especially if you can get them to get you a 1 yr XBL membership ($50) to account for the price difference.

It has a better slate of exclusive games, and Blu-Ray players are A) not THAT great of a step up from upconverted DVDs, and B) are rapidly dropping in price

The 360 has a bigger and, by most accounts, better game library. So if you really want to spend a lot of time playing, you’ll probably get the most out of your investment – at least immediately – if you get the 360. I have no idea how the game libraries will balloon out over the next few years, but to the best of my knowledge the 360 is the better gamers console.

I actually like the PS3, though. It’s a really, really great multi-media platform, and it has enough good games to tide over most gamers.

It probably comes down to whether or not you’re more interested in the strength of the X-Box’s gaming library or the convenience and power of the PS3’s multi-media capabilities. I’d also take a quick look at the games you can get on either console. It might just be that the games you really want to play you can only play on one console, though these days single-console games are far more rare than they once were.

the only reason to buy a PS3 over an 360 is the blu-ray player. the 360s game selection is farrrrrrr superior to the PS3.

Personally, I’d go with the 360, but it all comes down to what kind of games you prefer. Unless you prefer having all your media needs in one box, Blu-Ray is slowly becoming a non-factor since BR players are coming down in cost.

Have a look at some of these exclusives that came out for the systems this year or will come out and see which tickle your fancy.: http://vbforums.gametrailers.com/showthread.php?t=256853

Keep in mind that if you get a 360, there’s the added bonus of sending strange messages to Grant on Live.

PS3 is lagging behind XBOX when it comes to game selection and online content. It is in deep 3rd place behind both Wii and 360 when it comes to just about everything. It’s overpriced and I don’t see them catching up anytime soon.

I’m a huge Civilization: Revolution nerd, and I check in with the official forums every now and again. If you have any desire to play multiplayer games, you have to go with 360. There’s a much bigger and more established online community. The PS3 Civ players have a terrible time finding anybody to play with.

Over the long term: PS3.
If you want something that has a high probability of breaking: 360.
At this time the 360 is the better system. In a year it won’t be.

how does it compare to XBL?

I like my 360. I’ve only had it for about a week, though.

number of fellow PS3 owners i know who have had to return their PS3 for hardware failure: 1 (his BluRay drive didn’t work out of the box, and the place he bought it from let him pick a new one right there.)

Number of Xbox 360 owners I know who have had to return their 360s at some point in time:
All of them.

No doubt Xbox has a larger game library, unfortunately (or fortunately), I just don’t play enough to utilize it. I have several favorites, and they happen to be available across multiple platforms, not just one.

The rest of the time, I use it to watch Blu-Ray movies. I had enough of a hard time justifying the added expense of getting a 1080p TV, but it became much easier once i realized i wouldn’t have to pay several hundred dollars for a gaming system and another several hundred for a BD player.

I personally prefer the PS3, though I also have a 360 and a Wii.

There are more games on 360, though quantity != quality. PS3 has more downloadable games that I like.

Lots of folks go for the 360 over the PS3 due to price point. However, the $200 for a 360 Arcade versus $400 for a PS3 is a bit misleading. By the time you buy a hard drive for $50 or whatever, a wireless adapter for about $85, and an XBL subscription for $50, they just about even out in terms of price and features. That doesn’t even take into consideration the fact that the PS3 is a fantastic Blu-Ray player. If you’re a home theater guy, PS3 has an advantage.

The other thing about the hardware is that the 360 is just flat-out not as high build quality. They do fail a lot, and mine is extremely loud and tends to crash more often in my experience.

They both do most of the same things in terms of multimedia streaming, etc.

Definitely go look at the games. They both have exclusives that could sway your decision. I prefer the PS3 exclusives to the 360.

Despite my preference toward the PS3, if this is your first current-gen console, I recommend the 360. There are way more people with them, which means your friends will likely be on XBL, which is fun with people you know. Also, the Achievements on 360 are more fun and addictive that the PS3 trophy system. Ultimately, I always advocate getting both, or all three, but the 360 is a great introduction to this generation of consoles. With the large library of games, you’ll be able too find tons cheap and/or used. Just be prepared to spend a bit more upfront than you think (unless you get your wife to buy you the swanky Pro or Elite instead of the Arcade).

