Back in late 2007 I was in the market for a games console and had a friend who already owned an Xbox 360 and just purchased a Playstation 3. I at the time owned the original Xbox, so I thought this allowed for a good comparison to be made been the consoles and games available etc.
Back then based on the fact that PS3 appeared to have the better graphics, wireless and free online game play I thought it was the best choice so I purchased one. The only down side was I’m a big fan of the Halo Universe playing the games and reading the books so it was a bit on the down side, having to beg time on other peoples consoles in order to play. However I have just purchased a second hand Xbox so I can get some Haloing game time in as I’m now about 3 games behind.
I got it home and fired it up and started playing, this then lead me to the question now sitting at home with a 1080p 40” TV in a comfy chair “Did I make the right choice all those years ago?”
When I first got the PS3 I was amazed at the amount of heat coming off it during game play. I did install a bigger HDD after a year as I was downloading lots of demos, this took 10 minutes of physical work and 2 hours of software transferring. Then last year the blu ray drive died but a 8 minute “You Tube” video £25 and 30 minutes work including 2 attempts as I plug one of the ribbons in incorrectly it was back up and running. A side from that I did find the controller was a bit small to hold in the beginning but got use to it. Playing of Blu ray movies is very good, but the interface menu unless using a PS3 remote is a bit rubbish. Overall I have been very pleased with the console.
Sitting in the chair and blowing up stuff in Halo I was surprised at how noisy the Xbox’s cooling fans are as the PS3 is virtually silent, coupled with this the Xbox itself is the same size as the PS3 then its got an external PSU which is a real pain to locate on my TV shelving unit. The plastic build quality is also poor compared to PS3. And finally it plays HD DVD which is an obsolete film format, but it’s a games console so who cares lets blow stuff up
Interestingly the PS3 comes with 4 USB front ports allowing for charging of 4 controllers at the same time or 3 + a USB stick etc. However the Xbox has 1 rear port, which is quite poor as the wireless adapter uses a USB port and if you want to use rechargeable battery packs for the controllers they also have to be charged via USB which you can only do 1 at a time or non if your using the port for the wireless. I think this is a very poor design oversight.
Although I don’t own one but the Kinect looks very good compared to PS3 move which would be a plus side to the Xbox’s case.
Graphics – This is difficult to judge as it depends on the game but I’m going to try and compare COD MW3 on the 2 systems, but currently I’d guess the PS3 is the better system for graphics in full 1080p.
Cost – This is interesting as the PS3 costs more to purchase but is free to play online, but the Xbox is cheaper but costs to play online, therefore based on current prices after 2 years of online gaming they have cost the same (PS3 = £200, Xbox = £120 + (£40*2)). However thinking back to 2007 it could be more like 5 years to be the same cost (PS3 approx £350)
Another downside of having an extra console is I’ve run out of HDMI ports on the TV I thought 3 would be enough, so I am currently sharing the HDMI cable between the PS3 and Xbox as I need to get a HDMI splitter box.
Comparing the consoles it reminds me of the MAC vs. PC argument MAC = PS3 PC = Xbox. In the MAC vs. PC I’m a PC fan due to cost and OS system (XP, it’s the best, after that its downhill), for the MAC’s I like the physical design and looks but really don’t like the OS nor the software except for video processing which it does very well (A thread for the future maybe).
However for the PS3 vs. Xbox question. I think the PS3 is the better console all round and that in 2007 I made the best choice, therefore I’m a PS3 man.
