PS3 or XBox 360?

[Roderick]

That's rather short-term thinking of them. And also, evil.

[twmac]

Yeah, I didn't mean to imply that the software support was removed to save money.

[Erkki]

Hmm... I was almost decided on getting an Xbox 360 this month or so, but now I'm thinking about what I'll have to give up or pay for later (compared to PS3):

* $45 a year for Xbox live? Doesn't seem too expensive, but still. On the other hand I keep hearing that XBLA is great, PSN not so much

* ca $120 for Wi-fi (LAN cable is reserved for digital TV, I can't easily get another cable to where the TV is)

* I haven't followed the HDDVD vs. Blu-ray thing, but I rembember some tech site (Wired?) claiming that Blu-ray has won.

* It doesn't play movies at all out-of-the-box? or just not HDDVD ones?

* need extra battery charger?

Hmm... perhaps still not enough reason to go for PS3.

I'm curious, are PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of Guitar Hero and Rock Band pretty much the same or is one better somehow? For example, do they have comparable number of downloadable songs and do the songs cost the same?

[Nachimir]

Blu-Ray has indeed won, Toshiba have stopped making HDDVD players.

A 360 can play normal DVDs, just nothing HD. MS are pushing for digital downloads, and some say the only reason they were backing a disc format at all was to make the format war costly for Sony.

[Noyb]

need extra battery charger?

Yeah. The wireless controllers take AAs, but most get the play-and-charge kit so you can charge from the 360's USB ports. And the battery life on the controllers degrades fairly fast. Some of my launch window play-and-charge controllers are down to 2-4 hours of battery life.

I'm curious, are PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of Guitar Hero and Rock Band pretty much the same or is one better somehow? For example, do they have comparable number of downloadable songs and do the songs cost the same?

I think the biggest difference in the platforms at the moment is guitar compatibility. As far as I remember, GH controllers are compatible with Rock Band on the 360 and not the PS3. RB controllers are not compatible with GH on either platform. Apart from the Halo theme for GH3, I think both platforms get the same songs for the same prices.

[Erkki]

Thanks everyone, I'm getting the 360. But I'm still a bit torn between Elite and Premium. Is the larger hard drive worth the extra price? (60£) Actually, it seems that the HDMI cable, which I probably need, is worth about half the price difference between the two versions (considering how much it costs when sold separately)

[Wrestlevania]

The Elite definitely has the newer, quieter hardware in it.

[syntheticgerbil]

* $45 a year for Xbox live? Doesn't seem too expensive, but still. On the other hand I keep hearing that XBLA is great, PSN not so much

I'm curious about this to any Xbox 360 owners. When you buy an Xbox Live Arcade game, does it download to your 360? Don't you have to buy the harddrive extra or buy the model with the harddrive? And let's say maybe the next year I don't want to renew my Xbox live account, I just want to play the games I already paid for, am I allowed to do that without paying for Xbox live?

I only know people with either Wii's and Ps3s, both of which go online for free and allow you to keep any games you download on the system.

[vimes]

By the way, I'm going to sell my 4 months old Xbox 360 Premium at the end of this month - with Assassin's Creed, Forza Motorsport and Ultimate Alliance. If anyone is interested, PM me.

[Thrik]

I had the same decision to make a few weeks ago, and ultimately went with the PS3 due to the imminent Metal Gear Solid 4. I've little interest in the games the 360 currently has (particularly having played many on the PC), and great games have historically always appeared on the PlayStation consoles.

If you look at my third comment here (scroll down) I point out some of the price/value considerations for 360/PS3 buyers:

http://www.ryansgoblog.com/2008/04/08/about-time-i-got-a-playstation-3/

Although you've probably already weighed those up.

I'm sure there'll be some lingering exclusives I'll want to play on the 360 like Banjo-Kazooie 3, but I'll get a 360 for that eventually — and they'll be much cheaper than too.

It's worth noting that if you do have an interest in using the PS3 as a multimedia device, it is extremely good at that. I've been able to just chuck in data DVDs full of AVIs of TV shows I downloaded and it play them beautifully, as well as any other disc-based format you can imagine.

Loads of options and niceties too, and unlike most Blu-Ray players the PS3 can continually update to support the latest changes due to its online connectivity (such as the recently added DTS-HD Master Audio output). Before getting it I didn't expect to think much of the media capabilities, but was surprised to find it's a potent replacement for a lot of people's multimedia devices.

[miffy495]

I'm curious about this to any Xbox 360 owners. When you buy an Xbox Live Arcade game, does it download to your 360? Don't you have to buy the harddrive extra or buy the model with the harddrive? And let's say maybe the next year I don't want to renew my Xbox live account, I just want to play the games I already paid for, am I allowed to do that without paying for Xbox live?

Yes and no. For both questions, actually. When you buy a game on XBLA, it is downloaded to your HDD or (and MS loved to tout this) your removable memory pack. Unfortunately, the memory pack sort of worsens the whole deal. For one thing, MS has rules that they won't release a game on XBLA unless it will fit on a memory pack. This means you won't get things like Tekken 5 on PS3, as the game is simply too big to release. For another, many games will barely fit on a memory pack, meaning if you're actually planning to try using this method, I hope you don't have any great attachment to your saved games. It all kind of makes you wish MS had gone for a standard HDD rather than either having a 20GB or not. Especially given that many of the best experiences on 360 are in the XBLA library.

