Ps3 or Xbox 360

[Jedizora]

I'd have to go with the Xbox 360. The PS3 is amazing, I love it and it's library, but Xbox gets much better things, Like Gears of War and Halo. Plus, PS3 most likely won't get Skyrim DLCs(Lack of ram, from what I understand) and the controller is much bigger on the Xbox. PS3 has small controllers; good for FPSs, but not much else. I noticed you also included the Wii in the poll, but I've been feeling letdown by it recently. Haven't touched it in a few months.

 

[Hanyou]

I'd have to go with the Xbox 360. The PS3 is amazing, I love it and it's library, but Xbox gets much better things, Like Gears of War and Halo.

...And what else?

Honestly, shooters are a dime a dozen. This doesn't make them bad, but it's easy to find alternatives to Halo on other platforms. And while I personally prefer Halo to something like, say, Call of Duty, I doubt your library would be very empty without it.

The AAA titles on the PS3 have fewer parallels. Where's the 360's exclusive Little Big Planet? Heavy Rain? Valkyria Chronicles? 3D Dot Game Heroes? Yakuza 3 and 4? Disgaea 3? Come to think of it, how many multiplatform titles are like that? And while Dante's Inferno and the ****** Castlevana reboot exist, do they really rival God of War? The PS3 seems to have much more variety.

Plus, PS3 most likely won't get Skyrim DLCs(Lack of ram, from what I understand)

Huge bummer, but the 360 version pales in comparison to the PC version just as badly. The PS3 version is broken, but the 360 is so far from being the best version that it's just not worth buying.

and the controller is much bigger on the Xbox. PS3 has small controllers; good for FPSs, but not much else.

You forgot the D-pad. While the silver controller's D-pad is decent, it still doesn't beat the Dual Shock's.

I do prefer the 360 pad for 3D control, but its D-pad makes it far from ideal for fighters or, frankly, any game that relies on it.

 

[Turo602]

PS3 - powerful hardware, not too many 10/10 exclusives, ridiculously high launch price, free online, reliable, etc.

Wii - very obsolete technology, lack of third-party support, great first party library, free online, very reliable, etc.

Xbox360 - unreliable, obsolete technology, charges a yearly fee for online service, no innovation, RRODs for no reason, etc.
(There's really nothing good I can think of to say about the Xbox360.)

If I had to chose, I'd rank them: Wii > PS3 > Xbox360

I'd wish PC was one of the options, because then it would be PC > Wii > PS3 > Xbox360.
(Not that I dislike consoles, but PCs are superior in most ways.)

What does a high launch price add or take away from the PS3, today? You also like to throw the word obsolete around, but never once use it to describe the PS3... with the Wii U out, wouldn't the PS3's technology be considered obsolete? I also fail to see how a free online service is a pro, over a better one that cost money. I mean, who the hell cares if the Wii had an online service? It sucked harder than Sony's... I'd also like to know the last time an Xbox 360 red ring of deathed. That issue was fixed a long time ago. Oh, and speaking of innovation, what the hell was so special about the PS3, that you'd consider it such an innovative piece of tech?

 

[Austin]

freedom for being tied to a company, etc.

Microsoft is a company. It's quite difficult to have smooth gaming experience without Windows.

 

[Austin]

You can run 90% of Windows games in linux through WINE (Windows Emulator). WINE is free and open source software.

This is actually flat-out wrong. There are quite a few games that do not work well or at all through WINE, and then you have issues like Linux GPU drivers typically not being as well-designed as the ones made for Windows. The sad truth is that Windows is required for a /smooth/ gaming experience.

More and more games are also being made natively for linux. In fact, there's already a version of Steam for linux.

Most of which are indie titles. Big name games aren't really being ported to Linux en masse. I have hopes for Linux Steam but don't forget about how Mac Steam worked out.

 

[Kazumi]

You can run 90% of Windows games in linux through WINE (Windows Emulator). WINE is free and open source software.

More and more games are also being made natively for linux. In fact, there's already a version of Steam for linux.

