Should I buy a PS3 or Xbox 360? (read post first)

[Rayder]

I've been mostly a PC gamer and the PS1 was the last console I've ever owned. PC's are becoming useless to me thanks to digital distribution. Due to my unique gaming morality (hate digital distribution), I've been thinking maybe buying a current gen console so I can go to a store and buy a game for it. I also figure that since they are about to be replaced by newer gen consoles, many games should be at blowout prices, or at least not always full price.

Now, some things to note before voting:
I hate FPS games and won't be bothering with those.
Third-person shooters are a mixed bag, but not really into them either.
I burned-out on RPG's many years ago and won't be bothering with those.
Cutesy games are the bane of my existence. No flower and bunny games.

Love racing games like Flatout. Or any racing with extreme damage models. Weaponized is really fun.
Love action or action aventure games. Especially hand-to-hand combat styled games in a fantasy setting.
Prefer fantasy settings over realistic settings. (but that's not set in stone)
Love classic retro gaming.
Flying space bang-bang games would be lots of fun.

No intention of hacking it (unless it would be stupid-easy) or ever hooking it to the internet. Single-player only. I'm perfectly capable of connecting it to the internet, but I'll only be playing single-player games on it, so I don't see the point of doing so.

Keep in mind I've never even touched either system before, ever, other than seeing them in stores. So that's why I figure I'd ask GBAtemp members which I should get, since you guys are a lot more familiar with the games for these systems.

At this point, I'm sorta leaning towards the PS3 because I enjoyed the God of War games on PSP, but I really don't know much about any other games for those consoles or which would provide more of the games I'd enjoy. Whichever I get will be a version with the largest harddrive they come with. I'm happy to say that money is not a problem at this point.

So based on all that crap I just said, which would be best for me?

 

[ilman]

PS3 is better for you. The Xbox 360 is more FPS oriented.

Now, some things to note before voting:
I hate FPS games and won't be bothering with those. The Xbox has more of those.
Third-person shooters are a mixed bag, but not really into them either. The PS3 has more good 3rd person shooters like Uncharted/Infamous.
I burned-out on RPG's many years ago and won't be bothering with those. Less of the PS3 library for you, then.
Cutesy games are the bane of my existence. No flower and bunny games. So, no Little Big Planet, huh?

Love racing games like Flatout. Or any racing with extreme damage models. Weaponized is really fun. Both are very similar at racers. (pretty much the difference being that the PS3 has Gran Turismo and WipeOut, while the 360 has Forza)
Love action or action aventure games. Especially hand-to-hand combat styled games in a fantasy setting. PS3 has more of those, for sure. For example the mentioned below God of War.
Prefer fantasy settings over realistic settings. PS3 has more fantasy games, that's for sure.
Love classic retro gaming. In that case, get a sub-3.56 PS3 and hack it for PS1 and PS2 goodness.
Flying space bang-bang games would be lots of fun. Sadly, I don't see many space shooters these days, so both are bad options for that type of game.

No intention of hacking it (unless it would be stupid-easy) or ever hooking it to the internet. You sure you don't want PS2 games on that? It's very easy if your PS3 is sub-3.56.

The only thing you may like on the Xbox more is that it has more Indie games on its marketplace, but seeing as you don't want to connect your console to the Internet, I guess you don't like those.

 

[Arras]

I'd say a PS3, but I may be biased since I have one myself. As for the space bang-bang shooter, I'm afraid you're not really going to find any that are not digital distribution-only. If you can look past that, though, I rather like Söldner-X 2 myself.
Also, Burnout Paradise is a rather enjoyable driving game with over the top crashes and stuff.

 

[Rayder]

Yeah, buying downloads ain't my thing. If I download a game, it won't be because I purchased it. I need a disk in my hand or I won't bother.

Keep the comments coming though. I do appreciate them.

 

[DinohScene]

PS3.
360 is more FPS oriented as said before.

 

[Tom Bombadildo]

PS3 definitely.

Some game recommendations based on your likes would be the Uncharted series, great action adventure game (albeit in a more realistic setting, the series as a whole is pretty great), The Last of Us is also sort of up your alley, it's more of a survival adventure game, but it's still amazing nonetheless. Shmups will only be PSN games, so you'll have to download them if you want any of those.

I would also recommend buying a third party PS3 controller with stick placement similar to the 360/GC controller layout. It's much more comfortable and is recommended when you're going from PC to console.

 

[Arras]

PS3 definitely.

Some game recommendations based on your likes would be the Uncharted series, great action adventure game (albeit in a more realistic setting, the series as a whole is pretty great), The Last of Us is also sort of up your alley, it's more of a survival adventure game, but it's still amazing nonetheless. Shmups will only be PSN games, so you'll have to download them if you want any of those.

