Console Decisions

[starstrider]

Halloo all! First post, and I'm looking for opinions and input.

I used to be a more hardcore gamer than I am now, though I'm getting back into things now. I grew up with Nintendo consoles as well as the sega genesis and lots of pc games. I'm mostly an rpg gamer, though I like a lot of puzzle and adventure games as well. Favorite games include nearly all Zelda games, TES: Morrowind and Oblivion (PC), Tales of Symphonia, Secret of Mana, Illusion of Gaia, Chrono Trigger, The early Final Fantasy's (I did like Crystal Chronicles some, though), the Myst series, Assassin's Creed, Portal (haven't gotten my hands on Portal 2 yet though!), and I'm sure there are a ton that are simply slipping my mind now that I thought were pretty frelling fantastic. (However, I do NOT play online games, at least I haven't yet. I really think the idea of paying to play a game is beyond ridiculous if I've had to buy the game to begin with. Yep, I'm one of those people. DX )

Anyway, besides my new desktop, which is a gaming powerhouse, I haven't had a new console since the Game Cube came out. I didn't have the money for an Xbox or playstations (early playstations didn't grip me much, tbh). But now that I have a job I'm really dying to get back into modern console gaming. Trouble is, I can't make up my mind. XD  Right now I'm between an Xbox and PS3.

On one hand, I really like the kinect and I have a bunch of Xbox-gaming friends, so the Xbox social scene might be fun. But. Being primarily a PC gamer, most of the games I would want to buy for the Xbox also come out for the PC, so I don't know that I see the point. While not being an original "lover" of playstation, I do like the line of games I've seen for the PS3--seems a bit more hardcore rpg from what I've seen, and I feel like while what comes out for Xbox and PC also comes out on PS3, the console-exclusive games tend to be PS3, so on that front it seems more worth it. But, still, I don't know. I'm waffling, I guess.

And yes, I've already ruled out the Wii. I'm just not attracted to the current game-line. When the Wii U comes out might be another story, though, if it's true about Nintendo wanting to draw back more "serious" gamers. (Read: if they come out with a new Zelda game for it, I'll practically have to buy it just for that game. I know, it's a tad ridiculous, but very true.)

So...what do you guys think? Am I right in my thoughts of Xbox vs. PS3 in terms of RPG gaming? Are there considerations that I haven't thought of?

Comments

[animeshon]

I have to admit that I am an Xbox fan-girl. I find the online nature of the Xbox a lot more fun than on the PS3 and Kinect is great fun.

I have slipped more and more towards gaming on my Xbox over my PC mostly simply because of the comfort issue seeing as I sit at a computer all day and work and it is nice to sit in an armchair and grib a controller for a change.

There are a lot of nice full-on RPGs coming out for the PS3 mostly I think because of Sony's history with RPGs. So far I've only found one or two titles I've wanted to play which weren't on the Xbox however.

[starstrider]

Yeah--if I started to play online at all, it would definitely more likely happen with an Xbox than any other console. I'm not currently interested in buying a motion-package like Move or Kinect, but I don't want to rule it out in the future and Kinect is definitely the best right now.

See, for me my next console will probably be situated in my room next to my computer, mostly because my monitor is HD and nicely-sized (23" widescreen). So, I'd still be in my desk-chair unless I decided to move things into the other room for a little while.

And that's it exactly--there's at least two games for PS3 only that I'm interested in. Like the Studio Ghibli one (Ni no kuni?) since I'm not interested in a handheld console right now.

Ugh, such decisions! DX

[animeshon]

I think the PS3 is slightly cheaper, at least it was over here because stores were having trouble selling them.

A lot of my attitude was formed by my ex-boyfriend to be honest who worked at EBGames and now its mostly what I'm used to.

[lassarina]

The 360 has two games designed by a studio headed up by Hironobu Sakaguchi (executive producer of Final Fantasy from I - X), both of which I enjoyed a lot. I own far more RPGs for my 360 than for my PS3, but I prefer old-style turn-based, and dislike action-RPGs. The PS3 has more ARPGs than the turn-based.

