Go with the biggest hard drive you can afford. 120 or 250 will probably last you the life of the console. My 20Gb is nearly full and I have to regularly clear out stuff I'd rather keep. I won a digital copy of Ninja Gaiden Black but had to delete it because it ate 7 gigs of space.
The RRoD issue was fixed with the redesign with the Jasper chip, a year or so ago. There's been another model release since then too, so it's pretty unlikely these days. That said, there's never a guarantee it won't overheat and die, but MS will fix that for you, totally free for 3 years after purchase.
It depends what you're looking for.
Please note that I don't use a wheel with my consoles so my opinion only counts on stock equipment.
In terms of complete race customisability and a 99% immersive driving experience, LFS is still king. The only other game I've played which matches it in terms of believability is RBR.
In terms of racing, both Forza and GT have their merits. The rubber-banding in GT5 means you're always in the competition, even if you suck. You might never win, but you'll be among other cars. GT5 replicates the LFS feeling of "driving on glass" better than Forza does - whether that's realistic or not I couldn't say since I've never driven these cars IRL.
The AI in Forza 3 means the field is pretty believable on the harder difficulty, and the new "pressure" system means that they do make mistakes. In fact, this morning I watched a brilliant race event happen in front of me as one AI car ran wide and skidded into another car, then they both fought side by side for the leading spot into the next corner. Really interesting to watch, and much more immersive than flawless driving on a perfect line.
When it comes to customising, Forza 3 takes the cake. LFS is good because you can Photoshop your skins, but the decal editor is a pretty worthy alternative. And there are so many options for parts upgrades that finding the right combination for your driving style is easy. Or let the game do it for you with the quick option.
Graphics have been argued to death. I think the in-game graphics between FM3 and GT5(full) are pretty even, tilted slightly in favour of GT5 due to the PS3's better graphics chip.
It's not a great idea to buy an entire platform for just one game though. Investigate the others you'd be interested in and then make a decision.
Please note that I don't use a wheel with my consoles so my opinion only counts on stock equipment.
In terms of complete race customisability and a 99% immersive driving experience, LFS is still king. The only other game I've played which matches it in terms of believability is RBR.
In terms of racing, both Forza and GT have their merits. The rubber-banding in GT5 means you're always in the competition, even if you suck. You might never win, but you'll be among other cars. GT5 replicates the LFS feeling of "driving on glass" better than Forza does - whether that's realistic or not I couldn't say since I've never driven these cars IRL.
The AI in Forza 3 means the field is pretty believable on the harder difficulty, and the new "pressure" system means that they do make mistakes. In fact, this morning I watched a brilliant race event happen in front of me as one AI car ran wide and skidded into another car, then they both fought side by side for the leading spot into the next corner. Really interesting to watch, and much more immersive than flawless driving on a perfect line.
When it comes to customising, Forza 3 takes the cake. LFS is good because you can Photoshop your skins, but the decal editor is a pretty worthy alternative. And there are so many options for parts upgrades that finding the right combination for your driving style is easy. Or let the game do it for you with the quick option.
Graphics have been argued to death. I think the in-game graphics between FM3 and GT5(full) are pretty even, tilted slightly in favour of GT5 due to the PS3's better graphics chip.
It's not a great idea to buy an entire platform for just one game though. Investigate the others you'd be interested in and then make a decision.
And why not? I got a PS3 for LittleBigPlanet 
There's plenty of other games that are worth picking up once you've made that initial jump.
I'm currently working on a cool FM3 logo based paint job for the Mazda 3. Looking pretty damn sweet right now. Will obviously post up pics and pimp it on my Storefront when it's done. But I only started this morning since I was out all weekend.
Annoyingly the issues with flipping decal jobs between left and right sides still exists, although significantly smaller than in FM2.
There's plenty of other games that are worth picking up once you've made that initial jump.
I'm currently working on a cool FM3 logo based paint job for the Mazda 3. Looking pretty damn sweet right now. Will obviously post up pics and pimp it on my Storefront when it's done. But I only started this morning since I was out all weekend.
Annoyingly the issues with flipping decal jobs between left and right sides still exists, although significantly smaller than in FM2.
Yeah, because the spelling is the worst thing about that paragraph
What was that noise? Was it the post? No, just a car passing. What about that? Nope, cat on the wall.
I love screwing with people. But only if I have the advantage
That said, I'm at work for a while longer, then I'm out for the afternoon renewing my membership at the casting agency, then I'm out for dinner, then I'm out all weekend. So I won't be playing much over the next couple of days
The little pad that plugs into the controller is great for stuff like that (and now in-game photo descriptions!). Wouldn't have thought about picking it up myself, but was a gift from a friend. Been really useful.
The install only took me a couple of minutes - it's only 100 or so cars it sticks on there. It's not a major content install like the PS3 does.
Oh noes, i menshund teh ps3 teh fanbois will coem nao111!!!
Oh noes, i menshund teh ps3 teh fanbois will coem nao111!!!