I'd just like to interject for a moment as a fairly well versed Linux user and say that WINE has not even remotely close to that much compatibility. There are maybe a handful of the most popular games that actually work to a satisfactory degree through WINE; games such as World of Warcraft or Team Fortress 2 are some of the few games that come to mind when I think of excellent compatibility via WINE.

However, it is true that Valve has now released a beta for a Linux version of Steam, and games such as TF2 are now natively supported due to this. I am personally looking forward to a bright future for Linux gaming, especially as Microsoft continues to lock down more and more options and features of it's browser and likely eventually restrict users to purchasing software exclusively from the Windows Marketplace. Valve has said themselves that they see Linux/GNU has a haven for PC gaming that won't be locked down by major companies such as Microsoft or Apple.

Now, in terms of the actual discussion at hand, I'd have to say that PC gaming beats all of the other three options by far. However, if I had to pick one of the three consoles I'd say that I had the most fun with the Nintendo Wii. I have a 360, and really don't use it ever because I have my PC for 90% of games that are released. If there are 360 exclusive titles that I have an interest in playing, I often don't even get around to playing them or buying them because I have enough games to play on my PC. I will say however that the 360/PS3 are far superior for fighting games, which is a genre that I enjoy quite often with games like BlazBlue, Guilty Gear, Kingdom of Fighters, and Persona 4 Arena. I'll also be picking up GTAV for 360 upon it's release next year.

In the end though, this console cycle I've definitely had the most fun with my Wii. It's had its ups and downs, however I think overall it has a very full featured and rather under-rated library of games. There are obvious choices such as Super Mario Galaxy 1/2, Metroid Prime 3, Super Smash Bros Brawl, Donkey Kong Country and so forth, however the game has also had a great cast of other games including games made by third parties. Some games which I particularly enjoyed were No More Heroes 1/2, Red Steel 2, Monster Hunter Tri, and Xenoblade, among many other games. Additionally a lot of extra fun and potential was unlocked by installing Homebrew applications on your Wii and using an external HDD. Finally, while the Virtual Console was definitely lacking in some places, it did provide an excellent platform for people to enjoy and experience classic games from Nintendo's history.

In conclusion, I have high hopes for the Wii U, which I'll hopefully be purchasing sooner rather than later.

 

[Castle]

PC gaming is an acquired taste. The biggest obstacle I have with it is that it is expensive. You can get a 360 for as little as $200 at retail for the 4GB model. Even less if you can take advantage of a sale or purchased a used or refurbished model. PC games must meet the systems minimum requirements to even stand a chance of running, nevermind running well. A top of the line PC capable of running video games to optimal experience will cost you $600 at best. Maybe less if you can assemble your own. That means knowing where to get good hardware for cheap, and knowing how to assemble and configure that hardware and software yourself or finding and/or paying someone to do it for you.

Given all the possible driver, graphics card, sound card, processor, memory, OS etc. configurations for a personal computer system, your game may or may not be tailored to even run for the system you have assembled. Gaming forums are filled to the brim with inquires for assistance involving technical malfunctions and poor performance on certain systems. Most times developers aren't even aware of the problem or the solution until the game is out and reports have been rolling in for a long time, and general users are often aware of them long before developers are anyway. If it is an issue a user can't fix, then be prepared to know how to mod or wait for the developers to release a patch... when and if that ever happens.

Retailers will also not deal in used PC games. Their prices never drop unless the game has had a long shelf life, and if it doesn't work (which is a major risk on the PC) or you don't like it you can not reimburse it. Usually if the package is open, it's yours. Used video game retailers such as Gamestop will return used console games you don't even like within 7 days, and will receive used games for the going rate and resell them for less than the price of a new copy. Recent work with DRM and copy protection have also made it difficult to even run PC games. Just look at the Diablo 3 fiasco for a good horror story about that.

In short, to game on the PC you need tons of patience, an expert knowledge of computer technology, and a disposable income.

 

[Austin]

While I'm usually the first to admit to PC gaming's flaws, I thought I'd play devil's advocate a bit. Additionally, while this thread is titled "PS3 or Xbox 360" it seems to be intended to be more of a discussion for all gaming platforms. I apologize if I'm wrong.

