Modern day console and its games vs PC gaming

[Adari]

Hi,

Since i recently got a fulltime job and take some uni classes in the evenings I was thinking about buying a console for the casual gaming aspect (and I need a new TV too, cba with updating my PC as I only use firefox and msn).

However, I was wondering if any of you can spread some light on what console gaming is like these days. I'm leaning towards PS3 (mainly because wii is not available anywhere), will play games like GTAIV (doh) or assassin's creed. Is a controller on par with mouse + keyboard these days? Or is it acceptable for said games?

Any info will be much appreciated, my last console was a SNES so...

PS: am I right to assume that PS3 has the future, but xbox360 correctly has more to offer in terms of available games?

[ST^]

Consoles will never beat a PC on controls for RTS and FPS games (no doubt someone will show up now and say they're as good at FPS with a controller as they are with a mouse, heh...). Controllers are always acceptable though.

As for PS3 vs. 360... it's hard to say if you haven't been much of a console gamer lately. Basically comes down to a) which one has more exclusive games that suit your style, and b) do you want a blu-ray player?

If you haven't had a PS2 or played most of its big games, I'd recommend it 1000 times over any new console.

[~Latency~]

i would say go for the xbox 360 (i own both) .. much larger back catalogue of games, every game that comes out now literally comes out for both consoles with xbox having better downloadable content (10 hour addition to gta for exmaple) .. also i find that xbox live is a zillion times better than the ps one, the ps one doesn't feel like you're online at all, it's really basic.. xbox is vibrant and alive, easy to use and fantastic stability, played cod4 all day for many many days with no lag and no disconnections, whereas i had to return unreal tournament 4 for ps3 because i could rarely get a stable game (might not be the same for all games, just generalizing) it was really so very poor and dated..

plus 360 is cheaper..


though if you're into mgs and final fantasy it 'may' be worth going for a ps3.. but there's no way you could even argue that ps3 is as good as, or will be nearly as good as the 360 right now, or even by the end of this year..

[gunner440]

The third play station of sony is best ever.

[Jonty]

Hi Adari

I was in a similar position to you. I hadn't owned a console for years (Megadrive II ^^), but I didn't want to spend a fortune building a new PC suitable for Crysis and the likes.

In end I went for a 360, and I'm happy with my choice. It has a large variety of games and an excellent online service. My brother also has one, so that really swung it for me. As ST^ says, no controller will beat a mouse and keyboard for FPS and RTS games, but developers know this when they're designing, so overall you shouldn't have any problems (and you have a good excuse when things go wrong, 'You know that wouldn't have happened if I had a keyboard and mouse ...' ).

My major complaint with the 360 is the noise, since it is very loud under load, but apart from that I'm happy with it. There will be an updated 360 out later this year with a built-in Blu-ray drive, but it will just be for movies (and music), not for game content.

If you do want Blu-ray movie playback, then the PS3 is an excellent choice. It's a great console, with very good games (arguably not as many titles as the 360, but obviously these things changes with time), and it receives frequent updates to improve its functionality. The online component isn't as good as the 360, but again it's improving fast. I'd happily have chosen a PS3 if my brother had had one, so just decide based on your own needs and ignore the fanboys (on both sides).

As for the Wii, I had one for a while and to be honest I really didn't like it. Yes, it's small, cheap and quiet, but it's more like a toy than a console. Granted, maybe I'm not their core demographic, but aside from Wii Sports and a few other games, I just don't want to play endless Mario clones. Hats to Nintendo for sticking with a winning formula, but it seems they're flogging a dead horse at times. The motion controller is fun, especially with your friends, but after a while the novelty soon wears off.

Kind regards

[Ch3tan]

Think the important thing to consider here is that he is also going to have to buy a new TV.

If you buy your movies and are interested in HD content then get the ps3. Gta4 will keep you going for a while until the better titles come out later in the year, and you will have a blu-ray player.

If you are purely after gaming or online gaming then get the 360.

I would not get either until you get that new (HD)TV though. Do what St^ said and just buy a ps2 if you aren't upgrading the TV just yet.

[Embattle]

Rumours are the Xbox upgrade, which should be this year, are due to give the Xbox a Blu-ray drive and graphics chip changes although probably too late for you for it to matter.

[Aada]

If you want to play games go for 360 if you wanna watch movies go PS3.

As someone said the PSNET is really old and to be honest the Dreamcast had a better online service.

Plus Gears of War 2 this November.

[Wonk]

Originally Posted by ST^

Basically comes down to a) which one has more exclusive games that suit your style, and b) do you want a blu-ray player?

Originally Posted by Aada

If you want to play games go for 360 if you wanna watch movies go PS3.

Hehe, it's not hard to see what you two have got.

[Adari]

Hehe, thanks a lot for allt he replies. I really can't decide now though. I don't watch movies on my TV right now (I do buy series I love) but I probably will when I buy a new TV.

Speaking of TV's, any recommendations (with console gaming in mind)?

[soze]

As has already been said 360 has a better selection of games and if online gaming gives you wet dreams best pick a 360.

The PS3 doubles as a media center PC with WebBrowser and you can even install linux on it and have a fully fuctional PC under your TV. Add to that the Media Streaming and Blu Ray it makes an attractive product for the price and fingers crossed the good games will not be delayed again.

As for TV I think Samsung offer good quality and high specs for not a bad price. The main technical Forum here has a few TV threads in it that might be worth digging up.

[inactionman]

Also one thing to bear in mind is that just like the PS3 you can use a 360 as a media center, it also has DIVX/XVID support and with software like tversity you can transcode anything you like, it just lacks the hi-def drive. Although the 360's noise problem doesn't help!

As for TV's, I've recently bought Toshiba's and had no problems. Last one I bought was the 42X3030, which is great, but may be a little large for you! There's a few threads in the techie forum on this.

[Adari]

Thanks again.

I'll think about the xbox360. I don't know, theres something about it that doesnt make it very appealing at all.

I need to go into a store and actually play them. There are usuall stationary demo units but these mostly have disconnected controllers so they don't end up with kids playing games 24/7.

[Sparx]

the 360 controller is also better, the PS3 one feels like a cheap third party model

If you are only going to get an HDTV for your 360 then cheaper option is a PC monitor and VGA cable, i have it connected to my HDTV via VGA and its perfect HDMI isnt much better than VGA tbh

[soze]

Originally Posted by Sparx

the 360 controller is also better, the PS3 one feels like a cheap third party model

Thats a personal not factual thing becuase i think you are 100% wrong i cant stand the 360 pad and think the ps3 one is fine just not heavy enough.