I've been lucky to be able to purchase all 3, so lets start at the 1st one I got.
The XBOX 360!
Very nice to look at I must admit!Ill admit, the PS2 kicked ass over the original Xbox! The games were immense on the PS2 and to be honest, all the Xbox has was Halo. How times have changed.
When I got the console, I noticed how much of an improvement it was over the previous generation. I love the fact (and its the same with all next-gen consoles) you can turn on, and off, the console with the remote. Very useful if your a lazy bugger like me :p
The controller fits snuggly into your hands, and one plus point over the ps3, is that it is battery operated. You can either
a) use normal AA battery which you buy or
b) use the rechargeable battery kit. Each charger kit can fit two rechargeable batteries at the same time so thats very useful as well.
When u press the big 'x button' on the controller, you can also access the main console menu, sign into your profiles, switch on/off the console and also view how much battery power you have left.
The main Xbox 360 menu is also very slick, although the PS3 one does look slicker (PS3 menu is just like the PSP one!)
What about the hardware itself?
To be honest, its too soon to say. Im sure you've heard about the wonders of Gears Of Wars, and whilst it is visually AMAZING, deep down inside me I keep thinking that something better will come sooner or later once game developers can fully harness the power within the machine.
In aspect to that, its even more apparent for the PS3 with not that many games out...yet. Right now I find the Xbox 360 more visually pleasing, but its has been out an entire year longer then the PS3, and it took one year for Gears Of Wars to come out. Give the PS3 time and one game should be released that can challenge Gears, only time will tell.
Remember, the Xbox 360's launch titles were not that great either!
Something that annoys me about the 360 though is how loud the machine can get You get the impression that the internal fan is really suffering inside the machine! Compared to the PS3, it sounds like a monster truck (ok..I exaggerate a bit..) but the PS3 is very quiet.
I also worry more with the Xbox 360 overheating then the PS3 so I invested in a 'fan-platform'. It cools the machine whilst holding it in place which is very useful.
What you see above is one of the awesome accessories you can purchase for the 360.
That is the Xbox Live Vision camera. Supposing you download one of the games available online (like UNO), you can put that on and see yourself on screen, and the other you are playing online. Very cool! In one specific game, Rainbow Six Vegas, you can take a picture of your face and 'map' it onto your game character!
One thing which the 360 dominates on is their online action. This, is simply put, amazing. It adds entire new dimensions to your game. Bored or finished with the story mode? Log on, and blast your way through some mates online.
Xbox has a huge advantage over the PS3 in that their online play was implemented with their original console, and it proved popular even then. They have had years to develop it. PS3, if wise, should stick the basics shows on the 360 if they want to combat that.
Take note that online isn't just for downloading games. You can download add-ons for your games, patches, updates and so forth. Game demos are also available.
If you wanted to be really cunning, you create another account (done by setting up a new Hotmail Account) but registered in the States. This is done so, your main account, will be 'registered in Singapore' (technically speaking...Xbox live isn't available here...) for gaming. This way you don't acquire much lag because your more likely to connected to local servers...not American ones.
The American one is for downloads only available in the States. Every day, more and more are added. Movies...tv shows and so forth. The best part is, the movies are HD! If you have a 360, or PS3, its advisable to buy a HD (high definition) tv to fully enjoy the graphics. Although we don't have HD-DVDs, you can still download the HD movies!
On both accounts though, you can also download 'arcade games', Mortal Kombat, Street-Fighter etc. Every month, more and more are added and I must admit, they are rather fun!
Ah but then comes the question of price.
To be honest, its alright. Anybody can log, and create, an Xbox Live account. To play online though, you have to pay. For those without credit cards, you can pop to your local gameshop and purchase a 'top-up' card. 3 months will set you back about RM80. I find it more worthwhile to purchase a one year card for about RM199, but since its so worthwhile, you may find it hard to find!
Compare this price with that of World of Warcraft, you do save quite a bit more! Once you can pay that, you can play online with any of your games.
There are also Microsoft Points. These are needed to download the arcade games, movies and anything thing else that charges. You usually get a 1600 point card for about rm80. To download an arcade game will set you back about 300-500 points, so even though I don't buy much stuff in the market place, its nice to have the points just in case.
Don't worry, no points are needed to play online games (only the membership fee which I mentioned before - the 'top up' card). Just top up your account and you become an xbox live gold member.
The PS3 beats the 360 in one aspect of online play though..its 100 % free. With the exception of downloading movies etc, you can play any game you buy online. With this you certainly save money!
Should the PS3 online take off though, I wouldn't be surprised if a fee is charged, but with (apparently) close to a million people, extra, creating xbox live accounts following the release of Gears of Wars, you'll never be short of gamers to play with!
By the way, if you don't like wires, you can buy the 'wi-fi' add on for the 360. The PS3 though, only the 60 gig version, has inbuilt wi-fi! I've never liked wi-fi too much to be honest, so I tend to stick to my ethernet cables.
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