PS3 Versus XBox 360

I have had both systems since November of last year and played Borderlands and Bioshock 2 on both these systems.

Controllers : The PS3 controller is smaller and less substantial BUT it is recharged through a standard everyday USB connection on the front of the PS3. XBox is larger so more rumble for the game but runs on two AA batteries or a battery pack which is a pain. I have to also point out if the PS3 controller runs out of juice you simply plug it into the PS3 standard generic non-special USB connector with the standard USB cable they provide and continue playing. XBox you better have another set of AA batteries handy or the new battery pack or have shelled out even more money for their special connection cable that you can only get from them.

Also note… if you do plug in a controller into the XBox 360 to charge it while trying to continue to play the game it immediately makes that controller the primary controller with no way to change the setting. Thanks Microsoft, for making products for idiots by idiots. Best thing to do is just get an external charging solution for the XBox 360 battery packs and be done with it. Microsoft crap is just crap and it don’t get better.

Network: Both game machines have a network… XBox Live Gold which allows you to socialize and play Netflix Videos which is a major selling point of the XBox at a hefty $50 a year and Sony has the Playstation Network and it lets you do all that stuff out of the box for free. About that connection to the internet which is important for both game machines to work… Sony provides a built in wireless wifi connection or an ethernet port while XBox you have to hard wire a Ethernet cable to the dang thing unless you want to shell out more money for some type of wifi solution.

The XBox 360 has a theme here… Are you getting what that theme is? If you want ANY options with the XBox you have to buy them separately while Sony includes them all “in the box”.

Video: This my friends is what tips the scales here. XBox is basically DVD and PS3 is native Blu Ray. That’s just the whole gamer reason to do this stuff right there. The Sony PS3 wins hands down in game play because the colors are brighter and the textures are more realistic and well everything pops. Jason and I both did a side by side comparison of Bioshock 2 with both machines running HDMI cables directly into the TV. You can say well maybe it was your TV but tons of people out there use older sets every day so just because we may not have the most up to date available display does not make the results any less important.

So the Sony PS3 may cost a couple of bucks more here and there but at least as far as cost goes I personally think without adding up all the receipts they are neck and neck. The XBox Live Gold system may be more rocking for gamers that want to socialize and play the games with other kids. But that’s still $50 a year for that privilege and Sony gives that functionality away for free. That $50 to me represents at least one game you did not buy.

My opinion is going to rest mostly on the video quality of the PS3. Blu Ray is where it is at in both movie watching and game play (both you can do with a Sony Playstation 3) so sorry guys but if I have the choice of buying the game in either XBox or PS3 from now on I am going with Sony based on more bang for the buck quality till Microsoft comes up with something better. I think of the XBox 360 as an upscaled PS2 essentially, which is fine PS2 was a good product, but for the same money Sony is selling something just a bit more substantial and worth the price they want. Not so much with Microsoft.

Tags: Video Games