PS3 or XBox 360?

[SpiderMonkey]

The debate is a bit stale and overworked, so I only have two contributions:

1) Everyone seems to be doing primary development on Xbox and then porting to PS3. You can go on any forum and find people who will argue with me on this, but I think this guarantees that the PS3 version is at best "as good as" the Xbox version. At worst, it's of lower quality (crappier frame rate) or released late (depending on company priorities). This is happening a lot this Christmas.

2) If you are willing, wait until after Christmas. The picture will be much clearer then. If the PS3 has a good Christmas, it has a good future. People will start developing for it more and more studios will use it as their primary development platform. If it has a bad Christmas, it's going to get fewer and fewer exclusive games and sloppier ports, so you may as well go Xbox (assuming you like the exclusives it has so far).

[Ben]

While everyone was playing CoD4 online on the 360, the PS3 version was having troubles because their servers weren't expecting the load and choked.

To be fair that only happened the first couple of days, it was all fine after that. When you consider it was exactly the same problem faced on the 360 during the beta period (and the PS3 lacked a pre-release beta) it's not surprising.

As for my opinion on which to get, I think as most people have expressed the best thing to do is wait and see if you're unsure right now. Both machines have pros and cons and even those aspects shift depending on your needs.

[Noyb]

Actually Noyb, Haze is going to be on PC and 360 as well, and as I'm also a big fan of Timesplitters (and a 360 owner) hooray for that. You're right about Echochrome though. God do I want to try that game out.

Oooh, really? Wiki and the official site branding made me think otherwise, although a quick browse in their forums reveals an interesting Sony PR piece:

Although the trend for the last year has been for publisher to create Xbox 360 SKUs and then port to PS3, Sony claims this is now starting to reverse: "Developers are now creating games on PS3 and then porting them to other platforms. This shows the strides developers are making in creating content for PS3 and also provides developers with an advantage as it's harder to port from Xbox 360 to PS3. Ubisoft's Haze is the first title to be created on PS3 and ported to Xbox."

Very cool news if true. I really want to be able to play that game without investing in the PS3 somewhere down the line. Now to hold out vain hope for the other games I listed.

[miffy495]

Hmm... I may be mistaken. I could have sworn it was heading to all three. Oh well.

In other news, this thread has prompted me to really start seriously looking into completing my stable with a PS3 now that my scholarship money has come through and I have some extra to burn. The combined facts that a) it's used and therefor Sony wouldn't be getting my money, a used one on eBay now costs less than my 360 cost me, and c) it's older so would still have full backwards compatibility are very tempting. Anyone have a solid reason for me to not go for it?

[elmuerte]

I just need time. Anyone know a good place to upgrade to 36 hour days?

[Wrestlevania]

If you find one, do share.

Right, getting back on topic: I've had my 360 since March and whilst I wasn't overly enamored with it for a while, the recent downpour of genuinely worthwhile titles has really made me love the system.

Can't comment on PS3 from the same point of view, so I won't go beyond saying firstly how disappointed I am in Sony, and secondly how utterly pissed off I am with the continued cock-jousting developers are making over 360 vs. PS3 development.

NOBODY FUCKING CARES!

*deep breaths*

Anyway, if you've a large PS2 collection - or you want to be able to play the very best games of the past generation - and you must have a next-gen system, but can wait for the games, get a PS3.

If you just want a contemporary console with lots of great games to play now and good multiplayer support, get an Xbox 360. (It would be a pleasure to play with more Thumbs.)

[Roderick]

See that bothers me a bit because exactly how is the 360 not a next-gen system while the PS3 apparently is? I never got that. To me it seemed like Sony-bred propaganda.

[Wrestlevania]

See that bothers me a bit because exactly how is the 360 not a next-gen system while the PS3 apparently is? I never got that. To me it seemed like Sony-bred propaganda.

If you're referring to my comment, I didn't appreciate I'd implied that through sloppy writing. I'm not regurgitating anyone's PR diarrhea.

[n0wak]

Anyway, if you've a large PS2 collection - or you want to be able to play the very best games of the past generation - and you must have a next-gen system, but can wait for the games, get a PS3.

Just make sure you get the right one. The one with backwards compatibility, cause they're totally taking a U-turn from what they preached and removing it from all systems in every region.

