Which game console should I get?

[The Sauce]

I was formerly a PC gamer. My gaming computer is history with no intention to replace it. I would like to get a console for casual gaming. I am into RPGs, shooters, and sometimes enjoy RTS and adventure games. I am completely ignorant when it comes to current consoles. I prefer more mature games (I am around 35). Which one would you recommend for me?

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10) Post in the right forum. Topics posted where they don't belong will be moved.

Zim Hosein

Off Topic Moderator.

 

[pontifex]

we do have a console gaming forum...

 

[MikeyIs4Dcats]

maybe one of those in the Console Gaming forum

 

[Capt Caveman]

http://forums.anandtech.com/ca...tid=79&flcache=6268766

 

[IronWing]

Happy Fun Ball

 

[dbk]

n64

 

[SmoochyTX]

Xbox 360

 

[theflyingpig]

You're "around" 35? Don't be embarrassed about your age man. Just because you're a virgin "around" 35 years old doesn't make you a loser. It doesn't.

 

[acheron]

Text

 

[CKDragon]

I'd like to pile on, as well...

We have a FAQ at the top of the Console Gaming forum. Here's the standard answer:

3. What should I buy? A 360, a PS3, or a Wii?
There is no one correct answer because everybody has different tastes, different wants, and different needs. You have to look yourself and make the decision that best suits you. You can start by asking yourself the following questions:
- What games do I like to play? Does this console have the games I like to play? Check sites like http://www.metacritic.com/games/ or http://www.gamerankings.com/ (does not currently list PSN games) to get a feel for the games and how they rate.
- Which controller do I like better?
- What console(s) does my friends own if I want to play online or offline with them?
- Is online play important?
- Is Blu-Ray important?
- Is downloadable movies important?
- Which console can I better afford?

FWIW, I'd go 360 > PS3 > Wii based on what you said. The 360 currently has more shooters, RPGs, and the one exclusive RTS that I know of (Halo Wars) is coming in a few months. One of the biggest knocks against the 360 is that many of the best exclusive games can also be played on the PC, but you have no intention of playing the PC versions.

One thing that would negate the above would be a desire for Blu-Ray, in which case you've got more to think about.

 

[The Sauce]

Ok, honestly people, I had no idea there was a console forum. Srsly.

Thanks for the tips CK. Maybe 360 is the way to go. I also like online multiplayer and the 360 does that pretty well, right?

 

[The Sauce]

Originally posted by: theflyingpig
You're "around" 35? Don't be embarrassed about your age man. Just because you're a virgin "around" 35 years old doesn't make you a loser. It doesn't.

I give my age only to make the point that I would not necessarily enjoy the ages-10-and-younger Nintendo bubble-head, hello-kitty, let's farm and make imaginary friends games. Although I hear that they are kinda fun too.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: The Sauce
Ok, honestly people, I had no idea there was a console forum. Srsly.

Thanks for the tips CK. Maybe 360 is the way to go. I also like online multiplayer and the 360 does that pretty well, right?

Yes, 360 does multiplayer very well. Sony is still getting around to adding features that have been in the 360 since launch, while MS keeps adding more awesome features (like party chat). The downside is that Xbox Live is $40 a year.

Since you said you like shooters and RPGs, there's really no contest. Get the 360. Most people (at least in polls here and elsewhere) prefer the 360's controller, but you should give both a try (that's a big factor for me).

If you go to Gamerankings and search for rankings by system and game type, you'll find the following:

Shooter category
360
8 games above 90%
19 games between 80-90%
31 games between 70-80%

PS3
2 games above 90%
15 games between 80-90%
7 games between 70-80%

(they do include side scrolling shooters in that list, but most are FPS and 3rd person shooters)

Take a look at those two lists (can't link to search results at Gamerankings.com unfortunately) and see which looks more appealing to you.

RPG category
360
3 games above 90%
4 games between 80-90%
4 games between 70-80%

PS3
6 games total
2 games above 90%
1 games between 80-90%
1 games between 70-80%

And only one of those 4 games above 70% is a PS3 exclusive.

And FF XIII, the most anticipated RPG of this generation, is coming out on both systems at the same time.

Really, just go to gamerankings and look at the top games for each system and see which look more appealing to you. I have both systems, and I'd probably regret buying a PS3 if it wasn't a Blu-Ray player.

Other things to consider -
- Wifi will cost you about an extra $80 on the 360 unless you want to use a wireless bridge (around $30). I prefer Ethernet myself.
- Like I said, Xbox Live will set you back $40 a year
- Microsoft likes to rip you off on the accessories, i.e. hard drives and memory cards.
- Xbox 360 has questionable reliability (I'm not inclined to think that Jasper fixed everything; it's too soon to tell). You get the 3 year warranty, but I still think there's no better place to buy a 360 than at Costco. Do NOT buy a used 360.

