To XBOX or not to XBOX? That is the question. (no fanboys please)

[Reps911]

  Well way back when I was deciding on which next-gen console to purchase I did my homework. I Played both the Ps3 and Xbox 360, Determined what features I wanted and decided the PS3 was the console for me. And it is, the PS3 fits my everyday gaming and I have been 100% satisfied since day one. My dilemma is this... My friends that have a PS3 don't have High speed internet (I Know go Figure...) and three friends I know that have high speed Internet have an XBOX 360.  Now... I was bound to get a 360 eventually but now that I realize the only friends I know that are online are using the 360, I'm looking twords the purchase of an XBOX 360. I've thought real hard about this and I need some info. Besides being able to play online with my buddies and the reported quality of XBOX Live. What are the other benefits of owning an XBOX? I'm not interested in Netflix compatibility and all of the games I want are on the PS3 too

[Sirgin]

all of the games I want are on the PS3 too

Despite what you say there really are alot of nice exclusives for the 360 simply because the PS3 wasn't out yet.
You could also consider getting a 360 for the exclusives that are yet to come. The time of "big exclusives" may be over but there's bound to be a couple more to come.

The biggest benefit the 360 has is, for you, the possibility of playing online with your friends. You have to decide for yourself whether or not that's important enough to buy a 360 for. Or you could convince them of getting a PS3, of course

[Reps911]

all of the games I want are on the PS3 too

Despite what you say there really are alot of nice exclusives for the 360 simply because the PS3 wasn't out yet.
You could also consider getting a 360 for the exclusives that are yet to come. The time of "big exclusives" may be over but there's bound to be a couple more to come.

I never said the XBOX didn't have exclusives. Just all the games I'm into are on the PS3 also. In fact the games that arn't on both, like motorstorm are on PS3. I'm more of a racing/action/ sand box  game player and the majority of those are multi console. 

And I almost got my one buddy to buy a PS3 but I had to buy his 360... didn't happen.

[phoenix1967]

Well, it sounds like the games your 360-owning friends are also available on the PS3. But if you don't own them for the PS3 yet, maybe that's part of your recent motivation to get the 360?

Other factors to consider (games-wise), depending on your tastes:
1. Future releases (including exclusives).
2. Current exclusives.
3. Games on XBox Live Arcade vs. those on Playstation Network.

Another factor may be the 360's Achievement system. PS3's trophy system has been rolled out, but they're still working out getting more games to use the feature. All games on the 360 utilize it (including arcade).

Also, with the recent price drop, you're getting a 60gb console with backward compatibility for a large % of Xbox1 titles for the price of $299.99. And the majority of Xbox1 titles are about $10 or less.

Lots of freebies on Xbox live for demos, videos, themes, pictures, etc.

Hope that helps.

[Tondog]

Basically, what it boils down to is what system has the exclusive content that intrigues you more.

Are you interested in Ratchet and Clank, LittleBigPlanet, Gran Turismo, Resistance Fall Of Man, Infamous, Team Ico's game (whatever that may be), etc, then go for the PS3.

If you're more interested in Halo, Viva Pinata, Forza, Gears of War, etc, then go for the 360.

[Reps911]

3. Games on XBox Live Arcade vs. those on Playstation Network.

Your right I forgot about that... I remember hearing that Xbox live was getting an exclusive vigilante 8 game and i remember feeling a little jelouse....

Basically, what it boils down to is what system has the exclusive content that intrigues you more.

Are you interested in Ratchet and Clank, LittleBigPlanet, Gran Turismo, Resistance Fall Of Man, Infamous, Team Ico's game (whatever that may be), etc, then go for the PS3.

If you're more interested in Halo, Viva Pinata, Forza, Gears of War, etc, then go for the 360.

for me it's not really about the exclusives. Yeah there nice and i'm always glad when the exclusive game I want is comming out on my console. But in this situation i'm trying to see what the Xbox 360 can do for me as opposed to the PS3. so far I got, Xbox Live and playing online with my 360 owning buddies... I was always planning on getting one. I just want to see if i'm missing out on anything that might help me decide to purchase one now

[The Metamorphosing Leon]

The 360 will be slowly going downhill as games progress. It doesn't have the hardware to compete for as long as the PS3 will, that's the one beef I've had with the system since it came out, it's more like X-Box 1.5 than X-Box 2.

[Cobra]

Well, I can see where you stand. I myself if going to buy something that costs more than I can justify, look for whatever positives I can to make me feel better about blowing the money on whatever it is.

