Looking at upgrading to a PS3 or Xbox360

[DemonoidTentacle]

Hey guys,

 

So I'm looking at updating to either an Xbox360 or a PS3, and I don't know a lot about either system. So I'm after some advice.

 

I'd mainly be playing the system for fighting games such as Street Fighter 4, Marvel vs Capcom, and King of Fighters XIII. I'd be playing both multiplayer on the couch with friends, and multiplayer online.

 

I won't be playing it on a HD TV, and I'd be looking at the cheapest versions of the two.

 

I'm looking for good advice, not just "Xbox360 is shit, get a PS3" I had enough of that kind of talk in the 90's. I want some valid reasons to why you think one console would suit me better than another.

 

So, can someone help me out?

 

Cheers.

[Gabriel]

Well, I wrote a fairly long and detailed reply, only to submit it and have it disappear because I chose the moment that the forum was being updated to try and post.

 

The short version is that both the 360 and PS3 are about equal on fighting games. They have all the top tier fighting franchises.

 

I lean to the PS3 for fighting games, because modern fighting games tend to be designed around the playstation style controller. The 360 controller is really bad for fighting games, and it's almost mandatory to look into a controller replacement to play fighting games on that system.

 

But really, they're so close that it's like flipping a coin and having it come up on edge.

[Austin]

Fighting games, eh.. I'll say 360, because it's probably the cheapest.

[onlysublime]

if cost is a factor, get a 360. the games are the same. get a joystick. I got the Tekken 6 game/joystick combo for $35. It's an 8-button 8-way joystick with a square gate. it goes on sale all the time and I think it's an awesome stick, especially for the price. You can get a 360 for $175 at Amazon ($200 with $25 Amazon credit) and this fall/Christmas, the deals will be coming hot and heavy.

 

otherwise, the systems are pretty equal with their pros and cons each. you really can't go wrong. buy what your budget is. I think the used game section at Gamestop is bigger for the 360.

[moycon]

I'd recommend the 360 over the PS3 if only for the fact you don't have to update the 360 or scroll through 2 minutes of agreements every other month, and when you do have to upgrade it only takes a few seconds as opposed to several minutes. Nothing like firing up the ol console to play some games or watch a movie and realize you have to jump through hoops just to get going at it.

 

As far as the graphics and games go. They are about the same. Both have enough exclusive to warrant a purchase of either. I personally think the PS3 has a slight edge on graphics, but that point is moot if you're not hooking it up to an HDTV.

 

I'm not a huge fighting fan however, the fighting games I've played on the 360 I can control fine. I have seen it written many times the 360 controller isn't great for fighting though. I'd head over to a Gamestop and try out a couple fighters on each. It's free.

[DemonoidTentacle]

Thanks for the replies guys.

 

I would of course be buying an arcade stick for the console, any feedback on stick vs stick?

 

And any feedback on the ports of games like SF4, or KOF13, in terms of being arcade perfect? Taking graphics, speed, and sound into account.

[DemonoidTentacle]

Whoa, just saw monthly fees for online gaming for the Xbox360, and I simply don't think I'd be able to afford paying that. But I can't seem to find information on whether the Playstation Network has a monthly fee, or whether Sony are going to incorporate that in the near future. So at this stage, I'm leaning towards the PS3.

[Austin]

If online is a big thing, if you go the XBOX route, buying a one-year sub is the way to do it.. don't pay buy the month.

 

PSN is free for most games, but I can't vouch for the quality of the servers.

[DemonoidTentacle]

Turns out the monthly fee I saw for the Xbox360 was actually the yearly fee.

[+wood_jl]

I haven't tried the PS3, but if the "free" online component is anything like the PS2, and you value your time/hassle and want the servers to be up for a long time (a few years, in the case of the original Xbox) then the Xbox live fee is worth it. I don't have time for online gaming (boy does it take a chunk of out of the day when you're having fun) but if I had that kind of time to invest, the Xbox Live fee would then be worth it.

[DemonoidTentacle]

So after a day of researching, I'm pretty sure I'm going to go for a base model Xbox360, and invest in a decent arcade stick.

 

Thanks for all the help!

[Mord]

Whoa, just saw monthly fees for online gaming for the Xbox360, and I simply don't think I'd be able to afford paying that. But I can't seem to find information on whether the Playstation Network has a monthly fee, or whether Sony are going to incorporate that in the near future. So at this stage, I'm leaning towards the PS3.

 

Playstation Network has a free and a "Plus" version. The plus obviously being the paid version. I believe multiplayer on the playstation network is currently available on both versions (It's what the PS3 camp keeps touting about why PSN is better than Live) but then again with the way Sony keeps changing things with their console and service, I wouldn't count on it staying that way forever.

[MagitekAngel]

Assuming you're going to get a stick, you could really just get either, as nearly all fighters are multi-platform. But if you're not going to go HD, maybe you should just get a PS2, about 30 of last generation's best fighting games, and call it a day.

