The console wars!

[BiG D]

Note: The Wii has already won, so this is a battle for second place.

As I've mentioned a few times recently, I'm needing one of them expensive console things, and it doesn't matter so much which one (so longs at it plays Rock Band!) Now, as far as price goes, the 360 is clearly the winner. But I find myself leaning towards the PS3 in almost every other category:

• Ongoing costs - Monthly fees to play multiplayer on the 360? ick.
• Games - I honestly can't think of any other game on the 360 that I want to play... But if I get a PS3, I have Little Big Planet and Eye of Judgment to look forward to at least. What games do you 360 owners keep going back to?
• Reliability - The 360 has a terrible track record, and quite frankly I don't like feeling like I'm playing roulette when I buy expensive electronics...
• Other hardware issues - It's been rumoured that the wireless Rock Band guitars will cost more on the 360 due to microsoft's proprietary wireless stuff. Furthermore, if that's the case, it is likely that the guitars that ship with it will be wired...

I'd like to spend less money, I really would! But it somehow doesn't seem like the smart decision anymore....

 

[Ronin Storm]

Well...

I'm on my second 360. I believe I may be the lucky one, only needing a single replacement. That probably tells you something...

Still, despite all, I'm actually very happy with my 360 as a gaming platform. I like:

• Wireless controllers
• Xbox Live Arcade
• Downloadable content (though I'd obviously prefer it was free...)
• Good graphics, good sound, decent price for the base unit
• Guitar Hero II, BioShock, Ghost Recon, Rainbow 6: Vegas, Gears of War
• Access to much of Xbox back stock (e.g. Fahrenheit)

Sure, you can get a bunch of that on other platforms but the 360 neatly pulls all that together for me.

The hardware issues suck, mostly because of DRM on downloaded content from XBL. Getting a console replaced turns out to be pretty easy, really. Getting MS to actually do what they need to in order that you can reauthorise content on your new 360 unit is exceedingly difficult (I gave up); it's authorised for your account so as long as you're signed in to XBL then you can play with that stuff but not otherwise.

The WII seems, to me, to be a cool toy. On the other hand, the 360 provides a solid, high-spec games platform. I'm sure the PS3 does whizzy things that the 360 doesn't but the price tag just doesn't justify it to me. Besides, I bought my 360 when the PS3 was still in production so it was moot for me anyway.

If were to buy a second console, it'd be a WII. It's going to take a lot to make the PS3 seem like a worthwhile investment, to me, given its price tag; but I admit that's from the perspective of a guy who already has a 360 and so doesn't really need another high-spec console.

 

[BiG D]

Guitar Hero II, BioShock, Ghost Recon, Rainbow 6: Vegas, Gears of War

I'll note that I've got Bioshock, Ghost Recon, and R6: Vegas for my PC, so I doubt I'd be purchasing them again.

I have my PS2 for the Guitar Hero series (seriously... I own no other PS2 games) so if it comes down to buying a console for one game, I'll probably end up doing it.

Also, the price difference as of right now is $150 between the cheapest models here. The cheap 360 has a 20 gig HD and the PS3 has a 60. I'm stuck wondering if the cost is worth the bigger HD and better reliability (and possibly the chance to use it for more than one game...)

 

[Ronin Storm]

I find that I barely use the hard drive on the 360 so 20GB is plentiful. Sure, I need to go through and delete the demos I've downloaded from time to time but that's actually no hardship at all.

I think the choice is probably all in the reliability and whether there are any PS3-exclusive games you really want.

I'm surviving the reliability problems and, thus far, haven't seen any games that I really must buy a PS3 for. Final Fantasy games might make me change my mind but Rock Band can go on the 360, for me.

 

[Tetsuo_Shima]

I think the choice is probably all in the reliability and whether there are any PS3-exclusive games you really want.
...
Final Fantasy games might make me change my mind

This is true. I love my 360 to bits, and there are quite a few exclusive games that pique my interest (Fable 2, Mass Effect(?), Halo 3, Forza series, so forth), but on the other hand all the game series I love are coming out on PS3 i.e. Gran Turismo, Final Fantasy series, Metal Gear Solid and all that. I think it all boils down to taste, neither console has any distinct advantage over the other (or, at least, they have their advantages that balance each other out).

Although the 360 is, by all accounts, an unreliable piece of shit, I think it would be naive to assume that the PS3 won't have problems of its own. Blu-Ray disc legality for one thing ...
As far as monthly subscription for Xbox Live goes, £35 per year (under £3/month) is pretty darn cheap if you can get as much fun out of it as I have.

And think about this: X360 + Xbox Live = being able to play with us

 

[BiG D]

aha! Mass Effect! That is one that I would like to play, though all I've really seen is video of the conversation system...