XBox 360 vs. PS3

[UteChief]

With the $200 holiday bundles. PS3 with Infamous series and Uncharted 1 & 2 or XBox 360 with Forza and Skyrim. I'm trying to decide between a new XBox 360 or a PS3. I'm looking for opinions of each.

Thanks!

[Rugby Thompson]

Originally Posted by htismaqe

Can you elaborate?

The online gaming community seems to be bigger on XBox Live. That's the ONLY reason I can really think of for preferring XBox over PS3.

For me, I don't play online so it's a non-issue. I much prefer the PS3 and don't regret selling my XBox at all.

Bigger community and friendlier, less lag and delay, games seem to run smoother and look nicer on the 360. I still have fun with my PS3 but the online is horrible and to be quite honest, I only got the PS3 for MSG4 guns of the patriots. I really do appreciate PS3 and enjoy it but I feel like for what I play, FPS campaigns, stealth genres and NCAA 13 & Madden 13 online, it doesn't give me the same satisfaction. Even though there is some amazing games on the PS3, I still would rather play Halo 4 campaign with someone or alone then play Uncharted. Uncharted was amazing but then after you beat it, could never go back to it, same with MGS4. Honestly since you're not into online play, I highly recommend Dishonored or Hitman absolution.

[QuikSsurfer]

Originally Posted by Rugby Thompson

Bigger community and friendlier, less lag and delay, games seem to run smoother and look nicer on the 360. I still have fun with my PS3 but the online is horrible and to be quite honest, I only got the PS3 for MSG4 guns of the patriots. I really do appreciate PS3 and enjoy it but I feel like for what I play, FPS campaigns, stealth genres and NCAA 13 & Madden 13 online, it doesn't give me the same satisfaction.

Friendly community? Heh, no.

Games run smoother and look nicer? This is true mostly for ports. No doubt about it.

[Rugby Thompson]

Originally Posted by QuikSsurfer

Friendly community? Heh, no.

Games run smoother and look nicer? This is true mostly for ports. No doubt about it.

Yeah, I've found all the games look nicer on 360 especially the first person shooters as of late.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by Rugby Thompson

Bigger community and friendlier, less lag and delay, games seem to run smoother and look nicer on the 360. I still have fun with my PS3 but the online is horrible and to be quite honest, I only got the PS3 for MSG4 guns of the patriots. I really do appreciate PS3 and enjoy it but I feel like for what I play, FPS campaigns, stealth genres and NCAA 13 & Madden 13 online, it doesn't give me the same satisfaction. Even though there is some amazing games on the PS3, I still would rather play Halo 4 campaign with someone or alone then play Uncharted. Uncharted was amazing but then after you beat it, could never go back to it, same with MGS4. Honestly since you're not into online play, I highly recommend Dishonored or Hitman absolution.

See, I don't play FPS, no longer play Madden or NCAA (thanks EA!), and I don't play online. So you and I are at opposite ends of the spectrum.

The only game I've actually played on both systems is Kingdoms of Amalur and there was pretty much zero difference in graphics or graphic performance.

Thanks for the recommendation. I'm playing Skyrim now and have FarCry 3 and the Uncharted series on my list right now - too many games so little time!

[Rugby Thompson]

Need to pick up FarCry 3 as well, looks amazing and like the GOTY... yeah I was considering trading in Madden 13 for FarCry just because it's so horrible now.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by htismaqe

What? My game saves are two slots above the game I'm playing, in the SAME MENU. Not sure what you mean by this.

Hey Quik, I think I figured out what you mean.

It's not hard to find the game saves themselves, they're fairly accessible. But I could see where somebody playing several games at once could get overwhelmed by the lack of organization. All of the game saves are jumbled together in one sub-menu. On the XBox, your game saves are organized by their respective game - that doesn't appear to be the case on PS3.

That being said, I only play one game at a time mostly so for me, it's not a big issue.

[QuikSsurfer]

Originally Posted by htismaqe

Hey Quik, I think I figured out what you mean.

It's not hard to find the game saves themselves, they're fairly accessible. But I could see where somebody playing several games at once could get overwhelmed by the lack of organization. All of the game saves are jumbled together in one sub-menu. On the XBox, your game saves are organized by their respective game - that doesn't appear to be the case on PS3.

That being said, I only play one game at a time mostly so for me, it's not a big issue.

Personally, I didn't really struggle to find them -- they weren't where I thought they'd be, but I know it's a common complaint where people aren't sure which file to delete or where their data actually is.
It should be accessible from the game shortcut menu (highlighting your game and selecting Triangle).
Again, I own both systems and definitely play my PS3 more -- but both of these systems have an equal number of faults, IMO.... that is... until The Last of Us comes out and makes all other games obsolete.