The biggest obstacle I have with it is that it is expensive. You can get a 360 for as little as $200 at retail for the 4GB model. Even less if you can take advantage of a sale or purchased a used or refurbished model. PC games must meet the systems minimum requirements to even stand a chance of running, nevermind running well. A top of the line PC capable of running video games to optimal experience will cost you $600 at best. Maybe less if you can assemble your own. That means knowing where to get good hardware for cheap, and knowing how to assemble and configure that hardware and software yourself or finding and/or paying someone to do it for you.

I can't really find much to argue with here, but I will say that a PC can be used for much more than gaming and as such a higher pricetag is justified. Additionally, putting together a PC is not nearly as an intimidating task as it looks at first. It's really simple and there are a ton of resources to get you started. I was terrified of my first build until I actually did it, and saw how simple it was.

Given all the possible driver, graphics card, sound card, processor, memory, OS etc. configurations for a personal computer system, your game may or may not be tailored to even run for the system you have assembled. Gaming forums are filled to the brim with inquires for assistance involving technical malfunctions and poor performance on certain systems. Most times developers aren't even aware of the problem or the solution until the game is out and reports have been rolling in for a long time, and general users are often aware of them long before developers are anyway. If it is an issue a user can't fix, then be prepared to know how to mod or wait for the developers to release a patch... when and if that ever happens.

I've never really personally ran into a bug that didn't have heaps of information available on how to fix or was minor enough to ignore. I will acknowledge that troubleshooting isn't really for everyone. There are people that would rather just put the disc in and play, and there's nothing wrong with that. Also, as I buy most of my games several months after they come out to get them at a lower price, I've nearly really experience a game on its launch date which I've heard can be quite bad.

Retailers will also not deal in used PC games. Their prices never drop unless the game has had a long shelf life, and if it doesn't work (which is a major risk on the PC) or you don't like it you can not reimburse it. Usually if the package is open, it's yours. Used video game retailers such as Gamestop will return used console games you don't even like within 7 days, and will receive used games for the going rate and resell them for less than the price of a new copy. Recent work with DRM and copy protection have also made it difficult to even run PC games. Just look at the Diablo 3 fiasco for a good horror story about that.

We may not have used games, but we do have Steam, which has some really incredible sales and savings. I cannot remember buying a game for more than $30 in the past year, and that's even that price is rare for me.

Obtrusive DRM and copy protection can **** off and die though, and is definitely contributing to the decline of the PC as a gaming platform.

In short, to game on the PC you need tons of patience, an expert knowledge of computer technology, and a disposable income.

I'd actually use "or" here instead of "and". You can pay out the *** for a gaming computer and have it come preassembled and most of your headaches already taken care of. Something breaks, go ahead and call India, they've got this one covered.

 

[Byrne12197]

good to see ps3 is beating Xbox 360

 

[Omega Fury]

360 and Nintendo is better. Look at Sony, their PlayStation Network games are crappy. Call of Duty ain't gonna do well on there because they suck. Battlefield 3 ain't gonna go good on there because their Online Service is a waste of time. Kudos to XBOX and their awesome XBOX Live service. No offense to Sony.

 

[Justac00lguy]

I would say PS3 for exclusives but Xbox for online and party chat

 

[Curmudgeon]

I vote for 360, but only because mine was free.

 

[Ⓡⓔⓖⓘⓝⓛⓔⓘⓕ]

I've always liked the Play Station, but now I just have an xbox360 and a PS2, (No PS3 ) so I voted for Xbox360 because it's the console I play the most.

 

[Hero of Time]

I prefer the Xbox 360, but both are pretty good consoles. The 360 is cheaper, and I highly prefer its controller over the PS3's. Additionally, I think Xbox Live is the best online of any console, and although you have to pay for it, I don't think $60 a year is too much to ask for. And I'll add that exclusive games are a bit irrelevant for me, since I don't play any Xbox 360 exclusives and I'd probably only play one PS3 exclusive (Uncharted). That's why I picked the Xbox 360 when I decided to get another system to go along with my Wii.

 

[Spirit]

I usually always go for nintendo console,s their flagship titles are something ive followed all my life.

If i have to choose between 360 and ps3 though its 360 all the way, cheaper and larger library of games, everything exclusive on ps3 aren't my kind of games.