[MJ_Avalanche]

Alright, with Street Fighter IV staring me in the face wanted me to buy it, I've decided that I'm about ready to give in and buy a 360 or a PS3.

Now, I'm soliciting you lovely folks here to help me make my decision. I'm going to start myself off by listing both the Pros and Cons of each console, as well as the games that interest me on both. I should also note that if I had the money, I would get both, because there's stuff I want to play on both.

Anyways, here goes.

360 -

Pros: Cheaper, Bigger online community, more people I know with 360, larger library, Netflix streaming.
Cons: Halo, you have to pay for that online community, that controller is kinda meh in my opinion, no blu-ray drive (kind of a moot point, for me, though), apparently has a tendency to die on people, about as big as a fridge.

Exclusive Games I want to play:
Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts, Castle Crashers, Fable II.

PS3 -

Pros: Hard-drives in all models, free online play, mostly backwards compatible (I think? Refresh my memory), heavy-hitting exclusives, blu-ray drive, should I ever feel the need to shell out my life savings to get expensive DVDs.
Cons: The controller is better but still not my favorite, not as many people to play online with, definitely more expensive, also the size of a refrigerator.

Exclusive Games I want to play:
Valkyria Chronicles, Metal Gear Solid 4, Flower, Little Big Planet (maybe... I probably would just download levels and play them. Although, I don't like the floatiness of the platforming), Noby Noby Boy.

I'm sure there's some I'm missing, but that's all I've got off the top of my head.

Anything you guys throw at me, I'll take into consideration.

[Art]

"More people I know with 360" is a big one for me. I disagree about the controllers, but I suppose that all boils down to personal preference.

For most people, I tell them to pick based on exclusive titles, but you want exclusives on both sides.

I love the 360. Of course, I haven't had the red ring of death.

[smhatahy]

I already twittered my response, can't believe i did that in less that 160 characters.

But yeah i love that you listed Halo as a con... ahahaha

(Also the PS3 is expected to have a price drop by summer i think? May want to look into that)

[TahoeJeff]

I have both, so I may be able to help.

Originally Posted by MJ_Avalanche

360 -

Pros: Cheaper, Bigger online community, more people I know with 360, larger library, Netflix streaming.
Cons: Halo, you have to pay for that online community, that controller is kinda meh in my opinion, no blu-ray drive (kind of a moot point, for me, though), apparently has a tendency to die on people, about as big as a fridge.

Exclusive Games I want to play:
Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts, Castle Crashers, Fable II.

As far as paying for the online community, its not really bad. About $5 a month and the overall quality of the online gameplay is superior to PS3. It's smaller than a PS3. PS3 is HUGE. Castle Crashers and Fable II are both awesome. I've never had the red ring of death. Don't move it around a lot and give it proper ventilation and I think you'll be fine.

PS3 -

Pros: Hard-drives in all models, free online play, mostly backwards compatible (I think? Refresh my memory), heavy-hitting exclusives, blu-ray drive, should I ever feel the need to shell out my life savings to get expensive DVDs.
Cons: The controller is better but still not my favorite, not as many people to play online with, definitely more expensive.

Exclusive Games I want to play:
Valkyria Chronicles, Metal Gear Solid 4, Flower, Little Big Planet (maybe... I probably would just download levels and play them. Although, I don't like the floatiness of the platforming), Noby Noby Boy.

Blu-ray is definitely a plus. Games look incredible on this system. Little Big Planet is fun and MGS4 is amazing. The online play is not as stable as XBox live..but its free. You get what you pay for. Still a great system.

Both systems are good. You should be happy with either one. For you, I'd recommend the 360 right now. Especially since you don't really care about the Blu-Ray.

[MJ_Avalanche]

Originally Posted by Art

"More people I know with 360" is a big one for me. I disagree about the controllers, but I suppose that all boils down to personal preference.

For most people, I tell them to pick based on exclusive titles, but you want exclusives on both sides.

I love the 360. Of course, I haven't had the red ring of death.

Yeah, that definitely is a big thing. Although, the only games I can see myself owning with multiplayer are SFIV and Burnout, I'd want to play them online a lot. Oh, and Rock Band, maybe.

And yeah, I think my main problem with the 360 controller is the D-Pad. Also the triggers and the bumpers(?) feel confusing to me when I hold the controller. But it's probably because I'm used to stuff that all feels relatively the same button-wise.

No RROD is definitely a good thing.

Originally Posted by Akshay

I already twittered my response, can't believe i did that in less that 160 characters.

