XBOX vs PS3
Advice please!
As you may, or may not, be aware, my husband and I separated earlier this month. One of the things that he is choosing to take with him is the PS3.
My boys (aged 9 and 11) love the PS3 and in particular a game called Little Big Planet in which you can build and design your own levels.
My dad has very very kindly offered to buy them a replacement console and we are now wondering whether to go for a new PS3 or whether to go for an XBOX?
@DrewParky @LegoBloke and @Spences10 are all very clear on the fact we should go for an XBOX!
However, Little Big Planet isn’t on XBOX although I’ve seen a game called Create which I wonder if is similar?
So – what’s the verdict – which games console should we go for and why?
Firstly, what an arse taking the console with him! Secondly ps3 is really good but the kids all seem to prefer x box. I have a 13 year old with an xbox and a 12 year old with a ps3. If they are going to game interactively online then it depends what all their friends have.
Little Big Planet is far more suitable as a childs game though.
I dont know why im posting this because i actually cant decide myself…speaking as a Mother of 2 boys and not as a gamer.
Lol! But thank you – a mother’s opinion is always worth having!
Ok Curls, here is the deal,
Xbox used to be quite a “grown up” console. but I think that attitude has been well and truly dropped, thanks to the introduction of Avatar based games (like Mii’s on the Wii) and especially now with the new Kinect; it allows people to play using their bodies to interact with the game on screen! The boys will LOVE this! Trust me! 😀
Best wishes from your gaming friend,
PARKY (@DrewParky)
Do you know that I actually love you for using a semi-colon?
Well that’s a bit bloody selfish! Sorry, none of my business, but what a git! I would get the Xbox 360 any day of the week. And I’ce recently surveyed the children I teach about games consoles & the Xbox 360 was the top choice.
Brilliant, thank you for that x
When it comes to specifications the PS3 is the superior console. To be able to play/interact online on the Xbox you have to pay £40 a year and if you want to play through wireless you have to buy an adapter where as the PS3 is free to get online and has wireless built in all ready to go. The PS3 is an all round entertainment machine enabling you to not only play games but is also a BluRay player, something that you would pay the price of a PS3 for if you want a decent one. You can also remotely stream straight to your PS3. You will also in maybe one year, two, three years, definitely eventually have the red ring of death, which sends your Xbox to the big arcade in the sky.
As a family console I would go for a Playstation every time and even if it was given to me I wouldn’t have an Xbox. Nothing but trouble and a waste of money.
Wow you really don’t like XBOX do you! Can see I’m going to have to keep reviewing this x
The newer xbox models have the wifi built into them now
and the wheel of death is a thing of the past now also with newer models
You can get xbox Live Gold for less than £30/year from Amazon.
What a dick!
Anyway about your dilemma, if the kids are used to the ps3 and love that game do you think they will always be comparing it to the ps3 if you get the substitute on the xbox?
Like previous comments both my wife and I thought the xbox was a more mature gaming platform until we played the kinect thingy round my brother’s on Christmas day, we went out and got one the next day on the strength of that.
The whole family loved it, even my mother wanted to have a go, and after playing said it was excellent (she didn’t like the wii, but for some reason loved this)
from what I have seen the ps3 equivalent is much more fiddly to configure each time you want to play, the kinect recognises you straight away so no need to do the little configuration dance each time you want to use like what you have to do with the ps3
Lol thanks Spence! In his defence he does have 2 boys too so one of us was always going to have to replace the console, it just happens to be me which isn’t all bad as it means we get the chance to make a choice.
We’ve just looked up the game called Create and it looks a lot like Little Big Planet so the boys are leaning towards XBOX now
x
I have no experience of Xbox but the PS3 is an amazing bit of kit. Russet-headed boy can’t get enough, although the games he plays are not the sort you’re after. He really likes the online aspect.
The Kinect thingummy for Xbox looks exciting though.
I was half way through leaving a comment on here when I realised that it was turning into War & Peace! I’ve emailed you with some advice instead! I hope you find it useful… 😀
I think I love you…. Bless you for doing that, great email, would have made for my longest blog comment EVER! lol. Thanks again, you’re a star x
No problem at all. I’m just sorry it took so long for me to comment. While I was too late in giving the advice, I’m glad I was able to reaffirm your decision!
I’m going to share with you the excellent comment which I received via email as I think it is relevant to anyone else who is making the choice:
In my opinion, here’s what you need to be considering:
1. Do you and the boys watch a lot of films?
From a proper geeky point of view (that’s me!) there’s no denying that the PS3 holds the trump card here with it’s amazing built in blu ray player. This is definitely for people who really appreciate films and want to watch them in the highest quality, with the best sound and picture possible. Stunning stuff. But…..the Xbox 360’s built in dvd player can upscale your dvd collection to near enough HD quality. So unless you were an uber film geek (me again!) you honestly wouldn’t notice the difference.
