Which console?

[Virtual Monkey]

Don't completely rule out online play. For things like shooters and racing games, online extends the life of a game massively. When I'm pressed for time, I can always go online for a blast of Team Fortress 2 or something for half an hour. With most games that's barely enough to finish a level.

The Wii is enourmously fun with people in the same room, but the majority of games are limited to cute sports simulators and minigame collections, which can be fustrating for more seasoned gamers. There are exceptions (Zelda and Mario) but the limitations of the Wii mean that they're never truly on par with 360 and PS3 games of a similar genre. The only excpetion to this I can think of is Mario Galaxy.

Of the PS3 and 360, I would say that the 360 has the most appealing library of games, but that is much more down to your personal taste.

[Saracen]

Don't completely rule out online play.

I've done the online thing before, enough to know I'm not in the least inclined to do it again. I'm just not interested. It's not my thing at all. It is, I'm afraid, ruled out, other than very rare occasions where I get a friend or two online and we fancy a game. But I doubt it'll ever happen again (because my friends share my disinterest) and if it does, it'll be very rare. It's not what this console, whatever I get, is about.

I give it a month, tops, before you decide it might be nice to play online.

'Fraid not, Dave. Other than the vague possibility of the occasional game with a friend, it's just not gonna happen. Not even interested in trying it again.

[directhex]

The best thing would be to go through the back catalogue of games for both 360 and PS3 and near future releases and pick from each games you want to own, then buy the console from there. If there all games that are on both consoles then get the cheaper option of the 360. At least that way you won't in a few months think, 'i wish i had bought the PS3 to play Gran Turismo' (or somthing similar)

excellent advice, if you've got the time then do this.

[Mr Flibbles]

The 360 is noisy but thats what the volume button on the TV remote is for.

When I'm 90 and I'm hard of hearing I'll put it on Granny volume, until then I don't see why I should. The 360 is a very noisy machine, a lot noisier than my ps3 ever has been even after playing Call of Duty 4 on it all day.

I still don't see why live is better than PSN so I think we'll have to agree to disagree.

[Lucio]

Personally I like our Wii as an alternative to PC gaming, because quite frankly the other consoles don't offer anything different to the standard gaming experience I get on my PC, except they have a less intutiative control system.

The Wii on the other hand provides something different, whether it's a bunch of party games with your friends, or an interestingly different way of playing a FPS (Resident Evil 4 works really really well on the Wii)

[directhex]

I still don't see why live is better than PSN so I think we'll have to agree to disagree.

if you actively don't want to see, then you won't.

let's have some examples.

let's say i start playing a game, and you turn on your ps3. how do send me a message to suggest a match of something? oh, that's right, you can't. how do you join in the game i'm playing? oh, that's right, you can't.

let's say i want to watch a new movie this evening. how do i rent a blockbuster movie in HD with the ps3? oh, that's right, you can't.

SLOWLY, the unfinished ps3 is getting better. the store's no longer a piece of ****, for example. but it is completely false, and makes you look foolish, to suggest there is no difference.

[directhex]

Personally I like our Wii as an alternative to PC gaming, because quite frankly the other consoles don't offer anything different to the standard gaming experience I get on my PC, except they have a less intutiative control system.

nothing says intuitive like a typewriter and a graphing plotter

[Mr Flibbles]

I must be foolish then, I also stated in a previous post that when firmware 2.40 comes out it will have in game messaging (well I did sort of).

Did I upset you, the tone of your post is a little short tempered. I suppose if my opinion no matter how foolish isn't wanted then I should just shut up.

[directhex]

I must be foolish then, I also stated in a previous post that when firmware 2.40 comes out it will have in game messaging (well I did sort of).

Did I upset you, the tone of your post is a little short tempered. I suppose if my opinion no matter how foolish isn't wanted then I should just shut up.

i'm sick of straw-man arguments for particular consoles on this forum, and i'm not the only one.

argue for the ps3 on its merits: it's a capable blu-ray player, it can play ps1 games, it's more reliable than the competition, it's quieter, it's the only way to play games like gran turismo or metal gear solid 4, multi-region games, no disc-swapping.

gloss over its failings if you really want to push a 1-sided agenda: the online service is inferior, they pulled rumble then put it back in some countries at high cost, the game library is a fraction of the size, multi-format games are almost always better on 360

but pretending that items on the second list are actively the reverse of reality is... foolhardy.

[Mr Flibbles]

I'm no fan boy and speak on experience and experience alone. I sold my release 360 three weeks ago and got a ps3 instead, i'm more than happy with my purchase and wish I had done it sooner.

I'm sorry if my experience doesn't suit your argument and if you wish to pigeon hole me as a fan boy to make yourself look better then go ahead.

As a side I'm not that keen on Gran Turismo and don't like Metal Gear Solid, how many good games are there not on the ps3 that are on the 360? I can't think of many that I'm overly bothered about.

But I guess you must be right, I only had all three consoles for a time so my opinion must be rubish.

[directhex]

i didn't call you a fanboy, i said you were using strawman arguments.

if you want figures, then here you go: by metacritic scores, there are 20 games on ps3 scoring 85% or higher. conversely, there are 38 for the 360.