But yeah i love that you listed Halo as a con... ahahaha

(Also the PS3 is expected to have a price drop by summer i think? May want to look into that)

That was pretty amazing to fit all that in such a small space. I will have to take into consideration that price drop, though.

And yes. Halo is a con. In more ways than one. 'Though that stems from my not being able to play shooters on consoles. I just can't do it. I'm a mouse 'n keyboard kinda guy.

Originally Posted by TahoeJeff

I have both, so I may be able to help.



As far as paying for the online community, its not really bad. About $5 a month and the overall quality of the online gameplay is superior to PS3. It's smaller than a PS3. PS3 is HUGE. Castle Crashers and Fable II are both awesome. I've never had the red ring of death. Don't move it around a lot and give it proper ventilation and I think you'll be fine.

That's what I've heard about the quality of the gameplay. Good to have a bit of confirmation of those two games. Castle Crashers just look liked so much fun to me. I'm in need of some old school beat 'em up business.

Can't believe I forgot to put the con on the PS3 side that it also is the size of a fridge. It totally is massive..

Blu-ray is definitely a plus. Games look incredible on this system. Little Big Planet is fun and MGS4 is amazing. The online play is not as stable as XBox live..but its free. You get what you pay for. Still a great system.

Both systems are good. You should be happy with either one. For you, I'd recommend the 360 right now. Especially since you don't really care about the Blu-Ray.

LBP seems like it would be a lot of fun to see all the crazy stuff they can do, but the part the worries me about it is the platforming itself doesn't seem to be all that great. It's just kind of a sandbox with jump.

And yes, MGS4 does sound great from both a story perspective and actually a gameplay perspective for once.

I've also heard that games do look incredible on it, as long as it's built for PS3. If it's a port, it sounds like developers do somewhat of a hack-job on it.

Blu-Ray is definitely a take it or leave it kinda thing for me now. I'm preferring my movies to be in digital format, so I can load it onto my iPhone and take it with me.

Would it make much of a difference if I said my TV only goes up to 720p?

Thanks guys!

[TahoeJeff]

Originally Posted by MJ_Avalanche

Yeah, that definitely is a big thing. Although, the only games I can see myself owning with multiplayer are SFIV and Burnout, I'd want to play them online a lot. Oh, and Rock Band, maybe.

And yeah, I think my main problem with the 360 controller is the D-Pad. Also the triggers and the bumpers(?) feel confusing to me when I hold the controller. But it's probably because I'm used to stuff that all feels relatively the same button-wise.

No RROD is definitely a good thing.



That was pretty amazing to fit all that in such a small space. I will have to take into consideration that price drop, though.

And yes. Halo is a con. In more ways than one. 'Though that stems from my not being able to play shooters on consoles. I just can't do it. I'm a mouse 'n keyboard kinda guy.



That's what I've heard about the quality of the gameplay. Good to have a bit of confirmation of those two games. Castle Crashers just look liked so much fun to me. I'm in need of some old school beat 'em up business.

Can't believe I forgot to put the con on the PS3 side that it also is the size of a fridge. It totally is massive..



LBP seems like it would be a lot of fun to see all the crazy stuff they can do, but the part the worries me about it is the platforming itself doesn't seem to be all that great. It's just kind of a sandbox with jump.

And yes, MGS4 does sound great from both a story perspective and actually a gameplay perspective for once.

I've also heard that games do look incredible on it, as long as it's built for PS3. If it's a port, it sounds like developers do somewhat of a hack-job on it.

Blu-Ray is definitely a take it or leave it kinda thing for me now. I'm preferring my movies to be in digital format, so I can load it onto my iPhone and take it with me.

Would it make much of a difference if I said my TV only goes up to 720p?

Thanks guys!

720p still looks pretty good if you haven't seen better. Another great thing about Blu-ray is the quality of the sound. If you have a good sound system and HDMI, then you get the true HD sound too.

[bravesfan007]

One thing to keep in mind is the new PS3s are not backwards compatible, but the 360 will play an extensive collection of Xbox games.

[MJ_Avalanche]

Originally Posted by TahoeJeff

720p still looks pretty good if you haven't seen better. Another great thing about Blu-ray is the quality of the sound. If you have a good sound system and HDMI, then you get the true HD sound too.

I'd definitely use HDMI with whichever one I got, since I have the ports... and all my component ports are full anyways with all my other consoles. I do know that 1080p looks pretty dang incredible. Just wasn't sure if there was a particularly huge difference as far as the actual designs of the consoles is concerned.