[elmuerte]

Just make sure you get the right one. The one with backwards compatibility, cause they're totally taking a U-turn from what they preached and removing it from all systems in every region.

iirc the european PS3s never had it in the first place

[Ben]

iirc the european PS3s never had it in the first place

They did (at least the 60GB machines did). It was software based as opposed to hardware based though, which the US and Japanese machines were.

[twmac]

Ahh... Sony and your European pedants:

http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=88052

[BooJaka]

Is it now impossible to get a PS3 with backwards compatibility in the UK? That was one of the biggest reasons I was thinking of getting one. I never had either of the other two.

[Ben]

Is it now impossible to get a PS3 with backwards compatibility in the UK? That was one of the biggest reasons I was thinking of getting one. I never had either of the other two.

It's not impossible yet no (i've seen a few online stores that still have it for sale), though it will soon be quite difficult if not impossible to find a first-hand one. I imagine it will always be possible to track down a second-hand one.

[SiN]

If the PS3 has a good Christmas, it has a good future. People will start developing for it more and more studios will use it as their primary development platform.

Not so sure. I think that as long as the xbox maintains a respectable market-share developers will continue to use it as their primary dev platform.

Why? Simply because it's the best development platform. Their IDE (program you use to write code in), debugging tools, and toolchain (the chain of tools required to go from code to executable) is top-notch. Microsoft is a software company, this is what they do best. Sony & Nintendo don't have a chance at matching Microsoft in this regard.

SiN

[Wrestlevania]

Not so sure. I think that as long as the xbox maintains a respectable market-share developers will continue to use it as their primary dev platform.

Why? Simply because it's the best development platform.

The dev platform also makes porting a game to or from PC more simple too, meaning lowered costs for people who are considering a console release to complement their PC title.

[BooJaka]

So... just to get this straight. Which PS3s are readily available in Europe which support backwards compatibility?

[Marek]

What! why did no one inform me of this incredible resource.... grumble grumble i could have imported a bunch of things grumble moan

I just noticed this on that website: "4 wireless (plus 3 wired controllers via USB)". How the crap are you supposed to play rock band with 4 wired peripherals then? Can you add a USB splitter?

[Nappi]

As far as I know, it comes with a four-port usb hub.

[ThunderPeel2001]

http://forum.xbox-sky.com/xbox360_regional_compatibility_guide/

Argh! You're kidding me?! I could have had GH3 when it came out in the US!!! Doh!

Thanks for the link!

[ThunderPeel2001]

So... just to get this straight. Which PS3s are readily available in Europe which support backwards compatibility?

All the PS3s in Europe support backwards compatibility except the cheaper 40GB version that was recently released. The more expensive 60GB version has the backwards compatibility.

We have always had backwards compatibility, too, but just less than Japan and the US (but only by a handful of titles). No idea about the "hardware versus software" mention, though. I don't see why they'd change it unless they were going to do the same with all future PS3s.

This is just what I've heard through people, you should probably do some research to make sure I'm right before making an purchases!

You could do what I did though: Buy a 360 and then get a PS2 on the cheap.

[ThunderPeel2001]

As far as I know, it comes with a four-port usb hub.

Yep, it does. It's all playable out of the box.

[Wrestlevania]

You could do what I did though: Buy a 360 and then get a PS2 on the cheap.

I wish I could bring this dead PS2 I was donated back to life, as that's exactly the setup I'd like to have.

Dreamcast is tiding me over though.

[twmac]

The original US and Japanese versions had the Emotion chip in it so it was like having a PS2 in the machine at the same time. The chip was removed and it ran the games using emulation meaning that it suffers from a lot of the problems that the 360 Backwards compatibility suffers from (Lag, loading issues, occasional crashes on some games while others run perfectly).

Apparently the newest system has had even this removed so as 'supply the demands of current PS3 buyers', apparently people buying the PS3 right now don't want BC they just want it to be cheaper.

Scarily this seems to be partially true as a few of my friends got a lot more interested when the price dropped. Mind you they didn't know that BC had been lost, or that there are less USB ports and a smaller Hard drive...

[brkl]

Removing software emulation doesn't make the manufacturing process any cheaper. The reason for it was that Sony realised how well PS2 is still selling, and wants to support it as a platform.