PS3 or Xbox??????????????????????

[committed]

My 8 year old son is pestering for a PS3 becuase his brithday is coming up & he's won the Endeavour award at school. He's also doing lots of work in the garden with me & incessently cleaning the house to cement a deal with me. His mate has got one & he's always on it. The little lad realy deserves a reward & as it's his birthday as well, I've decided to get him what he wants.

I'm sure the rest of the family will be using it as well & I understand they can be used to store other media, go on line etc. He already has a PS2 with loads of games, but he only plays a couple of them so I suppose we could sell the whole lot if required.

We've got an LCD TV & Virgin Media with a V+ box & broadband. We've also got a low end DVD recorder & no surround sound so if either option will improve our media experience it's worth looking into.

Can anyone help by explaining the useful features & pros & cons of both PS3 (I was looking at the 80gb) & Xbox to help us decide upon the best one to buy, or is there something better for around the same cost? I don't want to buy one & end up wishing I'd bought another!

Many thanks in advance!!!

[Red Firecracker]

Whichever you buy they'll be people telling you you've bought the wrong one.

I'd say buy the chap what he wants. If he wants a PS3 and his mate has one as well, at least they can share/swap games.

ETA: The PS3 is also an excellent Blue-Ray player.

Edited by Red Firecracker on Friday 16th January 14:55

[Mc Lovin]

If he wants a PS3 i have one with aload of games

Seriously, the PS3 is better, unless you want "dad, Daaaad, my controller has run out of batteries again" which is what you will get if you buy the xbox.

PS3 has blue ray as well.

[SpunkyMonkey]

For pure game playing, the 360 is slightly better. It has a few more exclusives, a larger back catalogue (as it's been out a year longer) and side-by-side tests generally show it running games slightly nicer (better framerate, higher detail) than the PS3. The differences are VERY slight though and you really have to look for them.
The PS3 is better as an all-round machine as it has blu-ray, a better media player (for downloaded films etc) and sony don't charge you to play games online.
They're both fantastic machines, my preference is the PS3 but you'll enjoy either. As previously stated having the same model as your mates is very handy for swapping games and playing online - PS3 and 360 can't play each other online.

[Orb the Impaler]

Mc Lovin said:

If he wants a PS3 i have one with aload of games

Seriously, the PS3 is better, unless you want "dad, Daaaad, my controller has run out of batteries again" which is what you will get if you buy the xbox.

PS3 has blue ray as well.

Get a charge station for the Xbox controllers.

From a games and online experience point of view I'd say Xbox wins every time.

However if he wants a PS3 and his mate has got one (most important point) then (as pointed out above) I'd get him the PS3.

The PS3 should (usually) play his PS2 games as well.

And the PS3 plays Blu-Ray discs.

[freecar]

forget which is better, the most important part is his mate has a PS3 so he wont be able to play an xbox online with him.

PS3 is a bluray player, a 1080p upscaling DVD player, media centre and free online gaming

Xbox is slightly cheaper, no bluray, monthly fee for xbox live and no playing online with his friend

I'd go with what nipper wants.

I have a PS3 and my mate had an xbox360, he's since sold it and bought a PS3 as he really liked the games he saw round here!

[PH_Scooby]

All the info you need is here

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

[MaQ]

PS3 has Bluray for you (expensive to re-buy all the movies though grrr) and the rest of the family and if his friends have PS3s then it's going to be easier all round.

However, XBoxs can be got for very little money and have a superior online capability/community (that you would pay for granted). It can get all a bit racey on there though so if you did head down that route then I'd definitely keep the headset off and monitor if he's online for abuse/sweariness. Better machine though IMHO (ready for feedback..heheh)

If he wants a PS3 though then it could be a tricky sell to get the Microsoft in the house.

[Mr_Yogi]

Orb the Impaler said:

The PS3 should (usually) play his PS2 games as well.

No current PS3 can play *ANY* PS2 games

...they do however play PS1 games.

EDIT: As has been said his friend has a PS3 so get him one too. Doesn't matter how good the XBox is if his friends are playing online together and he can't join in.

