Should I Get an Xbox?

[Cody]

Pokecharms Community,

You have been a part of my life for several years now, and, as such, I know that your opinion is valuable. (I am so sorry.)

Anyway. This summer from my job, I've come in to a good amount of money, and since I have the fortune of not having to pay bills or for my food (yet...) I have some to spend. Before anyone jumps on the "SAVE IT ALL" train, I've been saving half (or more) of all of my paychecks this summer.

So, I wanted some opinions. Is it worth it to get an Xbox 360? I've already found a few in great condition off of eBay for incredibly reasonable prices. Should I get one and enjoy it, or hold off for whatever comes next?

 

[Doctor Oak]

If you haven't owned an Xbox 360 or a PS3 at all by now, the reality is that the PS3 at this point serves better value to you. It plays the majority of the same games as the 360 AND is pretty much the best Blu-Ray player you can get ('cos Sony monopolise the updates for it, thus making sure the rest fall behind).

Unless you have a hardcore need to play Halo, Fable or Gears of War, you're probably best getting a PS3 at this stage.

 

[Fumanshu]

The trick to buying consoles is to compare their libraries and overall features.

Now that the xbox360 and the PS3 have been on the market for a while its way easier than back then where people basically had to gamble and could just hope for new games.

The xbox360 started way better than the PS3, which lacked games for years. Recently with the advent of Kinect the 360 got WAY behind unless you're really into kinect stuff. Then you're golden with it.

PS3 has a bluray player, Xbox360 has cross game voice chat. PS3 internet is free, xbox360 costs you monthly.

One thing that is kinda special this gen is, that both the ps3 and the xbox360 share TONS of games. You dont see as many exclusives as you saw last gen on them. So owning both a 360 and a ps3 isnt worth it, unless you're crazy for the few exclusives and got money to burn.

Here's a list of the exclusives for each:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_vi ... generation)
You will notice that many xbox360 games are "CONSOLE" exclusive, which means that they are avaiable on the xbox but not on the PS3. So if you got a PC that runs new games thats something you should consider too.

I personally got a xbox360 early this gen, then sold it when I noticed that the PS3 got more games I prefer and when I noticed that many people I play with are on PSN.

Thats another thing to consider: Do you play online? Do your friends majorly own PS3s or xbox consoles?

 

[Brendan Savem]

I don't know, since I own neither console. I would normally say "save it all" since both consoles are due to be advanced quite soon, especially since they have to compete with the WiiU fever. Since you're not looking into that, we should look at some of the other aspects.

The Kinect is a great project, and it has such a great potential. It's just been let down by the sloppiness of having an awkward control scheme that would only work for party games. I do know that it can be improved, I have a few ways I would make it more "hardcore" as well, but that would be very unlikely to come about soon, especially if E3 was so recent and there was nothing of the sort by Microsoft. So by the time that they do improve the Kinect, it's time for the XGlobe or something like that. So don't pick the Xbox for the Kinect, unless you have siblings that would enjoy it.

The PS3 has been hit hard by the infamous hacking episode. Such an embarrassment would reduce the risk of it happening again, so security is something you won't have to worry about.

Like Fuman and Oak said, most of the great games out there appear on both PS3 and Xbox, with only a handful of exceptions. Playstation exclusives generally revolve around more unorthodox genres, Little Big Planet is only one example of PS3 hits that you can't get on an Xbox. Xbox however, is more stereotypical for having exclusive combat games, such as Gears of War and Halo, both are highly popular series, that are the main reason that the Xbox is such a success.

So I guess it boils down to one simple question I ask you Cody. What genre of games do you enjoy the most?

 

[Teapot]

Good points from all parties, pretty much echoes what I was planning to say.

Remember that waiting for a new console is all very good and well, but the potential is that you could be waiting a very long time. Sure, you might want the (very theoretical) Gamebox, but when the Gamebox 2 comes out, you can think "well, it'll be much easier to tell when the Gamebox 2 Slim comes out", and then wait for that, and then the next thing you know, they've announced the Gamebox 3. So you'll have to wait for that. And so on ad infinitum.

Although this is a very extreme example indeed, it might pay to think closely about what exactly you want. The fact that you're thinking of buying a 360 this late implies that you're probably not hugely big on jumping for brand spanking new hardware, for whatever reason. If that is the case, I would recommend you plump for one of the current generation consoles, which the others have discussed in detail, so I will be concise:

Make sure you know what you want in terms of games, and pick the platform whose exclusives (and hardware features) you prefer. When it comes to visual quality, etcetera, the two are surprisingly equal on most counts, so check which exclusives you'd prefer and judge based on that.

 

[Cody]

Thank you, everyone! You've all been a huge help.


I've never been big on FSP-ers, so games like Halo aren't a major concern...I've always preferred third person action games (GTA, Just Cause, maybe even inFamous) so it seems like the PS3 might be the better bet for me. The only drawback is that most of my friends have an Xbox, but really, I've never really liked people that much...

 

[Stark]

Most of my friends, myself included, either have just an Xbox or both consoles. I own both, and I've never actually had much of a use for my PS3. I use it for the occasional Blu-Ray and that's it.

I just figured I'd throw my bit in too~

 

[KoL]

Xbox 360 if you want a games console.

PS3 if you want a very shiny George Foreman burger grill for 10 times the usual price.

 

[Doctor Oak]

ITT: KoL still lives in 2006.

 

[Fumanshu]

KoL is obviously jealous of my fullHD Burgers.

Here is the mentioned grill:

And here is one use for the typical RROD'd xbox360

Might actually make one of those. I need a stick for xbox consoles.

As you can see, even when your consoles die they offer tons of possibilities to still use them!

 

[KoL]

Here is the mentioned grill:

Blu-ray Burgers FTW.

/troll

Honestly, the choice boils down to what you prefer: games with guns, or Blu-ray. If you prefer guns and mind-numbingly redundant violence, get a 360. If you prefer Blu-ray and a wider library of genres, get a PS3. For me, the cost of Xbox Live compared to PSN being free is a pointless argument since the cost of Xbox Live (£40 for one year of XL) is so negligible it might as well cost nothing.

 

[dafg 猫君]

No really don't get one, better get a ps3 but xbox never, they get too hot and you can consider the kinect, but is not worth it, really

 

[LuthioXD]

I think I should buy an X Box Slim. No Red Ring of Death and stuff ensures no waste of money. Atleast that's what I hope to buy along with [glow] Halo Combat Evolved 10th anniversary[/glow].

I am a hardcore Halo fan (but Pokemon is the best) and even though I don't rule the game, i still like multi-player and online features.

 

[james90]

I agree with you, even PS3 have blue ray which i like most.

If you haven't owned an Xbox 360 or a PS3 at all by now, the reality is that the PS3 at this point serves better value to you. It plays the majority of the same games as the 360 AND is pretty much the best Blu-Ray player you can get ('cos Sony monopolise the updates for it, thus making sure the rest fall behind).

Unless you have a hardcore need to play Halo, Fable or Gears of War, you're probably best getting a PS3 at this stage.

 

[Coreysawrus]

Personally from an experience of owning both a PS3 and Xbox 360 I honestly prefer playing on the PC but the problem is if you are wanting lots of games you'll need to either buy a gaming computer or keep buying upgrades for your computer but its also a good thing because you can upgrade it so it is better than a console and it would be cheaper in the long run than an Xbox if you are wanting Xbox Live.

PC gaming has been around for a while so you can get a few of your old favourites also once you install a game the disc isn't of too much use so you can trade the game in and get some money back.