PS3 VS Xbox 360 Elite

[Tyler Durden]

Ok, don't crucify me, but currently I own both of these systems.

I first bought a PS3 and a Sony Bravia X series about 7 months ago, and fast established that blu-ray was possibly one of the greatest things ever invented.

I also established that whilst the ps3 has an "upcoming exclusives" list to die for, it pretty much had jack shit in the way of good quality, enjoyable video games.

My younger brother had purchased an Xbox Pro about a year before this, and had been playing it on a cathode ray television, hence, it didn't exactly blow my socks off especially when I factored in that it didn't even have a ready to gop HDMI output.

However, after enjoying my blu-ray's for about 4 months or so, I was really starting to hanker for some solid console gaming action, and Gears of War had been playing on my mind heavily. Often I would be playing Mortal Kombat 2 on my ps3 thinking "I really think that $1,000.00 was slightly too much for an emulator I could have downloaded for free".

So once the Xbox 360 Elite came out, it was instant caving in for me. I traded in my ps2 and my Xbox, and about 45 games, and picked up my brand spanking 360 Elite and a couple of games.

After playing with the 360 for just over a fortnight, I have concluded the following points in favour of each system, in a completely unbiased fashion:

NOTE: I've owned every major console ever made apart from the Panasonic 3DO and the Atari Jaguar - I have no allegiance and feel I'm fairly unbiased.

PS3

Pros:

1. Excellent all around piece of hardware, once you buy it, you don't need to do anything to optimize it or bring it up to speed. Kind of like as if it's from the not too distant future. Excellent interconnectivity with mp3 players, portable hard drives etc.

2. Raw Power. You can tell from some of the upcoming games that this machine means serious business (it's pretty much tha internetz) and that no other machine can match it pound for pound.

3. Free online service. Definitely a bonus.

4. Upcoming exclusives. I really think Sony has it over Microsoft in this one. But I'll devote a para to exclusives in a bit.

5. Blu-Ray. Probably the last thing I considered when purchasing machine has probably been the one reason I don't regret purchasing it at this stage. Massive fan of the technology.

Cons:

1. Online service, thus far, is vastly inferior to Microsoft's. Sure it's free, but functionality it lags a bit. Not to mention, with far fewer sales in the main english speaking markets (Aus/US/Europe) online gaming with the ps3 just doesn't have the same fanatical feeling it does with the xbox.

2. Games. There is still largely bugger all in the way of quality titles. Folklore seems pretty cool though, but at time of writing this, Heavenly Sword and Warhawk are probably the best games out. Compare that to the 360 having Bioshock, Gears of War and Halo 3. Serious issue for the ps3 thus far.

Summary: Whilst only having two real cons I can think of, the PS3 is still struggling through its first year. The two Cons being severe disadvantages for any gamer who is considering a purchase.

360

Pros:

1. Games. Not only does it have the three best next gen titles made so far in Halo 3, Gears of War and Bioshock, but it still has some big guns coming up in Mass Effect and the Rare titles in development. Factor in some additional bonus content for GTA as well as Project Gotham and Forza 2 and Microsoft have developed a nice little cadre of exclusive third parties. Many of the third party titles available on both systems seem to have been designed primarily for the 360 too i.e. every EA sports title I've seen looks better on the 360, and speaking of sports titles...

2. Online Service. This is how online console gaming was meant to be done. I can't imagine anyone choosing to play a sports game on the ps3 online service when they can play it on the 360's.

CONS:

1. No hard drive (well, mine has one being the elite model, but anyway). I have no idea who was in charge of this decision, but it wasn't smart.

2. Price. I know, I know, technically the 360 is cheaper, but look at it this way, even when you purchase the "Elite" model, there are still some glaring omissions that the PS3 has, that don't appear on the 360 without extra cost. The following example is in Aussie Dollars (roughly 90 cents USD).

PS3 60 gig: $1,000 6 months ago (can get the 40 gig for less now, and most places will throw in Motorstom and R: FOM and a second controller for nothing)

360 Elite: $720 + HD-DVD add on $300 + Wireless add on $100 + online service for one year (being generous) $90 = $1,210

Massive loss for the 360, mind you, most idiots don't realise this until it's too late.

3. Dipshits. Whilst having a much wider community online, I must say, playing Halo 3 online is kind of a babysitting/video game hybrid rather than a fully immersive online experience.

4. Longevity. There is no way this console will be around in 6 years time. Mark it down. This thing is cheap, nasty AND a lot of fun. I had a girlfriend like that once. Operative word being HAD.

Summary: The 360 does the online thing well, and has the best games available right now. Whilst some will claim the multiple add-ons give consumers the choice in what aspects they purchase, I think it limits what they can do with their console and also is largely an excuse to wring more dollars out of the consumer.

So as you can see, in this humble consumers mind the 360 is providing more enjoyment right now, and was definitely an good purchase with many excellent games already available and scheduled to arrive shortly (as well as a kickass online service). But the ps3 will come into its own very shortly I'd wager.

Just as a bit of a note, I'm fairly confident the upcoming ps3 games WILL be better than the exclusive franchises Microsoft have. Just looking at the heavyweights:

360:
1. Bioshock
2. Gears of War
3. Halo
4. forza
5. PGR
6. Mass Effect

Microsoft are clearly focused on FPS and driving games, which is fine with me because I like both genres... massive problem for Microsoft is...

PS3
1. Haze
2. Killzone 2
3. Gran Turismo
4. LittleBigPlanet
5. Final Fantasy
6. White Knight

PS3's upcoming shooters are looking to be every bit as good as MS's. Mind you, I can't see either Killzone or Haze having the same size multiplayer community as Halo, but I am almost positive they'll have better co-op and single player.

Gran Turismo just looks light years ahead of anything on the Xbox, and Sony have definitely got the JRPG market cornered.

either way, there'll be ripping games on both consoles, I just think Sony have the edge. The only stumbling block I envisage is Microsoft seem to have less problem with throwing money at existing third parties, whereas Sony seem to be preferring to develop in house more. That could be an issue long term, especially if Microsoft were to buy someone like EA or 2K.

Anyway, for the next year I think the 360 will retain it's spot at the top, and slowly decline after that. The PS3 is up for a very exciting year, especially with the price reduction. I just hope they can start releasing the killer games so that we can have a real console war.

Anyway, that rant was huge. If you managed to read the whole thing, have this gold star.