PS3 or XBox 360 or Wii or Wii U

[arctic_rogue]

Hey all,

I've been out of the video game circuit for a while. Thinking about getting a system. Any recommendations?

[Pengwin7]

I bought a PS3 in '09 and have been very happy with it.
I've slowly learned to use a lot of the functions with it.

Obviously, I use it for gaming (God of War, Final Fantasy, Modern Warfare... just started playing Skyrim yesterday!). But I also use it as my DVD player and I stream Netflix Instant through the PS3 (you can do that on most gaming consoles, Vizio TVs, probably some others) - which is amazing stuff.

I have a wired connection to my PC and use the PS3 to pull photos, videos, and music through to our living room TV when we have family & friends over. I believe you can do this with a wireless connection too... though I'm not savvy enough to know how to do that. I've also used Amazon.com to view some videos instantly when we want to pay for something. And, I just got the YouTube app onto my PS3 so we watched a bunch of Muppets videos & Christmas videos & (don't laugh) Taylor Swift videos over the Christmas break.

I've heard that XBox is the better system for pure graphics of gaming... although I did read about some "red circle of death" thing when I was researching back in the day.

Wii is a cartoon-y system. Wii is for girls & kids. (Sorry, I'm sure this will offend somebody). I've heard Wii-U is a graphical upgrade.


I give my PS3 a 10/10... love, love it.
If you consider using your PS3 for more than just gaming, I think it'll be the winner for you.

But I'd love to hear what other people think about their systems too.

[arctic_rogue]

Thanks Pengwin7.

I had a PS3 two years ago, but sold it as I was moving towards home theatre PC system. I don't really need the side benefits (Blu Ray, Netflix, Photos, etc) as I can do all that and more on my HTPC, but I do miss the gaming aspects.

So this would strictly be for gaming purposes. I'd also like something that'd be suitable for my son when gets a little older.

[Axeman33]

I guess it depends on what type of games you play. If you are into Mario Kart and games like that, then any of the systems will do you fine but if you are looking for sports games, 1st person shooters and anything that requires quality graphics, you will want the PS3 or XBox.

For most its a personally opinion what one is better. Both are excellent systems, graphics wise. I own the PS3 and am quite happy with it. My son also has an XBox and he plays both. If you go with one of these two systems, you wont go wrong.

[arctic_rogue]

I guess it depends on what type of games you play. If you are into Mario Kart and games like that, then any of the systems will do you fine but if you are looking for sports games, 1st person shooters and anything that requires quality graphics, you will want the PS3 or XBox.

For most its a personally opinion what one is better. Both are excellent systems, graphics wise. I own the PS3 and am quite happy with it. My son also has an XBox and he plays both. If you go with one of these two systems, you wont go wrong.

Thanks. I know how good the PS3 is. Price being equal, I'd probably go with that. But the PS3 160GB system is $194 while the 360 console with Skyrim/Forza is $199. So the best bang for the buck seems to be the 360.

Any drawback with the 360 (aside from the extras)?

[Loch]

The Wii is dangerous... just plain dangerous.
Proof!

Seriously, watch the video!

[bondon]

PS3 is easily the best console out there IMO. Pretty much is everything the Xbox is except you don't have to pay $60 a year for online play and you have Blu Ray capabilities.

That being said if you're a huge halo fiend like I am you'll unfortunately get sucked into getting the xbox.

Over the past year though I've had both and if I only had to pick one console, halo aside...my answer would easily be the PS3.

[PrairieDog]

Any drawback with the 360 (aside from the extras)?

You can't play Uncharted on 360!!!

(probably my favourite series)

[Fast Tony DeNiro]

Thanks. I know how good the PS3 is. Price being equal, I'd probably go with that. But the PS3 160GB system is $194 while the 360 console with Skyrim/Forza is $199. So the best bang for the buck seems to be the 360.

Any drawback with the 360 (aside from the extras)?

Like bondon said the biggest drawback to the 360 is that you have to pay for your online gameplay. I'm not sure exactly how much xbox live costs since I don't bother with it, but bondon said 60 bucks so assume that. Playing online is free with the PS3 which is a nice bonus. Also some of the Playstation-only titles are awesome.....Gran Turismo and Uncharted come to mind.

I played Playstations for the first two gens, and always loved them. I went with a 360 over the PS3 for whatever reason a couple years ago. I enjoy my xbox, and really I don't think you'll find much difference between the two systems gameplay-wise.

That being said, if your son is still young, and you enjoy games like Mario or Zelda.....maybe the Wii or Wii-U is the best choice. Personally I'm not a huge fan of Nintendo (since the 64 at least), but maybe it works for you.

But if you're looking to play sports, shooters, or big RPGs you have to go with the xbox or PS3.

[arctic_rogue]

Thanks all! A friend just recommended steam as an alternative. I have the HTPC so that could be an alternative. Any thoughts?

My little guy isn't quite two yet, and is a little away from playing games. I think the Wii would be the best choice for him, just not sure if its best for me. Game wise, I'd be really interested in RPGs like skyrim. I'm not sure how much I'd play online,so the 60 bucks a year may not be a factor. Hmmmm... Need to do some more thinking!

[Dakkster]

If you have a somewhat high-end PC then you can't beat the pricing on games and you have a huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge library of games to play, including all the awesome indie stuff. Also, with Steam Big Picture it's gotten REALLY easy to hook your PC up to your TV and play on that.

I worked in a game store last christmas and over this summer and I always had customers coming in asking what system they should get. The Wii is not an option unless you have small kids. They're simply obsolete. The Wii U is on par with the 360 and PS3, both released six and seven years ago. Next year (likely) they will both release new systems which will put the Wii U back in the stoneage, just like the Wii was severely underpowered this generation (which is not the third... just the third Sony generation... there WERE actually game systems before the first PlayStation ).

