PS3 or Xbox 360?

unless you're an enormous Metal Gear fan, and you don't strike me as one, the Xbox 360 wins no contest. backwards compatibility isn't perfect but I'd say it hits 75+% of the games that are worth playing, and for the games that are available on each system, they tend to be stronger on the 360. The Orange Box (compilation of the Half-Life 2 games, Portal, and Team Fortress 2) barely even works right on PS3 whereas it was PC-perfect on 360, though usually it's not that extreme a difference.

its exclusives have generally been heaps better as well; Gears of War blows Resistance out of the water, for instance, and I'm sure that new Killzone game isn't going to be nearly as fun online as Halo 3.

also, a lot of PS3 games force you to install them before you play. I don't mind the time consumption much, but it fills up the hard drive pretty quick and gets old fast.

the only real arguments you can make in PS3's favor are Metal Gear Solid 4 and, if you have an HDTV, the ability to play blu-ray movies.

and with PS3's, it's just that some of them play PS2/1 games with actual PS2 hardware inside, some of them play PS2/1 games by emulation of PS2 hardware, and some don't play PS2/1 games at all. as far as I'm aware there isn't one that only plays PS2 or only plays PS1, I played both Metal Gear Solid and Devil May Cry 3 on my dad's PS3.

I'm not going to take the time to refute every point bluberry made, but I would say "The Xbox 360 wins no contest" is pretty damn ludicrous.

If either system really wins "no contest," it would be the PS3, but honestly I think the two systems are so close that it honestly comes down to something the typical Xbox 360 fan refuses to acknowledge: personal preference.

The Xbox 360 has a ludicrously strong lineup of FPS games, and multi-platform versions of about 50% of the good action games. For someone like bluberry--who plays those two types of games almost exclusively--the "no contest" bit makes sense.

To someone like me who enjoys more variety in genres, the PlayStation 3 has the clear lead. Games like Assassin's Creed and Call of Duty 4 are the most compelling reasons to own an Xbox 360, but they're also available on the PlayStation 3. Then Sony rounds things out with the likes of the extremely memorable Heavenly Sword, the exhilerating sky combat of Lair, the gotta-play-it action and combat of Uncharted and even the gorgeous racing of Gran Turismo 5 Prologue (which of course is just a sample of things to come from that franchise).

PlayStation 3 also has the benefit of playing blu-ray discs right out of the box, which is great for people who want beautiful movies to play on their unit without having to download 30GB files that won't even fit on half the Xbox 360 hard drives in existence.

Besides that, the PlayStation 3 controller is superior to the Xbox 360 one, simply by virtue of the fact that its d-pad isn't busted (and is actually downright convenient).

The strongest argument for the Xbox 360, besides of course the multi-platform games that are also available on the PS3, is Xbox Live Arcade. If you're ready to pay $45 every year to play games online and meet up with your online buddies while playing old arcade-style games--something that truly is quite enjoyable if you're into that sort of thing--then the online lead clearly goes to Microsoft.

Anyway, I just wanted to speak up because the PlayStation 3 gets a bad rap around here. If you ignore its excellent software library--which despite what bluberry said does contain superior ports of some games such as the very excellent Overlord: Raising Hell, among others--and its blu-ray (which is going to be more important as time passes), then the system might not mean much. The lack of backward compatability for newer systems is unfortunate. However, my vote goes for the PS3.

Basically, it comes down to this for me. If I had to give up on one of my three systems--Wii, PS3 and Xbox 360--tomorrow, the Xbox 360 would be out the door with minimal regret. I got a small sample of that already, when my Xbox 360 busted recently and had to be repaired. Sure, I missed it because there were some games piling up that I needed to review, but I would have been able to play those on the PS3 if those versions had been sent to me instead.

The only area that might win me over to the Xbox 360 is the RPG genre. Microsoft is really courting talent there and the Xbox 360 looks like it will wind up being the better system for RPG fans. Is that you, Masters?

Jason did a fantastic job at inadvertently summing up his argument when he said "just a sample of things to come."

Get a PS3 in two or three years when it'll be worth the investment. Buy a Xbox 360 now. It's worth the investment today.

usurper, curiosity: when are all these awesome games actually coming? the system has been out for two years now and most of its "excellent" library are games you might pick up on the cheap if you have the system like Folklore and Uncharted. the games everybody was waiting for turned out to go to 360 in FF13's case and to just be another Metal Gear game in MGS4's case. this isn't "I'm pretending to ask you but really calling you a dumbass", I'm actually curious if I've missed something. :P

Venter: on the other hand, he could listen to the dude who doesn't think all 40 of his Wii games are essential. are you fucking serious saying 360's best games are Call of Duty 4 and Assassin's Creed (ignoring its actual exclusives like Gears of War and Halo 3), and still serious when you consider Lair and Heavenly Sword worth buying a PS3 for? Rogue Squadron 2 with bad controls and dragons, hell yeah, that's so much better than an awesome third person shooter that makes a whole worthwhile game out of MGS2/kill.switch's awesome cover system.

I didn't really mention it in my first post, but how are you actually ripping on Xbox Live too? I hate everything and even I like Xbox Live haha, I'd rather pay for that than get something like PS3's network play for free.

edit: good job finding one of like three exceptions with Overlord, I think the Frost enemies had more natural looking ice effects in the PS3 version of DMC4 too so I have to change my tune and say get a PS3.

