Happy Thanksgiving to all,

I think I am finally ready to buy a gaming console and have no clue between Xbox or Wii or PS3. The only thought I have is that with a PS3 I will have a blu ray player also.

If this has already been discussed on some other thread please just post the link.

Thank you all in advance

Sam

Denon 3808-M80s-VP150-QS4s-EP350v3

I get a lot of use out of my PS3 with gaming and Blu-ray. I haven't really touched my Xbox in a while. I find the Wii fun with other people to play with. As a solo gaming system it doesn't hold as much appeal as the other two.

My vote is for the PS3. It's a really good Blu-ray player. Does your receiver have an HDMI input?

Yes my receiver does have HDMI input. Thanks for the vote.

Just wanted to add that the Xbox is a very good gaming system. I haven't played mine in a long while because last Christmas mine developed problems and I ended up waiting months for the local Best Buys to restock it. Tired of waiting, I picked up the PS3 and have pretty much used it since. I'll get back to the Xbox--still have a few games I need to finish for it.

Either way, good deals can be found this weekend on any of those systems. Good luck!

For pure gaming I would say the Xbox 360, all around I would go with the PS3, it's a great Blu-ray player and more reliable than the 360, eventually the PS3 may catch the 360 as far as game content.

I still do most of my gaming on the 360, but now I do tons of Blu-ray viewing on the PS3. I still barely use the PS3 for games, but more games are starting to come out for it that I would play. I played the Wii a little at first, but it didn't keep my attention. I think if you always have groups playing, the Wii would be a great value, but for gamers like me who prefer single-player games, it's the 360 or PS3, with the advantage going to the 360 for its larger software library. The good thing about the PS3 is it's a lot more reliable. I've suffered the RRoD (Red Ring of Death) on my 360, and my sister also got one on the one I gave her. Definitely a design flaw, and they've supposedly adjusted their production, but it's still hard to know if they really fixed it or not. I mean, you're covered for 3 years as long as you get the RRoD, but if you have some other kind of hardware failure, you're only covered for a year (that's right, isn't it?).

Charles, I believe you are right about the one year, I'm not sure if the new 360's suffer from the same problems. I bought the 360 when it was first released and had the rings of death after about a year, they fixed it and I've never had a problem since.

My brother asked me the same question about a week ago. Basically, Homedad's answer summed up my own.

I wasn't sure about the 'current' state of the 360's reliability issues but after a lot of scanning of newsgroups, the 360 is much improved but still appears to be much more likely to have reliability problems than a PS3. Cooling can still be a factor with the 360 as well. The PS3 seems much more solid from the number of supporting comments out there.

General consensus was also that 360 has more, maybe even better, games but also the trend is shifting more towards having most games, except for a Console's 'trademark' games, coming out in multi-platform now.

PS3 with Bluray can be a huge factor for you or a total non-issue, depending on your intended use. Both can stream music & video and have access to downloadable games, TV and movies. XBox has the very popular Netflix service, unless you are in Canada.

The Wii has a very high novelty factor with it's movement sensitive controllers and the best price point. However, the graphics are VERY weak compared to the other two big choices and games are therefore purposefully "cartoony" as they can't develop for realism. I's lower processing power keeps the games more simplistic and some claim the novelty of the motion involvement wears out quickly as the games don't have the depth to go along with it. Others claim it's addictive. Again, probably a personal preference.

That being said, RockBand and Guitar Hero are no longer missing donwload functionality on the Wii anymore and Mario Cart is a super inexpensive way to get into a driving wheel and a genuinely fun game. And of course there is always the beckoning hope that eventually they will really come out with a Starwars game using Lightsaber controllers.

I personally went with the PS3 because of Bluray as I am a realy just casual console gamer (Ok, I admit I do play a fair bit of Rockband). Therefore the reliability, Blueray and it's at least equal ability to stream from my PC's music library were my main value factors. If I was a more active gamer, it might have been a more difficult decision.

Hope that helps.

Oh and also, I hear the Wii is already almost impossible to find around here this Christmas season. Not sure how far out that extends.

Without giving us preferences of the styles of games you like, it's hard to give you a definitive answer. My work is in games, so I tend to always have all of them around. I play games the most on the Xbox 360, but use the PS3 the most for watching films. (the obvious BRD player, but also not a bad dvd upscaler)

It's already here , and so are the Lightsabers. This website definitely won't help those with addictions to the wii, and I'm one of them. It's one heck of a lot of fun, and it's the only gaming console that I can successfully play a couple games on.

Cool, that just got added to my kids Christmas list.

I think the boxing gloves will be added to mine (for me) . My friends had better watch out then

I am sure you guys will laugh at me; but I do not know much about games. I like shooting at stuff and car racing type games. Grand theft auto and Call of duty type games would be high on my list to start of with.

So far from what I can find its between Xbox and PS3. I know PS3 has the bluray advantage but currently I do not own any BD discs and I am quite satisfied by the upscaling of regular dvds by my denon 3808.

Thanks for all the responses so far

I use the 360 for gaming much more than my PS3. I think the online multiplayer is WAY better on the 360.

However, I am glad that I have both consoles... and the PS3 is a great bluray player

I've found that people who have Wii only play it when they have guests around... It's a fun little system to have and give you an easy-to-get-into kinda experience that you won't find in any other system. The Wii really is the system for everyone. However, it's still just a playstation 2 generation console with innovative control and gameplay.

If you like more involving games that you'll play outside of partys, get an Xbox or PS3. Both are good systems. Check the games that you like best. Also, Terzaghi is right that multiplayer is much better on the 360 with a PAYING subscription to xbox live, but if you play any game online it's worth it.

I must say that whichever system you end up buying, playing Rockband with an Axiom system is an absolute blast!

Don't get tricked by SW: Clone Wars on the Wii, i figured it'd be fun given the obvious sword-like controls. But unfortunately it's just a mediocre 1 on 1 fighter. (rent it, if you HAVE to try it)

I am a fan of the 360 myself, tons of great games. If you are ever thinking about getting a Blu-Ray player in the future, with the PS3 you can kill two birds with one stone.

Yeah, the xbox live service isn't free like the PS network, but it is only $50 per year.

Sometimes less if you can get a good deal on a prepaid card. I really should have been doing prepaid cards for Xbox Live subscriptions and MS points from the start.

You can watch people sing The Who in karaoke bars for free, however spending the cash for a seat to see the real band is much more satisfying.

The PS3 online multiplayer stuff has improved, but it's still pretty hit or miss at times on features. Xbox standardized a lot of stuff that becomes pretty easy to take for granted. (Universal friends list, cross game invites/messaging, the party system, much faster patching/installing, voice chat channels that work across multiple games... you and I can play two different games and still chat online, etc.) The PS3 stuff has gotten better, but it's been a pretty slow ramp up for them.

Live subscribers also now have access to streaming Netflix. It's a nice upgrade from watching on your PC, but for us sound nuts it's a little lacking. (stereo!) However, it's not bad if you need to catch up on some documentaries.