GameInformer

Hey, welcome to the site, and enjoy your stay  here!

Now for the consoles. It all really comes down to the exclusives and which platform more of your friends / people you know are on. Also, for 360 you have to pay for online multi-player while for the PS3 it's free. That's basically pretty much it, other than that there are no difference between the two.

I would suggest you put that money toward a gaming PC, but that's just me being biased! :P

As stated above, the most important characteristic is what exclusives each system has that you are more drawn to. Watch some videos and do your homework so that down the road you aren't stuck watching the other console owners with envy.

Also, as stated above, you could get a gaming PC. I would recommend OnLive for your current PC instead, it'll cost about 100% less initially and 90% less in the long run.

Check out which games our on each console. You really can't miss with either console, but just make sure the games you would love to play is on the one you get. Make sure you don't listen to fanboys (i.e. "GET A PS3 IT'S BETTRE THAN THE XBOX AlwAYS!!1!", or "GET THE XBOX BECUASE THA PLAYSTUPID SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!") Put some time in to research which one's better. If you're going to take someone's suggestion, make sure it's an educated one. Something you should really consider though, get both! It's expensive fo sho, but both consoles are great. I don't have a PS3 at the moment--I'm a bum you see--but I am working on it. I WANNA PLAY GOD OF WAR AGAIN!!!

Everyone in this thread is correct in that it pretty much comes down to 3 basic factors.

In my opinion your thought process should pretty much be in the following order:

A) I think the most important factor is what console your friends have so you can play online with them. If you're friends don't have either console then I'd move on to the next deciding factor.

B) Which console exclusive games you'd enjoy more. The reality is that console exclusive games are becoming pretty rare as the vast majority of big game releases are cross-platform nowadays anyway, but its still worth a look.  Decide if you'd rather be playing a game like Halo or games like Uncharted 3.

C)  Lastly you need to decide if you're willing pay some money to play online. Xbox Live costs $60 each year to maintain a subscription, while the PlayStation Network is free. Without being biased my honest opinion is that Xbox Live is a much better network (and safer), and I truly believe its worth the money but that's up to you to decide.

P.S. If you end up buying an Xbox 360 GameStop is having a $20 discount on a 12-month Xbox Live subscription so it would actually only cost you $40 for a year of Xbox Live if you purchase soon. Just thought I'd throw that in there.

I have both and personally 360 is way better, rarely use my PS3. One thing that I don't know if it would affect you is if you have a terrible internet provider. With that if I want to update the PS3 or any of the games it takes forever, for the 360 it's so much shorter and easier. That's my main issue with the PS3, otherwise it's a nice system, but definitely prefer the 360.

I own both. I have been using the Xbox 360 for about 5 years now, and the PS3 for about 10 days. Both systems have their pro's and cons. I will try to list some for you:

Xbox 360 Pros -

Affordable. You can get a decent 360s for under $200 that comes with a 4gb hard drive, which is perfect for someone new to the next generation of systems. If you do buy one used, make sure it is a 360s and not an old version. The new hard drives will not work with the older 360.

Established network. Xbox Live, not taking into account cost, is the better of the 2 online networks. SCE is still trying to figure out how best to compete with Xbox Live and Gamertags.

User Friendly. The Xbox 360 has a very user friendly interface to get your system setup and online, and get you playing games much faster then it's counterpart.

Xbox 360 Cons -

Paid Subscription service. Xbox Live is not free, and will likely cost you ~$50 a year. For someone on a budget this can be a lot of money.

Limited storage. The cheapest 360 you can buy is $100 less then the cheapest PS3 you can buy, but it comes at a price of about 156GB of storage space. You can get a 250gb HD for around $100, but if you plan on installing your games, this can be a big hindrance.

PS3 Pros -

Aesthetics. The PS3 just looks better then the 360 does next to a home theater system.

Blu-Ray. The PS3 comes standard with a Blu-Ray player. If you don't have one, this is defiantly a plus.

Built in battery. The PS3 controller has a built in battery. This is great if you don't mind having to charge it after long sessions.

Bigger Hard drive. The PS3's cheapest system comes with a 160gb HDD. However this comes at a price and you will see why in cons.