From what I've seen of your work Masters, you're a pretty big fan of fighting games.

Watch as I disregard the fact your name comes from a Street Fighter character.

Xbox 360 has a ton of fighters under its belt, and while very few of them are exclusive, the ones that are are some pretty heavy-hitters, like DoA4. Not to mention that HD Turbo remix thing of SF2 that everyone's clamoring on about.

On the RPG front, there are excellent games like Eternal Sonata, Tales of Vesperia (which is currently the top-selling game in Japan, beating out MGS4 and actually pushing 360 sales over PS3 in a region that normally ignores the console), Infinite Undiscovery, Star Ocean 4, and even Final Fantasy XIII is no longer exclusive to PS3.

Venter, I see your Gran Turismo 5 and raise you Forza 2. Additionally, while the 360 D-pad blows, it's still a sturdier controller than the PS3's with the loose, floaty feeling analog sticks that offer no resistance and the L2/R2 triggers that are absolutely BROKEN. I swear, they're more sensitive than a preteen emo chick on her first period.

And as everyone mentioned above, the FPS titles blow the PS3's out of the water.

Shmups. 360's got a million of 'em on Xbox Live Arcade, as well as a ton of truly addictive puzzle games such as the recent release Braid. I'd say that overall, there's more bang for your buck out of Xbox 360.

PS3's great for sports games though, if you can't manage to go outside and, you know, actually just play the real thing. =D

When are all these awesome games actually coming?

In two or three years after developers announce them. I bet Shadow of the Colossus 2: Yorda's Big Gay Adventure will be worth the purchase. We can dream, right?

follow-up question: how many developers would want to develop for PS3 if the Wii and 360 are outperforming it by a good margin?

As long as a 360 game is easy to port to the PS3 and Microsoft doesn't make it in the developer's best interest to leave the game exclusive on that system, we'll continue to at least see nice PS3 ports of excellent 360 games. Personally I don't care, though. I don't own a PS3. But I do hear they're great for playing movies.

no arguments there, they're the best Blu-Ray players on the market and they're great DVD upscalers too. when I watch the Beside You In Time BR I can count the hairs on Aaron North's ballsack, and the dude is wearing pants.

See, Masters, ^that is why you need to get a PS3.

http://halo22.nin.com/siteimages/stills/11.jpg

74 is my answer.

Holy crap, I didn't expect all this chatter. How lovely. What I enjoyed most of all was espiga's ruder/masters happy face: =D

Anyway, I was leaning towards a 360 before this heated (if one-sided) battle began. While I appreciate the boss man Venter's take on things, I think the FPS appeal has me.

Ha, and no Venter, to answer your question "Is that you Masters?" No RPG love here.

get a 360.

playstations are for sony stupids who want to play hide and seek with old men and HUH DO YOU WANT IT HUH DO YOU NEED IT HUH LET ME HEAR IT UH LADIES AND GENTLEMEN please

Actually, a real answer:

Good games for the PS3 (ignore Venter please) (also focusing on exclusives since multi-platform is usually pretty negligible anyways):

- Metal Gear Solid 4

- Tekken 5 Dark Resurrection Online

- Siren: Blood Curse

- Bionic Commando: Rearmed (better than the 360 version since you can actually play it with a controller that isn't complete shit for 2D games (barring Pac-Man Championship edition))

- Uncharted: Drake's Fortune

- Everyday Shooter

- Ratchet and Clank Future (yeah a mascot platformer don't laugh at me cause sonic motherfuckers)

- Pixeljunk Eden

Good games for the 360:

- Gears of War

- Dead Rising

- Pro Evolution (unless this shit is on PS3 too in which case I'll be first in line for '09)

- Rez HD

- Pac-Man Championship Edition

- Braid (hahaha no good lord not really)

- Halo if you have friends to play with because Live will give you soul cancer

- Marathon: Durandal

- probably some other stuff I'm missing but most of my 360 stuff is multi-platform so uhhh

So that's the game comparison there.

If you're into movies and stuff than yeah Sony's got your number because I'd rather download from somewhere that doesn't offer up episodes of fucking Dog the Bounty Hunter.

And as far as backwards compatibility goes uhhh the 360 is actually pretty bad at that dudes :(

oh wait i forgot guilty gear xx#r

so yeah there's my completely neutral yet still somewhat biased opinion on this matter!

Oh yeah I forgot to mention the 80gb PS3 plays pretty much every older title barring the PS1 titles that couldn't be played on the ps2 (so no love for Tomba! on this system :( ). Also tons of PS1 games up for download like Symphony of the Night, Jumping Flash! and Wild Arms.

Thanks for weighing in. I'll probably pick up my 360 tomorrow. HMD, you say it's not good in terms of backwards compatibility? Are you talking about the range of games it can support, or the QUALITY of support for those games? Cuz I want to play Call of Cthulhu and Silent Hill 2 and 4 on it, and they're all listed on the 360's backwards compatibility list.

It's mostly a quality issue. Some games play almost perfectly (the left and right bumpers replace the black and white buttons), while other have all sorts of weird graphical glitches going on at times. As far as Silent Hill, I have not heard good things (as can be seen here), so tread carefully there.

even the gorgeous racing of Gran Turismo 5 Prologue

HAHAHAHAHA