I have a problem....Mrs B and Emmy want me to buy a WII so that they can play around with the WIIFit thingy, but I would rather spend my spondulicks on a decent console, which means a console that will play GTA IV.. This narrows the field considerably, so; when all the dust has settled and the last argument is heard, which is best, PS3 or Xbox 360.
Obviously I have heard about the famous red ring of death, but just how common is it?

So..Opinions please gentlemen!

To spice up things, you also have GT5 for PS3 and Forza2 for 360. Maybe this doesn't really help but I'm looking at the same decision probably sometime during the summer. So I'm kinda interested to see what kind of answers you get.

As for racer's pov there is no proper wheel for 360 so the PS3 might actually be the better one for racing enthusiast. Although I'd guess that a pad is enough for every console sim.

One thing to look for might be to check if the popular children's games are available for the desired system.

Here's some comparison site I found:
http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/xbox360_ps3_wii.asp

I'm a total 360 fanboy.

Its a PS3 then - The PS3 has so much going for it at the moment its unreal. Apart from the Xbox360 acheivements, which are brilliant. You have GT5, which AFAIK (I think, a bit) works with the G25. GTA is looking better on the PS3.

Here's an article to help you decide with GTA.

http://www.overclock.net/video ... iv-looks-runs-better.html

Well Bladey, i'm sure you've heard the saying "A happy wife is a happy home "

So, I'd say, get the Wii and this Wii Fit thing (whatever it is :shrug And wait till GTA4 comes out on the PC.

Or, get one of the other consoles and offer to do the dishes for the next couple of years........and cut the grass.......and take the rubbish out.......and walk the dog......and do Emmys homework......and promise to give them both more 'pocket' money

I've only had one or two consoles in recent years, the Wii being the only one on your list, so I'm only really qualified to comment on that one.

Quite frankly the novelty wears off and when you try and find a game that you actually want to sit down and play for longer than a 10-20 minutes, you'll become unstuck. It's an undeniably good console - if you have friends over a lot, or only want to play in very short periods. For me this didn't work and it's being sold.

Mike Capps from Epic games had the right phrase - "It's a virus where you buy it and you play it with your friends and they're like, ‘Oh my God that's so cool, I'm gonna go buy it’. So you stop playing it after two months, but they buy it and they stop playing it after two months but they've showed it to someone else who then goes out and buys it and so on".

If you've not played the same franchises on other platforms then you maybe the exception to the rule and find something in the Wii that I've not.

Depends on the cash - if you are a cheapskate you can get a used 360 Core for £100 from some online retailer, but it's likely to RRoD.

For me it would all depend on the games I wanted to play.

TBH i'd go for an Xbox360, but purely because it's cheap.

(OT - I'm considering getting an original Xbox - they are £20 if you know where to look, could be nice as a media server)

I owned a PS3, and now own a 360 elite. Overall though, i prefer the 360.

I LOVE the way the PS3 looks, what with the sleek black, and the look of the OS looks fantastic, but the xbox is alot more user-freindly.

The PS3 can be a little complicated when copying files over for the new user, yet with the xbox, you can either sync it with your computer, or just extact the files from the portable device to the xbox's harddrive.

Also, the 60gb PS3 is now out of production (60gb is best to go for imo). SO the only way your going to get it new is most likely off of ebay, which i would'nt trust. Yet xbox has the elite, which has 120gb, comes with alot of freebies like gold plated HDMi cable, headset etc. etc. and other goodies.

Power wise, there both very similiar. The PS3 is claimed to have better AA in games, yet when i play the something like GT5, it seems to me like no AA is being used. Same goes for games like virtual fighter. Yet in the xbox, i definetely notice AA being used, especially in games like mass effect or saints row.

The xbox has alot more games made specifically for that console, ones like forza 2, saints row etc.

PS3 has a couple, and i do mean a couple. Like GT, Motorstorm or resistance etc.

The PS3 can use wheels like DFP, or G25. Xbox does have wheels, which are'nt bad, but are'nt great either.

So overall, my verdict is go for the xbox. I know i may have seemed like a fanboi, but i think the xbox is better value for money, has better online, and is alot more use-freindly.

Your money would be better spent on the 360, you can get a cracking deal on one at the min. The RRoD issue is way overblown IMO, the one person I know who had this issue, got a replacement console with no hassle at all. They changed a couple of bits in the manufacturing process last year to try and prevent the issue in new consoles, no issue with mine yet.

