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General discussion

Christmas Gaming Console

Oct 18, 2009 4:36AM PDT

Hello -

I am going to be getting my first gaming system in 8 years this Christmas. I am not sure which one to get, I was hoping some of you folks could help me out.

The games that I like to play the most are sports games. I really enjoy the Madden games, and the NBA and NHL games. I also used to love playing the final fantasy games. I am also hooking it up to my internet at home and maybe playing some people online. I do not have a high definition tv right now, but will probably get one in the future. I just looked online and found out that the PS3 and the Xbox pro are the same price at walmart. They are both 299. I also saw that the PS3 has double the hard drive space. Anyone have any advice in what I should do?

Discussion is locked

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Probably doesn't matter
Oct 18, 2009 6:38AM PDT

It probably doesn't matter in your case, since sports games will be released for both PS3 and 360. Right now most of the good RPGs have made it to both as well with the possible exception of Disgaea 3 which remains stubbornly PS3 only.

I don't know for certain that the PS3 can run games off of the hard drive like the 360 can, but I would assume Sony added that feature a while back.

So, you can probably just flip a coin really. Maybe look to see what kinds of exclusive titles there are for each system. The 360 obviously has Halo 3, which was good but not great, and the PS3 has Disgaea 3 and will have Final Fantasy XIII Verses some day... Hopefully. Unless there's some exclusive titles you're wanting that tips the scale in one direction, I'd have to say go with the PS3 since there's more disk space and everything else you care about is basically the same.

Don't let the fanboys of either system try and convince you that one system is better than the other because it has this or that feature that you don't care about. The single most important thing should be the GAMES.

Also, the price of the 360 and PS3 is the same everywhere. Walmart doesn't have any special pricing on these.

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Online feel?
Oct 18, 2009 10:00AM PDT

Thanks! Can anyone speak to the online part of the PS3 or the Xbox? I have heard the xbox is much better online, but I am not sure. The free online from the PS3 is a big selling point for me...

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Not directly
Oct 19, 2009 2:57AM PDT

Not directly. I don't like online play. Lag being the least of my concerns. I find you either run into a bunch of people whose entire lives revolve around playing this one game, or people who are so incredibly bad that it's just not worth playing. If I were to be incredibly politically incorrect, it'd be like kicking a paralyzed midget. There's just no sport to it.

I've heard that the 360 service is better, but it's not free, so you have to factor in the cost of that online play. I've never really used it myself, so I can't comment directly, just confirm that I've heard the same comments.

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Online
Oct 19, 2009 3:22AM PDT

Xbox online is much better. More reliable, just a smoother well set-up system.
If you plan to play online.. I feel it worth the $$ ( about $30 a year on sale ) to pay for the xbox online service.I guess you get what you pay for on that one
After that.. both system are good. Its a hard call.
You have to look at the games you want after that.

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Go for PS3
Oct 18, 2009 3:15PM PDT

I would recommend you to buy a PS3. That is cause I personally found it's performance better. You would love to play your favorite sports games in it. Till you buy your gaming system, you can spend some good time playing Glory of Fellowland in your browser. That is also a really good strategic game.