[bling_singh]

Originally Posted by -=Hot|Ice=-

1. The thing that I LOVE about XBL is that people are actually on it. You can host your own game, and join centralized servers. At least, I could.

It may have changed, and I could be wrong, but as far as I know XBox Live gaming still doesn't operate on centralized servers. I know some games are 'enhanced' for xbox live.

2.No, it won't. The 360 will be 350+ while the PS3 comes out to be 400+ I don't need Blu-Ray, I don't watch movies(so why should I pay for it?)

(all the prices off Amazon) XBox Pro (60GB) + Wireless Adapter = $387. If you add the HD-DVD Adapter (though essentially pointless now, but for the sake of matching up feature set) the price jumps up to $447.

An 80GB PS3 with built in wireless and a built in Bluray player is $400.

BluRay has already proven its worth with MetalGearSolid 4. The game used only one disc....a double layer 50GB BluRay disc. The same space on DVDs would mean at least six 9GB DVDs. As far as I know the XBox doesn't support the 18GB dual layer DVD, while the PS3 will be able to support the 400GB BluRays that Pioneer developed earlier this year. Ratchet and Clank used almost a full 25GB BluRay Disc, which would equate to three DVD-9s.

3.Actually, it will. Microsoft still doesn't have plans on replacing the 360 because well, it's succeeded. The PS3 on the other hand, was a complete and utter failure. Sales are slowly growing, though. Developers can't figure out how to make a proper game for the PS3, plus I don't see any PS3 games that I would want except for GoW3 KillZone. That's about it. Plus Forza owns GT.I recently got a 360 Elite and went online to do a little research. The New xbox 360's have in fact have been fixed, they no longer have the RRoD. The 360 has only been out for 2 years(09 being the 3rd year) the PS3 is only a year behind(09 being it's second year) I will agree with you. The Xbox has been marketed for hardcore gamers. The Xbox 360 in fact is superior to the PS3 in gaming, only because it has a wider selection of games and is more fun and more interactive. That's the way Microsoft has marketed it. The PS3 on the other hand has been marketed to people who want an everything in one. A movie player, somewhat of a gaming machine, and some other tid bits here and there. Don't get me wrong, I don't hate the PS3. It's fun. It's just doesn't have the games that I want. 09 may not be a good year for the Xbox, but you can't judge a console just by one year of games that are being released. The Xbox already has an outstanding number of games out, This gives the PS3 time to play catch up and who knows, maybe even rise in sales even more.

If sales are growing the PS3 is hardly a failure. That means there's still room on the marketplace. Is the PS3 a failure? Yes if the expectation was that it would sell 125million consoles. It most likely won't, the Wii is the sales king. But if you examine sales from a global standpoint the PS3 has done fairly well even though its entry point is higher than the 360's (before mods, of course). The PS3 has sold consistently across all three major markets (Japan, US/Canada, Europe) yet its price is higher, and that speaks to a much more global appeal that Sony has as an electronics manufacturer and entertainment leader (movies, games, music etc). The XBox has only sold extremely well in one market (US/Canada) and sales have been generally tepid elsewhere. For example the 360 has been on the market for longer, yet the PS3 has already outsold the 360 in Japan a few times over. Sales in Europe are alright, though the PS3 was catching up (up until the 360's price drop). Yet it sold the lion's share of its units in North America, and they'll slowly be approaching its saturation point. The PS3 based, on historical figures, is nowhere close.

Again, that's not to say the PS3 will sell 125million units. But the Playstation has had much more appeal worldwide than the XBox ever had. If they do drop the price in February/March (which I'm of the opinion they NEED to do to survive) then you'll see sales start picking up again.

The PS3 is an entertainment unit. While the Xbox is geared more towards gamers.

yet MS gave the 360 an HD-DVD drive, offers a movie download service, DVD movie playback, instant messaging among other non-gaming related features.

at $400 compared to a relatively well spec'd 360 at $387, you're getting more value in the PS3. Unless BluRay movies don't matter....then it becomes a matter of games. Fact of the matter is that BluRay is helping game development, while DVD-9 is holding developers back because they have to compress data to fit on the disc, and subsequently reduce the quality of game audio/video. Now compression technology has improved vastly over the years, but the basic premise of compression persists, and defies the current trend of High-Res textures, HD audio and video.

If the PS3 and the 360 both had Metal Gear Solid 4 and I had to decide between the consoles, I'd choose the PS3 and pay the extra $13 because I don't want to swap discs 5 times. Just look at Blue Dragon, Lost Odyssey, and Tales of Vesperia....all three games on the 360 require multiple discs. Even Forza 3 will require disc swapping.

Plus every single PS3 out there has a hard drive. The same can't be said about 360s. Sure it makes the 360 Arcade model cheaper, but it also hamstrings game developers. If you remember the PS2/Xbox days, the XBox had the advantage of having a hard drive which gave developers so many more options that the PS2 just didn't have. Now the tables have turned...by not including a hard drive in each and every 360, developers have to create games with the assumption that NO 360s come with a hard drive.

Now you can say that MS is focusing on downloadable content, but again I bring up the fact that MS is focused on proprietary hardware so that they can charge more (think of the Gillette business model) for needed accessories and generate even more profit. On top of that, downloadable file sizes on XBox Live are limited to 350MB. On the PS3 there is no limit. When I downloaded the demo of Warhawk a few months back the file size was over one gigabyte.

MS thinks downloadable content is the future, but they'll hamstring the consumer by charging more for proprietary hardware and limit filesizes. It doesn't make sense.

And again, if it's all about the games, what are MS's upcoming exclusive titles for 2009? Halo Wars, Forza 3, maybe Bioshock 2, maybe Mass Effect 2, maybe Alan Wake. The pickings are slim for a forward thinking consumer.

Also comparing Forza 2 to Gran Turismo 4 is hardly a fair comparisson. Even GT5 Prologue (in my opinion a glorified demo which I will not buy) vs Forza 2 is unfair as GT5 Prologue does not represent the finished product. I can't compare physics and gameplay, which are supposed to be Forza's strength, as GT5 isn't out. Likewise I can't compare graphics and simulation, Gran Turismo's strengths as Forza 2 was released well before GT5 will be. A fairer comparisson will be GT5 vs Forza 3, and I'm reserving judgement on both games til then. Forza is a great game though, can't hate on it.

And Red Ring of Death has not yet been erradicated. Marginalized to a large degree? Yes, through the developments in the Falcon and Jasper chipsets and the introduction of the 65nm processors and GPU. But the basic problem with RROD was an architectural/design flaw, not manufacturing. Unless the architecture is changed the problem will still exist.