Not only is it cheaper than the PS3, and will have additional content for GTAIV, but its got some cracking games as well. Forza 2 is a worthy sim, lots of fun times to be had. Call of duty 4, Bioshock, Halo 3, PGR4, Mass Effect, the list is pretty long. The only PS3 exclusive I can think of thats notable is GT5, and its not worth paying the extra for a screenshot generator imo.

Its neither here nor there for which is better for GTA4 it seems - it plays well on 360, no noticable pop-up during gameplay, loading times may be shorter on PS3, but you only have 1 loading screen so its negliable. Not to mention the 360 will have more content added later in the year, making your money go further.

Jakg - the old ones make fantastic media servers, thats what mine does now, cheap as chips, easy to throw a 200gb HD in, reliable, and some great media software released for them. Added bonus of retro gaming when you want, emulators for them are well developed.

http://www.gamestation.co.uk/images/category/pre-owned.asp

They're fairly good prices for second-hand consoles. Atleast you got a better chance of it working, whereas if you got one from Ebay you haven't really got a clue.

I bought an old XBOX off my brother for £20 a couple of years back, it was a dodgy console but it worked, most the time and Forza1 was great fun.

I only recently played on a XBOX360 last week and I was quite impressed. Forza2 was a blast. COD4 wasn't bad, I just hate FPS games on consoles. Online play was also pretty smooth on both of those games.

I played on a PS3 most of the summer last year and I was also impressed. Motorstorm was good, F1 2007 was shit. Tiger Woods 2007 was facking brilliant, I hate gold but it's such an addictive game. Not tried PSN, but it seems that it's not brilliant.

If you're going to be buying some sort of racing game then I think you should buy the 360, Forza2 is pretty damn good. I've heard GT5 is not really that much different from GT4 physics wise so it fails.

I've not used a Wii at all so I won't comment on it.

Whatever you get, I'm sure Mrs B and Emmy will use it... If you let them!

360, because PS controllers just plain suck. Always have, always will

It's a good competition. But i would say get the Xbox because it generally has a more enjoyable online experience and right now there aren't too many interesting games for PS3. Also the xBox will have DLC, but PS3 won't.

I've been planning on buying a console for a while, but I've been waiting for them to drop in price a bit. For me it's Xbox 360 all the way, but I guess it depends what sorts of games you like. In the end the draw of being able to program on it with C# is too much to turn down. Also add Fallout 3 into the mix and I'm well and truly sold.

Friend of mine has both the PS3 and XBox 360. I go to play at his place A LOT and he has plenty of good titles for both consoles. However, every friend of mine (including himself) agrees that the PS3 is very rarely played. It really seems worthless in many respects. About the only time we actively use it is to watch Blu-Ray movies.

He has a very professional setup, much like a small home theatre... with 110" of display using an expensive HD Projector, all hooked up with HDMI. So concerning quality of both consoles, both are pretty much exactly the same. However for ease of use and ability to get friends playing when they come over, the Xbox 360 wins outright. The PS3 is lame, and Blu-Ray movies are nothing to scream an orgasm about, it is just a better viewing experience if you have a massive screen. I still get pleasure out of watching normal DVDs on an average TV, so what gives? You gotta have a lot of cash to throw around to make Blu-Ray worthwhile.

Go with the XBox 360. We have GTA IV ordered, and I am sure it will be a blast to play. Forza 2 is good fun, Rockband, Army of Two is fun for Co-op play, Worms to play with friends is also fun.

Oh and Bladey, if the ladies are asking for a Wii, they will love it a whole lot more than any other console, I guarantee that.

360 is cheaper ... the newer consoles have better reliablitly, GTA 4 has exclusive downloadable content on 360 .... but what other games do you want.

360+GTA, its the cheapest and best package. Play.com do an Xbox 360 premium with GTA4 for only £200.

GTA4 won't be out on the PC for a long long time, if ever, because Rockstar have said they doubt they will even make a PC version of the game. I expect thats a backlash against the modders that posted an early version of GTA4 before the release date.

Both will have its fanboys...

I think technically the PS3 is newer, and a tiny bit more "up to date"

TBH I would go with what the majority of your friends have. Me and my friends have always had PlayStation.