Oh, almost forgot the most important thing, given the context of this site. There are basically two baseball games out there anymore, 2K and MLB The Show. I’ve played both, and The Show is one of the best baseball games I’ve ever played (2K kind of sucks IMO). The new one will be out next month or in March I think. I spent SO many hours playing the Road To The Show mode in MLB 08, it’s rad… you get to create your player, choose a position, and then work your way through the minors up to the bigs, putting attribute points into stats, signing contracts, etc. It’s 2011, and the GIants have a badass first basemen who only goes by “The Professor.” He hits about .450, with 80+ homers and over 200 RBIs in a season. Also, over 100 SB ;). You can make it more realistic of course, but I prefer winning to reality. Besides all that, the graphics and presentation are incredible, great animations, and in general fantastic gameplay. One of the primary reasons I bought a PS3.

but because of all the problems with the ring of death…go with a PS3

Definitely
More games, better resolution any screen, better games.
and, I tell you right now, the experience of Xbox Live has no competition fron the PS3.
Plus, support America!

If you ever plan on owning a 1080p television, get a PS3. Its one of the best blu ray players available, and updateable for the future. The number of games will catch up eventually, and if you get too many good games right now, your wife will get pissed and take it away from you anyway ;-)

I’d go with a PS3 for many of the reasons that people have already mentioned. Of course, what it really boils down to is your preference for exclusives.

and it’s Sony exclusive. I’d be interested in joining an MLB 09 The Show league, if enough people here have a PS3 and the game

PS3 in my opinion. I had a 360, I had a Wii, and now I have a ps3. I love all the capabilities and the built in wirless, and they will probably fix the home feature sometime in the future.

surprisingly it looks like PS3 is leading this debate, but I’d also like to point out the PS3’s controller is so much easier to use. The debate seems to always be about the Xbox’s better game library vs the PS3’s blu ray player, but I have giant hands and even I hate that big ol’ awkward xbox controller

I recently bought a PS3 myself… mostly though it was because I was thinking “Blu Ray player… COOL!” and me and my college buddies had already bought and played most of the 360 games, so I was looking for something different. From my experience, though, the good news is you can’t really go wrong— there are major positives to both systems.

Backwards compatability. If you have a lot of PS2 games and are hoping to play those on the PS3, make sure you have the right model. 20, 60, and 80 GB are compatible. The rest are not. Most major Xbox games are compatible with the 360 if you have a hard drive and a connection to download the updates.

No but really, it depends on what you like to play. I’ve got a PS3 and a Wii and the Wii never gets played unless friends are over. I sometimes wish I had an Xbox because of Halo and Gears of War 2, but I get my fix on PS3 with games like Metal Gear Solid. My favorite function of PS3 (which I believe Xbox has as well) is that it doubles as a media center so I can stream audio and video files from my computer to my TV and HiFi in the living room. That’s the shiznit right there!

As far as games go, you’re always gonna have console-exclusive games. But for each system, you’re never gonna run out of fun games to play.

Some of my favorites recently are Prince of Persia and Little Big Planet – games that are relaxing to play. I’m slowly shifting to this genre because I’ve got a little one on the way and daddy can’t be playing Bioshock and GTA with a kid running around. But the graphics on these games are outstanding. This brings up another argument though. With Blu-ray, sometimes things look TOO real, which looks weird and unnatural. But it has it’s ups too – Jessica Alba in Into the Blue…that’s hot (even its a shitty movie).

Bottom line – I say PS3 because I only know PS3.

My TV has that exact same function. Maybe I’ve got a 360 already and I don’t know it?

1) Ever heard of the “Red Ring of Death”? Google that sum’ bitch and tell me how happy it would make you.

2) Gran Turismo poo-poos on every other game out there. Granted the newest full version of it won’t be available until next time we’re celebrating Festivus…but it’s a series that I’d wait a lifetime for.