I would also recommend buying a third party PS3 controller with stick placement similar to the 360/GC controller layout. It's much more comfortable and is recommended when you're going from PC to console.

Well, the PS3 comes with a controller, so he should try that first for a bit. But agreed, if he doesn't like it, that's certainly an option.

 

[Tom Bombadildo]

Well, the PS3 comes with a controller, so he should try that first for a bit. But agreed, if he doesn't like it, that's certainly an option.

Well duh it does, but it's a pretty shit controller lol. Just saying, as a fellow PC gamer, I much prefer the 360 controller layout to the dualshock 3, it's much more comfortable for someone who games all day on a keyboard and mouse.

 

[FAST6191]

We could debate games all day long (for the most part the libraries are pretty similar and what few exclusives* there were typically have equivalents, later entries in the franchise or "spiritual sequels" available anyway, to say nothing of most of those that are exclusives probably fall into your "games I am not inclined to play" list and the differences between systems are minimal) so I would instead say pick up each controller and figure out which one you like best. Once you have done that come back and ask for reasons not to get one.

Wikipedia I know but http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_video_game_exclusives_(seventh_generation) gives a good idea of the games. Atelier ?, Tales of ?, Disgaea, White Knight Chronicles and Hyperdimension Neptunia are all RPG type games of the Japanese persuasion and probably what people are thinking of when they say the PS3 has more of that sort of thing, the former three at least are/are made by pretty big names but I doubt they will cure your burnout on the idea and I would not say you are especially lacking on the 360 either if you do have a turnabout.

*equally most of the exclusives when they are worth the time and fall inside your desires are typically the sort of thing that is worth playing through once, to that end hit up a friend for their console and a copy of said game. Knock it out over a weekend or few evenings and give it back afterwards.

If you got one tomorrow they would both be troublesome to hack unless it comes out of a friend's closet and had not been updated for years or something like that. That said if you have the option for a fully hacked version of either definitely go with that (or go with that but ask someone around here if it is not one of the earlier models with reliability issues), if you have the basic drive mod type thing going on (though ask someone in the case of the PS3) then up to you.

The only problem I see is much of the classic/retro stuff (which was plentiful, good and exactly what you are probably after) was aimed more at the download side of things, some of it got bundled up onto discs but not all of it by any means and most of those bundles are probably not what you are after.

Flying space bang-bang = space sim? Good luck with that. There was a very short sequence in one of the Halo games, there was a port of Darkstar one (a middle of the road game when it was released back on the PC, never mind when it got to the 360 though certainly playable) and not a great deal else other than a few downloadable type games I can not even remember the name of right now (and I like this sort of game). Shmups wise though it probably has to be the 360 if only because Cave and a few of the other Japanese devs went in for the 360 for reasons I am not able to figure out to this day, most shmups became "twin stick shooters" outside Japan and most of those are downloadable games only.

Some of the downloads type people are starting to see sense (or have it thrust upon them) though and allowing trading, selling and other such things for downloadable content. The lack of such a thing is my biggest objection and reason for being a holdout on downloadable games, doing the ever risky act of reading between the lines it is probably yours too so hopefully you will not find yourself an outside of sorts for too long.

 

[Clarky]

Going buy what you said I would assume a ps3 would be more to your tastes than an xbox 360. Few added bonus' tyre would be bluray playback and also being able to play phone games on it

 

[calmwaters]

The people have spoken: Playstation 3. Well 8 of them anyway. Sony's never released a bunch of shooters on their systems, imo.

 

[Tom Bombadildo]

The people have spoken: Playstation 3. Well 8 of them anyway. Sony's never released a bunch of shooters on their systems, imo.

False. Excluding multiplats, the PS3 has more exclusive shooter franchises than the 360 does. They have the SOCOM, inFamous, Killzone, and the Resistance franchises whereas the 360 has like...Halo and Gears of War.

 

[calmwaters]

False. Excluding multiplats, the PS3 has more exclusive shooter franchises than the 360 does. They have the SOCOM, inFamous, Killzone, and the Resistance franchises whereas the 360 has like...Halo and Gears of War.

Wow, I didn't know that. You think it's because of all the exposure that Call of Duty for the Xbox gets? Or have I been watching too many videos of people rage quitting CoD on the Xbox/getting mad in general on Youtube?

 

[Tom Bombadildo]

Wow, I didn't know that. You think it's because of all the exposure that Call of Duty for the Xbox gets? Or have I been watching too many videos of people rage quitting CoD on the Xbox/getting mad in general on Youtube?

