Question about the 360 vs the PS3
 

I have a question and if someone wants to move this to the official PS3 or 360 thread, that's fine. I don't want to start a flame war or a bunch of fanboy ranting, I just wanted to get some idea what people think.

OK, my question is, if the 360 and the PS3 were released on the same day, which would you pick?

On the 360 side, you have:

2 models, 1 for $299 and 1 for $399, no HD on the cheaper model

20GB HD on the more expensive model, must purchase Microsoft HDs for $100 a piece if you want more space, limited to 20GB

Wireless adaptor $100 for the MS model, should be able to use any wireless adaptor if necessary

XBox Live $50 a year

Available HD-DVD player for $199



On the PS3 side, you have:

2 models, 1 for $499 and 1 for $599, both come with a HD

60GB HD on the more expensive model, both models are upgradeable with any standard 2.5" SATA HD

Wireless standard on $599 version, $499 version can use any wireless adaptor if necessary

Free online play, probably not as robust as XBox Live

Blu-Ray player built in


Now, if they were both launching on the same day, software might be hard to call. If the 360 were just now launching, it's software lineup would be different, IE probably no Gears of War yet.

Again, this is all theoretical. In the real world, MS has a big head start and have some great games showing up now with Halo 3 on the horizon. Of course, there's also the price difference. Sony has a tough hill to climb and I wonder if they will succeed this generation.

I'll admit, I waited for the PS3, mainly because I plan on continuing to play my PS2 games and don't have enough connections on my tv for 2 consoles. Plus, Sony's game lineup is more appealing to me. It seems like the 360's biggest games are shooters, which I just can't play on a console with a controller.

Now, what do you guys think?

This is pointless though. They are not launching on the same day. The 360 is out now and has a much stronger library. I see no reason to pay $500 or $600 for a PS3 when the 360 is $400 and has Gears of War among other strong titles and the PS3 has next to nothing. Not to mention all the early reviews are pointing strongly to the fact that multi console titles like Tony Hawk and Call of Duty 3 are better on the 360.

I was going to start my own thread, but I might as well jump on collven's...

I'm getting ready to buy a new system and need to decide between XBox and PS3 (or wait for Wii, I suppose).

Mostly, I like to play RPGs. I had a PS1 and played Final Fantasy 7 and Legend of Dragoon on those. I also do a lot of RPG gaming on my PC -- both traditional RPG (Baldur's Gate series, Fallout series, Elder Scrolls series) and action RPG (Diablo, Titan Quest, X-Men Legends).

Another genre I like is first-person shooter. But I tend not to enjoy traditional shooters like the Halflife series -- I prefer more "thoughtful" ones like Deus Ex or Thief.

Finally, I really dig platformer/RPG hybrids. I've played through Castlevania: Symphony of the Night on my PS1 half a dozen times, and love the first few Metroid games (the only ones I've played). I really like the way they have an entire map and you have to figure out that you need to get this power-up before you can get to that area, or that that power-up let's you back-track to this area where you've already beeen, but no you can reach the other power-up in that area.

Anyway, based on my gaming tastes, which system is the best for me? I know XBox has a huge head-start in titles, but if PS3 is more likely to have more of the kinds of titles I'll enjoy in the long term, I'd rather get that. Also, I've got a very slight preference for PS3, since I've got half a dozen PS1 games and I might as well take advantage of the backwards compatibility, all else being equal.

So which system would you recommend?

JasonF,

I'd probably go with the PS3 if you are big on Japanese RPGs.

The X-box had crap in the genre (mostly American/PC style RPGs which you already play on the PC) and the 360 isn't shaping up much better.

FPSs you'll get equally on both systems.

It's hard to say at this point guys. It really depends on how successful the PS3 ends up being. In other words, is the PS3 going to enjoy the same kind of third-party support that the PS2 had? Or is it going to suffer because of how costly it is, and will Xbox enjoy just as many great 3rd party games?

The ideal situation is to wait and see how the PS3 performs. Buying a system right at launch is a gamble, no matter what. I've had a Nintendo system since the NES when I was a kid, always loved it, so I always get one in the first couple months of launch.

Also, Xbox 360 has some great games out now, and a great online service. Coupled with the option of getting a cheap HD-DVD player, they're winning me over too. Never been much of a Playstation fan personally, so not tempted by the system.

But yeah, I'd say wait and see the results. If you don't wanna do that, it's gonna be a gamble, but go with your gut instinct.

EDIT: I'm sure PS3 will do fine this generation. Whether it measures up to the success of the PS2 (doubtful), remains to be seen.