3) To hell with exclusivity. Many publishers are already realizing that there isn’t much to be gained by not releasing their games on both consoles. Sure you might have to wait 6 months for it to be released on the PS3, but unless you’re a pimply faced teeny-bopper who’s playing the thing 15 hours a day, why must you be playing it the very day it comes out?

4) I’m a big fan of the larger corporate vision of Sony. The PS3 was developed just like the PS2 was…with a goal of not having to upgrade the system for a solid 10 years. I’d much rather invest my $$ in something that I know isn’t going to be obsolete the day I take it out of the box. Sony has kind of figured this thing out…it isn’t their first trip round the block like it is for Mr. Gates. Add to that the fact that even today, a good 13-14 years after the PS2 was released you’ve still got people buying them off the shelf and many of the games out there are available in a PS2 version as well. That’s something that Microsoft can’t say for their original Xbox.

5) Related to exclusivity a bit here…but I’m not a fan of all of the first-person shooters out there. Sorry, but I just don’t get hyped for that kind of a game. I’m probably the exception to the rule, but in my mind, that’s the only place where Xbox has a bit of an advantage on things. Because I’d much rather play Final Fantasy, Gran Turismo, and either FIFA or Evo Soccer, to hell with the other system if that’s the only reason you’re buying it.

But my thinking was based on my need to have a Blu-ray player to play the new Band of Brothers Blu-ray edition. (Side review: a religious experience. Its interactive features, for crying out loud, is equivalent to a whole new book: newsreel footage, old photographs, animated maps, in-depth glossary, translations—and that’s not even talking about the image quality or the sound depth!) I found the new PS3 flavors (released in October last year, I believe) very reasonably priced for all it could do as a multimedia machine, DVD player, Blu-Ray disc player, and of course high-end console. I’ve only bought 2 games — a racing game and a WW2 game — but I’ve enjoyed both immensely despite being a n00b. (I’ll be getting a baseball game soon, and possibly LIttle Big Planet.) I also don’t envision ever liking playing against other players online, so the Xbox community aspect is not a factor for me.

I was the biggest PS3 fanboy there was, then I actually got to use one for an extended period and found out it just totally sucked. Then I bought a 360 and absolutely loved it. The online is better, the games are better, there really isn’t any noticeable performance difference, and it’s quite a lot cheaper. And, I never thought I’d say this, but the controller is better too.

If you can’t live without blu ray (which is pretty cool), then go for the PS3, but the internet browser is pretty terrible (at least it was when my roomate had one).

Is there a McC MLB league? If so, I’d like to try it out…

I have both of them and I like ’em both.

For the PS3 LBP is awesome. The Show is really good and probably the closest we will get to MVP Baseball for awhile. I had a blast playing Uncharted, it was like how Tomb Raider should have been. I really want to pick up Valkryia Chronicles because I’ve heard good things about it. Blu-ray is pretty nice and the PS3 is a pretty awesome standard DVD player because I believe it up scales, or whatever you call it.

The 360 has XBL, which is cool — despite having to pay money for it — but if you buy a 1-year prepaid card it’s not too bad. Being able to stream NetFlix stuff over the 360 is insanely cool. I’d say it has a bigger game library than the PS3 does right now, but it probably depends on the types of games you like to play.

Lately, I’ve been playing our Wii the most probably (when I’m not on LBP). We got Boom Blox for Christmas and it’s a really cool physics-type puzzle game.

I think I’ve unofficially set my mind on a PS3 for now, mostly because the price difference is pretty negligble when you factor in buying a wireless adapter and XBL, durability of the PS3, the potential of the Cell, and that the games seem to be improving. The Blu-ray is cool and puts it over the top, but it isn’t really a deal-breaker, although when I hopefully get my new plasma soon (/crosses fingers), I’ll probably appreciate that I have a Blu-Ray.

When The Show debuts and the system is mine, I will definitely be down for a McCoven league.

that the sales of PS3’s have been so poor that they might discontinue the system altogether. Has anyone else heard this and/or know if there’s any truth to it?