Xbox or Playstation?

[Printerman]

Definitely leaning heavily towards the PS3, but the one thing I've noticed about it is that the wi-fi bands are only A, B and G, excluding N. I wonder if this is another reason people seem to get more lag on the PS network? Though, I'd be more inclined to use hardwired ethernet if this was a problem, so whatever, I suppose.

The question now is... where to buy it and should I go for a bundle pack or would it be cheaper buying the components separately ? Looking on Amazon, their PS3 listings are a mess, and I don't see any great deals in general. Walmart, though I don't like their business practices, seem to have decent prices and packages. I can't imagine that Best Buy would have any great deals to speak of except for on Black Friday, but there's no way I'd go to such a zoo, even if I were not working.

Doug

That was only on the older PS3s. My PS3 slim from Christmas ’10 has N capability, which is what I run it on.

 

[Doug b]

Subscribing to PS+ gives you access to hundreds of free and heavily discounted items. Along with this, it gives you 2 features inside of the Playstation OS:

1.) The ability to automatically download game updates/patches when the console is in standby (I love this one)

2.) The ability to access cloud storage for game saves, and trophies.

Personally speaking, such things don't interest me at all. I did a bit more research and found info that just bored me about the service (more or less) and clarified that what you're essentially doing is renting and not really buying anything. If and when you ditch the membership, anything you've downloaded ceases to exist until you re-subscribe. The only thing that sparked my attention was this:

PlayStation Plus subscribers will also be given exclusive PlayStation Store discounts each month that are above and beyond the current PSN Store discounts available to everyone. These discounts will range from 20% to 50%, and anything you buy with these is yours to keep and enjoy forever.

That left me wondering what types of things these PSN store discounts are? As long as I don't have to subscribe to access Hulu, Netflix and those other streaming services, I don't care about things like sneak previews, accessing their cloud for saves or trophies etc... The only other question I have is, as a NON PS+ member, will I still have access to game add on content such as expansion packs, maps etc..?

That was only on the older PS3s. My PS3 slim from Christmas ’10 has N capability, which is what I run it on.

Interesting. I don't recall seeing the "N" specification in any of the recent PS3 ads I was looking at.


Doug

 

[Discerptor]

Interesting. I don't recall seeing the "N" specification in any of the recent PS3 ads I was looking at.

That's because no PS3 has 802.11n wireless. They will work on an N network with 2.4 GHz band support just fine, but it is still a wireless g card. That said, online gaming uses virtually no bandwidth - you will never see wireless g be a bottleneck for that kind of usage. For perspective, I used to play WoW using tethered 3G as my Internet connection with zero resultant lag. Similarly, Netflix streaming tends to work just fine over 802.11g. You only really see the benefits of wireless N when downloading large files.

 

[Printerman]

That's because no PS3 has 802.11n wireless. They will work on an N network with 2.4 GHz band support just fine, but it is still a wireless g card. That said, online gaming uses virtually no bandwidth - you will never see wireless g be a bottleneck for that kind of usage. For perspective, I used to play WoW using tethered 3G as my Internet connection with zero resultant lag. Similarly, Netflix streaming tends to work just fine over 802.11g. You only really see the benefits of wireless N when downloading large files.

I stand corrected

 

[Doug b]

So at work the tally is Xbox 10, PS3. 1 the consensus seems to be that from an online gameplay pov, the latter just lacks the population seen in the xbox live community. I've also been told by someone who has both that the PS3 community is filled with young kids who are fairly hateful towards American players in general and constantly taunt them. This contradicts what was said here in terms of it being a more mature group of people.

On the other hand, the PS3 has the upper hand as a media center due to having a full browser and the other obvious stuff. Its other benefits include having HDMI out, and the unused potential of it superior hardware.

I just can't believe this is such an confusing and hard decision!

Doug

 

[iggibar]

...the latter just lacks the population seen in the xbox live community.

I think that is a load of stuff. I was online earlier on both consoles with MW3: PS3 had close to 800,000 people playing it, while the 360 has slightly over 900,000. I guess that difference must mean something to someone...because they are there playing with every single one of them. That many people on 1 game! Come on!

I've also been told by someone who has both that the PS3 community is filled with young kids who are fairly hateful towards American players in general and constantly taunt them. This contradicts what was said here in terms of it being a more mature group of people.

I've played many games on the PS3(Madden, Fifa, CoD-series, Dead Space 1/2, Killzone, Assasins Creed, MotorStorm, and a lot more) and I think it *might* have happened once, but if I remember correctly, it all started when someone on my team started making fun of a british person for his accent. However, I believe for someone to say something like this about the PS3's online community is a complete joke. I lost count of how many arguments similar to "others" hating on Americans, or anyone else for that matter, when it comes to the 360. Not poking fun of it though, because it usually starts with a hot head that opens his mouth first.

