The new forums will be named Coin Return (based on the most recent vote)! You can check on the status and timeline of the transition to the new forums here.
The Guiding Principles and New Rules document is now in effect.
Xbox 360 or PS3 (long term view, help me decide)
GrimReaper
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I'm considering getting either a 360 or a PS3 (and a hdtv/monitor specifically for it) at some point. (probably not this month, probably)
However, I don't really want to buy both. (money considerations, i'm off to Australia in March for my brothers wedding)
Here's how i've broken it down to myself:
Xbox 360:
Good:
Mass Effect
Online integration is apparently good
XNA Studio harks me back to my days on the Amiga with AMOS and Blitz Basic (this one has me interested big time)
Bad:
Microsoft micro-payment you to death (gold and silver bs)
All the RROD problems and other problems (like this emerging jamming wireless signals thing)
Online gaming is user hosted rather than on dedicated servers (latency issues ahoy!)
It's Microsoft
PS3:
Good:
MGS 4 (MGS2 left a sour taste in my mouth and as such I skipped MGS3.. I should probably get MGS3)
JRPG's
No hardware issues
Final Fantasy 3067 (or whatever one it's currently at, i'm undecided on this.. after 7 I just kind of lost interest)
Online is free
Online gaming uses dedicated servers (at least from what i've been able to discern)
Bad:
Price
It's likely to end up (at least in the west) as the other system to develop for, meaning western developers will probably focus on the 360 and Wii
It's Sony
On the Mass Effect point, this is a big seller to me. But since EA bought them out I reckon it'll probably end up either on the pc or another console (PS3) sooner or later. What with EA's obsession with porting games to every format known to man.
I already own a decent highend pc and a Macbook Pro for my first person shooter and WoW needs. (Sorry, I do not like first person shooters on consoles. With the possible exception of Metroid Prime.)
I also own a Wii for just chilling out, collecting a few stars on Mario Galaxy etc.
So, yeah.. convince me to buy one or the other. There are probably other points etc, but those are the ones that come to my mind.
However, I don't really want to buy both. (money considerations, i'm off to Australia in March for my brothers wedding)
Here's how i've broken it down to myself:
Xbox 360:
Good:
Mass Effect
Online integration is apparently good
XNA Studio harks me back to my days on the Amiga with AMOS and Blitz Basic (this one has me interested big time)
Bad:
Microsoft micro-payment you to death (gold and silver bs)
All the RROD problems and other problems (like this emerging jamming wireless signals thing)
Online gaming is user hosted rather than on dedicated servers (latency issues ahoy!)
It's Microsoft
PS3:
Good:
MGS 4 (MGS2 left a sour taste in my mouth and as such I skipped MGS3.. I should probably get MGS3)
JRPG's
No hardware issues
Final Fantasy 3067 (or whatever one it's currently at, i'm undecided on this.. after 7 I just kind of lost interest)
Online is free
Online gaming uses dedicated servers (at least from what i've been able to discern)
Bad:
Price
It's likely to end up (at least in the west) as the other system to develop for, meaning western developers will probably focus on the 360 and Wii
It's Sony
On the Mass Effect point, this is a big seller to me. But since EA bought them out I reckon it'll probably end up either on the pc or another console (PS3) sooner or later. What with EA's obsession with porting games to every format known to man.
I already own a decent highend pc and a Macbook Pro for my first person shooter and WoW needs. (Sorry, I do not like first person shooters on consoles. With the possible exception of Metroid Prime.)
I also own a Wii for just chilling out, collecting a few stars on Mario Galaxy etc.
So, yeah.. convince me to buy one or the other. There are probably other points etc, but those are the ones that come to my mind.
GrimReaper on
0
Posts
I'll say I was immpressed with the XBox Marketplace. Played with it for a few minutes at my sister's house. A lot more than what Sony has in terms on non-game content.
I'm still amazed at the PS3s abilities, though. The fact that it has Bluetooth and I can use BT keyboards and mice make me think of it as more of a HTPC than a "game console." Don't know if it's the same for the XBox, but I can plug in a thumb drive or ext. HD, and load up pics, video, etc. Pretty cool.
Game-wise, I went the PS route this time because last-gen it had more exclusinves, but I don't think that's really the case for either this time around. A lot more developers/publishers seem to be pushing out multi-platform titles. If that's good or not, I couldn't say. Obviopusly you won't be playing Halo title on a PS in the near future.
Score one vote on your list for 360.
