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PS3 or 360?

C

coolred

Diamond Member
I currently have an Xbox 360, which recently fell to the demise of the red ring of death. I have an extended warranty on it. And the way that works at the place I got it is that if they can't fix it, then they just give me a gift card for the original purchase price. So I don't have to get another 360.

Heres where I may differ from most and some of you may think I am crazy. I haven't played many console games recently. Prior to picking up GTA4 a couple weeks ago, I hadn't played a game on my 360 in probably 6 months. In reading the other threads it seemed like most people still recommends the 360 because it has better games. Or at least it did in 2007 when most of those threads seems to be from. Games are a concern, but I would be just as happy with forza as gran turismo. I actually think I may prefer the games on the PS3 though. I originally went with the Xbox because it was so much cheaper. But now the 40GB PS3 will only cost me an extra 50 bucks.

I don't currently own and blue ray or HD DVD movies, but I do subscribe to netflix, so the blue ray capabilities are a plus. My question I guess is more about the extras. My 360 gets a lot of use streaming media from my file server. I understand the PS3 can do this also. Is one far better at it then the other?

Basically I am really leaning towards a PS3, just wondering if I missed anything big that should keep me from switching consoles.

Thanks
 
If you haven't played many console games recently, I don't see why that's going to change... so maybe spend your $350 on something other than a console? Use $60 to get a used Xbox, hack it and put on XBMC and you're set for streaming video (of course it's not HD). I really like the PS3's Bluetooth remote. I'm not sure what remote(s) are available for the 360 other than the Harmony 360.

The game selection on the 360 is still substantially better than the PS3's overall. They each have their own set of key exclusives, which I'm sure you're already aware of. Most 3rd party games are cross-platform now, so the 360 and PS3 will be relatively even on games that come out in the future.

Did you use Xbox Live? PSN is free, which makes more sense for someone who doesn't seem to play games that much.
 
While I haven't played video games recently, I do expect that to change, as I said I was playing GTA 4 when my xbox died(that is a downside to switching to PS3, I would have sell my 360 version and buy the PS3 version. I almost always get the new Madden when it comes out. And Gran Turismo, MGS, God of war. I am sure I will own all of those. I love the final fantasy games, as well as ace combat. As I said, I do prefer the exclusive titles on the playstation as opposed to the xbox. I am not a big FPS'er so Halo, gears of war and games like that aren't my bread and butter.

And like I said, one thing I do a lot is watch movies, so sonys built in blue ray sounds appealing. I have the harmony 360 remote. It's nice for sure. i will miss having that. But it is not a huge loss since the dang thing does not work with my TV or cable box(one of them, not both, I just don't remember which one). So I still usually have 3 remotes laying around anyway.

I didn't use xbox live much. Some but not much. I do like not having to pay for online functionality though. The PS3's built in wireless is another good thing.

Like i said, I am pretty set on the switch to the PS3. I just want to make sure I am not missing anything. Liek if the ability to stream media from a computer really sucks on the PS3, that would be quite a negative and maybe a deal breaker for me.
 
If you think you'd prefer the PS3 and its game selection, then just get the PS3. You're only missing 360 exclusive games if you do.
 
If you're a Metal Gear Solid fan or want to play some PS2 RPGs like Xenosaga or FF X, XII you might want to wait and buy the Metal Gear bundle in June.

$499 gets you the 80 GB model with PS2 BC missing from the 40 GB, space to store your MP3 collection on the HD, a Dual Shock 3 rumble controller, and the Metal Gear game.

Blu-ray is very nice and netflix carries almost all US releases. From the coming attractions at TheDigitalBits it looks like TV series sets are finally coming out on blu-ray along with movies.
 
Originally posted by: coolred
I don't currently own and blue ray or HD DVD movies, but I do subscribe to netflix, so the blue ray capabilities are a plus. My question I guess is more about the extras. My 360 gets a lot of use streaming media from my file server. I understand the PS3 can do this also. Is one far better at it then the other?
Click to expand...


Here's a couple of things to consider. I see you have Netflix, so do you have a Vista PC? If so, you may want to consider that you can view Netflix's streamed video service through Media Center on your PC to the 360 via this plug-in: vmcNetFlix

I use it and it works great... a definite plus for the 360. But the PS3 also has advantages. A lot of HD videos out there are in MKV format. It's a freaking PITA to convert MKVs to a format the 360 can play. You can use a program called XenonMKV convert rather quickly to MP4 format, but the audio will be downsampled from 5.1 to 2 because the 360 doesn't support 5.1 in the MP4s. It also has a totally arbitrary 4 GB file size limit for MP4 files... so large files have to be split (which XenonMKV will do for you). To avoid these pitfalls you have to convert to some other format, like WMV-HD, which does not have these restrictions. Unfortunately, this is where real PITA comes in. For large HD movies you may be looking at a 10-24 hour semi-complicated transcode depending on the speed of your PC. This is where the PS3 advantage comes in.