I just can't believe this is such an confusing and hard decision!
Doug

I have a good idea. Get two pieces of paper. Write 360 on one, and PS3 on the other. Tape it to your wall, and throw a dart at them blindfolded. If it lands on one of them, get that one. If it doesn't land on one, don't waste your money because you will probably be left wondering what owning the other system would be like.

If you lived close to me, I would honestly just let you borrow both of my systems. That should make for the best unbiased buying decision imo.

 

[alexsd123]

So at work the tally is Xbox 10, PS3. 1

It seems like your co-workers (friends?) play the Xbox. I would personally go with the Xbox, if that was the case, because online play is 1000x better with real life friends.

The consensus seems to be that from an online gameplay pov, the latter just lacks the population seen in the xbox live community.

Both have a big population. You aren't going to be searching for hours at a time for a game, they are both almost instant in finding other players. While it is true, the Xbox has more players, I don't think it will hinder your gaming experience.

I've also been told by someone who has both that the PS3 community is filled with young kids who are fairly hateful towards American players in general and constantly taunt them.

Have you ever played online with a microphone? I would say the Xbox community is just about the worst gaming community around in terms of people hating on others. The Xbox has TONS of kids and MW3 and other shooter games tend to be where they hang out. You will run into them constantly.

This contradicts what was said here in terms of it being a more mature group of people.

I believe this used to be true back when the PS3 was much more expensive than the Xbox. Nowadays, I am sure they are both a not so pleasant crowd.

I would go with the Xbox since it seems more people you know have it. Even though the PS3 is a better system, you'll have way more fun playing with friends.

 

[Doug b]

Thanks Alex and Igg... I'd give you both more rep points but must "spread them around", as it were.

I think I'm still leaning more towards the PS3 for a couple of reasons. For one, it seems to be more of a media consumption system with the added benefit of being just as good a gaming platform (if not better considering the internals) and the bonus of not having to pay for online gaming. Secondly, and this may actually be more of a real reason than the first, is that I don't want to have to worry about a red ring of death. If Microsoft were good about things, they'd offer a 3 year red ring warranty. But having to pay for peace of mind, isn't exactly peace of mind IMO. Especially if you have to keep replacing units.

I'm also a bit put off by the way Microsoft has their hard drives locked down so that the end user isn't able to swap them out with any ol' notebook HD. The fact you have to replace it with another proprietary HD irks me.

Third, I pretty much keep work and my social life separate. I like the people I work with, but they're acquaintances more than anything else. I might make some solid connections, but most of the people who are gamers [at work] are also significantly younger than I am. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but I prefer that my friends are able to get my past time references and not say things like... "What the heck is Tom and Jerry" etc..

I'm still not 100% sure though. One dude at work had an idea. Get a refurb Xbox with the extended warranty. Seems logical I guess, but the favor is still leaning heavily towards the PS3.

Doug

 

[Chuckoir]

The HD thing for me, is a massive plus for the PS3.

As I mentioned earlier in this thread, I've swapped out the 40GB hard drive that originally came with my "fatty" for a 500GB drive. Some folks, with more money than sense, have even replaced their HD's with SSD's.

Ooodles of storage for movies/music/game downloads etc, and works flawlessly.

 

[iggibar]

I forgot to mention one KEY negative aspect of the 360. If you want to use any media types, like Netflix, you must have an xbox live gold account. Also, with having an xbox live gold account, you get advertisements on the 360's screen. My Netflix doesn't work on the 360 without XL-G. I don't like that fact, and I'm surprised that I forgot to mention it.

 

[dtravis7]

PS3 all the way. Better hardware, love the Media capabilities. Just like the PS3 better and I have tried both many times. I have friends with all 3 systems, Wii, PS3, XBox 360 and they like the PS3 the best.

There are things I like the Wii for, Bowling and other games where the Wii shines, but for me if I had to pick one system, it would be the PS3.

 

[Chuckoir]

PS3 all the way. Better hardware, love the Media capabilities. Just like the PS3 better and I have tried both many times.

There are things I like the Wii for, but for me if I had to pick one system, it would be the 360.

Really? You can't like the PS3 that much then!

 

[dtravis7]

Really? You can't like the PS3 that much then!

Oops. Was in a hurry to fix an issue here on the forums. Don't know why I typed Xbox. Fixed. Thanks for telling me! Grin

 

[alexsd123]

Third, I pretty much keep work and my social life separate. I like the people I work with, but they're acquaintances more than anything else. I might make some solid connections, but most of the people who are gamers [at work] are also significantly younger than I am. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but I prefer that my friends are able to get my past time references and not say things like... "What the heck is Tom and Jerry" etc..

Since you don't care about exclusives and don't want to game with co-workers (can't blame you) I don't see a logical reason to get the Xbox over the PS3. The Xbox is inferior in just about every way to the PS3. ;D

 

[iggibar]

I'm still not 100% sure though. One dude at work had an idea. Get a refurb Xbox with the extended warranty. Seems logical I guess, but the favor is still leaning heavily towards the PS3.