Oh yeah, FYI, RTSes suck on all consoles. I'd rather play a RTS on the lowest settings 2 years after it came out when I finally have a PC that'll run it than on a console. Shooters aren't difficult once you get used to the console controls.

 

[Pheran]

As others have said, it sounds like Xbox 360 will match your preferences well.

 

[Insane3D]

Some positives for the PS3 include better reliability, easy to switch out a HD, multiplayer is free, has all the goodies like HDMI, 1080P, wireless networking, and one of the best Blu Ray players out there.

I'm sure most will disagree with me since the 360 seems to be what everyone here prefers, but I think the PS3 is a more future proof console. Also, keep an eye out for sales...I got my 80GB PS3 for $300.

In the end however, it really boils down to how you game. I'm 35 and I used to game exclusively on the PC. However, I sort of lost interest in constantly upgrading my system and I rarely played anything over the past couple years. To me, sitting on my couch playing some games like Dead Space, Assassin's Creed, MGS4 in all their 1080P glory on my 46" HDTV is a better experience than it ever was on my PC. The 360 has a much better online gaming system, but as someone said, it costs $40/year and I personally have no interest at all in multiplayer...on PC's or consoles.

However, that's just my take...it may be something different is better for you.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: Insane3D
Some positives for the PS3 include better reliability, easy to switch out a HD, multiplayer is free, has all the goodies like HDMI, 1080P, wireless networking, and one of the best Blu Ray players out there.

I'm sure most will disagree with me since the 360 seems to be what everyone here prefers, but I think the PS3 is a more future proof console. Also, keep an eye out for sales...I got my 80GB PS3 for $300.

In the end however, it really boils down to how you game. I'm 35 and I used to game exclusively on the PC. However, I sort of lost interest in constantly upgrading my system and I rarely played anything over the past couple years. To me, sitting on my couch playing some games like Dead Space, Assassin's Creed, MGS4 in all their 1080P glory on my 46" HDTV is a better experience than it ever was on my PC. The 360 has a much better online gaming system, but as someone said, it costs $40/year and I personally have no interest at all in multiplayer...on PC's or consoles.

However, that's just my take...it may be something different is better for you.

To be clear - Xbox 360 also has HDMI output and supports 1080p, but most games on both systems are not 1080p native. They're upscaled to 1080p from 720p or even a resolution that is lower than 720p (CoD4 is 1024x600 on both systems, Halo 3 is 1138x640)

 

[racolvin]

I'm an old PC gamer myself and I went with a PS3 only because I got it for cheap from a guy at work. So far I like it dandy except for the complete lack of cheat codes for my games Being an old fart I just don't have the hand/eye coordination for some of these things so once in a while an "invulnerable" cheat code would be handy. All in all tho I'm fairly happy with the PS3 except for the lack of certain games. I'd love to play Fable II but alas that won't happen on the PS3.

 

[Insane3D]

Originally posted by: mugs

To be clear - Xbox 360 also has HDMI output and supports 1080p, but most games on both systems are not 1080p native. They're upscaled to 1080p from 720p or even a resolution that is lower than 720p (CoD4 is 1024x600 on both systems, Halo 3 is 1138x640)

I thought the HDMI output was an add on with the 360...my bad.

As for native, I'm no expert, but it seems like the newer PS3 games are 1080P out of the box...whether that is upscaled or not I don't know, but at least to my eye, they don't look upscaled.

My experience with 1080P games on the PS3 has been MGS4, Dead Space, and Assassin's Creed. Resistance 1 was 720P. I haven't opened or played Bioshock yet, but it says it supports 1080P on the back. Fallout 3 looks like it does not.

Would you agree that more newer games, on both systems, may be 1080P native? Also, using your C0D4 example...does the PC version offer higher resolutions? If so, why wouldn't the console versions...or am I missing something?

 

[Queasy]

Originally posted by: Insane3D
Would you agree that more newer games, on both systems, may be 1080P native? Also, using your C0D4 example...does the PC version offer higher resolutions? If so, why wouldn't the console versions...or am I missing something?

It will be few and far between. The current-gen consoles are right on the edge of being able to fully support 1080p. Devs are more than willing to sacrifice resolution for visual quality and the number of objects and other tricks to put on screen. 720p is the sweet spot and even that gets sacrificed.