[QuikSsurfer]

Originally Posted by Rugby Thompson

Need to pick up FarCry 3 as well, looks amazing and like the GOTY... yeah I was considering trading in Madden 13 for FarCry just because it's so horrible now.

FarCry 3 looks crazy good... I'll be picking it up on PC though.

Master race... **** you guys!!

[Rugby Thompson]

Hopefully it's better then Far Cry 2, that wasn't the greatest.

[Mr. Plow]

Originally Posted by htismaqe

The deal breaker for me was having to pay M$ to use Netflix.

Yeah, and then Netflix charges to use their service as well!!!



I'm kidding. I read further down where you aren't an online player - which in that case, I could understand the frustration of having to pay $40/year for a gold acct, then paying for Netflix just to stream Netflix to your console. That would be a waste.

[Guru]

Originally Posted by Mr. Plow

Yeah, and then Netflix charges to use their service as well!!!



I'm kidding. I read further down where you aren't an online player - which in that case, I could understand the frustration of having to pay $40/year for a gold acct, then paying for Netflix just to stream Netflix to your console. That would be a waste.

It is dumb as hell that xbox charges just to have that service. Double whamy.

[Mr. Plow]

Originally Posted by Guru

It is dumb as hell that xbox charges just to have that service. Double whamy.

Meh. They are pretty clear about it..... you want to go online, you have to pay to be gold member. They don't expect anyone to spend the money on an Xbox just to watch Netflix....or use whatever app they have. Same with PS3.....they don't expect you to buy a system just to watch Netflix.

The difference is that PS3 doesn't charge to go online, but when/if they do, you can rest assured that Netflix and every other online app will require their version of a gold acct to use it.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by Mr. Plow

Meh. They are pretty clear about it..... you want to go online, you have to pay to be gold member. They don't expect anyone to spend the money on an Xbox just to watch Netflix....or use whatever app they have. Same with PS3.....they don't expect you to buy a system just to watch Netflix.

The difference is that PS3 doesn't charge to go online, but when/if they do, you can rest assured that Netflix and every other online app will require their version of a gold acct to use it.

The ultimate appeal of the PS3 and XBox (and Microsoft has openly admitted this in interviews, etc.) is that a single box can service ALL of your home entertainment needs. That's why the next generation XBox not only has A/V out, it also has A/V IN.

The problem is that most of us see the all-in-one aspect as a CONVENIENCE and Microsoft seems to think that it's a PRIVELEGE, one you should PAY for. That's a poor view of things from a consumer perspective, but that's to be expected when it comes to M$.

[Mr. Plow]

Originally Posted by htismaqe

The ultimate appeal of the PS3 and XBox (and Microsoft has openly admitted this in interviews, etc.) is that a single box can service ALL of your home entertainment needs. That's why the next generation XBox not only has A/V out, it also has A/V IN.

The problem is that most of us see the all-in-one aspect as a CONVENIENCE and Microsoft seems to think that it's a PRIVELEGE, one you should PAY for. That's a poor view of things from a consumer perspective, but that's to be expected when it comes to M$.

Sure, I understand and I don't disagree with you. Honestly, I'm surprised Sony hasn't gone the same route at this point, but I'd be equally surprised if they didn't at some point. Maybe with their next gen console.

I just personally don't have an issue with paying a little over $8/month for 4 live gold accounts and to be able to use a single device to play games online, purchase movies, use Netflix, etc etc etc. We get our moneys worth and then some, so it's not a big deal to me.

But, if you aren't going to use all of the features provided in a live acct, I fully understand that the cost outweighs the usefulness of it. If I didn't play online, or movies, or Netflix, I wouldn't want to pay for a gold acct just to do something I could get for free with another console.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by Mr. Plow

Sure, I understand and I don't disagree with you. Honestly, I'm surprised Sony hasn't gone the same route at this point, but I'd be equally surprised if they didn't at some point. Maybe with their next gen console.

I just personally don't have an issue with paying a little over $8/month for 4 live gold accounts and to be able to use a single device to play games online, purchase movies, use Netflix, etc etc etc. We get our moneys worth and then some, so it's not a big deal to me.

But, if you aren't going to use all of the features provided in a live acct, I fully understand that the cost outweighs the usefulness of it. If I didn't play online, or movies, or Netflix, I wouldn't want to pay for a gold acct just to do something I could get for free with another console.

That's what it boiled down to for me - the ONLY online feature I was using was Netflix and I couldn't justify doubling my Netflix costs that way.

Also, the straw the broke the camel's back was that I bought a game for couch co-op and it didn't work on the 360. On PS3, both accounts are "online" and off you go.

On 360, it required that both of us have a Gold account to play together on the same XBox, in the same room.