I'd go with a 360 myself, but I can't really see myself playing anything on PS3 until MGS4 comes out, and I don't even really like the MGS series.
And while planning ahead is fine, the difference in the libraries right now is huge. While the PS3 is gaining with games like Ratchet and Uncharted, I'd still pick up a 360 for the larger library.
The JRPG argument is the only one I'm really torn on, because I loves me some japanese grindfests, but so far the only one for PS3 that I really want is FFXIII and even then, I'm torn, because FFXII wasn't exactly the highlight of the series.
If you are planning on buying one of them within the next 3 months, I'd go with an XBox. After that though, it'll depend on what games have been announced/released for each and judging based on that.
Plus, Xbox 360 has Settlers and Carcassone on live. So much fun.
Just take a look at the library and see which games appeal to you.
What are you talking about?! I'm totally still rocking my Laserdisks and MiniDisks!!! Sony is the king of instantly unsupported media. (UMD included)
To the OP though, I've got the 360 and Wii, and do eventually plan to buy a PS3. I stagger the purchase of the consoles and have since the last generation. Why? Well because you can always find compelling reasons to purchase ANY of the consoles.
Plus, the PS3 is dead to me until GT5 comes out. So I figure I have another couple years at LEAST.
First off, the PS3 is the better system hardware wise. There's just no arguing this. It's much more attractive visually in terms of graphics, menus, etc.
The 360 is far less complicated. The Blade menu is easy to navigate and has few, if any, glitches. Live is definately worth the investment, and while it might not be free like Sony's online experience, it's very, very cheap (compared to an MMO, or a starbucks coffee) and it's well maintained. The marketplace is great, especially when you don't feel like going to the video store late at night when it's all cold outside and you just want to watch a movie or catch last weeks episode of __________ . The games are a lot of fun.
Also, the 360 does have some rpg's available, and it's catering to the market more than it used to. Blue Dragon is a great traditional JRPG, and Eternal Sonata is a lot of fun as well.
I think in a couple of years the PS3 definately has the potential to become a great system, but for the immediate future, and the life of the console itself, I'm with the 360.
Ahh the format war thing. Has anyone given a cogent reason as to why there must be a winner; given that Microsoft (maybe Toshiba too?) and Sony are both willing to pour money into the formats, and netflix will rent you either, where is there the pressure for there to be a clear "winner"?
I remember reading about Halo 3 running at some funky resolution regardless of what setting you used or something. (note, I don't care for console FPS', this is merely something I read a bit ago)
So, if I buy some widescreen or normal aspect ratio monitor and connect the 360 via a hdmi->dvi adapter will it run the games actually at say 1280x1024 (for example) rather than (for arguments sake) 640x512 then resize to 1280x1024.
Also, same questions for the PS3.
---
I've got a spare copy of Portal, if anyone wants it message me.
You really should look at the games. Take a look at all of the titles you would be interested in getting with each system, and look at some of the ones coming out in the future.
I had an Xbox, so I stuck with it and got the 360, and am glad I did. It's got some great games on it, and Live is the king of the hill in online console gaming right now.
The pressure is coming from the consumer. You can tell because no one is buying either format.
Sony has a long history of losing these things, but you never know....
Well, everyone knows the Wii is the clear winner. I'm after a 360 or PS3 for the kind of games that simply won't appear on the Wii. I guess you could say i'm after the runner-up. :P
It's still a tough decision though, everytime I think "oh yeah.. the 360 has this over the PS3" then I think "oh yeah, but all the JRPG's you like will be on the PS3 next year", I don't know.. I suppose for a lot of the JRPG's they're probably gonna be switching from the PS3 to the Wii as their platform of choice. But I don't know that for certain, it's not like some big JRPG house has been announcing all their big titles will be on the Wii from now on, that's mostly (il)logical deduction.
---
I've got a spare copy of Portal, if anyone wants it message me.
The problem is, you shouldn't be buying a console for what might come out down the road. If you want one now, buy it for whats out now... if you don't want one now, then just wait on it. Buying for the future will just lead to disappointment and sadness.
That, and I think square-enix is going to be releasing something on 360... that's what I heard anyway.
The already released project sylpheed. It might not be a jrpg, but it sure as hell brought back the wing commander style shooter from days of yore.... complete with final fantasy quality cutscenes between the missions.
-You don't want to pay for Live (although this is not really a big deal, it's still roughly a game a year)
-You like JRPG's
Those 3 point towards PS3. It looks like you only have one real reason listed for 360. (That being Mass Effect obviously)
I have a PS3. While there is a list of games that I really want to play on 360, I have enough for my PS3 that I already don't have enough time to do them all.