I have both, but if I HAD to own just one, I would choose the xbox360, why?, I'll tell ya.

1) Achievements

Regardless of how you see them, achievements can extend the play time of most games, probably 10 fold.

2) Exclusive DLC

For GTA IV for definate, the xbox360 has exclusive DLC

3) Lack of installing

I find the way you have to "install" PS3 games a pain in the hole, sure if only takes 5mins, but this is a freaking console, I WANNA PLAY NOW!!!!!

4) Online

XBL is FAR better than PSN, the whole feel of XBL and the marketplace is much slicker than the PSN and PS Store, not only that, the XBL arcade games have demos, PSN don't

5) Graphics

Well, the PS3 wins this, but by a very small margin.

In summary, the PS3 maybe be technically superior, but the xbox360 is much slicker, and feels much more console like, it just works well.

I'm gonna elaborate on what danowat said, since he's got most of it down.

Console installs are gonna get more common now. On the PS3 it's because the Blu-ray drive is only 2x read speed, so it needs to preload stuff to avoid popups. The GTA4 install on the 360 was to help with frame rate issues (was that actually a fact? I kept hearing conflicting views). So unless you get the 120Gb HDD for the 360, I'm guessing as time goes on that the 20Gb one will fill up way too fast. At least the PS3 can use standard external drives.

I find the PS3's colour palette a little washed-out sometimes. I guess you could fix it by turning up the contrast or colour on your TV, but the screens for things like Uncharted always looked like they'd been taken slightly underexposed.

And remember the 360 is now approaching the end of it's life. It's got 18 months, maybe 2 years left tops. The hardware issues and lack of a standard HD disc drive will mean Microsoft will want to push the next Xbox out ASAP.

But then I wouldn't touch Wii Fit with a bargepole. £60 for a glorified gentle exercise DVD? Pfft. Could pick the same thing up off Amazon for a quarter of that, with a plastic step as a free gift

I find one of the big differences between the PS3 and xbox360 really wierd.

The "feel" of the console, it's interface etc, the xbox360 feels really "arcadey" and "console-like", it's slick, smooth, vibrant, all full of primary colours and plinky-plonky sound effects.

The PS3 one feels really coooooll and mellow man, all dark and moody graphics and swooshy sounds.

It's amazing actually how different they feel.

Even though the xbox360 is close to the end of it's life, I would go for it, it's cheap, loads of people have it, loads of games, top class online play (compared to PSN).

well al i can say i i wish i could advise you, ive had a ps3 and gt5: p plus a couple other games on order for 2 month now(way before gt5: p was realesed) and the company was supposed to have it in stock for 28 days today which is what they say is the max for delivery and guess what, its not here, but from spec wise if you can afford it get a ps3 for 2 good reasons 1: the hdd can be upgraded without voiding waranty 2: it dont overheat after 5 seconds like the 360(ok i dont know if they have fixed it but i still dont trust it) and (theres 3 actually) when you look at the posibilities of the ps3 including the blueray its great value when you think how much a blue ray player is alone

Never had my 360 overheat, and it's been on a number of times for 12 hours straight.

Another difference, PS3 = really quiet, xbox360 = really noisy.

My first 360 died the mother of deaths: a couple of RRoDs and an unreadable disc. Lovely Not had an issue since it was returned though.

Of course the heating issues are sorted now and it's fairly easy to check whether you have the newer small chipset or not.

I guess in the end it ultimately comes down to two factors: exclusive games and the feel of the controller.

I never got on with the PS controllers. Never have, even back as far as the original. But the 360's always felt perfectly sized and shaped for my hands.

And it's not hard to find the list of exclusive titles for each. Forza, Gears, Halo, etc for 360. MGS, GT, etc for PS3. The good news is that the best titles (CoD4, GTA4, etc) are available for both so that's not a big deal.

well best title for me = gt5 so i need a ps3 anyway but as for the chipset thing een though it has been fixed i still dont trust it, with the controller i have only played playstations so it feels normal to me and i like the controller, the only xbox control i have ever been able to use has been the 360 one but i still perfer the playstation one

Yeah, the 360 controller is nice, has a weighty quality feel, the sixaxis PS3 one feels like a cheap taiwanese knock-off.

lol disapoint me when/if i get the bleedin thing