PS3 vs. 360 – Console Wars, week one
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Loading ...So, a week after setting up and installing the 360, I’m going to take a stab at comparing the two, at least a little bit at a time. This will be an ongoing experience , so I’ll keep this updated every once in a while.
When it comes down to it, both consoles are decent. The 360 has matured enough to consider it somewhat stable (note: it’s still not 100% in my eyes), no red ring of death (yet), no major surprises there. I’ve had the 360, like I say, for about a week, but so far, I’m impressed with it completely. Here’s just a brief overview of what I’ve seen, what I like, what I don’t like.
I’m not a fanboy of either system, so it’s not really hard for me to be unbiased and unprejudiced. Both have their ups and downs, and both have their unique points to them. This week, I’ll take a bit of time and go over hardware, customization, and controllers:
The ps3 is very, very customizable when it comes to hard drives themselves. One of the first things I did on the ps3 (within a few months) was upgrade the beast to a 320 GB drive. This way, of course, I wouldn’t worry about deleting downloadable content (demos, addons, network purchases, etc). Of course, I’ve eaten up a bit of that drive (it’s now got around 200 GB free), but that’s ok, I’m nowhere near the point of being worried about space.
The 360, unfortunately is NOT very customizable as far as the hard drive. Right now, from what I can see, you’ve got to purchase a hard drive specifically built by Microsoft, and those only come in 60 and 120 GB sizes. So, I can’t, say, purchase a drive from newegg and throw the beast in there. It just won’t work, which is pretty sad 
.
As far as controllers, I thought that getting used to the 360 controller would be a bit hard. I’ve never owned an X-Box of any kind (I really dislike the idea of giving away more money to monopolistic organizations), so I’m used to the ps2/3 (they’re virtually the same) controllers. I find, however, that the 360 controller was built a bit more for my larger hands, and it just feels more natural. Score one (at least for me) for the 360!
When it comes to “next gen” stuff, you expect more content, beefier stuff, more substance. Thusly, you’d think the dvd drives would be upgraded to some sort of “next gen” dvd player, right? Well, here, again, the PS3 outshines the 360.
Instead of putting in their proprietary HD-DVD player, Microsoft threw in a standard dvd player, which, quite honestly is a bit depressing. Take, for example the Star Ocean game, just put out by Square Enix (the final fantasy developers). This was one of the reasons I picked UP the 360 (aside from the obligatory halo, etc, but we’ll get into unique content in a later post). The game reminds me of an earlier FF, where you had to constantly switch discs for the ps. Guess what? 3 dvd’s worth of content. You lose one, you’re genuinely screwed!
The PS3, however, has done things properly here. You don’t get a dvd drive, but a Blu-Ray drive (and the only Blu-Ray drive you’ll ever need). This means your storage capacity for data (videos, music, etc) on the disc itself, and that means much, much better content from the developers!
Speaking of optical drives, what’s up with the SOUND on that 360 drive? My god, you could hear that thing from my bedroom. I swear to God it’s louder than my PC, and that sucker’s got a good 6 fans in it!!! The ps3? Nice and quiet. I just can’t get over that!
Now, let’s get into the power supply here:
The PS3 has the power supply built into the console itself. 360? Yeah, you’ve got to go back to a 90′s laptop sized power brick that’s just ugly, nasty, and crazy! More stuff to trip on is not a good idea!!!
Graphics are pretty much the same, both are superb on a 42″ plasma running 1081i native (though the 360 has few 720p+ videos available), and the sound, again, running through that plasma is just stunning.
The first week (hardware), the ps3 wins hands down. While the 360 is pretty decently put together, it’s loud, completely uncustomizable as far as the hard drive goes (without throwing Microsoft more $$$), and much , much louder than the PS3. Couple that with the (admittedly earlier) fire hazzards and system failures and you’ve got yourself a very poorly done system, at least hardware wise.
Next time around? Online content and profiles!! Check back later for that one!!!
Tom
