list of every exclusive title. There are Xbox Originals as well, I'm not really down for paying £8 to download a PS1 game (not that I'm buying Xbox Originals anytime soon, but eh). And perhaps there's not a lot wrong with the PS3's online service, it just feels a lot more barebones than the 360.

I know it was probably meant as exaggeration, but most PS1 classics come in at around £3, £3.50, which isn't too bad. Only some of the bigger titles have been hawked at £8.

[Cactus Drags]

Fair enough, I've never really looked, but the ones I have seen I remember being £7.99.