Every time a customer came in and asked me about 360 and PS3 I would say this:

Pros 360: Best online gameplay bar none even if it costs money (there is free online, but only for downloading add-ons and XBLA games, it's pay to play online multiplayer). Better voice communication and party handling. Kinect is a better experience than PS Move since it's more unique (Move is a Wii ripoff) and has more casual games like Fruit Ninja. Most multiplatform games (which makes up 95+% of all released games) are optimized for the 360 and some games, like Skyrim, become virtually unplayable on the PS3 in some circumstances because of bad programming. Most people like the 360 controller better.

Pros PS3: Free online multiplayer. Blu-Ray player (pretty huge if you're into movies and you don't have a blu-ray player yet). Better and more diverse console exclusives.

The console exclusive games depend on interest. On Xbox you have Forza, Halo, Gears of War and Microsoft often pays to get most DLC exclusive for the Xbox at first. On PS3 you have God of War, Uncharted, Killzone, Gran Turismo, Little Big Planet... But on the whole the console exclusives don't really matter unless you're religious about Halo or Uncharted.

After I bring up all of those points, I get down to the most important thing to the customer. What matters the most for people who get a game console is that they can play with their friends. So I tell them that if they have a few friends who have PS3s, then they should get a PS3. If the friends have 360s, they should get a 360. That is far and away the most important factor because you suddenly have a bigger game library since you can borrow games and you can play with your friends online.

If it weren't for the fact that I have a huge mountain of unplayed games for my 360, my PC and my PS2, I would have gotten a PS3 a looooong time ago, because I want to play the Uncharted series and some of the other exclusives. But in the grand scheme of things, you will mostly be playing multiplatform games and mostly with your friends.

Also, when you get a console these days, you're not just getting a game machine. I watch MLB and Netflix on my 360 and I stream movies from my PC through the Windows Media Sharing thing. You can do that with the PS3 as well.

The Red Ring of Death that plagued early versions of the 360 is irrelevant since several years. It's not an issue anymore and in my experience at the game store, we had roughly the same amount of returns for 360 and PS3. When you hook it up you can have it either standing up or laying flat. I recommend having it flat because it means less of a risk to ring scratch the discs.

[Dakkster]

Thanks all! A friend just recommended steam as an alternative. I have the HTPC so that could be an alternative. Any thoughts?

My little guy isn't quite two yet, and is a little away from playing games. I think the Wii would be the best choice for him, just not sure if its best for me. Game wise, I'd be really interested in RPGs like skyrim. I'm not sure how much I'd play online,so the 60 bucks a year may not be a factor. Hmmmm... Need to do some more thinking!

You can get a Wii (not the Wii U) really cheap these days and then have it around when he gets old enough for it, but you'll still be waiting a few years. I think the easiest thing will be to get him an iPad or something like that. They're fairly cheap and most kids get them intuitively really fast, plus they have loooooaaaads of good pedagogical apps/games for kids.

If you're into Skyrim and RPGs your primary choice should be PC because you have the whole mod community making free, awesome stuff every day. The PS3 is not an option if you want to play Skyrim, because when you're a certain amount of hours into the game, it will start to stutter and freeze because of the huge save files. But the PC also has all the old games (gog.com etc) that you can get into.

[arctic_rogue]

You can get a Wii (not the Wii U) really cheap these days and then have it around when he gets old enough for it, but you'll still be waiting a few years. I think the easiest thing will be to get him an iPad or something like that. They're fairly cheap and most kids get them intuitively really fast, plus they have loooooaaaads of good pedagogical apps/games for kids.

If you're into Skyrim and RPGs your primary choice should be PC because you have the whole mod community making free, awesome stuff every day. The PS3 is not an option if you want to play Skyrim, because when you're a certain amount of hours into the game, it will start to stutter and freeze because of the huge save files. But the PC also has all the old games (gog.com etc) that you can get into.

Thank you so much.

I think I'm going to go the PC route. I already have a recent machine hooked up to my TV (Sandy Bridge i3, SSD, 4TB storage, etc) and all I need for that is a video card. So I'm going to do some research on a video card for my computer and go that route instead. Will cost a few extra bucks, but will be more future proof. And I have the added benefit of not having to find a spot for a new console.

[Dakkster]

Thank you so much.

I think I'm going to go the PC route. I already have a recent machine hooked up to my TV (Sandy Bridge i3, SSD, 4TB storage, etc) and all I need for that is a video card. So I'm going to do some research on a video card for my computer and go that route instead. Will cost a few extra bucks, but will be more future proof. And I have the added benefit of not having to find a spot for a new console.

Like I said, since Steam added Big Picture the PC is suddenly VERY viable for couch gaming. Just get a wireless keyboard/mouse setup and a PC controller and you'll be set.

Also, this: http://www.gog.com/promo/dungeons___dragons_deal

[Fast Tony DeNiro]

(which is not the third... just the third Sony generation... there WERE actually game systems before the first PlayStation ).

Haha yes indeed there were. Sega Game Gear for the mother effing win! Great helpful post by the way.

I think I'm going to go the PC route. I already have a recent machine hooked up to my TV (Sandy Bridge i3, SSD, 4TB storage, etc) and all I need for that is a video card. So I'm going to do some research on a video card for my computer and go that route instead. Will cost a few extra bucks, but will be more future proof. And I have the added benefit of not having to find a spot for a new console.

Definitely, if PC is a viable option for you then that's the way to go. I've never had the chance to PC game much (starcraft, diablo, wow.....I can play those but not much else), but I've always really wanted to get more into it. It's a more expensive gaming route, what with hardware becoming obsolete so often compared to the consoles staying relevant throughout their lifetime, but it's simply the best gaming route from all I understand. Good choice.