For the PS3 you just have to use a program called MKV2VOB to convert MKVs. Most don't require any transcoding so a quick 2-minute re-mux is all that's needed. The video quality and 5.1 audio are both retained. Some movies do require a transcode, but the process is much faster... maybe 2-4 hours for most HD movies. MKV2VOB does all this for you automatically and the results work 100% in my experience... which is NOT the case with trancoding for the 360. I've had several transcodes to WMV HD go bad, thus completely wasting 10 hours of transcoding time.

Just two things to keep in mind.
 
Given your situation I would go with the PS3. Sounds like you will be using it more as a media server and for watching movies. Both the 360 and PS3 can be used as a good media server but I think the PS3 still excels at this. Sony also seems to be very very dedicated to making the PS3 the centre of your home entertainment center and their firmware updates often add good features aimed at this market. As for games as mugs said aside from exclusives and already released content the 2 look fairly even going into the future. The 360 definitely has a superior marketplace, online content, and overall multilayer experience if that matters to you. Don't discount the PS3s blu-ray player it's the main selling feature of the PS3 in my opinion. Once you see blu-ray content on a good screen with a good sound system you will want to watch everything in HD over DVD.
 
If you were a heavy console gamer, I'd say get the 360 for the games (more variety).

But it doesn't seem like you are, and love movies as well. Even though I don't own one, I'd say go for the PS3.

I, myself remain on the sidelines. Recently got a BD-ROM for my PC to tie me over with Blu-Ray and waiting to hold one of the MGS bundles in my hand to see if that'll sway me...
 
I'm in a similar boat. Will be buying one of the two consoles. Just bought a 46" Samsung so I'm chomping at the bit to dive into a next-gen console and HD. Do I choose PS3 for Blu-Ray options? I hate buying movies as I think it's generally a waste of money, but having the option to play them seems nice. Or do I choose Xbox for access to Live and play randomly with some friends who've had the console for a long time now?
 
Originally posted by: xboxist
I'm in a similar boat. Will be buying one of the two consoles. Just bought a 46" Samsung so I'm chomping at the bit to dive into a next-gen console and HD. Do I choose PS3 for Blu-Ray options? I hate buying movies as I think it's generally a waste of money, but having the option to play them seems nice. Or do I choose Xbox for access to Live and play randomly with some friends who've had the console for a long time now?
Click to expand...

You can rent Blu-ray movies from Netflix or Blockbuster.

Playing online with friends is a LOT more fun than playing alone or with strangers, fwiw. Check the existing game libraries (Gamerankings/Metacritic) and the future release lists to see which one would have more games that interest you.
 
Originally posted by: mugs
Originally posted by: xboxist
I'm in a similar boat. Will be buying one of the two consoles. Just bought a 46" Samsung so I'm chomping at the bit to dive into a next-gen console and HD. Do I choose PS3 for Blu-Ray options? I hate buying movies as I think it's generally a waste of money, but having the option to play them seems nice. Or do I choose Xbox for access to Live and play randomly with some friends who've had the console for a long time now?
Click to expand...

You can rent Blu-ray movies from Netflix or Blockbuster.

Playing online with friends is a LOT more fun than playing alone or with strangers, fwiw. Check the existing game libraries (Gamerankings/Metacritic) and the future release lists to see which one would have more games that interest you.
Click to expand...

:thumbsup:
 
I like my PS3 better. The UI is more streamlined and I'm not constantly concerned that when I buy a game I really want to play, my system isn't going to die on me while I'm playing it. Yes, it could still happen, but my 360 has died twice since launch, while my PS3 is still running strong *knock on wood*. PS3 online play is also free, although their online infrastructure isn't anywhere nearly as feature complete as the 360's at this point, so if online play is big for you, and you picture yourself having a lot of friends online to play against, then the 360 might be a better option.
 
The PS3 media sharing is not as good as the Xbox 360 one, IMO. You have to share it via Windows Media Player 11 and it is slow and weird. It does work, though. And they seem to add codec support once in a while.

As a DVD player it is truly great. I don't even own a remote. The PS3 controller is a good enough remote. If you really want to control it, I recommend the Nyko Blue Wave, whch would let you control it from a Harmony remote. You still have to walk over to turn it on, though.
 
Originally posted by: torpid
The PS3 media sharing is not as good as the Xbox 360 one, IMO. You have to share it via Windows Media Player 11 and it is slow and weird. It does work, though. And they seem to add codec support once in a while.

As a DVD player it is truly great. I don't even own a remote. The PS3 controller is a good enough remote. If you really want to control it, I recommend the Nyko Blue Wave, whch would let you control it from a Harmony remote. You still have to walk over to turn it on, though.
Click to expand...

Tversity.
 
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