XBox or PS3

[jont]

Santa is thinking of bringing shorty either an XBox or a PS3 Slim but not sure which route to take. We have a shed load of PS2 games already so leaning to the PS3.

But.... would it be better to get the XBox and a handful of games or the PS3 and a few bundled games as the price difference on the consoles is quite significant now.

Harry Hill would have a fight but he is not here and time is running out so any thoughts most welcome.

[leehack]

PS3 IMO. Their online network is free, its a bluray player and the controllers on an xbox are 1980's hideous compared to the playstation. The slim has only just come out, £50 cheaper than what it was before and you get the dual shock and a much bigger hard drive as part of it. No contest for me.

[Darren B]

My advice is look at the games before you buy

I agree with Lee now the price has come down a bit, Santa brought ciaran a 360 last year as this is what his cousins and friends have, he still plays it alot which is always good, although he is well into the laptop and halo these days.

I think you need to decide what you want out of it, xbox now has skyplayer so you can watch some of them if you are already a subscriber but no blueray player

make a list of what you want

[Cheapprices4u]

remember only the OLD ps3 60 gig i think it was played the ps2 so dont use that as a deciding factor

im looking aswell here is my list so far

ps3 - streams anything from any folder to tv
blu ray already got one ;(
not huge games fan
controller not bad for kids

xbox 360 - cheap
can stream to tv
controller HUGE for kids little hands

Wii - can stream to tv
kids and the adults will play
more a family/non gamers setup IE: not too serious


so my list would be
1 . Wii
2.ps3 slim 120 ( hard drives can be upgraded later if you run out)
3. xbox 360 due to price

but check what his family and friends have, as then they can compare scores, play against each other and swap games.
no point being only kid with that console

[Mike Hughes]

The wii is good for fun, interactive family games. If you want to play serious games in High Definition then you're looking at the PS3 or Xbox.

Both are good games machines and either will probably be fine.

It really all depends on whether the PS3 advantage of having a blu-ray player is good for you and whether there's a star game you want that's only available on one of them.

Mike

PS. Another plus point for the Wii is the BBC Iplayer. The picture quality isn't great but definitely watchable. I spent a while this week sorting out a nice long ethernet cable so I could connect it to the router only to discover that I needed a Wii Ethernet adapter to plug into it's USB port. Then I discovered it had wireless built in. Another plus point.

[TraceyHand]

but check what his family and friends have, as then they can compare scores, play against each other and swap games.
no point being only kid with that console

this is a very valid point, IMO

We have both in our house (well, hubby does) but the boys only have Xbox 360s and all Jake's mates play on a 360 so he can play/chat online with them plenty (like, all day every day )

The PS3 definitely had the advantage for what is 'included' with it. Blu-ray and built-in wireless (the adapter for the 360 is still pricey) being 2 potentials pluses.

The Xbox 360 is still a winner in this house, once it's set up with all it's extras (and my 6yo has no problems with the controller) however I think that if we started from scratch, it'd probably be the PS3 that won.

The Wii is a different beast altogether. It's more of a 'toy' than a serious games machine although that can be a huge plus as it encourages 'play' rather than the more serious 'gaming' that the Xbox and PS3 are known for.
I love my Wii!!

I think it depends on what you want your son to be using his games machine for, really. And that's something only you can decide.

[Paragon]

Wider range and variety of games for the X-box than PS3.
PS3 games tend to be aimed at more serious gamers and older kids.

[leehack]

In the interest of reducing square eye syndrome and lack of fresh air, i'd suggest getting the exact opposite to what ones mates have is a very good idea.

[TraceyHand]

In the interest of reducing square eye syndrome and lack of fresh air, i'd suggest getting the exact opposite to what ones mates have is a very good idea.

which is why I left that decision open lol

[Darren B]

PS. Another plus point for the Wii is the BBC Iplayer. The picture quality isn't great but definitely watchable. I spent a while this week sorting out a nice long ethernet cable so I could connect it to the router only to discover that I needed a Wii Ethernet adapter to plug into it's USB port. Then I discovered it had wireless built in. Another plus point.

yep and my wii wireless adapter went tits up 13 months after we brought it, i have not bothered connecting it back to the internet yet, to be honest i cant decide wether to by a new wii wireless card or just buy the lan adaptor. The first is harder as its a strip down but no wires the second means running more lan cables, no biggy but i like to hide them so takes time.

so jont i hope you are ven more confused now

[pnagames]

for a Family Wii is the best console hands down

especially if you have young kids. most of the game sthey have produced are aimed to the little ones (similar to DS) but there are more and more games coming out for the serious gamers

if its between PS3 / X360 then in terms of games there is not much difference these days. some of the games go exclusives to either console (GTA to x360, ratchet on PS3) but most of the them are released in both formats

[george]

Might be worth looking into the Sky Player bit of the xbox too, like getting a free subscription really if you already have Sky of course. Is there youtube and radio on there too now? I really should pay attention.

The thing with wii is good that it encourages kids to keep active, nothing wrong with that in my experience, although, I imagine it will be a pain when the family games need err, more than the one family member to play.

I've never had a ps3 so cannot comment on 'em.

I still think that Blue Ray is a washing powder.

[jont]

so jont i hope you are even more confused now

Yep... all I wanted was 10/10 votes either way and I would have been sorted .. now look at the additional stuff I had not even considered

Thanks though everyone - looks like I have to take a look at the Wii as well as the other info on the original two.

[wesleythorne]

we have the ps3, bought the original model neary 2 years ago, still going strong and its on everyday, blue ray is great, playtv is good for about £60 extra, alows you to record and watch tv onto hardrdive, bit like sky plus. I use it to watch freeview, the quality of the output for tv is second to none highly recomended. You can play games whilst recording tv as well which is a plus.

PS3 also now has a download video option where you can hire or buy films.

Bluetooth built in, connects to my mac laptop so you can view photos video etc.

Built in wifi works very well.

Built in BBC iplayer which is superb quality, almost as good as the real thing and very slick.

Web browsing but built in browser is a bit lacking

Sound quality is excellent through optical output.

Some of the vest ps3 games can be had very cheaply now, take a look on Zavi or Game, unless you need the latest game you can get them for £10 or less

There are some family games including the rock music thing but as i dont have kids i like to fight and drive fast!

recommend resistance 2 (good shoot um up), pes2010 if you like football, even if you dont like me its quite adictive, motorstorm is a good racing game

Nintendo if you have liitle kids or like mario cart, has to be the best game

if you play games online then the ps3 network is free unlike xbox where you have to pay per month to play against others.

wes

[TraceyHand]

Can I just add something that is definitely worth noting? the Live marketplace on the xbox.
There are hundreds and hundreds of game demos, movie trailers and suchlike which can be invaluable for trialling games before forking out £40+ for them. My 6yo's xbox has dozens of demos and he only owns a select few game discs chosen from the demos he plays most/best.
The PS3's version (or the Wii's) doesn't come close, IME

Plus, re the blu-ray, all very well if you plan to fork out for blu-ray discs anyway.
The Xbox does have downloadable movies (and this area is, I believe, due for expansion) where you can download and view movies, like hiring them.
This too is a big money saver.

These 2 reasons are the main reasons why there are 3 xbox 360s in our house!