To answer the original question, I imagine if they both launched the same day you would need to decide between the $299 xbox 360 and the $600 PS3. It seems like when I was looking for a 360 last year I started coming across the cheap one first with the premiums rolling in slowly. From what I understand about the PS3 launch, they are only making 20% of the cheap model so most people will need to buy the really expensive one.

Personally I would have chosen a 360 over the PS3. I have no interest in BluRay ever. I am so tired of Sony pushing their own formats on me. I also do not trust Sony at all after the root kit issue and I know they are pushing for tougher DRM on the BD. I haven't touched my PSP in months and wonder if it's time to sell it soon since I will not be getting a PS3.

As for which system to get for JasonF, look at the RPGs he actually mentioned. He would feel right at home with all the RPGs now available and coming soon. KOTOR 1 & 2, Enchanted Arms, Blue Dragon, Phantasy Star Universe, Enchanted Arms, Ninety Nine Nights and the grand daddy Oblivion. Jason, you could buy the 360 and some of these games now and still pay less than for just the PS3. Just get the 360, get Live for your first person shooters (cause from what everyone is saying games are turning out better on the 360 than the PS3 since Sony locked down the video memory) and save your money for a PS3 when they drop the price in a year or so. There is plenty of RPG goodness on the 360.

If you have any interest in gaming online at all, the 360 with it's tested and proven system is unbeatable. Sure it costs, but is $4 a month really that hard to swallow?

Since they didn't launch at the same time we are going to see the reverse of last gen. Last gen developers mainly developed for the the [inferior on paper]PS2 first and ported to the Xbox. This gen with MS having a year head start and 6 million systems out there you are going to see most games developed for the 360[inferior on paper] and ported to the more powerful system. One of the recent podcasts even mentioned a couple of the launch titles for PS3 look inferior to their 360 counterparts due to this. Only one I remember is Tony Hawk.

That's actually a very good question. Had the PS3 launched last year, I would've picked whatever system had Oblivion. That game was the reason I bought the 360. I got a good hundred hours of play out of it and it made my purchase worth it. If the PS3 had come out last year (fantasy) and had Oblivion at launch (fantasy) and if Oblivion ran better on the PS3, I would've gone with the PS3.

My reason to get a PS3 was for Assassin's Creed. Now it's not out until Fall 2007 and it'll be out for the 360 as well. I have no doubt I'll be getting a PS3. I look at is as a cheap, hard-drive-upgradeable media center PC for my home theatre. It might also be my first Linux computer. I'll have more information in a few weeks, hopefully.

I play online heavily. And the 360 absolutely, 100% owns in that department. And that will always be the deciding factor for me.

I wholly believe that the PS3 is the superior piece of hardware this time around (I was never a fan of the PS2 hardware, it always seemed lacking in many departments), which is great. That said, had they launched at the same time I still would have gone for the 360 version due to live, cost, and the fact I enjoy console FPS games and cannot stand playing them on the Dual Shock-style controllers.

That said, since the PS3 is USB-based (I believe?), getting an X360 controller and using that wouldn't have been a problem. But, i'll just say the X360, though I'll likely own both somewhere down the line. (Preferrably after the PSthree comes out, you know, something that doesn't look like a lamination machine.)

I'd have to disagree. I think the 360 has a lot more FPSs than the PS3 (or the Xbox vs. the PS2).

If they had been released on the same day I still would've gone for the 360 based on price. I'm the type that won't by the "bare bones" version of any system and the PS3 is pretty expensive in tems of the "deluxe" deal. Plus XBOX Live for all it's warts is still a very cool thing. I don't know if Sony will top it even if their online gaming is for free.

Either way I still say there's no need to chose in this day and age. Just get what you can afford now, and save for the other. Meanwhile monitor the release, game reviews, and public reaction to the system you're saving for. I'm happy with my 360 right now but who knows,I may get a PS3 down the line after seeing how it pans out gamewise. Frankly, I'm not huge RPG fan or "Cute Japanese game" fan, but the one thing I did miss when I finally converted to all XBOX gaming by getting rid of my PS2 was the Robot(Gundam etc) and Japanese Superhero(Kaimen Rider etc) type games that seem plentiful on Playstation.

Interesting side note regarding Assassin's Creed not being a PS3 exclusive - the new issue of EGM reports that it was never intended to be a Sony exclusive, that instead Sony asked Ubisoft to hold off the announcement of it being on the 360 as a favor.

Aside from Oblivion....?? The RPG line-up on both the Xbox and 360 has been very weak. You don't see many JRPG's on the console because the console has little support in Japan. If you like to play RPG's and JRPGs in particular then I would get a PS3.

