PS3 or XBox

[lincolndog]

My sons have been asking for a couple of years for different game consoles. We have a Wii and PS2, but each one wants a different system. I am not that kind to buy them each a new system for Christmas. For those of you that have the systems what is the advantage of that system. I have heard that the XBOX tends to fry, something about a red dot. Not sure if that is true. I Have gone to BB to look at them and the graphics both appear excellent. Please help me decide!!

[racerfan]

My DS12 got his Xbox last Christmas. That thing is played at least once a day if not all day if everything is done. I got the Xbox360 for him instead of PS3 because there were more games for it, and it can play the older Xbox games. The PS3 cannot play the old PS2 games (which we have) so I did not want another systems like it. He loves his Xbox. I got it at Kmart and got the extended plan.

 

He has had no problems with it. My Nephews also have Xbox and they got it the year before we did. Something happened to it this year they called Microsoft and sent it back and they got another or they repaired it. It took about 2 weeks for the going back and forth.

[inogenius]

I have both. The PS3 wins, by far, in my opinion. As I've said before, it just feels like a much more complete system. Not only are most of the necessary items, which the Xbox considers "accessories", included by default, but it has significantly more untapped potential than the 360 offers; Built in Wifi, rechargeable controllers, blu-ray, free online play, bluetooth/usb capability; it's everything I could ask for.

 

I did have a red ring of death issue with my 360, which is what happens when the XBox 360 has a hardware failure. Microsoft fixed it for free, though it did take about 2 weeks from the time it broke to the time of repair. It's not at all a difficult process. My PS3 is much newer the Xbox 360, so I really compare the reliability of the two, but I have not had any problems with my PS3.

 

The PS3 cannot play the old PS2 games (which we have) so I did not want another systems like it. He loves his Xbox. I got it at Kmart and got the extended plan.

That's not quite true. The PS3 can infact play most PS2 games. There's a limited amount that it cannot play. Even better is that it can also play PS1 games. I routinely play Destruction Derby and Crash Bandicoot on my PS3, even though both are almost 10 years old and came out for the PS1.

[TheLegend]

Here's a link to a comparison chart for current PS3 models.

 

PS3 hardware

 

Note there is one model that has no PS2 compatability at all. The newest model uses software emulation and all future models will probably go this route to get the prices down.

 

I'm a Nintendo nut myself (we own every piece of Marioware except the Virtual Boy), but if I were in the market for another system I'd probably lean to the PS3 because it has so much more potential.

 

 

Update: After viewing a gaming website today, Sony is appearantly dropping PS2 software emulation in all future PS3 models. The latest 80GB model now ships without it and the new 160GB model coming in the fall won't have it either.

Edited August 21, 2008 by TheLegend
Added update

[RossMAN]

I would base your decision on which games he likes to play.

 

What if you buy a Sony PS3 but 90% of the games he and his friends are playing are on the XBox 360?

[booga12345]

We have all three consoles (Wii, Xbox, Playstation 3). The Xbox gets the most play at my house by far, followed by the Wii and then the Playstation. There seems to be many more game choices for the Xbox with the Playstation games somewhat limited and geared more to the adult crowd. We have had our Xbox for a year and a half with no problems at all.

[freesia39]

We have the PS3. It wasn't even a contest in our house, because Mr. F doesn't play any FPS or other crazy games that look better on Xbox. He only plays sports games. The added bonus is that we use it as a Blu-Ray DVD player.

[elena_398]

My soon to be 14 yr old is saving his money for a Xbox 360. He loves the games on the system (halo 3, etc). His closest friends all have the 360 and loves it. He has Never asked for the PS3. Plus he has TONS of regular xbox games he currently plays on his system (regular xbox).

[guilliam]

We have both the xbox 360 and a ps3 and I would say it would be a preference choice. The xbox you pay for online play the ps3 it's free, but the xbox online play is monitored to help eliminate cheating where the ps3 has a lot of cheaters etc. The ps3 comes with blu-ray player. The xbox has a lot more games it seems. That being said, the xbox 360 gets a LOT more play at our house, almost everyday where as the ps3 can go for days if not weeks at a time without being turned on.

 

The problem I see you are having is you have 2 kids and each wants a different system. Let each one plead their case as to what is better about the system they want, and then decide. JMHO...

[irishkateek]

We just purchased a PS3 80 GB and so far have been able to play ALL of our PS2 games on it. The blu ray is incredible plus all the other things you can do like search the internet, chat, etc make it a real plus. The game graphics are fabulous plus you can download games that only the PS3 has and there are some really fun ones.

[len_mullen]

I just (11 hours ago) finished my shopping and purchased a PS3. I will share my decision making process in case it helps you.

 

- the xbox, to me, is very similar to a PC and we have good game machines

- xbox online use is $50/yr vs free for PS3

- PS3 is also a blu-ray player

- sony is running a promotion -> 9/15 that will put an 80g ps3 under your tree for $250

- xbox has had reliability issues

- we have PSPs

- i think PS3 is far from its potential (compare early ps2 games to current to see what i mean)

- ps3 is media hub while xbox is a media endpoint

- local kids all have ps3

 

really, though, for $250, if I made a mistake, I can get the xbox and have a good, inexpensive blu-ray player with built in storage and connectivity.

