PS3 vs X-Box -- which way should I go?

[lfcrule1972]

Just found this topic and wondered what console PM went for in the end ?

 

We now own a PS3 and a 360 (my son got the latter for Xmas) and I have to say that despite all the pro 360 people I have met (not here, actually real people ) I still prefer the PS3. The 360 is cheaper initially but requires a £48 subscription to play online and a wireless adapter which can cost up to £56 for the MS one before it can be properly compared to the PS3.

 

As for the HD-DVD vs Blu-ray fight it appears that the fat lady in the HD-DVD camp might be warming up for her final sing song....... More film companies are going over to Blu-ray now and it is expected that the two who were staunch HD-DVD supporters might be about to follow the others.....

[dontasciime]

what games have you looked at on your sons 360 out of interest ?

 

Couple of the better 360 titles (graphically) + (Gameplay)

 

Gears of War

Halo 3

 

 

Assassins creed (I think you got that for PS3) I have it for 360. Should be comparable

 

Cod 4 although a little short (that would be another you got ps3 version I have 360)

[Altercuno]

I was thinking about getting a 360 for my son...has the overheating problem been solved and is it worth hanging on for better hardware/bundles?

[Shamus_McFartfinger]

I was thinking about getting a 360 for my son...has the overheating problem been solved and is it worth hanging on for better hardware/bundles?

 

Have a look here, mate. http://tinyurl.com/qmx4u

[dontasciime]

If you can look at box of any 360 your thinking of buying look for 175Watt These are the more efficient ones for the time being compared to the 203Watt 360's.

 

There will be another one along shortly as well.

[Altercuno]

Thanks donta good info

[lfcrule1972]

what games have you looked at on your sons 360 out of interest ?

 

Couple of the better 360 titles (graphically) + (Gameplay)

 

Gears of War

Halo 3

 

 

Assassins creed (I think you got that for PS3) I have it for 360. Should be comparable

 

Cod 4 although a little short (that would be another you got ps3 version I have 360)

 

For Christmas we bought him Halo 3 and COD4 (as I love the latter on the PS3) and he really only played COD4. He tried Halo 3 for a while but just didn't rate it so he traded it in for Gears of War, since then he has also bought FIFA08 and Need for Speed Pro Street so he has a few games to play.

 

As for me I am mostly playing COD4 and Drakes: Uncharted on the PS3

[Pain_Man]

@dont...

 

secondly blu ray piccy and hd dvd piccy are the same, blu ray navigation is not as good as hd-dvd

 

 

You are right here, dont.

 

The thing I wasn't factoring in was 1080p. When I saw HD-DVD on 1080p set the picture quality is the same.

 

I did buy a Toshiba A30 HD-DVD player (the "middle" one).

 

The picture quality (depending, of course, on the quality of the source) is equal to the best HiDef pictures on cable.

 

The up-rezzing feature for SD DVDs really does make a difference. I was always skeptical of this but it truly does raise the quality. I admit I don't understand how it works, just that it does.

 

The downside is, while the player does play Red Book CDs, it doesn't play MP3s or any other compressed music files.

 

Also, it doesn't appear to be capable of remembering the place where one stops an HD-DVD (tho' it will). By contrast, my Sony 5-disc CD/DVD player can remember 40 discs & play MP3/WMA CDROMs.

 

In the plus column, the HDDVD player's audio processor is outstanding, producing simply fantastic sound. (I have a mid-level Yamaha surround sound system. I goofed there though: I didn't realize I needed a receiver that could process Dolby Digital+ and TrueHD--my preference is for the latter. However, had I bought such a sound system I would have had to buy the top of the line Toshiba player, a hundred more bucks, about 12 pounds these days I think.)

[Pain_Man]

Don't take this personally, I mean that I'm not casting doubt, but can you source this statement?

 

There are and is a lot of dirty tricks going on with BlueRay and HD DVD. If you read up on the web you'll see both camps are shitting in each others backyards by paying certain companies NOT to stock the others goods. Now that is just plain nasty.

 

It's not only nasty, but in the US, it's a federal crime. They put people in prison for it, fine companies millions, etc.