It's because the 360, for the first few years, had a better online infrastructure than the PS3 did when it came to multiplayer. It was only natural that multiplayer based shooters like CoD or BF3 were more popular on the 360 and it's sort of stayed that way ever since.

 

[Rayder]

Instead of quoting posts and replying, I'll just try to answer any questions by explaining myself more.....

PS3's default controller should be perfectly fine since the controller I use on PC is a Logitech F310 which looks just like a PS controller and I have always liked the design since PS1 dual shock. Plus the fact that the F310 (and F510 {with vibration feedback} and F710 {wireless with vibration} for that matter) have a direct input/Xinput switch for full compatibility with older PC games or newer games. It made it more practical than an XBOX controller that only supported Xinput. So I'm used to the PS-style controller.

I plan to avoid digital distribution for as long as I can. Haven't bought a download yet and have no plans to start. All the games I have are either retail disks or hack downloads. I just can't justify not having a disk in my hand for the money spent. Any games I get for whichever console I buy (likely PS3, it seems) will be gotten through retail and will be on a disk. Whether they have multiplayer or not, I'll only be playing the singleplayer mode. That is guaranteed. Not into online gaming at all.

I just recently read about some Steam games that are no longer available. That is the EXACT reason I want a disk in my hand for my money as opposed "just a download". With a disk, I'll always have it to play years later when I'm feeling nostalgic, but you have no guarantee that a digital download you PAYED for will still be available to re-install years later. That doesn't sit well with me.

I don't like having to login to anywhere to play my single player games. I see no reason for online anything in single player, and most pc games make you login to play single player, even if you did buy a disk. I REALLY hate that!

So, I wonder.....will a PS3 ever FORCE me to go online for any reason? I do understand that multiplayer, DLC, Digital downloads and stuff like would require a net connection, I'm not a dope, but will it ever force online use for any other reason? At this point, it's kind of a deciding factor. Because if it's possible, it will NEVER see an online connection, ever.

 

[stanleyopar2000]

hmm the only difference between xbox and ps3 is one can play blu-rays and one plays HD-DVD (outdated)

the other has PS+ the other is Gold. going to stay neutral on that one..

I guess your biggest concern is..look at the exclusives...is there a game that you absolutely cannot live without because it's only on one console?...all the other games are multi-platform

 

[calmwaters]

So, I wonder.....will a PS3 ever FORCE me to go online for any reason? I do understand that multiplayer, DLC, Digital downloads and stuff like would require a net connection, I'm not a dope, but will it ever force online use for any other reason? At this point, it's kind of a deciding factor. Because if it's possible, it will NEVER see an online connection, ever.

I doubt it; companies can't force people to go online. If they did, well, the result would be like Titanic after hitting the iceberg.

 

[EZ-Megaman]

So, I wonder.....will a PS3 ever FORCE me to go online for any reason? I do understand that multiplayer, DLC, Digital downloads and stuff like would require a net connection, I'm not a dope, but will it ever force online use for any other reason? At this point, it's kind of a deciding factor. Because if it's possible, it will NEVER see an online connection, ever.

Well, some games do require firmware updates (which you obviously need to connect to the internet for) to run, but I doubt that many games would need them at this point, since the PS4 is coming out soon.

 

[Rayder]

Hmm......OK, well it looks like I'm going shopping for a PS3. Maybe I'm not quite "done" with gaming after all. Might have a few more years left....

Thanks Tempers, I do appreciate the quick responses, all of them. It was valuable info for me. If I do buy a PS3 today, I'll let you guys know what all I bought with it....specific system version, games and all that...

Hope Sony continues to support the PS3 like they did with the PS2. I'll be golden if they do.

EDIT: That's cool, I can deal with the firmware updates requiring online. Don't like them, but since the system will be all legit, I'll tolerate them if necessary.

 

[Arras]

Hmm......OK, well it looks like I'm going shopping for a PS3. Maybe I'm not quite "done" with gaming after all. Might have a few more years left....

Thanks Tempers, I do appreciate the quick responses, all of them. It was valuable info for me. If I do buy a PS3 today, I'll let you guys know what all I bought with it....specific system version, games and all that...

Hope Sony continues to support the PS3 like they did with the PS2. I'll be golden if they do.

EDIT: That's cool, I can deal with the firmware updates requiring online. Don't like them, but since the system will be all legit, I'll tolerate them if necessary.

System updates do not require online; the version required to play games will be included on the discs. As far as I know nothing except obvious stuff (like multiplayer, friends list etc) requires online. I think even trophies will work, but they won't be synchronized and you will lose all of them if your PS3 ever breaks.
Alternatively, you can download the update using a PC to a USB device and install it from there without ever connecting the PS3 to the internet.