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[Ikrik]

About a month and a half ago I made the decision to buy a PS3. This decision costed me all of my money for well over a month and I had to survive for quite some time on 30 dollars (Canadian, oh no!)  I'm completely happy with my decision, couldn't have been any happier.  My friend however, made the same decision as me but is not so satisfied.  He wants a 360 for Fable II, Gears II, and whatever other exclusive games will be coming out.  However he will not get rid of his PS3.  I'm really wondering: Is it worth it to buy both console systems? I can understand the merits of having a 360 or PS3 and a Wii, but both major consoles?  Is it worth it, or should I tell him to buy LittleBigPlanet and stop whining?

[imagist42]

Having both consoles is not worth it because having a PS3 is not worth it.

Look, Mommy! I'm spouting inflammatory opinions!

[est]

There are literally two exclusive releases for the PS3 that I would like.  GT5 and LBP.  Everything else on the PS3 is either cross-platform or things I couldn't care less about.  From my point of view it is not worth $700 AUD to be able to play those two games.

[Melodic]

Since the fundamentals of the two major consoles are the same, and debating their nuances is best reserved for forums of lower IQ, jumping to the only point that matters -- exclusive games -- is a good place to start.

This means that while buying one console over the other is a good investment because of the large catalog of games available cross-platform, buying both consoles is a lot of money for what amounts to a dozen console-specific titles.

I justify buying any console by the number of exclusive titles on that system divided by its price tag. If that number's under a certain amount, then the system is worth owning. There are enough games exclusive to the 360 to warrant me buying one, but that isn't the case for a PS3.

[Ozymandias]

I pretty much have to agree with Melodic's assessment, which then leads to est's assessment.

Everything boils down to exclusivity which then inevitably boils down to 360 being the reasonable choice and both at the same time should be reserved for people with too much spending money.

Of course, once you've already made the decision to get the PS3, I guess you might as well bother to get a 360 just so you can play video games sometimes.

[David_Dovey]

get a 360 just so you can play video games sometimes.

until it gets bricked

[est]

In my opinion thoughts of a potential future RROD carries less weight than being able to play games I want to play right now.

[Storm Rider]

Also, hardware revisions have greatly reduced the rate of failure, so if you bought one now it would be much more reliable due to the shrunken GPU and CPU chips that generate less heat. Excessive heat is what lead to the RROD error; I believe it involved the connections between the GPU and motherboard melting under the heat but I'm not certain on the specifics.

Really, the features and technology of the 360 and PS3 are pretty much equivalent. As others have said, the only real distinction you should make when buying one or the other is which exclusive games are for which console. Of course, I bought a 360 before the PS3 was even released (and for the record, my original 360 still works perfectly), but considering the difference in exclusive games I don't feel like I made the wrong decision. I do wish that I could play LBP or Valkyria Chronicles, but not enough to buy another console.

So in short, is it worth it for him to buy a 360? Depends on how much he wants to play Fable 2, Gears 2, Mass Effect, etc. I wouldn't suggest trying to talk him out of it or anything, it's really up to his personal financial situation in comparison to how badly he wants those games.

[will: wanton sex god]

I recently got rid of my SDTV and wii for an HDTV and ps3 and am very happy with my choice.  I've got GTA4 and MGS: SOL and am enjoying them greatly.  There aren't any xbox 360 games that tipped the scale for me, so it boiled down to being able to play metal gear, gran turismo eventually, and watch blu ray movies. 
I dont really want to get into an argument about if Blu rays are worth it, but to me personally they are, i can notice the difference easily, so for me the price was justified.

[Reed]

Microsoft actually really impressed me when my 360 succumed to the RROD. They send you all of the packaging you need to send it in, including the shipping label so you don't have to pay. Once I had sent my 360 in it only took 3 days for them to fix it and ship it back to me. From the point of my RROD it only took about 1 week to get it back.