If we only look at exclusives:
-Warhawk (Not an FPS, plays kinda like Battlefield, and it is really good)
-Uncharted
-Heavenly Sword
-Ratchet & Clank (seriously, fuckawesome good)
-Folklore
-Motorstorm
Will keep you busy for a while. Add in the multiplatform games (Assassin's Creed, Guitar Hero/Rock Band, etc etc) and you have more than enough games to play.
Is Mass Effect really the only game that you want for 360? Because seriously the software list is what you should be looking at. (Dead Rising, Crackdown, XBLA games maybe?)
I have heard of good things about R&C.
So, from my understanding you can use usb/bluetooth keyboards and mice with the PS3 and also external usb hard drives? (I have a couple of spare IDE drives kicking around, I could buy a external enclosure usb thing to use them) I think I heard you can replace the internal hard drive or something as well?
Can you use the external drive for game saves etc?
Also, same for the 360. From what I can tell it does not have bluetooth. If I were to buy the arcade or something could I then use one of my 120GB IDE drives in an external usb enclosure to store my saves/act as the normal hard drive?
For example, say I buy the arcade and connect an external hard drive.. would games like say Mass Effect cache their game data to avoid certain problems?
EDIT: If you can use an external hard drive to store your saves and cache game data on the 360 then i'll probably buy a 360 arcade, external drive enclosure and a monitor.
Talking of which should I be aiming for a specific monitor resolution? Should I aim for the 1280x720 resolution? I'm still not sure about the whole resolution thing, does setting the resolution on the 360 set it to actually render the video at that resolution or does it simply scale the output video to your desired resolution?
Also, I don't necessarily hate shooters. I just get annoyed by having to play fps shooters with joypads. (if you can play say resistance fall of man with a bluetooth/usb keyboard+mouse that'd be pretty cool)
EDIT2: A google search says no, external drives can only be used to store music etc. Which sucks. I'd have to get something like the premium which puts the 360 back onto an equal footing with the PS3.
EDIT3: A quick google indicates the core/arcade has the ability to add the hard drive unit thing to it.. so in theory I could use one of my spare 3.5" sata drives with this. Not only would it work out much cheaper but the 360 would use a much faster hard drive instead of a slower laptop 2.5" drive.
---
I've got a spare copy of Portal, if anyone wants it message me.
Also, if you're just buying the 360 now, there's two years' worth of games to explore. I'm not a fan of console shooters either, and yet I've played and finished GRAW, RB6 Vegas, and Gears of War. The single player campaigns for all three are quite good, but they really shine in co-op play. I still can't stand to play competitively with the gamepad, which is why I play TF2 on my PC, but I'd say those games are still worth a look for their single player and co-op modes. I still play co-op RB6 Vegas with friends from time to time.
Something else you might want to consider. The 360 has sold over 13 million units thus far. The PS3 has sold less than half that number. The latest NPD data has that gap growing, not shrinking. The PS3 is selling well overseas, but in the US market (which is the largest by far), it's being outsold heavily. While there's still a chance that this can be turned around, as time goes on it becomes more and more likely that "must have" 3rd-party PS3 exclusives will start turning into multiplatform titles, or even 360 exclusives, because no publisher wants to cut themselves off from the majority of the high def market if they can help it.
For example, at one point Assassin's Creed was on track to become a PS3 exclusive, but that changed when Ubisoft saw the console sales numbers. If the PS3 doesn't get an absolutely ginormous title to turn the tide on sales, it's on track to become this generation's GameCube in terms of 3rd party support. I don't mean that to be disparaging towards the PS3, it's obviously not the same situation on the technology side, and the PS3 will probably be the place to find JRPGs (though Square-Enix's Last Remnant is going to be multiplatform). But you cannot deny that as the 3rd-place system in terms of units sold, the PS3 is seriously behind the eight-ball in terms of 3rd-party support. Personally, I wouldn't consider buying a PS3 until I saw it consistently outselling the 360 for several consecutive months.
Hold on, so what you're essentially saying is that the hard drive isn't actually used for any real effect?
That's insane, are you sure on this? I mean games like Oblivion must have some awful problems if that's the case. Constantly loading textures etc from a medium significantly slower than a hard drive would I doubt help. Data caching to the hard drive would help boost loading textures etc massively.
---
I've got a spare copy of Portal, if anyone wants it message me.