I was talking about in his case. If you look at what he considers RPGs, then you would see that the ones I mentioned, and others I may have failed to mention, would in fact hold him over until the PS3 drops in price.

I never intended to imply that Xbox360 was taking over the RPG and JRPG genres from Sony, only that there are plenty of JasonF's types of RPG games on the 360.

See, I'm curious about that. I really don't see how you can call the $499 version of the PS3 "bare bones". It compares almost exactly to the $399 360. I guess if you need wi-fi and refuse to just buy a wireless adaptor seperately, I understand. But the other only other thing you lose is memory card readers, which I don't understand the need for with the usb ports on the system. Plus, with user upgradeable HDs, I will be putting a larger HD in at some point, even if I got the 60GB version.

I don't believe Assassin's Creed ever truly was PS3 exclusive. I remember back during X05, Microsoft announced that the Prince of Persia people were working on a new title with the codename "Project Assassin." Then at this year's E3, the game is given the official title "Assassin's Creed" but there is never any mention of it being for the 360, only PS3. I even created a thread asking why the 360 version was canceled. :lol: Yeah, I believe Sony probably just asked and/or paid Ubisoft not to mention the 360 so as to create an illusion that it was PS3 exclusive.

Maybe the PS3 will be the JRPG console, but for now the PS2 fills that role. I would wait till the first single player FF comes out on PS3 before picking it up (that should net you at least one price drop in the meantime). It seemed with both the PS1 and the PS2 that it was 1-2 years until the truely interesting, diverse rpgs started to come through.

In the meantime the PS2 still has a ton of jrpgs in the pipeline.

To play devils advocate, the 360 will be the western rpg console of choice, and will likely have a handful of quality jrpgs like blue dragon (while the xbox had none). Anyway, if a game like blue dragon sells a ton of copies outside of Japan, say 1 million+, then I'm sure a few companies will choose to cross platform their rpgs.

[QUOTE=collven]That's still $100 difference that could go towards a game, controller, Live, memory card, etc.

JasonF's question:

I would say, neither yet. Neither console is going to have any good RPGs for quite some time. The 360 only has a few coming out (exempting Oblivion, etc which are available for PC) It was one of the reasons it took me so long to get a PS2.

I'm an RPG gamer although I don't have a lot of time for them lately. I'm getting a Wii for fun, and I'll look into a 360 or a PS3 next year.

The RPGs will go to the console with the biggest userbase IMO. Enix used to say (pre-merger) that they would publish RPGs for whatever console had the biggest install base.

You need to see how the next 6 months or so go in Japan before you will know where the RPGs are going. I'm curious to see how the Wii/PS3 situation works out in Japan. I think there's a possibility of a bunch of RPGs going to the Wii instead. RPGs don't normally require crazy graphics, development costs are the bane of small RPG companies, and it's still hard to tell where the Japanese market will stand on an uber-expensive console. The recent Japan price drop, I think, shows that Sony is also concerned about this.

I personally think Dragon Quest Swords for Wii is Square-Enix feeling out the market before getting underway with the next Dragon Quest.


As far as right now if you (the OP) are committed to getting either the PS3 or the 360...well, the strength of a console is its games. Right now, there's not much of anything for the PS3 and the 360 has some interesting games. Pretending the 360 doesn't have a headstart as your decision making process doesn't make any sense.

[QUOTE=Michael Corvin]
Or the $200 HD-DVD player instead of the BR player built-in to the PS3.

-wink-

In all seriousness though, that seems to be selling pretty well, at least according to the "360 HD-DVD Availability" thread on this board.


Oh, and Greenmonkey, as I stated in the original post, this was a what-if situation. I was really trying to focus on the strengths and weaknesses of the hardware, not the software. Besides, as I said, I'm not really interested in shooters, which seem to be the strongest genre on the 360.

[QUOTE=collven]
TBH I'm with you on FPS games, not a big fan, and those I like I prefer with a mouse on the PC. But both consoles are being deluged with them these days. The only well-reviewed PS3 launch game so far is apparently Resistance: Fall of Man - FPS-type game.

Hardware wise, I think they're pretty similiar and that's what many game reviewers are saying, the games look pretty much equivalent. The PS3 boils down to if you want blu-ray or not. If you want hi-def DVD, I think it's pretty much a situation of parity on the hardware side. HD-DVD + 360 = PS3.

If you aren't interested in hi-def DVD at this point, the 360 does pretty much the same thing as the PS3 for less money, and if you care, has nice features to stream video, music, etc from your PC. Then again, if you are going to dump video/music/etc on the the harddrive instead of streaming, the PS3 HDD is apparently easily upgradeable.