Essentially for what you are after, you have two choices, encourage your PS3 owning friends to get better internet connections (perhaps do the footwork and find the cheapest solution for them), or join your 360 owning net users. In the end, it really is up to you.

[NayusDante]

There's actually a few things that the 360 does that the PS3 doesn't, but they're really not features that EVERYONE would use.

First of all, I play Final Fantasy XI. I played on PC for years, but the 360 version just has fewer lag spikes for me. Also, I can be online within a minute or so, wheras my comp takes that long just to boot itself up.

One thing that I've noticed with the PS3 is that enabling the media server detection crashes my Linksys router, but not my Netgear. The 360 doesn't crash anything and it actually integrates the network streaming feature a lot better. It's nice to stream music while you're ingame, and control it with my Vista Media Center remote control.

Lastly, if you have XP MCE or Vista Home Premium/Ultimate, the 360 connects as a Media Center Extender. So if you don't have your comp hooked up to your entertainment system, but your 360 is on the same network, you have access from there. However, this is really only useful for TV recording and playback, so I'd avoid wireless connections. That leaves you with having your 360 within ethernet reach, at which point you might as well just have your computer in your entertainment center or home theater or whatever. I don't think most people have this setup, or even have a TV recorder set up. Recording on anything but a pretty high power computer seriously lags your system, so it would be better to just build a cheap dedicated comp to do the recording. But then, you need to buy another Vista license and.... God, this is a mess. Extender functionality is cool if you design your HOME around it, but just adding TV-tuner support on the 360 would have worked a LOT better. Come to think of it, didn't Sony just release something like that?

So yeah, there's reasons to get a 360 other than exclusives, but not for the average Joe. I used mine as an extender for a while, but now that I have a separate comp hooked up to the TV for that, it's just used for exclusives.

[Reps911]

Essentially for what you are after, you have two choices, encourage your PS3 owning friends to get better internet connections (perhaps do the footwork and find the cheapest solution for them), or join your 360 owning net users. In the end, it really is up to you.

I tried doing the footwork for one of my friends. they have AOL dial up. still waiting to see how that turns out...

Well, I can see where you stand. I myself if going to buy something that costs more than I can justify, look for whatever positives I can to make me feel better about blowing the money on whatever it is.

You are dead on my friend.

[NayusDante]

I thought AOL discontinued their ISP service...

[Sirgin]

I tried doing the footwork for one of my friends. He still lives with his parents while he's finishing school. they have AOL dial up.... pause for that to set in..... now I asked him how much they paid... Now this is the shocker!!!  he Calmly said " 34 dollars" .... Pause for that to set in.... WOW! I explained to him That 6mbps was only 29.99 at Time warner... He told his parents and I thought this would have been a no brainer, they already have TW Cable. But they said they like AOL just fine!!! So I told him to get a JOB... I don't think that's gonna happen anytime soon...

They're crazy to pay that much for dial up.

[Shimra]

The 360 will be slowly going downhill as games progress. It doesn't have the hardware to compete for as long as the PS3 will, that's the one beef I've had with the system since it came out, it's more like X-Box 1.5 than X-Box 2.

So... the original Gameboy didn't have the hardware to compete and neither does the DS. Oh wait...

[phoenix1967]

The 360 will be slowly going downhill as games progress. It doesn't have the hardware to compete for as long as the PS3 will, that's the one beef I've had with the system since it came out, it's more like X-Box 1.5 than X-Box 2.

Um...that smells like the start of a flame, and is not a helpful comment to the intent of the post.

Let's stay on topic, ok?

[Shimra]

The 360 will be slowly going downhill as games progress. It doesn't have the hardware to compete for as long as the PS3 will, that's the one beef I've had with the system since it came out, it's more like X-Box 1.5 than X-Box 2.

Um...that smells like the start of a flame, and is not a helpful comment to the intent of the post.

Let's stay on topic, ok?

Nah, I don't see it as a flame at all. It's just an opinion stated as fact. We all do it from time to time. And it is on topic, he's just stating that he thinks that it will become obsolete before the PS3 does (which is the system TC already has). That's something that should be taken into consideration whether you agree with the logic leading up to which system will become obsolete first or not.

But I disagree with Leon's post as stated earlier (in a sarcastic tone). It's about the library of games not hardware. This has proven to be the case time and time again even though hardware is a huge factor. PS2 has the worst hardware of last gen and it is the only last gen system still pumping out games such as Persona 4 coming out later this year. That's not just some sports game, that's a huge named RPG.