PS3 Cons -

Mandatory install. This is my largest pet peeve about the PS3. Lengthy installs of games (in upwards of 5gb for each install) that are mandatory (meaning you must install the game to your HDD before you can play.)

Security. Anyone who had a PS3 in 2011 can tell you about the hack job someone did to the PSN that compromised nearly 70 million users credit card info.

Backwards compatibility. From what I hear, this is non-existent on the PS3. So all those games you have for the PS1, you have to play on your PS1.

As people have already said, each system has its pro's and con's. If you are into the Multiplayer scene, then Xbox would be the smart choice because even with the cost, the size of the community is much larger then that of the PS3. If you like playing locally, both systems are pretty much equal. As far as exclusive titles, this never swayed my decision on which system to buy because for every exclusive title, there is likely a similar caliber game on the other system.

You can't get any clearer answer than that. Good job!

Hello and welcome!

Personally, Ive been a PS fan all my life (not counting Nintendo bc Nintendo for me is in a Hall of Fame category all of its own).

But I own both the PS2 and Xbox and both I use for different games....

For me the determining factor was Fable 2...when that came out I bought a 360 for that game alone and for almost 2 years thats all I played...didnt have LIVE until this past summer and I didnt care for most games...until Assassins Creed came in.

Now tho there is a certain Naughty Dog exclusive coming out and it's the sole reason I'm getting the PS3...and blu rays not a bad addition either...as well as all the old school ps1 games on PSN...but due to that one incident a while back I prob wont put my cc on the acct and so much for that.

Anyway, the differences are free vs paid internet, blu ray vs no blu ray..both have wireless internet capabilities so that doesnt matter and then theres exclusives.

One of the big deciding factors for me (besides most of my friends own an xbox 360) and that I dont think anyone has mentioned, is the controller, I personally much rather prefer the Xbox 360 controller, it has a nice sturdy and solid feeling to it, the triggers are far superior to those of the PS3 (big deal if you plan on playing anything that involves shooting a gun) and is just a great controller overall. Another thing that I dont think to many poeple mentioned was 3rd party games, Modern warfare for example gets map packs a month earlier, where as BF3 on PS3 gets their map packs a week early, like everyone is saying, I would do your homework and figure out which one if for you. Good luck and hope to see you gaming soon

Either way your gonna lose something. I would start off with the 360. It cheaper, and easier to handle than the PS3. I'd keep playing that for about a year to a year and a half, then get a PS3 too. I only got the PS3 for the amazing exclusives, so I play my multiconsole games on my 360

BTW welcome to GIO!

If you haven't already got a PC, I would highly recommend that since you can install mods and you can plug in some controllers if you prefer it. But if it has to be a console, I would pick the 360 for X-box Live and their is a better range of games for the 360 than the PS3.

The quick answer:  They both have their pros and cons.  Recently, I went with the PS3 and I am 100% satisfied with my decision.  The factors that sold me:  blu-ray, free online play (though that has become debatable if you buy games used), and a friend of mine who works at a gamestop told me that xbox games don't have the same size disc hole (innuendo unintended) so if you quickly stash your game in a dvd or cd case, you could potentially crack the disc! Either way you can't lose (except all the time you will spend playing killer games).  If you are a truly hardcore gamer, put it towards a beastly PC.

I think the system themselves don't have many differences, besides the fact leass exclusives on PS3, and some hacking issues, but it's online services are also free, contrary to Xbox. If you're going to play online I'd pick the system more of your friends have, if you want to just do singleplayer and are uninterested for multiplayer in the most part, judge upon the exclusive games for each. That's my take on it. Also welcome to the website! There is also a slight difference in controllers. I don't have an issue with either really, but if your used to the PS controllers, I think PS3 isn't a big change. They both have trade offs. The Xbox 360 sticks are in different places, which aren't that big of a deal, and they also have in my opiinoin a much better grip and better when using them for melee/sprint. PS3 has a better D-Pad however.

It is pretty close decision, but... if you get a x-box you have to keep on paying for live, unless you never play multiplayer. Also the PS3 wont over heat, it uses blueray, and it has more exclusives.