Playing offline is a go, given that you meet a couple of conditions. First, the HDD that you're playing off of is the original HDD you downloaded the game to. Second, the 360 you're using to play it is the original 360 you downloaded the game to. If you're trying to play on a different HDD (unless you use that cable that comes with the 120GB HDDs, that transfers over your certificates too) or on a buddy's 360, you're going to need to be signed in to XBL. This doesn't have to be a Gold Account though. The free Silver account will let you buy games and log in to your profile, it just won't let you play multiplayer games. So if you're not playing on your original system and HDD, you need to be online but not necessarily paying.

The restrictions to offline play really aren't all that bad, unless your 360 was replaced by MS after bricking. Then everything you bought before it bricked will require you to be signed in to play.

Erkki, it's all down to how much you plan to play XBLA games and access other DLC. I'd go for the Elite, and I keep on wanting to buy the larger HDD for my Premium, but it's over 200 fucking dollars in Canada. Won't be paying that anytime soon. If you can get it bundled, and you intend to be playing lots of XBLA titles and games like Crackdown and Rock Band which have amazing DLC, (and lots of it) then go for it.

[Erkki]

Thanks. I decided to go with Elite (chose one bundled with Halo 3, because I've never played a Halo game before), I probably will be playing XBLA games and lots of Guitar Hero / Rock Band with DLC.

[Erkki]

If you look at my third comment here (scroll down) I point out some of the price/value considerations for 360/PS3 buyers:

http://www.ryansgoblog.com/2008/04/08/about-time-i-got-a-playstation-3/

...

I'm sure there'll be some lingering exclusives I'll want to play on the 360 like Banjo-Kazooie 3, but I'll get a 360 for that eventually — and they'll be much cheaper than too.

Actually you almost made me reconsider. I would love a console which has good multimedia capabilities etc. And actually 360 doesn't have many exclusives that I want, but I still decided to go with it for XBLA, achievements and stuff, DLC in GTAIV, earlier Rock Band release, guitar compatibility.

But I think I'll start saving up for PS3 and buy it at the end of the year or later.

[Wrestlevania]

Whilst you might have to hook a 360 up to a PC running Media Player 11, video playback is more than acceptable. In fact, we now watch a fair chunk of TV and films this way--and there's no farting around with formats either, since MS introduced DivX/Xvid support natively.

The 360 isn't bad at media playback, it's just not as immediate as the PS3 sounds.

[Tanukitsune]

I always use a formula to chose whether a console was worth getting or not, I simply get the one which has the most games (about ten?) I'm likely to enjoy already available, which is why I'm not getting a PS3 for quite a while... Sure Ratchet and God of War are exclusive, but it wouldn't be the first time that a game that a company swear by their very lives will be an exclusive ends up coming out on other plataforms six months later...

I remember buying my Xbox for Psychonauts, and the game ended up coming out for almost all plataforms, and I wouldn't be surprised if MGS4 came out on other console and maybe even the PC?

I've only had my 360 since last Friday, but I'm having a blast and don't regret buying it at all, but I must cast a vote for the PSP, which at this moment is my favorite, although it's mostly because it has more retro gaming goodness that any other plataforms at this moment, so it might not be the thing for you...

[Erkki]

Shit, it turns out my order was rejected, because game.co.uk doesn't ship hardware internationally. Most places don't ship to Estonia at all. So I would have to buy it locally for a lot more. Suddenly the PS3 looks attractive again. Aargh. Why can't I just make up my mind.

[Scrobbs]

If you're going to wait and save up for PS3, there's a slim line version slated for end of year. By then there should be some games as well.

[Thrik]

I think the slim version is thoroughly a rumour though?

[Erkki]

Turns out one of the local stores reduced the price considerably (maybe the UK price reduction just reached us finally). I'm now a happy owner of Xbox 360 with Viking and Guitar Hero III.

[Scrobbs]

I think the slim version is thoroughly a rumour though?

Boo! Still, it might be cheaper around crimbo 2008, and with some games.

[twmac]

Turns out one of the local stores reduced the price considerably (maybe the UK price reduction just reached us finally). I'm now a happy owner of Xbox 360 with Viking and Guitar Hero III.

What's Viking like? Please tell me it is completely shit so that I don't ache over wanting to be in contact with my 360 (even if it is shit I'm still going to buy it but at least I won't be craving to play it)

[Erkki]

What's Viking like? Please tell me it is completely shit so that I don't ache over wanting to be in contact with my 360 (even if it is shit I'm still going to buy it but at least I won't be craving to play it)

Haven't played more than a minute yet, but it definitely seems to have some shitty qualities, like for example not synced audio/subtitles (you have to manually click "next" for the subs).

[Erkki]

The fucking Xbox live signup thing is a fucking horror. And of course, I don't live in any country that actually exists, so I have to pretend that I'm from UK for example. Actually I think I accidentally choose another country. Because for some reason it asks me for State and presents a list of US states. Also, I can't use my credit card because my postal code and country are not cool enough. Fuck them. Ok, luckily there's that one month trial gold membership.

[edit] And of course the fucking windows passport servers need to be down right now so I can't go and just change my country.

[Scrobbs]

You can buy Live subscription in a shop. You scratch the card and enter the code.

[Erkki]

Yeah, I actually noticed something like that in a shop. You can buy points in a shop too I think?

Anyway, I finally managed to get into LIVE, but now I have two accounts. I set the first to be in US accidentally and could not find any way to change the country later. Since I thought that might affect content somehow (seemed lots of rock band ads with the US one), I created another in the UK. Is there any way to delete the other one or will it always haunt me when I have to choose a profile?

Also, if multiple people play certain games, like Guitar Hero for example, they should probably have different gamertags (for achievements etc.), but is the DLC somehow associated with one account? The other account could see the downloaded songs as well, but when I went to the menu where you download them, it didn't show those checkboxes for the ones I already had downloaded with the first account.