HD sound would be nice... But I don't have external speakers hooked up. I should get some at some point.

Originally Posted by bravesfan007

One thing to keep in mind is the new PS3s are not backwards compatible, but the 360 will play an extensive collection of Xbox games.

Ah, now see, that's a pretty big deal breaker for me. I knew that it was taken out with one of the models, but I thought there was enough uproar about it to put it back in. If I were to get one, I'd much rather dump my PSlim2 and still be able to play the games. Way to screw things up Sony.

And I actually don't own any XBox games, so that's not too big a deal for me, but it's nice to know that should I grab something old, I would probably still be able to play it.

I tell ya what, though. Backwards compatibility is definitely something Nintendo got sooo right on the Wii. Minus a handful of key games, they have almost anything you would want to play available right there.

[slap_j]

Originally Posted by MJ_Avalanche

IAh, now see, that's a pretty big deal breaker for me. I knew that it was taken out with one of the models, but I thought there was enough uproar about it to put it back in. If I were to get one, I'd much rather dump my PSlim2 and still be able to play the games. Way to screw things up Sony.

There are six PS3 SKUs. Three of them are backwards compatible with PS2 games. All of them are BC with PS1 games. Unfortunately the models currently in production feature only PS1 BC. There were rumors that PS2 BC could be added with a firmware update but Sony has never released anything.

That said I would figure out which exclusives you're most interested in and go for that console. For me MGS4 warranted choosing the PS3. I also have a 1080p LCD which is a wonderful showcase for blu-ray.

I've also heard that games do look incredible on it, as long as it's built for PS3. If it's a port, it sounds like developers do somewhat of a hack-job on it.

That's true. However a new trend is emerging where the PS3 is used as the lead development platform for multi-console titles. Which makes sense because it's easier to port to the 360 from the PS3 rather than the other way around.

I should also note that the PS3 uses a standard 2.5" mobile HDD. So you have lots of options if you want more storage. Right after picking up my 40GB model I swapped in an old 100GB HDD. Easy as pie.

[TahoeJeff]

Originally Posted by bravesfan007

One thing to keep in mind is the new PS3s are not backwards compatible, but the 360 will play an extensive collection of Xbox games.

Oh yes!! I totally meant to put that in my post, but I forgot since I have an old one!

[Art]

I rarely ever use the d-pad on the 360. I have never seen it as a negative.

There are some great games out there for the XBox. Knights of the Old Republic, Jade Empire and Fable come to mind.

I don't know... BluRay is largely unimportant to me. DVDs look pretty dang good through my 360. I know BluRay looks better through the PS3, but I just don't see it being that important.

I don't know. I don't think you will be disappointed either way.

[joshua.lee.90]

If you think about the price the amount your getting with the PS3(wireless internet adapter, blueray, bigger HD) its definitly worth the additional $100 or so. This is coming from a 360 user. But and i stress BUT if you have a router near where your putting your xbox then its fine. A blu ray player will drop in prices really soon. In the next year im gonna guess they will drop a lot. Plus blu ray discs for new movies are $40+ definitley not worth it.

[Art]

Originally Posted by joshua.lee.90

If you think about the price the amount your getting with the PS3(wireless internet adapter, blueray, bigger HD) its definitly worth the additional $100 or so. This is coming from a 360 user. But and i stress BUT if you have a router near where your putting your xbox then its fine. A blu ray player will drop in prices really soon. In the next year im gonna guess they will drop a lot. Plus blu ray discs for new movies are $40+ definitley not worth it.

BluRay runs a lot closer to $30 than $40. I even see a lot of them for around $25.

[TahoeJeff]

Originally Posted by joshua.lee.90

If you think about the price the amount your getting with the PS3(wireless internet adapter, blueray, bigger HD) its definitly worth the additional $100 or so. This is coming from a 360 user. But and i stress BUT if you have a router near where your putting your xbox then its fine. A blu ray player will drop in prices really soon. In the next year im gonna guess they will drop a lot. Plus blu ray discs for new movies are $40+ definitley not worth it.

Yeah, like Art said. New Blu-Ray discs are usually about $30. But I've seen the prices dropping a lot. I've seen some as low as $15, and sometimes they will have new release deals for $24.95, which is the same price as getting a deluxe DVD.

[bravesfan007]

Honestly at this point Blu-Ray doesn't mean enough to me to warrant a buy. That's part of the reason I went with a 360. A year from now that may be a different situation, but I can also hope that the price will have dropped by then.