[starstrider]

Thanks. I guess I tend to like the ARPG's more these days (thanks to Morrowind and Oblivion, really), though I do enjoy the older turn-based ones from time to time. I have a feeling that I'll be getting a PS3 now, though.

[ashley]

I, personally, would suggest going for the PS3 if only for the fact that not only do they have awesome RPGs but it also doubles as a Blu Ray player. In my very humble opinion, there aren't that many good Xbox games that are exclusively Xbox.

I will add a little side story, however... My husband and I have always been Sony fans, however we decided to get an Xbox 360 Slim with our tax money. The thing scratched a disc three times, and we sold it. Each time we repaired the disc. Everyone says it's from the console moving while playing things, but we had the console secured ESPECIALLY after the first time it happened. We were on the OTHER SIDE OF THE ROOM playing games on the couch and there was no one near the console when the disc got scratched. Maybe a fly. I don't know if that influences your decision, but we sold it a week after we got it for ten bucks less than we got it for since we got it used on Craigslist anyway. So we basically spent ten bucks to play Fable, and said f the box and sold the thing because we were way too frustrated to deal with it scratching discs all the time. If I pay that much money for a console, and that much money for my games, I don't expect them to be ruined when nothing's touching or moving the console.

[starstrider]

That's kind of what I had thought, in lieu of Xbox-exclusivity. To be honest, my whole family has been really bracing against the BluRay move, so that doesn't matter a whole lot to me. It'll be nice to have a player "just in case" but I don't see myself buying a bunch of BluRay movies for it.

And yikes! Now, I know YLOD/RLOD is not an uncommon occurrence for Xbox, but how often/likely do PS3's have problems? I was reading something about disc drives failing in the "fat" PS3's fairly regularly, but I'm not sure how long ago that was and thus if that should actually concern me.

[cavocorax]

I have both consoles and both have failed on me. The Xbox had the RLoD 4 times, and each time it was a matter of calling Xbox and telling them, and then they would send you a box to ship it in, and you'd have to wait a few weeks to get it back. Everything was free, and taken care of.

The PS3 died once. It was harder for me to prove it was under warranty but I emailed my original receipt in and it was ok (so make sure you scan a copy of it as a backup if you're worried). If I hadn't been under warranty it would have been $150.00 to repair. The process was still the same - they sent me a box, and I got the PS3 back within 2 weeks. It wasn't as streamlined as Microsoft's procedure but I would assume it's because MS had had a lot more returns and experience than Sony.

I haven't had either console fail in the last 3 years. I think all of the bug are worked out by now. And I do have the "fat" PS3.

Also: if you buy the console from EBgames and you buy a warranty DO NOT LOSE IT. Sounds obvious, but I lost mine for the PS3 and they DO NOT keep a record of it in their computers so I basically paid $50 for nothing. My bf says not to bother buying the warranties anyways as you always pay more than should due to the low risk.

[noizemaze]

Me thinks if you bought a Slim used and it was scratching discs, odds are the original owner dropped it while the drive was spinning and screwed up the drive head. Then when they figured out it was scratching discs, sold it to you to make a quick buck. Nobody I know with the new S-model 360s have ever had disc scratches and all my discs look pristine. Granted, it could have been a defect, but it's not one I've seen personally.

[cavocorax]

Another good thing about the PS3 is that you have access to all the Playstation Network games if you want to go back and pick up the older Final Fantasy games. And you don't need anything extra in order to get it online. (Correct me, if I'm wrong but I think you need to buy a $70 wireless connector in order to give it wifi capabilities). We have both the PS3 and the Xbox but it seems like we end up using the PS3 over the Xbox for pretty much everything.

Good luck with your decision!

[pixelzomblina]

The kinect is great and everything, but I'm old school and like to stick with button mashing controllers. Especially if you're into RPGS, turn base or adventures. I'm sure the kinect wont do much for you there.

And like cavocorax stated, since you use to play a lot of the old school games, you could always download them again on the Playstation Network! I know you're not into the whole online gaming thing, but that's another reason you should probably get a PS3. I mean, it's free to get connected to the internet in case you get curious and xbox you have to pay for their services. And they're games if you want them. : ( I rather pay for them game, and as I don't get online often when my system, I love the convience to get on when I wish.