75% or higher, you've got 166 for the xbox, versus 79 on ps3.

specific examples of games not found on ps3 but found on 360? there's gears of war, halo 3, viva pinata, crackdown, dead rising, and more. a number of the holes are being plugged by year-or-so-later ps3 ports, but typically those ports simply aren't as good (but make up for it with more content), muck like resident evil 4 for the ps2 was compared to the gamecube version.

i'm not saying you're "not allowed" to be happy with your purchase, and in the end it's all about owning whichever box is required to play the games you want to play. i'm saying reality doesn't support arguments such as "psn is just as good as xbox live" or "there are just as many good games on ps3". whether those details are "good enough" for you is an *entirely* different matter, which needs to be judged on an individual level..

[RoganJosh]

teehee

[Stringent]

Hmm. Well I own a PS3 and love it, but I do watch the Blu_Ray movies and make use of it. If the option WAS there (i.e. Blu-Ray) then would you use it? You might want to watch a decent film in BR to 'have a look' you might be surprised.

From a gaming point of view, have a look at some of the top games for each console and look at the reviews and what was said. There is nothing on the XBOX which really takes my fancy in terms of wow I wish that was on the PS3. also look at the network offers on each console. The PS3 offers free access to the store and friends with Home in the making (yeah I know postpone postpone etc ... I am getting fed up) but the experience should be better. With XBox you pay a subs. With Sony things can only improve. Remember XBox has taken this long to get where it is now. Also do you want to buy into a console which has a 16% failure rate?

Both consoles are geared towards going online, with extra content, stuff and updates.

I don't think the Wii can be taken too seriously for a lone gamer. It is more of a party machine in which is you have mates over a lot then it will be a good laugh.

Also personally I don't like the XBox controller, just could not get used to it and its layout. So see which one you prefer as well.

[directhex]

The PS3 offers free access to the store and friends with Home in the making (yeah I know postpone postpone etc ... I am getting fed up) but the experiance should be better. With XBox you pay a subs.

correction: only online play costs money with the 360 - store access and online comms (e.g. messaging & voice chat) is free.

With Sony things can only improve. Remember XBox has taken this long to get where it is now.

as has the ps3. remember the utter garbage of the psn store until recently? the complete failure to this day of things like in-game cross-game messenging/inviting/etc? the 360 store's always been good, since day 1. suggesting that sony can continue to patch the ps3 into usefulness (almost 2 years after launch) whilst microsoft are somehow stuck in time (2.5 years in) just doesn't make any sense. if anything, sony are STILL chasing the 360's launch-day abilities as far as online is concerned, and haven't got there yet after 2 years. not to say it can't get better, but both companies can improve their systems, and one has a head start

Also do you want to buy into a console which has a 16% failure rate?

the 360's failure rate is obscenely high, but remember that 47% of statistics are made up. including every "failure rate" figure you read on the 360. settle on "too bloody much" as a realistic number.

[menthel]

My experience of all the consoles (yes, I like shiny electronics) show that I use them all but in different ways.

Xbox 360- the first one I purchased- I had one RROD but my replacement has been going strong. I prefer the controller over the PS3- the size, weight and layout are much better for my sausage like fingers. It is also my primary gaming machine- it has had, so far the titles that I have wanted and because of the controller and other factors (eg achievements) I get multiplatform games on the 360. It is a noisy beggar though. However its biggest use is as a media centre extender and it does this job beautifully. When a guaranteed quieter, less explodey version comes along I will replace this one.

Wii- Its all about booze and mates or family- Mario Kart, sports etc etc are all suited for this. It also gets used a couple of times a week for wii fitness, but that is not all that exciting. Graet for mucking around in multiplayer. And PES is fantastic on the wii!

PS3- At the moment primarily a DVD and Blu ray player- cracking at both, the DVD playback was really surprising, as is divx playback. Gaming- nothing out there for me at the moment. My wife loves singstar though! I played through the tomb raidery one- that was great and looked cracking but none of the other exclusives have done it for me yet. It is also, without doubt still behind the 360 as an overall experience but sony are very slowly catching up- the 2.4 update should be a big leap.

At the moment, gaming for me is the 360 for single player traditional gaming and the wii for mates and family fun. I reserve judgement on the PS as I need something game wise to excite me- perhaps FF13.

There ends my 2 pennies. Saracan, you can always come round and try all 3!

[Saracen]

Well, I'm edging towards a couple of conclusions.

One - there is no "best" console. It'll depend on what you want it for, and what you'll get told depends on personal experience. I guess I expected that.

Two - it's looking like Xbox. The reasoning is largely as menthel outlined above. While it's clear each of the main three have their fans, and there is no "best" console, that XBox just seems to look best-suited for me.


So, next question .... which one? Arcade? Premium? Elite?

My gut feeling is that the Elite doesn't offer much I'm interested in. A larger HD would be nice, but I doubt I'll use it. And I certainly don't give a damn what colour it is. Am I missing something important and relevant about the Elite?

I'm thinking Premium, but is Arcade better value (or a cheap option that economises too much on features and works out dearer in the long run)?

Thanks for everybody's help and opinions so far.