 

ADM (Archer Daniels Midland) got their asses in a serious sling for fixing prices on (if memory serves) corn syrup. The CEO & son nearly went to jail.

 

The DOJ nails asses to the wall for this.

 

There was a rumor that Sony paid TimeWarner $40,000,000 to choose Blu-Ray over HD-DVD. This remains unproven (and denied by both companies). I don't know if that's illegal (if there's a corporate lawyer who's a member here...)

 

I'll add my two pence worth here. There are and is a lot of dirty tricks going on with BlueRay and HD DVD. If you read up on the web you'll see both camps are shitting in each others backyards by paying certain companies NOT to stock the others goods. Now that is just plain nasty. As a consumer, I'd buy neither just because of that. They need to sort their acts out before I start to make my DVD's redundant.

[lfcrule1972]

Not that it's really a factor at the moment but my sons 360 died almost a month after Christmas, some Error 71 I think, anyway back to the store it went and they replaced it same day which was good but they did also mention that it was the second one back that day for exchange. Now I know it doesn't prove Jack shit but it does seem that the 360 reliability issues are not sorted yet.

[dontasciime]

Good that you got it replaced without the dreaded sending it away crap.

 

Lfc your son using it standing up or laid flat ?. Was there plenty of ventilation and nothing blocking Left/Right and Back side ?

 

More curious about position .

 

oh and btw Im sure that error is a user error, eg updating dashboard and stopping it or switching it off before its udpated.

 

 

If it seems to happen again on new one try this before going back to shop

 

 

Clear All Installed Game Updates and Console Cache

 

Go to the system blade

 

Select memory

 

 

Press Y on the HD symbol

 

Press X,X, Left Bumper, Right Bumper, X,X

 

A message will appear saying: "Do you want to perform maintenance on your Xbox 360 storage devices?"

 

Select Yes

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Clear Any Failed system updates that cause the console to error.

 

With the console off, press and hold the sync up button (the small white one)

 

While holding the sync button press the power button to turn on the console

 

Continue to hold the sync button until the Console has booted up completely.

 

During the boot process the console should clear any failed updates, allowing you to use it normally

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[c xbs]

[lfcrule1972]

The 360 was (and is )standing verically on top of a pine table table in his bedroom. He told me that he was playing COD4 online when it shut down......

 

Thanks for those tips tho

[dontasciime]

I lay all mine flat, all my sons mates have theirs standing up, theirs have been for repair ours have not. [yet]

 

Also sometimes when you go to start a game on 360 it informs you there is and update and will not let you play unless you take it.

 

The user error bit E71 about switching off when one of the updates goes in before its fully completed can also be seen from updating / operating under normal circumstances eg no user error.

[Pain_Man]

As for the HD-DVD vs Blu-ray fight it appears that the fat lady in the HD-DVD camp might be warming up for her final sing song....... More film companies are going over to Blu-ray now and it is expected that the two who were staunch HD-DVD supporters might be about to follow the others.....

 

 

Which studios? Both Paramount and Universal have publicly stated that they are sticking with HD-DVD. Granted Sony and Time-Warner and Disney amount to a large fraction, but not a majority, of releasing studios, but I don't think the Fat Lady's even got her sheet music, let alone doing scales...not just yet anyway.

 

When the rumored dual-format machines (i.e. the ones that cost less than the $1000s currently on the market) make their appearance (supposedly in Q2-3), whichever "wins" won't matter much.

 

Though they will never be as interchangeable as with DVD-R and DVD+R, having sub-$200 dual-players makes any "victory" moot. Especially since dual format burners will not be far behind the stand-alones.*

 

It's unfortunate that people aren't waking up and realizing that BR is far more restrictive format, encumbered by Sony's obsession with treating its customers like criminals and demanding ankle-grabs whenever it suits them (e.g. the "BD+" mess).

 

Unlike HDDVD, BR requires every disc to use AACS. The latter also has mandatory region coding, something HDDVD doesn't.

SD-DVDs, by contrast, require neither CSS, region coding, or any other consumer-fucking technologies.

 

If BR does "win", then we'll all be thanking--and paying--a certain Antiguan company...(or a certain Hong Kong based company, whichever one prefers).