[Seductivpancakes]

Microsoft actually really impressed me when my 360 succumed to the RROD. They send you all of the packaging you need to send it in, including the shipping label so you don't have to pay. Once I had sent my 360 in it only took 3 days for them to fix it and ship it back to me. From the point of my RROD it only took about 1 week to get it back.

Wow you're lucky. They sent it back to me in a month.

[CarrionMan]

I got my 360 in a week when it RROD'd. They hate you or something.

[Emaline]

When people ask me which they should buy at work, I ask them if they are a movie person or a game person. If you tend to watch more movies than play games, and don't mind spending the extra money on Blu Ray, go for the PS3. If you'd rather play video games than watch movies get the 360.

[dennis]

After being a PC gamer for so long, I finally decided to buy a console in summer 2007 and my decision was quite easy: Xbox 360. The legendary Autumn of So Many Games was coming up and I definitely wanted to play Bioshock and Assassin's Creed and Mass Effect. I knew about the high failure rate of the console, but I wasn't particularly worried about it because Microsoft had recently announced their warranty extension for RRoDs, and they already had a good warranty and proven replacement plan in place. My heart broke when my Elite died (e74, not RRoD) the following April, just before GTA4 came out, but I sent it in and it came back in time for me to play GTA4. I got a Falcon as a replacement and it's been working fine since.

Of course, my friend, who got an Xbox a month before I did, for the same reasons, has had to send his in 4 times to be replaced, but he's the exception rather than the rule.

Anyway. I knew I'd probably end up getting a PS3 anyway, and I'm nearly ready to get one. I'd be getting it mainly to watch Netflixed Blu-ray and play LBP, and even though it costs more than a standalone BR player, I figure I'd still play some games. Also, it'll be fun to mess with it as a linux box. Though now that Netflix HD will be offered on Xbox Live Marketplace, there is less value in the BR capabilities of the PS3. Also, now that Microsoft has finally decided to move on from HD-less 360s, the PS3 advantage in having HDs on all their SKUs disappears.

Also, Achievements are a surprisingly big draw for me on the Xbox. I didn't think they would matter to me, but it turns out, I'm kind of an Achievement junkie. I know PS3 has Trophies now, but they just don't seem as valuable.

Emaline: will your movies or games line change once Netflix Instant is available on Xbox in a few weeks?

[Emaline]

Probably not. I don't know much about movies, but from my understanding, most movie buffs want Blu Ray. Since 360 doesn't offer Blu Ray capabilities, people who would rather watch movies, and are hugely into movies, would probably rather have a blue ray player. Especially if they aren't into video games as much.

However, I will definitely mention the Netflix deal(not only because it's my job and I have to and everything) because it will definitely help out some fence sitters.

[Dimmukane]

I know I'm looking at the Netflix deal...Blockbuster generally doesn't have the movies I want in a store within 50 miles of my zipcode.

[Emaline]

Well, we sell dvds, blu ray, hd dvds, and vhs at work, and we can special order them, so yeah...

[Ozymandias]

RE: 360 RRoD

It is a major problem and anyone who tries to downplay it is lying to themselves to feel better about their 360. My 360 suffered a slow miserable death where the disc tray would refuse to close until I pressed the eject button 30 times until it finally ringed so I could send it to MS for free. It took about two weeks to get it fixed, which was almost entirely just shipping times (box from MS to me, 360 to MS, 360 back from MS). The actual repair work took two days max.

That being said, it is getting better; I would say most new systems will not do it and 99% of all systems will not do it twice. I would say my two weeks without my 360 (and couple of frustrating months fighting with it before that) is more than compensated by the 2 years besides when I had no problems and just a lot of fun with it.

[Emaline]

I actually don't see it being a major problem. I mean, MS has amazing absolutely amazing customer service. They are quick, and very helpful.

The systems being made now, and sold since October have had a lot of the problems fixed. They are supposed to work better than the last ones.