You cannot do this with RFOM, though you might could get the fragFX which is a PS peripheral which maps the right thumbstick to a mouse-plus-pad-type controller, and the left thumbstick is turned into a kinda nunchuk thing (http://www.splitfish.com/). It's kinda a hack really. I think the onus is on the game developer to support keyboard and mouse (not sony) so games may or may not support.
Supposedly UT3 supports keyboard and mouse but I haven't picked it up yet so don't know for sure.
Also hard drive upgrades are supported on PS3 (sony has a tutorial on how to do it). I think you can only store media on external hard drives connected to the PS3 (not game saves).
You really should play MGS3, it's an amazing game. Especially if you are planning to play MGS4.
Right now the 360 is kicking the crap out of the PS3. A year or two from now? It's really hard to say. With games getting delayed or canceled, with new games coming out of nowhere and with everyone's porting zeal it's rather hard to say.
I got one of the beta test versions, and it sucks. If the sensitivity is high enough to be usable as a mouse (i.e. what you would have it on if you were playing a PC game) it stutters like a motherfucker.
Haven't finished reading the rest of the thread but I wanted to throw this in there.
As far as PS3 hard drives: The stock unit is very easy to replace, exactly the same as changing the drive on a laptop. Uses a standard 2.5" laptop drive. You can use an external HDD for any sort of media, as well as backing up any save/game data (with a few restrictions, for instance Rock Band saves can't be copied). In addition if you want to go crazy you can do this.
I have a 60gb launch model, have downloaded everything except the sports titles, and have 13gb left, FYI.
(Oh and you simply cannot say enough good things about R&C)
That's one of the things I like about the PS3, the tweakbility aspects.. like how you can run linux on it. (plus I hear work has begun on XBMC being ported to linux to run on PS3 Linux)
Decisions, decisions.
---
I've got a spare copy of Portal, if anyone wants it message me.
I had a thread in the old stupid tech board asking if there was anything useful to do with PS3 Linux... and nobody could come up with anything. Although this XBMC thing sounds like a neat acronym, what is that?
http://www.xboxmediacenter.com/
The best homebrew software there is, it puts all other media center software to shame.
---
I've got a spare copy of Portal, if anyone wants it message me.
Sorry to hear that, I wanted to pick one up. Sounds like how the EdgeFX (PS2 version) plus the PS2/PS3 adapter worked in RFOM. It kinda worked, but only well enough for you to spastically run around before you got owned.
@Grimm: Neat. Might be a reason for Linux then.
MGS4
FFXIII/VSXIII
Little Big Planet
Killzone 2
Dark Sector
The Agency
Home
GT5/Prologue
Unnamed Rockstar exclusive
Just off the top of my head.
(BTW I'm not trying to be a fanboy troll here - I've been considering a 360, and if you could name a similar list of exclusives I'd appreciate it)
The most interesting thing to me is the number of Wii exclusives, though. The Wii went from trailing the 360 to leading by a significant margin between June and now. That's publishers shifting their development focus in the wake of the Wii's strong sales. Next year should be a bumper crop for Wii titles, though how many of them are worthwhile really depends on how well 3rd-party developers make use of the motion controls, I'm guessing.
EDIT: If I buy the 360 Arcade will I be missing out on anything in-particular? Down the line I can always buy the 20GB/120GB addon anyway if it's needed.
---
I've got a spare copy of Portal, if anyone wants it message me.
Well, you'd effectively be missing out on most of the downloadable stuff on Live. There's a lot of good stuff on there, movies, demos, Live Arcade games, downloadable content (Bioshock has a free content addon out now, for example), etc. With just a memory card, some of the movies and most of the demos would be unavailable to you. Actually, I'm not even sure if the memory card would have enough bandwidth to play movies that do fit on it. If you end up deciding to get a hard drive down the road, I think you end up paying more in total. My recommendation would be to avoid the Arcade version and just get one with the HD from the get-go.
Can't I just put one of my spare hard drives in a usb external caddy and use that to store any movies/music on?
---
I've got a spare copy of Portal, if anyone wants it message me.
EDIT: The link had possible dodgy stuff on there, so i've removed the link.
---
I've got a spare copy of Portal, if anyone wants it message me.
Here's something interesting I found while googling on this subject. According to this MS KnowledgeBase article, the "official" hard drives include 4GB allocated for "game title caching," which was news to me. If that's the case, it really begs the question... Is Mass Effect using that cache poorly, or just not using it at all??
---
I've got a spare copy of Portal, if anyone wants it message me.