* Will the boys be looking at playing any games online?
If we are talking quality of online gaming and overall experience, the hands down winner here is the Xbox 360. Microsoft paved the way for online console gaming in 2002 when the original Xbox was launched, and Sony have been playing catch up ever since. So whether you pay £39.99 a year, or the £5.99 monthly subscription if you’re more of a casual online gamer, you do get the best online gaming experience. For example chat features, party invites, faster downloads.
However, I believe Sony are closing in on Microsoft, and if online gaming is only something which you and the boys will be doing every now and then, it may be worthwhile considering the PS3 and their free Playstation Network service. Unless you don’t mind paying £5.99 for a months subscription to Xbox Live that is. Another huge factor here, although probably not so much given the age of your boys, is ‘what console does my friend have!?’ If all of their friends have got an Xbox 360/PS3, they WILL want to play online with them, regardless of any subscription costs.
* Will you want Kinect or Playstation Move?
If the answer to this is yes, then neither of them are cheap!
The Kinect Sensor bar with a game is roughly £130 at the moment. Considering the 250gb Xbox 360 itself can be bought for approx £160-£190 this is a tad expensive! There are plenty of deals out there that bundle the Kinect in with the console, be aware though that a lot of them are advertising the 4gb console. 4gb is not a great deal of space to store stuff on, especially when you’ve got 2 lads playing on it! So I would personally focus on the deals which include the 250gb console as opposed to the 4gb one. Kinect itself is like nothing I’ve ever played. Amazing stuff! You don’t even need a controller, as you are the controller! There’s a really good mix of family friendly games for it too. If you do decide on Kinect though you will definitely need to make sure you’ve got plenty of space for it to work effectively. Microsoft reccommend that there should be a MINIMUM of 8 feet space for 2 people and 6 feet for one person playing. That’s a heck of a lot of room!!
Playstation Move requires an Eye Camera (approx £23) and a Motion Controller (approx £32) to play all ‘Move Enabled’ games. However, some games will also require a Navigation Controller (approx £23). Obviously your boys are going to want a controller each, so the best way to do this would be to buy a Move Starter Pack at approx £45 – this includes the Eye Camera and a Motion Controller, and will save you roughly a tenner compared to buying them on their own. Then buy another Motion Controller. If the games the boys want require the Navigation Controller, then obviously that’s another £46 on top. Move is a great bit of kit, it takes what made the Wii so popular with motion gaming and shifts it light years ahead. It’s so much more reactive than the Wii too. You really can’t compare the two.
Unless Kinect/Move is something which the boys really want, or they’re included in a really good bundle deal, I would hold on from spending any more money. But that’s just my opinion…
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There you go! I honestly think that’s all you need to consider, and whichever you choose you will be buying a top of the range console with some amazing games and accessories available. If the boys have already had a PS3 and are familiar with the games, then maybe it’s a foregone conclusion, but don’t rule out the Xbox 360.
Oh, and another bit of advice for you. When you come to buying the console, always buy it in a bundle with other games/accessories. It always works out much better value for money. And don’t be afraid to haggle on the games included in the bundle. When I was at HMV and Gamestation if there wasn’t a game that somebody liked in the bundle, and this meant they were going to walk away and not buy it, the majority of the time we would be able to substitute the game in the bundle with any other game in the shop, a long as it was the same price. It’s always worth asking….
Yeah, I agree – there was a bit of a scene in game when the shop wouldn’t package up a 250 console as the bundle and instead was trying to give me an expandable memory addon. I insisted on the 250 gig model, think Microsoft want to get rid of all the 4gb models, that’s why they are bundled with the memory
I am not much of a gamer, but hubby wanted to change from out PS2. We had the same dilemma. We eventually went for the Xbox 250 hard drive, and whilst we may not use it much now, like with all new bits if kit you grow into it…..and fast. I read a review possibly on Amazon of someone who bought the 4gb hard drive at Christmas and they were already replacing the hard drive. We shopped around a bit and the best offer earlier in the month was comet, but I think Stuart was saying Tesco is now a good option. He is still asleep as he worked nights the last few nights but I will ask if for any other pointers.
Sorry to hear about your split, and how mean of your ex to take the PS3.
I bought my 9 year old son an xbox for Christmas. If it was for me, I would have brought the PS3 as it’s technically superior; however, as all of his friends have an xbox it made sense to get him one too.
Now, when his mates come over, they bring their controller and play multiplayer. They also play online against each other too, and they all have the headsets too, so chat to each other at the same time (but you do need xbox Live Gold to do the latter).
We went XBOX in the end, thanks for the tip re Live Gold x
Ah,you decided. A month on and Stuart still likes his. Not being a gamer it is all the same to me,but the graphics are very good. Does anyone know do they make Monopoly or Scabble for the xbox?