I haven't played much Xbox so I can't help you there. I just Playstation because they have a variety of everything. <3 Hope this helps...

And welcome! n_n

[starstrider]

Thanks!

Yeah, I know the Kinect would have very little sway over my current flavor of gaming, but I had been thinking about it more in terms of if I wanted to get into motion-gaming at all, Kinect is kind of The Way to do it. Like you, I'm a button-masher. XD

Do you mind my asking how much the old school games cost on the Network? It's not a consideration that will make or break my decision--I've pretty much decided already--I'm just curious.

The not-paying for PS' equivalent of Xbox Live services was an excellent point I hadn't heard before, so thanks for mentioning it. Since I really HATE the idea of paying to play, that was a big impact. =)

[pixelzomblina]

I feel so useful! n_n

And a lot of the Playstation games I've seen so far have been 9.99, and that's for FF VII and VIII. I think it's still that price, I haven't gone online in over a couple of months.

[chaosraven]

It might just be because most of my friends have an xbox, but I'm basically the other way around: I can get all the titles I'd want to play on an xbox so why bother with a ps3? Basically, the only thing that *would* have talked me into a ps3 over an xbox (ff13) ended up being cross platform, so. I guess the main exception is the Yakuza series, but since my friend has a ps3, I'll just be playing it with him. The games I am interested in playing: Assassin's Creed, Alice, Prince of Persia, etc are all cross platform.

There is a list on wikipedia that you can sort based on whether the game is exclusive to ps3, which might be helpful for you. Here.

[starstrider]

Thanks for the list! That was perfect. It has pretty much concreted the idea that I'll be getting a PS3 over an Xbox. See, most of the cross-platform games if I want at all, I'll probably by for PC since these days I am primarily a PC-gamer and since my computer is frankly pretty awesome, there's no reason not to go with it. But a lot of the PS3 exclusive games were ones that had been suggested to me, platform-talk aside.

[chaosraven]

I can't stand playing games on the pc! I generally really hate the control scheme. I think there have been two or three games that I've played, but I usually give them up pretty quick. So, PCs don't really factor when I think about gaming. Obviously, you don't have that problem. >D

[starstrider]

Yeah, some games I feel would be better with a console controller, so I bought a MadCatz Xbox controller to work with my PC, and it actually works pretty well. Occasionally I have to use XPadder or something to key-map the buttons if the game doesn't support a controller automatically. But I usually don't have much of a problem with keyboard controls. I tried Oblivion with a controller and it just didn't have the same organic feeling that the keyboard had, which sounds counterintuitive, but the keyboard really was better for the gameplay. =)

[kitters]

You already seem decided on a PS3, but the only reason I'd recommend the Xbox 360 would be for the online experience. But seeing as you don't care about that, definitely get a PS3. I've learned that Xbox 360s are apparently very cheaply made and tend to break after a certain period of time. I've gone through two of them in the span of about four years. Ugh. If I didn't already have a crapload of 360 games, I'd switch to the PS3 myself.

[starstrider]

Awww. =/ Yeah, my close friend and her husband are Xbox people and they have like five systems between them just from consoles dying, though he's actually pretty decent about repairing them if he finds the time. I'm hoping I won't have that sort of problem with a PS3--I know it's possible, but I haven't heard of it being very common. (Except I did read that one of the first models of the "fat" PS3 had common problems with the disc drive failing...)

[noizemaze]

I've read all the comments so far, and I'll say this. It all boils down to which exclusive games you want to play more. Contrary to what has been said, the new 360 and PS3 slim models are about equal in terms of reliability and build quality. The issues with older 360s overheating has been fixed with the new chipset and lower power consumption.

The main difference I've noticed is that everyone I know has problems of some kind with the Playstation Network: slow downloads and installs, network problems, and unintuitive interface. If you aren't interested in playing online, then it probably isn't an issue.

However, if you have the system to run all the latest games on the PC, then I'd probably recommend just sticking with the computer and skipping the console.