I used "bare bones" for lack of a better phrase. But still, I would always go for the "Deluxe" version of any system and Sony's "Deluxe" costs too much in my opinion. So if they were released at the same time I would get the cheaper 360 "deluxe" system. Just like another said, that $100 could be used for something else. I was thinking it would be great to put the $100 away for getting the PS3 later down the line.

Isn't this game little more than (or even a port thereof) the Japanese standalone
TV game that came out a year or two ago? For those not familiar with what I'm
referring to, think those Star Wars/Dragonball games that you plug into the TV
and swing a sword/lightsaber type controller at. If so, sounds more like making a
quick buck (not that there's anything wrong with that) than testing the waters.

I strongly agree with this (maybe not wait for a FF, but at least until a title or
two that you enjoy are released).

Normally, I would wait as well, since I still get a lot out of my PS2, but I'm just a very impatient person when it comes to stuff like this. Besides, with Best Buy's 2 years no interest on launch day for the PS3, that's pretty hard to pass up.

If the PS3 and the 360 came out at the same time (i.e. now), I'd pick up the 360 without hesitation. Why? Let's see:

1. The current state of HD DVD and Blu-ray.
2. The price difference.
3. The screenshots and videos between games where they look no different on either console (this is presuming Xbox didn't have the year head-start so the games that supposedly look better would only look the same)

If the games look the same, but one system is $200 cheaper and offers support for HD DVD instead of BD, then that's enough to sell me.

Now throw in the fact that there is a year of difference, and that Gears of War is out, and that COD3 and Tony Hawk ARE better for the 360, and it's a no-brainer. Right now the only people I could imagine being interested in the PS3 are fans of Final Fantasy and Metal Gear, but neither of those are launch titles.

Ironically, the biggest group of people I see wanting a PS3 are people who generally only play Halo and Madden. And we all know Halo won't be on the PS3, and Madden will be exactly the same. Kind of ironic.

Hmmm... I missed that no interest blurb in Speedy's Best Buy post, thanks for
the mention. Looks like I might be waiting in line Thursday night after all.
400,000 Blu-Ray players selling thru in 10 minutes sure isn't going to hurt the
format (as far as backing a possible loser).

From what I hear, there is a very strong chance Metal Gear will be ported to the 360 to offset the enormous cost of production, so that may be yet another reason to stick with the 360.

That's a good point. If you are on the fence why would you let a company decide for you? I would hate being shoe-horned into their format just because they say so and it is the only option from their camp.

I have a friend going to camp out for a PS3 and he isn't a big gamer at all. He isn't an RPG fan either. He loves what he's seen of Dead Rising and a few other games on the 360. So why the PS3 choice over the 360? Name brand. Nothing more. He is blindly buying into the "it's the one to own" and "it's the next Playstation by Sony" thought process and what's worse is that he is completely aware of it. -ohbfrank- It be nicer if people like him took the time to weed though the bullshit instead of buying a name.

Your bias shines through in the very first statement.

You seriously think Blue Dragon is going to sell 1 million in Japan??? I give it half of that.

Outside of Japan...

I think you guys are missing the point for JasonF's post. The whole RPG thing is the problem. He says he likes RPGs but the ones he listed are not "RPG"s in the sense that we all talk about them. Considering he likes FPS and Western RPGs that is the specialty of the 360 IMO. I bet if he got the ones I listed and played them on the 360 he would love it. Not to mention, Oblivion alone is worth owning the 360. Even more to the point, even though the PS3 will have it's share of FPS, the 360 controller is way better than Dual Shock for FPS. I think unless you are a die hard JRPG fan or just a Sony fanboy there is no need to spend money on a PS3 now.

Personally, I was not at all interested in the PS3 until I saw the post in the PS3 thread about being able to put whatever HDD you want in it and being able to install another OS if you choose. I may have to get one early next year when they are more prevalent just to make myself an awesome HTPC out of it with Linux. If I were just a gamer like JasonF, I would wait for the PS3 and get the 360 for games like GOW, COD3 and Oblivion. Then I would get games like KOTOR 1 & 2 that are BC from the Xbox.

I think I am leaning toward the XBox 360 at this point. Thanks to everyone for all the great advice.

I don't play FPSes and am only really interested in RPGs too...and the XBox360 totally doesn't interest me. Too many FPS and just Blue Dragon isn't enough to sway me (don't even mention Lost Odyssey - it looks disastrous). White Night Story and FFXIII is enough to sway me to lean towards the PS3, but not until next year when/if there's a price drop. Before then there's plenty of games on the PS2 to play if you like RPGS.