With my PC becoming old and with Core i7 systems being a little costly I have started to entertain the idea of caving in and buying a console system with my tax return. I am entertaining all three major consoles, Wii, Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. I am leaning more towards the Xbox and PS3 because they can be used for more than just gaming.
I have a few fears about buying all three systems. The Xbox has the short lifespan with the RROD problem(QT3 RROD Copmplaints). Everyone I know has had to return their 360 at some point. They all enjoy the system enough to pay for repairs, or buy a new one. The PS3 apparently doesn’t play games as well as the 360 because the games are ported over improperly, and the online library is a little weak at the moment. Lastly the Wii is fun, but I don’t know how much I would play the games they have. They are fun, but I can’t imagine they have huge amounts of replay value. Unless I buy my favorite classics off the Wii Shop.
The game genres I don’t enjoy playing on consoles are just RTS games like Command and Conquor and some first person shooters. My roomate got me into Call Of Duty: World At War on the 360, but I think that is because a lot of mutual friends play on XBL.
I was figuring that even after the system I buy starts to become boring I can still use it for media purpose. The Xbox offers Netflix in one tidy box and the PS3 offers Blue Ray DVD’s.
I anticipate updating my computer, but due to costs I would like to stick with a console for the next couple of years. Any advice from people that own more than one console?
Though I owe none of the above consoles, I already have a good guess about what advice you will recieve. Get a 360, its the best, unless you want a blu-ray player, than get a PS3.
I own all of them. 360 is the best because of XBL and all the people from this forum and others that I can play with. I hardly see people online on PSN, the XMB sucks, PSN Home sucks. Buy a Bluray player for $200 if you really need it.
P.S. I have a launch 360. It’s RROD proof and jinx proof.
This a no-brainer. Get a Xbox 360. You’ll get to play more games than on any other system, Xbox live is far better than what the competition offers, and the Netflix feature is sweet. Apparently, the RROD issues have been mostly fixed on the newer builds. Even if you do happen to get a RROD, they offer a 3-year warranty for RROD problems.
As a game machine, I prefer my 360: there are simply more exclusive titles for it than my PS3 which I like; I’d rather play Gears of War than MGS4. For online gaming, everyone seems to agree that Xbox Live is where it’s at, with the obvious downside that you have to pay for it. If you want a Blu-ray player as well, the PS3 is the obvious choice. I haven’t tried using either as a media machine yet.
This seems to be the typical response that is soon followed by the PS3 fans saying, “Give the system a little more time to make good unique games!”…At least from my research on QT3, most other sites seem more biased. I’m hoping to get a little information on some longer term projects that might be a deal breaker two years down the road.
Have you tried the Netflix feature? I read a few reviews, and the only one that stood out was the one by Gizmodo. I would much prefer real life thoughts.
With the RROD issues it seems that the Jasper or Falcon chipset are what I should be looking for. Also, I don’t really need to buy the Elite Xbox from what I can tell, because if I buy the arcade, hard drive, headset and I pretty much get the same hardware, right? So, what’s the point of buying the Elite?
For RROD problems, you get a 3-year warranty, and with something as cheap as a game console, I have a hard time getting exercised about it failing after three years. For other problems, you have at least a year.
If you’re maximally unlucky and it breaks with a non-RROD exactly 366 days after you buy it, you can pick up an Arcade as a replacement. Since you can get them for $160 at Dell almost all the time, and it includes a controller worth $40, the maximum cost of buying annual replacements is $10/month, which is less than Netflix. Assuming you want a pile of extra controllers.
“Once you’ve chosen the exploding car, it’s comforting to go around picking up your friends. When everyone risks being burned, your own risk seems diminished.” - Gray “The Shape” Nicholson in games™ #77.
Buy the system that has the games you want to play at a price you can afford. PlayStation 3 costs $399.99 and that’s all you have to spend for the base console minus an HD cable. Xbox 360 is $299.99 w/Hard drive that you need plus another $50 per year for Xbox Live. A Wii is $249.99 with everything in the box for one player including a game.
Sounds like you already have some friends that own a 360. What is the console that most of your friends own, if they mostly own only a 360 get that, as otherwise you will miss out on a lot of online stuff.
The Netflix streaming is cool. The selection is limited but it works well. The HD is not true full HD (and a very limited selection) but better than DVD quality. The SD quality streaming is pretty good and seems fairly close to DVD quality. There is a thread in the Movies forum about streaming suggestions.
I don’t think you can find anything other than Jaspers and Falcons now so you are good. Dell keeps running the Elite for $339 deal. It comes with everything all in one package including an HDMI cable. Once you add up the arcade + 120gb hd + headset + HDMI (even from monoprice) etc. you are probably near if not over $339. If you only want the 60gb hd you can get a Pro for $258. I suggest just getting the larger drive for more hard drive install space.
I use the netflix streaming through Xbox just about every single day. It’s incredible, quite possibly the best thing that has ever happened to consoles. You think I’m being hyperbolic, but I’m not. My wife loves it too. Note that you must have a Gold sub for Live and a Netflx account (neither costs much, and both are well worth it for this service alone).
That was my thought. Two friends have both systems and one wants someone to play games with. Currently he uses the Xbox because few people he knows use their PS3 online, let alone for games. Some of my coworkers play PS3 online, but mainly Madden, which I am not too interested in. I love watching football but have never gotten plays down well enough to play Madden well.
I was also thinking this, price certainly is a factor. There seems to be a large amount of debate/rumors about the PS3 “coming up with something great because of better specs”(see the PS3 Sucks Thread). The problem is that no one can say for sure what that is. The PS3 exclusive games are not enough to be a deal breaker. MAYBE Final Fantasy XIII could have been… It’s becoming more and more about the multimedia aspect of the systems for me.
I will have to check out the thread in the Movie Forum. Thank you for the suggestion.
It seems the sale won’t carry over to my checkout cart… I may have a friend get an employee discount at Best Buy instead, if I can’t clear that up. I’m still a few weeks from getting my tax returns anyways.
I can’t add it from my work computer at that price. It may be because I use my company’s corporate account from time to time on this computer that it assumes I am ordering it for work? I am not signed in at the moment…
Interesting sidebar about the Pinto: this law review paper argues that despite its design flaws, the Pinto was actually no more prone to fatal accidents than other subcompacts at the time. Which is probably an indictment of all `70s subcompacts, not a defense of the Pinto (“Ford - we’re no shittier than everyone else!”), but it’s still an example of how fears of catastrophic failure can become exaggerated.
I have a 360 and a Wii. The Wii is great fun the few times I break it out when relatives come over. They love that little Wii Sports contraption, and they always ask if we have the “weight-loss game” so it’s a great conversation starter as well. Unfortunately, at all other times of the year, it collects dust even with two kids in the house.
The 360 has a great selection of games, offers Netflix streaming, (which is as awesome as others have already mentioned) connectivity with my friends, and is damn cheap. I’ve returned my launch 360 once and it was relatively trouble-free. Of course, I’d like it even more if I’d never had to have it repaired, but the two weeks of non-360 use wasn’t too painful.
I’d like to get a PS3, but frankly it has to drop in price before I’ll pull the trigger on that machine just to get Blu-ray and a handful of exclusive games.
