Which console should I focus my purchases on- Xbox360 or PS3?

[Triskadancer]

Hello, Escapists. This is the first topic I have created myself. So, my 20th birthday has recently come and gone. To my eternal surprise, my aunt purchased me a PS3 without my knowledge, and a friend of mine is giving me his Xbox 360 (in return for my old DS Lite). Until now I have owned a Wii, a 3DS, a PS2, and my trusty PC, and I'm very excited to have these two new toys to play with.

Now, aside from (obviously) console exclusives, I need to decide which system to purchase games for. My main concerns are the console's physical stability (the RROD comes to mind) and a safe, convenient online store (with Sony's recent security debacle an unfortunate highlight).

So, Escapists, I ask you: if you've experienced both consoles, could you offer me some sage advice? Are there some games I should purchase on one system or the other in particular? Which system excels in each area? Are there any "must-buy" games you can recommend? I am a Nintendo noob humbly seeking your aid.

*Please note, I am not intending to start a console fan war with this post. I'm very excited for both of these systems and I don't feel that one is innately superior to another.

 

[the spud]

Wait, wait, wait...you got an XBOX 360 for a DS lite? hot damn.

OT: I would get portal 2 for the PS3, due to the steam support and everything. Everything else, space permitting, go for 360.

 

[Josh Laubscher]

Hahaha, this is flamewar gasoline!
Anyway, look around, watch gaming reviews and videos to find the few select games that you enjoy
but for must buy games? Well I have to say Infamous series and Demon souls. (Fuck yes that game is hard and awesome) Then for the Xbox 360 try Saints row 2 or wait till 3 and I enjoyed the Fable series a lot but I find not many others do.

 

[Triskadancer]

Wait, wait, wait...you got an XBOX 360 for a DS lite? hot damn.

OT: I would get portal 2 for the PS3, due to the steam support and everything. Everything else, space permitting, go for 360.

My friend is extremely wealthy and a bit spoiled. He actually has two Xboxes, and is giving me his "spare" (i.e. the one he bought to play while his first one was getting fixed from an RROD). So, yeah- not a fair trade, but he really wants me to play some games on Xbox Live with him, so it's in his own interest too, I guess. But yeah, I already have Portal 2 on Steam, so I'll definitely do that. Thank you for your input!

Hahaha, this is flamewar gasoline!
Anyway, look around, watch gaming reviews and videos to find the few select games that you enjoy
but for must buy games? Well I have to say Infamous series and Demon souls. (Fuck yes that game is hard and awesome) Then for the Xbox 360 try Saints row 2 or wait till 3 and I enjoyed the Fable series a lot but I find not many others do.

Yeah, I know. I'm really hoping it doesn't turn nasty; I'm honestly just looking for advice. Thank you for your advice- I have Saints Row 2 on Steam but it's horribly buggy on my PC so I'll definitely look into it!

There are good things about both consoles. If you like multiplayer, I'd go XBox. If you don't care about multi, it doesn't really matter, they both have good single player titles.

Xbox's multiplayer support was very attractive to me, yes. Thank you for the advice.

 

[Psycho Cat Industries]

Not a PS3 owner but here is a tip straight off.Unless you have an elite,hook up fans to that Xbox because it will melt.The kinect one is really bad with that.Also,you should be fine safety wise so long as you set up passwords which is a given.For exclusives,I think Dead Rising 2 is xbox exclusive,could be wrong,but Gears of War is THE chest high wall shotgun spree of fun gore and Halo is good if you like making maps and firefight.All else I can say is that you've got better graphics with that ps3 obviously and get little big planet games.

 

[Josh Laubscher]

Actually you know, both consoles have their own worth, I have both consoles, a computer for gaming and a PsP that being so the only thing I wont touch is a bloody wii. My point is, is that both consoles have their own little upsides, sure PS3 has good graphics! But often their exclusives can suck more balls than a hooker and obviously the xbox`s actual system is crap, what makes it worth having in my eyes is not the system but rather the games that are created for it.


Point being you can`t rely on other people to tell you what you like, even more so when you are reasonably new to todays console gaming, do a bit of research first and draw comparisons between games that you have played and you enjoyed on the PC to console games to know truly what you will enjoy.

 

[Nieroshai]

I'd focus on each console's exclusives, and anything they share, go for the one that has features for a console. Like there's often better PS3 content or Xbox Live features. Otherwise, go with the one you find yourself using more.