Edited by Mr_Yogi on Friday 16th January 15:28

[Taffer]

Interesting thought - apart from Little Big Planet and GT5, how many games are suitable for an 8-year old?

The majority of games for XBox and PS3 have mature content, either in visuals or dialogue. Not wanting to appear fuddy-duddy (I'm only 25), but violent games nowadays tend to be more brutal and realistic than a decade before.

I'd have thought a Wii would be better - bigger choice of games for kids, and by the time he hits his teens and wants blood and gore, the current generation of consoles will be outdated so he can take his pick from their replacements.

[paulm3]

I've got 'Lego Batman' and 'Lego India Jones' on the PS3 (i'm 26) and theyre a great laugh..also Little big planet is alot of fun.. there are also sonic games out and stuff for both the consoles. but i prefer my ps3 as it does everything the xbox does + plays my bluray movies. my xbox rarely gets used now.

[chris6996]

Ps3 has a very good line up this year for exclusives, not so much on xbox. Overall I would say the ps3 has the best package, alot of future potential aswell.

[chris6996]

If you buy him a used 60gb version it will play his ps2 games

[Red Firecracker]

Taffer said:

Interesting thought - apart from Little Big Planet and GT5, how many games are suitable for an 8-year old?

The majority of games for XBox and PS3 have mature content, either in visuals or dialogue. Not wanting to appear fuddy-duddy (I'm only 25), but violent games nowadays tend to be more brutal and realistic than a decade before.

I'd have thought a Wii would be better - bigger choice of games for kids, and by the time he hits his teens and wants blood and gore, the current generation of consoles will be outdated so he can take his pick from their replacements.

There's an absolute shed load of games available for the younger audience on both consoles.

Innumerable sports games (soccer, hockey, golf, girls American rugby etc etc), platform games etc etc. I'd say the adult games are in the minority of titles available but in the majority of titles mentioned in the sensationalist press.

[Ferg]

freecar said:

PS3 is a bluray player, a 1080p upscaling DVD player, media centre and free online gaming

Xbox is slightly cheaper, no bluray, monthly fee for xbox live and no playing online with his friend

Our 360 is a media centre and we don't pay a monthly fee and my nephew can't play online with his PS3 because all his friends have 360s!

[A1GOY]

Mr_Yogi said:

Orb the Impaler said:

The PS3 should (usually) play his PS2 games as well.

No current PS3 can play *ANY* PS2 games

...they do however play PS1 games.

EDIT: As has been said his friend has a PS3 so get him one too. Doesn't matter how good the XBox is if his friends are playing online together and he can't join in.

Edited by Mr_Yogi on Friday 16th January 15:28

If you get an old 60gb lump he'll be able to.

[Xaero]

If I had to choose I'd pick a xbox 360 over the PS3, but I don't see this as your choice, but your son's who wants nothing but a PS3, so surely that's the obvious choice? I'd be annoyed if I was 8, wanted a console and my dad got the rival one instead that I didn't want.

[stephen300o]

Xbox online is still better. And racepro is out next month.

[mically]

Ferg said:

freecar said:

PS3 is a bluray player, a 1080p upscaling DVD player, media centre and free online gaming

Xbox is slightly cheaper, no bluray, monthly fee for xbox live and no playing online with his friend

Our 360 is a media centre and we don't pay a monthly fee and my nephew can't play online with his PS3 because all his friends have 360s!

You pay a monthly fee to play online with the xbox360, and HIS friend (not yours) has a PS3

Plus the PS3 has wifi built in. No extra device required.
The pads are re-charged through the multiple USB ports. No extra device required.
BD players, not an external HD player (at an extra cost.)

The initial cost savings will always be the 360 - but over the course of a month or two, you'll notice you have an open wallet.


Also noting, you can very, very easily swap the hard drive out of the ps3. it comes on a caddy, and will take any 2.5" disk.

[freecar]

Guys,

Answer the op, he asked what was better for him not which you prefer.

I hate XBOX but if the OP had said that his friend had an XBOX, that is what I would have recommended regardless of my opinion on it.