Doug

Don't confuse Apple's refurb reputation with that of Micrsofts, especially when dealing with the 360.

 

[Peezie]

Hey Doug for what its worth, i saw on a leaked flyer of best buy for this black friday buy an xbox and get 6 games free or a PS3 with 2 games free.

I have both systems i personally don't play the xbox except for gears of war. I like the controller of the ps3 the bluray and use it as a media hub. I own 3 of them. One for the bedroom for blurays, music for the wife. My livingroom and my "man cave".

Pick the one your friends have. Also the bluray is a huge bonus on the ps3. Dont listen to all the negative comments on the ps3 network it works great. Yes it went down due to hackers.

Another bonus as someone has mentioned above is swapping out the hardrive. My original fat ps3 i swapped out the HD for a 500gb. And the other one in the living room i have a 1TB hd in it for all my movies and music works fantastic and the wife uses it all the time to watch her shows and girly movies.

 

[dtravis7]

Lets please keep it nice in here. No reason for the insulting post I saw back 2 pages ago.

No reason to neg rep either for saying it's wrong to bash a game system you have never used. That is something that is just wrong and what a lot of so called PC users do with OSX and Macs, just insult away without really even trying out what they are insulting. At least give something a try before putting it down.

Thanks for understanding.

 

[Doug b]

Man, this is nuts. I'm changing my mind left and right! Now all of my co-workers want me to get an Xbox! But if I do get one it won't be because they want me to. However, I quizzed a bunch of them, making sure that they had used or have both systems.

The biggest reason that every single one of them came up with for going with the Xbox was that the online play was simply smoother hands down. Not that the community was bigger or that the people were more or less rude, but simply that the set up was easier, and that the flow was better and the network is just better in general, more fluid. Funny thing, there was a group of people around me, and I made an announcement: "OK, Xbox or PS3?!" Three people immediately said PS3. I asked why, and they said that it was great. I asked if they played online and then they asked if I was concerned more about online gaming. After saying yes, they changed their tune and said "Oh, never mind then. 360 without a doubt".

Each of them agreed upon the same thing, that the online game play is just a more fluid experience with the 360 and that everything related to the network experience was better, from the GUI to the setup and maintenance.

I was also told that Kinnect is very precise and has a great motion sensor games for it, especially the dance ones, which is for my wife. On the other hand, the consensus was that the PS3 is hands down better if multi player online gaming isn't as big a deal to me as media consumption. It was also said that games do look better on the PS3, but for me, that's hardly an issue so long as I can have fun. I'm not pixel peeping games!

What else.... I was told that the current generation of 360's don't suffer the same red ring fate as the older batches do, so that's a bit comforting I suppose. Later on I had a conversation with a guy I usually talk to about tech, as he's very savvy and not biased towards Apple much like myself. He explained that Microsoft not only employs an outside source for their network integration, but that they also have in-house administration to take care of their security. This is just the opposite of what Sony does, as they only have an outside source taking care of their network implementation and this leaves too many holes open since it's not guarded very well. Hence the 2 hacks to their network in just months. It was also said that they were almost hacked a third time as well.

I even asked one of my managers if he was a gamer, and his immediate reaction was to go for the 360 as well, and for the same reason as the others... the online experience vs that of the PS3.

So, the tides have turned once again and at this point, the only way I'll learn the truth is to go with my gut and try one out for myself. Stay tuned I guess!

Doug

 

[Doug b]

I forgot to mention one KEY negative aspect of the 360. If you want to use any media types, like Netflix, you must have an xbox live gold account. Also, with having an xbox live gold account, you get advertisements on the 360's screen. My Netflix doesn't work on the 360 without XL-G. I don't like that fact, and I'm surprised that I forgot to mention it.

That's ok, my main intention is for online game play and I wouldn't settle for anything other than the gold membership. I was also told that the Vudu network is quite good for streaming tv shows, and that it bests Hulu+. Can you speak to that experience? There's also another streaming service, but can't remember the name of it. It's supposed to be platform independent.

PS3 all the way. Better hardware, love the Media capabilities. Just like the PS3 better and I have tried both many times. I have friends with all 3 systems, Wii, PS3, XBox 360 and they like the PS3 the best.

There are things I like the Wii for, Bowling and other games where the Wii shines, but for me if I had to pick one system, it would be the PS3.

Everything about the PS3 does sound great, but it amazes me that everyone I've spoken with whom owns both makes the same claims about the online gaming experience. I wonder if the phenomenon is location specific?

Doug

 

[dtravis7]

Don't confuse Apple's refurb reputation with that of Micrsofts, especially when dealing with the 360.

Agreed. I had a friend within the last year get two refurb XBox 360's (older Model) and both died with the red ring within a month each! Apple is a lot more careful with their refurbs from what I have seen.

And Doug, not sure about the online gaming part as I have never used that. I do have friend with both and they use Online a lot. Will ask them ASAP and report back.