Besides, even as buggy as it has been, I'm still pretty glad I bought a 360 as opposed to a PS3. I mean, PS3 has one game I'd like to play. One. And man, I could even pass on that game. It doesn't sound all that interesting.

[Melodic]

Just because it has been a personal problem for you doesn't mean it's a major problem for the system in general. On the whole, hardware failure has been a negligible problem since updates made to the console back in '06. At this point, RRoD shouldn't factor into whether or not the Xbox is the right console for you.

[Ozymandias]

I'd agree if I were complaining about my 360 suddenly shooting hot coffee at me or something equally unique and unheard of except in rare personal instances.

That's just not the case with RRoDs.

[Spluff]

It's kinda like factoring the Y2K bug into buying your new Macbook air.

[DonInKansas]

PS3 = Bluray player, Folding @ Home (do your part to find cures for cancer!), and no RRoD fear.

Pure win.

[Dimmukane]

Yeah, but now there are cheaper Blu-Ray players, and you can do Folding@home on your PC, and no RRoD fears...

I mean, there's like a handful of games that interest me at all for the system.  LBP, Resistance kind of, and maybe Ratchet and Clank.  The one game that might push me over the edge would be a Dark Cloud 3, but fucked if I know if they're even doing it.

Well, we sell dvds, blu ray, hd dvds, and vhs at work, and we can special order them, so yeah...

Also, I'm mostly talking about movies with practically zero distribution.  The cost involved in getting the movie to the store to rent is probably going to be more than me just going out and buying it, whereas with the Netflix dealio I just pay the subscription.

[Alex C]

Besides, even as buggy as it has been, I'm still pretty glad I bought a 360 as opposed to a PS3. I mean, PS3 has one game I'd like to play. One. And man, I could even pass on that game. It doesn't sound all that interesting.

What game is that? I don't have any ps3 games I'm interested in, personally. 


And yeah, the RROD fears are so 2 years ago.

[Xerostyle]

It really actually depends on what games you like.

From what I hear, the PS3 version of Fallout 3/Bioshock doesn't look as good as the 360 version, and a pretty shoddy online, and recent versions don't have backwards compatibility.. On the plus side, you have the 10 hour long movie (Metal gear Solid 4, if you didn't catch me back there), Little Big Planet, Resistance 2, Valkyria Chronicles, Uncharted, and Ratchet and Clank, not to mention the Playstation 1 games you can download, and a lot of other content, not to mention, Blu-Ray.

For the 360, you have a good chance of breaking the system, and a proprietary wireless adapter costs $100. On the plus side here, you have generally better ports (to be honest, I think this has more to do with the controller more than the system though) some good fighters, Gears of War, A decent port of the Orange box, Banjo Kazooie, better downloadable games (Rez HD, Castle Crashers, Braid, Banjo Kazooie, etc.) and a large list of JRPGs, some now, some later (most of which are exclusive to the 360)

And just to throw it in here

The Wii, it's small, fun for the whole family, Wii Fit is kinda fun, No More Heroes is a bloody fun mess, Mad World looks pretty good, Excite truck is fun, cheap system, but has a lot of shovelware, and on top of that, the fact that a lot of games force you to wiggle your arms around kind of gets rid of the point in playing video games in the first place.

[ackblom12]

For the 360, you have a good chance of breaking the system

If you buy it new, no you don't.

[Alex C]

In the 360's favor, don't forget about Mass Effect.

Oh, and Halo.

Not that I really like Halo, but apparently it's kind of a big deal.


I forgot about Valkyria Chronicles, so I guess it's time to admit that I put my foot in my mouth earlier. Congratulations Sony, you now have a single game I'm interested in!

[Xerostyle]

For the 360, you have a good chance of breaking the system

If you buy it new, no you don't.

I just bought my 360, new, and its already broken twice. I sent it in, and it broke again. But the thing is I enjoy the games, so I deal with the fact it keeps dying.