Edited September 20, 2011 by MagitekAngel

[Seob]

Nobody mentioned the options for hooking it up to a non hd screen. Are you going to hook it up onto a vga screen? Because the 360 can output more vga compatible modes, when using the right cable. The ps3 can use the old rgb cable that was available for the ps1-ps2. I did use my ps3 on a crt screen, before i used my computer lcd screen, and it is sometimes hard to read text onscreen, because of the low resolution.

I have both the 360 and ps3, and they both have pro's and cons.

 

PS3 controller vs 360

Both are comfortable in my hands, but the ps3 has better D-pads. The 360 has better shoulder buttons. U can add special attachments to the ps3 shoulder buttons to address that problem.

 

Online gaming

PS3 free, and i never experienced any trouble playing online. Played a lot battlefield 1943.

Never bothered to pay for the 360 service so no comments on that.

 

Updating

PS3 takes a long time updating.

360 is faster.

 

Noise

I have a fat ps3 and a 360 pro.

The ps3 produces less noise, but maybe the new models have improved that. Especially the dvd drive for the 360 is loud.

[Video]

If you'r not looking for High def, the Xbox does seem to have better support for SD, though they both have issues on some games, though with fighting games, it shouldn't be a problem.

 

Xbox has four player support out of the box (depending on the game) I don't know, but assume the PS3 also supports four players.

 

PSN is free, while the Xbox charges but remember you do get whatyou payed for in most cases. It averages to $5 a month on Xbox if you pay by the year, though you can often get a 2 year for $25 through a microsoft deal (mines prepaid for years due to this)

 

Both systems have crap backwards compatibility, if that's important to you, the 360 supports halfish of the xbox games, PS3 doesn' tsupport any PS2 games (unless you get an older model) but has good PSX support.

 

The base model of the Xbox (no hard drive, 4GB for save games) is $200 while the base model of the PS3 is $250 and has a 160gb HDD.

 

Xbox has the kinect, the Playstation has the move, I don't know much about the move, but the kinect is fun if you don't mind jumpingaround LOL

 

It really comes down to games, Xbox has Halo, PS3 has Granturismo. I like Viva Pinata (microsoft) and Locoroco (sony)so....If you truely have no preference (both have fighting games, at least through DD) then you might consider getting it based on what your friends like. If they all have PS3's, I'd go with that, if they all had 360's I'd go with that.

[Rex Dart]

Might've been mentioned already, but the PS3 is a bitch and a half about taking forever with downloads and updates. You'll download a 1GB game/demo from their store, then install it (an extra step that the 360 doesn't require), then often you'll have to download a 100MB-1GB update and install THAT too. On top of that, Sony regularly requires you to update the system software, which is several additional steps in the way of whatever it was you turned on your PS3 for. Might take you 45 minutes just to load up #$*!ing Netflix.

Just something to be aware of.

[DemonoidTentacle]

It seems the 4GB base model 360 doesn't have a warranty, where as the 250GB model has a one year warranty. I remember when the 360 first came out there were a lot of Red Ring problems. Are these problems still common?

[Atariboy]

I'm sure the base model has a warranty. And the cause of the RROD issue has pretty much been ironed out with late model original systems and the slim.

[DemonoidTentacle]

I'm sure the base model has a warranty. And the cause of the RROD issue has pretty much been ironed out with late model original systems and the slim.

I'll be checking in stores today about warranty, but on these official xbox pages, they boast that one comes with a warranty.

http://www.xbox.com/en-AU/Xbox360/Consoles/Systems/Xbox3604GB

http://www.xbox.com/en-AU/Xbox360/Consoles/Systems/Xbox360250gb

It could simply be that they forgot to write it in, but I'll be double checking.

[Vic George 2K3]

I have a Wii, so there!

 

Just kidding! I still want to get my hands on a Playstation 3.

[moycon]

It seems the 4GB base model 360 doesn't have a warranty,

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003O6JKLC/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=atariage&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399369&creativeASIN=B003O6JKLC

 

What’s In The Box?

• Xbox 360 4GB S Console

• Xbox 360 Black Wireless Controller

• Xbox 360 Composite A/V cable (standard definition)

• One Month Xbox LIVE Gold Membership

• 1 year limited warranty on console <<<<<<<<<

[onlysublime]

It seems the 4GB base model 360 doesn't have a warranty, where as the 250GB model has a one year warranty. I remember when the 360 first came out there were a lot of Red Ring problems. Are these problems still common?

 

all 360s now come with a 1 year warranty.

[Cybergoth]

Weird. So your companies themselves decide on the length of the warranty?

 

Here in Germany one automatically has a 2 year warranty on consumer electronics by law, no matter what product it is.

[DemonoidTentacle]

Weird. So your companies themselves decide on the length of the warranty?

 

Here in Germany one automatically has a 2 year warranty on consumer electronics by law, no matter what product it is.

 

Wow! That's flippin' awesome.

 

Oh, and the search is over. I scored a 250GB Xbox360 pack with a few free games, then trading those games back to the store which brings the price down even further.

[Cybergoth]

Oh, and the search is over. I scored a 250GB Xbox360 pack with a few free games, then trading those games back to the store which brings the price down even further.

 

That's cool, so you can get yourself a Kinect and play the new Steel Battalion some day