 

As we've seen with SD-DVDs, the more restrictive, anti-consumer studios like Sony and Disney become, the more aggressive the movement to restore consumer rights becomes. Allelujah! I wonder if SACD might have had more of chance if they hadn't had so-called "copy" protection.

 

*Makes me wonder what would have happened if someone had come out with a VCR/Beta dual format video recorder back in the day....

[lfcrule1972]

Announcement: Fat Lady is now singing

 

From: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7252172.stm

 

Toshiba drops out of HD DVD war Toshiba has said it will stop making its high definition DVDs, ending a battle with rival format Blu-ray over which would be the industry standard.

 

Following a review of its business, Toshiba said it would stop production of HD DVD players and recorders.

 

The HD DVD format has suffered as major US film studios backed the Blu-ray format, which is being developed by electronics firm Sony and partners.

 

Analysts said the move would allow Toshiba to focus on other products.

 

"It was an agonising decision for me, but I thought if we kept running this business it would have grave ramifications for the management of our company," Toshiba president Atsutoshi Nishida said.

 

"We made a quick decision, judging that there is no way of winning the competition," he said.

 

Tipping point

 

Toshiba said the tipping point came last month when Warner Bros' followed a number of other film studios in deciding to release its movies only in the Blu-ray format.

 

"It shows what a highly competitive market it is. When it comes to video, it is the person with the most content that wins," Gartner analyst Paul O'Donovan said.

 

FOR BLU-RAY SonyMatsushita (Panasonic)Warner BrosWal-MartWalt Disney20th Century FoxBlockbusterNetflix

 

Warner Bros' decision means an estimated three quarters of new film releases will be available on Blu-ray discs. Other major studios backing Blu-ray include 20th Century Fox, Walt Disney and MGM.

 

Last week, Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, announced it would sell high-definition discs only in the Blu-ray format at its 4,000 US stores.

 

In the UK, DSGI, which owns the Currys chain, said it would stop selling HD DVD players after Toshiba's announcement.

 

Video rental firms Blockbusters and Netflix will also offer customers only Blu-ray.

 

Universal, Paramount and DreamWorks studios signed up to produce movies in HD DVD, but Toshiba's withdrawal is expected to significantly reduce the number of films available in the format.

 

Industry boost

 

The end of the battle is expected to give the industry a boost, as it removes uncertainty for consumers over which format to buy.

 

"The industry can now focus on getting the right product to the consumer, at the right price and in the volumes required," Paul O'Donovan said.

 

FOR HD DVD Universal StudiosParamount PicturesDreamWorks AnimationIntelMicrosoftHP

 

Toshiba will continue to supply retailers with HD DVD machines until the end of March this year.

 

After that, Toshiba will provide technical support to the estimated one million people worldwide who own HD DVD devices.

 

Microsoft offers an HD DVD drive with the Xbox 360 games console. The company told the BBC it did not believe the apparent end of the format would have an impact on Xbox sales.

 

"It is games that sell the consoles and the Xbox has the largest next-gen games library," a Microsoft spokesperson said.

 

Toshiba also makes HD DVD drives for PCs and laptop computers.

 

The HD DVD versus Blu-ray battle has been likened to the VHS versus Betamax war of the 1980s.

 

 

 

La la la la la la la la (Fat lady warming up)

[kevdriver]

A bit of surprising piece of news appeared today on the internet - the format war between HD DVD and Blu-Ray is officially over and one shop after another gets rid of everything with HD DVD logo on it. One would expect Sony and other companies promoting Blu-Ray format to strengthen their position, but exact opposite happened: Sony Corp said on Wednesday it will sell its microchip production facilities in western Japan to Toshiba Corp for 90 billion yen ($835 million), in their latest move to focus on their core businesses. The equipment will be used by their semiconductor joint venture that will make high-performance Cell chips and RSX graphic chips, both used in Sony’s PlayStation 3 game console, as well as other microchips that go into Toshiba products.