There will be exceptions to the rule though.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: Insane3D

Originally posted by: mugs

To be clear - Xbox 360 also has HDMI output and supports 1080p, but most games on both systems are not 1080p native. They're upscaled to 1080p from 720p or even a resolution that is lower than 720p (CoD4 is 1024x600 on both systems, Halo 3 is 1138x640)

I thought the HDMI output was an add on with the 360...my bad.

As for native, I'm no expert, but it seems like the newer PS3 games are 1080P out of the box...whether that is upscaled or not I don't know, but at least to my eye, they don't look upscaled.

My experience with 1080P games on the PS3 has been MGS4, Dead Space, and Assassin's Creed. Resistance 1 was 720P. I haven't opened or played Bioshock yet, but it says it supports 1080P on the back. Fallout 3 looks like it does not.

Would you agree that more newer games, on both systems, may be 1080P native? Also, using your C0D4 example...does the PC version offer higher resolutions? If so, why wouldn't the console versions...or am I missing something?

Yes the PC version of CoD4 offers higher resolutions; the console versions don't because apparently 1024x600 was the highest resolution that would yield an acceptable framerate. Raising the resolution probably would have meant sacrificing visual effects. I mean, the game looks fantastic even upscaled from 1024x600 to 720p or 1080p. Unlike on a PC, console gamers don't generally sit 2 feet from their screen so I don't think resolution is as important for us. CoD 4 proves that there are more important things than resolution.

I'm not sure what games are 1080p native and what games aren't... I think most of the native games are arcade games that aren't graphically intense. And I think one of tennis games is too - Virtua Tennis or Top Spin? I don't know that the current generation consoles are capable of delivering a graphically intense game at native 1080p. The fact that you think the games look great is all that really matters (graphically at least). And hey, we have something to look forward to next generation.

Edit: Oh yeah - Xbox 360s used to not have an HDMI output, but they added it last year (I think?). They positioned it in a way that prevents you from using the HDMI cable and the component A/V dongle at the same time, which is really stupid since most people require optical audio (on the A/V dongle) for surround sound. The workaround is to remove the plastic shroud from the dongle, that allows you to plug in both cables at once. Or you could pay $50 for the offical MS audio dongle + HDMI cable which fit together.

 

[erwos]

Originally posted by: Insane3D
As for native, I'm no expert, but it seems like the newer PS3 games are 1080P out of the box...whether that is upscaled or not I don't know, but at least to my eye, they don't look upscaled.

They're usually upscaled in software. In fact, 95% of the time, such games won't even display in 1080p unless 1080p is the _only_ valid display mode on your PS3, because the developers prefer 720p - fewer performance problems. GTA IV is a good example of this.

The 360 upscales in hardware, so you'll always get upscaled or native output in 1080p over HDMI, no matter what. Not a big deal, IMHO, but it's appealing to some people.

 

[Insane3D]

Actually, all I had to do to get 1080P was uncheck 720P in the display setup.

Also, you seem to be saying the 360 is graphically superior in 1080P output over HDMI? From everything I saw when I researched my console purchase, it seemed the PS3 was slightly more adept at outputting high res over HDMI.

Another wrinkle to throw in here is that my PS3 is connected via HDMI to my Denon AVR-888, then from the Denon to the TV. I believe the Denon also modifies the output somewhat through it's on video filters...not sure if with HDMI it's pass through or not.

 

[erwos]

Originally posted by: Insane3D
Actually, all I had to do to get 1080P was uncheck 720P in the display setup.

Whatever. You get my point. Devs don't want you using 1080p because the performance is subpar in most cases. If you don't believe me, switch back to 720p. Older games won't even give you the option anyways.

Also, you seem to be saying the 360 is graphically superior in 1080P output over HDMI? From everything I saw when I researched my console purchase, it seemed the PS3 was slightly more adept at outputting high res over HDMI.

Graphically superior is an interesting term to use, and I'm not sure it's the one I would choose. The biggest advantage to having your console do upscaling is that you potentially avoid controller-AV lag from the TV's scaler. It probably gives a slight IQ boost compared to most TV scalers, too. Since the 360 will _always_ output natively or internally hardware upscale at 1080p, I feel that the PS3 simply doesn't handle 1080p as well in a "total package" sense as the 360 due to the lack of a hardware scaler. Again, this is not a huge deal, but it's a point in the 360's favor, IMHO.

Another wrinkle to throw in here is that my PS3 is connected via HDMI to my Denon AVR-888, then from the Denon to the TV. I believe the Denon also modifies the output somewhat through it's on video filters...not sure if with HDMI it's pass through or not.

It's not doing that with HDMI, AFAIK.

 

[Insane3D]

I noticed no performance drop off from 720P to 1080P, so if there is any, it's not enough for me to notice.

 

[Baked]

SNES emulator on the PC.