 

also, i think your kids are gaming you ;-) tell them to decide amongst themselves which one they want and let them know you can wait for next year if the decision is too tough.

 

If they really want different machines, sit with them and see why. Have them list and rank the features/games they must have -- if there is common ground, flip a coin to let one kid choose whether he wants to pick the system or the games. One kid picks the platform and the other kid gets his favorite games first.

[lincolndog]

Thank you for all of your responses. I think I am going to look into the Sony sale.

[laddhorn]

I just (11 hours ago) finished my shopping and purchased a PS3. I will share my decision making process in case it helps you.

 

- the xbox, to me, is very similar to a PC and we have good game machines

- xbox online use is $50/yr vs free for PS3

- PS3 is also a blu-ray player

- sony is running a promotion -> 9/15 that will put an 80g ps3 under your tree for $250

- xbox has had reliability issues

- we have PSPs

- i think PS3 is far from its potential (compare early ps2 games to current to see what i mean)

- ps3 is media hub while xbox is a media endpoint

- local kids all have ps3

 

really, though, for $250, if I made a mistake, I can get the xbox and have a good, inexpensive blu-ray player with built in storage and connectivity.

 

/QUOTE]

 

 

How did you get it for $250?!?

[len_mullen]

How did you get it for $250?!?

If you go to http://www.sonystyle.com, select the discover tab, and click outlet, there will be an offer for a sony credit card on the right. You get $150 off your first sonystyle.com purchase of $299+

 

Since the PS3 is $399, your net cost is $399 - $150 or $250. Free shipping too.

 

Also good for purchases made at sonystyle stores (never heard of them). Only caution I'd advise is that the ps3 has changed from preorder to backorder. Since you have to place an order within 45 days of getting the card, and there is no guarantee that the backorder will be filled by then, you may end up having to cancel. I'd probably call sonystyle for clarification.

 

The preorder was supposed to ship in September.

Edited August 24, 2008 by len_mullen

[irishkateek]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that only the 80GB PS3 plays PS2 games and right now that one is $499 most places.

[len_mullen]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that only the 80GB PS3 plays PS2 games and right now that one is $499 most places.

That's wrong. In the beginning, the PS3 emulated the PS2 in hardware via two custom chips -- the emotion chip and the gpu. The 20g and 60g PS3s came in this configuration. Then Sony released an 80g model that emulated the emotion chip in software while retaining the gpu. With the 40g PS3, Sony abandoned emulation altogether. The $399 80g PS3 is this 40g model with a bigger disk. I have read that the 90nm processors of the older machines have been replaced by 65nm technology. This should use less power, generate less heat, and fail less often. I'm going to use my PS2 to run my PS2 software.

 

You might be able to find an older 80g with bc on a shelf somewhere, but, unless it's a sonystyle store, you won't get the $150 rebate.

[machellmund]

i have them both and think they both suck, i love my PS2

[darkzone]

I just (11 hours ago) finished my shopping and purchased a PS3.

- sony is running a promotion -> 9/15 that will put an 80g ps3 under your tree for $250

.

Thanks for the info.

Edited August 28, 2008 by darkzone
none

[len_mullen]

You're welcome. Good luck!

[elena_398]

I bought my son his X-Box 360 yesterday. He paid half for it and I chipped in the rest. Circuit city also included a free wireless controller in your choice of color ($50 value). He played with it last night and LOVES IT. He went to Gamestop and traded in some PSP games and PS2 games. So he got 6 xbox 360 games. My husband couldn't believe the graphics on Halo 3

[tokanm]

My son is a very hard core gamer and he much prefers the 360 over the PS3. He owns a

original nintendo,Game Cube,Saturn, N64, PS1, PS2, X box, Xbox 360 and the Wii plus a

game gear, game boy, DS and I am sure he might own others. He reads all the magazines

about video gaming, blogs on line, watches G4 all the time etc.

 

He does not even want a PS3 (which surprises me) as according to him there are not alot

of games and something else about it

 

Anyways to each his own and I hope you are happy with whatever you choose to buy.

[elena_398]

Well my son got more games for his Xbox 360... Wow is some of those games gruesome. Gears of War actually turned my stomach (showed a tad too much blood and gore). Of course my husband loved it. Maybe Im a light weight, but I had to leave the room. lol

[Kayakmom]

Xbox 360 all the way in our house. My dh and ds12 don't want a PS3. I told them I'd get one when there was a great bargain and neither of them even wanted it. My dh plays with a lot of guys who play both and they say that even though the PS3 is free, it "sucks a$$". You rarely get dropped on xbox, but the ps3 apparently doesn't have as good of servers and it's totally annoying to the players because they get dropped constantly during games. My dh plays COD4, Army of Two, Gears of War (soon to be a new one!) and stuff like that. Ds12 and his friends play more of a variety of games. We have been very happy with the Xbox 360 choice. Even my ds6 and dd2 love it because of Viva Pinata! They all played it together last Sunday. It's like the family garden, lol. The xbox definitely sees more hours of use than the wii in our house, although ds6 loves Mario Kart.

[Scanner420]

X-Box 360's arenow marked down to $199.00 in most areas.

 

Just another log to the fire.