 

 

 

The venture will be established on April 1. Sony, which is focusing on image sensor chips for digital cameras and pulling away from heavy investments for cutting-edge chip production equipment, said in October it would sell production facilities for making key microchips used in the PS3 to Toshiba, but the price has been unavailable. It’s also well known that Sony had to pay a lot more money (estimates ranged around $300 / unit) for every PS3 console with Blu-Ray drive, which turned out to be one of the reasons why this format won in the final battle with more than 8 million owners in contrary with only 1.4 million sold HD DVD drives.

 

 

Source: AP

[bigguy88]

There was a rumor that Sony paid TimeWarner $40,000,000 to choose Blu-Ray over HD-DVD. This remains unproven (and denied by both companies). I don't know if that's illegal (if there's a corporate lawyer who's a member here...)

 

Not saying I'm a corporate lawyer, but I dont believe that is illegal. They're only paying them to focus they're attention to BR format... Companies out bid for other companies business all the time so I'm almost positive that wouldn't be illegal.

 

 

As for the PS3/Xbox360 question, I personally chose the PS3. Yes, some of the games may be short but what can you expect from designers? 1 the system hasn't been out nearly as long as the Xbox so a lot of the games that are out for PS3 now were rushed in the first place. Also the PS3 it's much faster in loading times things like that, has 7 controller capabilities, which I doubt anyone at all uses for 1 game at any given time, wireless internet, and double the memory space of the 360 even if you get the 40GB... And no the games dont take up that much room, but the PS3 is basically a computer that you can watch BR and play PS games on... you can load a windows OS onto it and make it that much better lol

 

http://gear.ign.com/articles/614/614837p1.html

 

http://www.gamespot.com/features/6125087/i....html?type=tech

 

Don't get me wrong, the Xbox has some decent games out, but eventually all the same things will be on both platforms anyways... For the price you'll pay for a BR player you might as well get the PS3... The only thing I dislike about the PS3 is the PSN (play station network) they haven't worked out all the bugs yet and on rare occasions with certain games you can't get on, or it is really laggy and buggy while you are on. It normally doesn't happen if you have a decent network in your home, but there is that possibility.

 

Think I've said all that I can say... GL and hope you enjoy your purchase if you haven't bought anything yet.

Nick

[dontasciime]

1 of my xbox 360,s has a 120 gig hard drive and all my xbox's - xbox 360's have a full analogue controller.

 

My xbox 360,s also do 1080p the same as my Ps3's.

 

 

I think they are both as good as each other.

 

Play games not war.

[LOCOENG]

Play games not war

 

...or just play war games.

[Altercuno]

I would have thought Sony buying out the competition would be in breach of some anti-trust laws somewhere. Look at M$ just paying out $1.4 Billion after it failed to comply with a 2004 ruling that it abused its dominant market position.

[Aten]

If you havent already decided id go with the ps3 despite being a 360 fan. More suited to the casual gamer and has the BR option which is now the HD standard. TBH it seems like most games appear on either console so the so called "exclusive"

titles are becoming less frequent as popular franchises are ported to both the 360 and ps3.

 

With the recent price drop announced for the 360 its only a matter of time before you see

[dontasciime]

Lost odyssey is not that bad.

 

Not my fave genre but it's sorta playable at least and gfx are quite good.

[Aten]

Lost odyssey is not that bad.

 

Not my fave genre but it's sorta playable at least and gfx are quite good.

 

I supose so but my roots go back to the golden days of the Super Snes when Square Soft made some of the greatest

RPG's ever! Lost Odyssey is nice to look at but my problem is age. Im Getting old and hav that seen-it-all-b4 attitude.

 

Wouldnt even a buy a ps3 if i knew that final fantasy 13 was mulitformat.

[Pain_Man]

Like Half-Life 2, Quake, Quake 2, Quake 4 even RPGs like Diablo 2?

 

Play games not war

 

...or just play war games.

Edited March 31, 2008 by Pain_Man

[Pain_Man]

Valve has a really cool new game called Audio Surf.

 

Basically, you line blocks up in patterns on a racing-car like track. And you do it to your own music (in MP3, Ogg, MA4* and WAV formats).

 

The game analyzes the song you pick and designs the game course based on the song.

 

 

*AAC wrapped in a MPEG-4 container; the same one that Apple uses for iTunes.