I disabled that too, because it essentially doubles your loading time if you don't run that track.
Sounds like the opposite of our house
We got through CoD4 without any problems, I'm sure we'll get through this as well. At least I have other likeminded people on here that I can talk to about it without getting "it's a red one" or similar car-clueless comments Then again, she's good with a quick comment when I screw up and crash. In fact, maybe it's the rewind feature that'll save us from relationship mishaps 
We got through CoD4 without any problems, I'm sure we'll get through this as well. At least I have other likeminded people on here that I can talk to about it without getting "it's a red one" or similar car-clueless comments
Then again, she's good with a quick comment when I screw up and crash. In fact, maybe it's the rewind feature that'll save us from relationship mishaps Brilliant, that is almost word for word what mine said to me too! She was like "it was driving cars round and round, this is driving cars round and round again". But then I make fun of her soaps being the same every day too, so I guess I should expect it.
My girlfriend would take the piss something crazy if I did something like that
I just work with the lines of the car and make it up as I go. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
I love the new shortcuts in the decal editor now though. Selecting, moving and resizing multiple layers is a breeze, and any designs you import come pre-grouped so you can move it all as one. Bloody genius.
I just work with the lines of the car and make it up as I go. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
I love the new shortcuts in the decal editor now though. Selecting, moving and resizing multiple layers is a breeze, and any designs you import come pre-grouped so you can move it all as one. Bloody genius.
The only thing I have for sale is the LFS logo. Sold a couple of copies last I checked, but I've not made anything I'm happy enough to sell yet.
Once the Yaris Ninja has a decent paintjob I might do a limited edition run of that though
Once the Yaris Ninja has a decent paintjob I might do a limited edition run of that though
Nah, it's had a RWD conversion. I got up to about 280hp with the FWD and discovered it just wouldn't steer any more. It's twitchy, but interesting to drive because of the short wheelbase.
Make way for the Yaris Ninja. 296hp taking it to nearly 190mph, with a 0-60 time of under 5 seconds. Almost perfect 50/50 weight distribution. You can't beat a Ninja
This is a pre-paintjob development photo.
This is a pre-paintjob development photo.
You're not gonna get any special beta treatment just by sucking up, y'know
Counting colours doesn't count - both games have that option. But FM3 does have flip paint options, so we can haz 2 culurs at once!1111!!!11loleleven
I still don't see why everyone feels the need to make out like one is better than the other. They're both good, and they both do very different things. I object to either game claiming hundreds of cars when what they actually mean is several paint schemes or power ratings per car model. I mean FM3 has about 11 Carerra's and a half dozen Ferrari 430s - that's only two cars, not a dozen
I like the car porn element of GT5 - the models are superb, and the environments are stunning. I love the tuning and painting aspect of Forza. Can't we all just get along?
I still don't see why everyone feels the need to make out like one is better than the other. They're both good, and they both do very different things. I object to either game claiming hundreds of cars when what they actually mean is several paint schemes or power ratings per car model. I mean FM3 has about 11 Carerra's and a half dozen Ferrari 430s - that's only two cars, not a dozen
I like the car porn element of GT5 - the models are superb, and the environments are stunning. I love the tuning and painting aspect of Forza. Can't we all just get along?
Don't see the point. You're never ever going to need all of the track data loaded at once, since you can only race on one at a time anyway - and you might never race a particular config anyway (I could count the number of proper oval races I've done on no fingers). So having every possible config ready to recall is pointless memory clutter, even if you do have the video RAM to store it all.
I didn't go looking for anything specific, I just decided that in order to get some other career race choices I should try randomly buying some unusual cars.
I'm not even talking about supercar A-class or anything, but just stuff that's a little more interesting than a Fiat The obvious change in handling between my M3 and Trans Am was brilliant. The Yankmobile steers like a 6-ton boat, but that engine sound! Great fun.
I'm not even talking about supercar A-class or anything, but just stuff that's a little more interesting than a Fiat
The obvious change in handling between my M3 and Trans Am was brilliant. The Yankmobile steers like a 6-ton boat, but that engine sound! Great fun.Welcome aboard. It's definitely worth your time and money.
Now go download a LFS logo from someone amazing's Storefront
Now go download a LFS logo from someone amazing's Storefront
Too many sensible city cars having their pics taken. Am I the only one who went mental and decided to buy some sporty cars? Then again, I did also buy some classic American muscle cars too (loving the Trans Am) so maybe I'm not the best man to judge.
Now I want to go home just so that I can post some photos of me thrashing the hell out of a sports car.
Now I want to go home just so that I can post some photos of me thrashing the hell out of a sports car.
I just got an email from Game telling me that I can claim my exclusive cars now! 
Ah, that's new then. Because it wasn't there yesterday
Means I can now share the crappy preview pic I took of my LFS logo though. On a familiar looking car
Means I can now share the crappy preview pic I took of my LFS logo though. On a familiar looking car
FGED GREDG RDFGDR GSFDG