Ok well my family will be moving to a new house and we will be getting the whole 9 yards with an LCD tv, bose surround sound and all those kind of goodies.

My question for you guys is what would be an overall better choice between the 360 or ps3? We will be getting a blu-ray player if not HD-DVD player in addition to the system if the 360 would be the decision.

I would like a system that could possibly be used as a media center (Bose sound may come later) and a great system overall. I like FPS and some puzzle games. Lair for PS3 looks sick and would be looking forward to play COD:4.

I just don't know which I should pick. The 360 has the good online player but what about the PS3? Is online play just as popular and easy to use? What is the deal with downloadable games on the PS3? Also as far as games go what would I expect to see coming out in the future for each of those systems?

My personal opinion if you want a media center... would be the PS3. PS3's are more reliable, online is free, they have the option to install Yellow Dog Linux and VLC player, which will handle native HD video quite well from what I understand. Also the HDD is fully upgradeable to a laptop HD, the PS3 has excellent bluetooth/USB connectivity, blu-ray built in with no addons required. In terms of format, blu-ray is clearly emerging from the HD-DVD/blu-ray battle with more backers and dominating sales:

The Product Wars fought on Amazon.com

Not to mention the HDMI is upgradeable via software. So when a new HDMI standard is released, Sony can simply apply the update via software to the PS3 HDMI port. The 360 HDMI is hardwired at version 1.2 and is not upgradeable via software.

You might call me a fanboy... but not how you think. I don't own a PS3. I own a 360. My first 360 died in five months. If I didn't have an extended in-store warranty, I woulda been SOL. I have never talked to anyone knowledgeable that had a negative word about the PS3 hardware. About the only advantages the 360 has is more exclusives and the ability to create game backups after flashing the Xtreme/iXtreme software. If playing online is important to you, it should be noted that playing 360 backups online can result in a ban at any time. There are a lot of ways MS has to detect game backups over XBL. You may get banned right away, or not at all. It's anyone's guess really. There is no bootloader for PS3 currently. It has been rumored to have been in the works for a long time, I've heard anywhere from the end of the year to indefinitely as far as a timetable. Don't count on it coming out anytime soon.

VLC has a pretty good amount of native support, including all the basics.

VLC - Features

The only downsides to the PS3 are no upscaling of Standard def files to HD, which the 360 won't do either. All in all, for media center capabilities, the PS3 wins hands down. The only advantages the 360 has are a bigger game library and the ability to use backups. Starting at square one, I would choose a PS3.

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Having both consoles, I rather stick to the PS3. For many reason, besides gaming. Another thing about the PS3 is that, its not even tapped into yet, plus the exclusive for next year is unreal! My first 360 died about a year and 3 months after I got it. Kinda sad, cause I modded the case so... the warranty didn't apply. Now I got a Elite, overall is good, but I dont play on it much, worrying it will follow the same faith as the one before.

If you want games, get the PS3, since it will have more exclusive/games by the mid of 2008. But if you want online game play, get the 360. I just hate those annoying kids on XBL. The PSN have that too, but oh well, at least its not that annoying as XBL.

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Xbox 360 - 2 Games - 2 Controllers - 120GB Elite - Dead
PS3 - 23 BD Games - 13 PSN Games - 9 Controllers - 320GB - Alive
Wii - 6 Games - 4 Wiimotes - Alive
PC - Overkill - God like :]

Gaming Generations | XnogarD Production - Soon!!!

So much information! So as HDMI improves the cables will not change but only the way the display works will? Also as far as installing Linux on the PS3 does it void anything or is there a chance of "bricking" the PS3?

For VLC to work you need Linux installed is what I am seeing...How do you like "switch" between the PS3 game mode and Linux? The PS3 has the same kind of interface as the PSP doesn't it?

Can songs/CDs be burned to the PS3 for playback?

Installing Linux does not brick the console, since I have done it so many times, also messed up so many times, lol. To switch to Linux on the PS3, you will have to change it to Boot "Other OS" and to go back to Linux, you have to type "boot-game-os" in the terminal.

The PS3 have XMB, so yeah, same as the PSP. You can copy CD to the PS3 harddrive, which also includes burnted disc.

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Xbox 360 - 2 Games - 2 Controllers - 120GB Elite - Dead
PS3 - 23 BD Games - 13 PSN Games - 9 Controllers - 320GB - Alive
Wii - 6 Games - 4 Wiimotes - Alive
PC - Overkill - God like :]

Gaming Generations | XnogarD Production - Soon!!!

Oh so Linux isn't that hard to get working on a PS3. Also good to hear about the CD capabilities.

Now from another post I have heard that the lowest version of the PS3 (40GB) could have some laser issues but the middle and high ones don't? Why is that?

Also if you can fit a laptop HDD why even bother spending the money on a larger built in HDD?

I never heard of such issues as to laser problems on the 40GB. The 40GB lacks features which the 60GB and 80GB have. Besides the PS2 compatibilities. There are known issues towards "EA" games crashing/bricking PS3, not just a certain model but all models. Not sure why, but I would suggest to stay away from EA games. I got the 60GB, only cause it have the most "solid" features, such as backward compatibilities, wifi and the card reader. Also, I upgraded my HDD on it, so I can put more demos on it. Which I dont do, but instead put my collection of Naruto

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Xbox 360 - 2 Games - 2 Controllers - 120GB Elite - Dead
PS3 - 23 BD Games - 13 PSN Games - 9 Controllers - 320GB - Alive
Wii - 6 Games - 4 Wiimotes - Alive
PC - Overkill - God like :]

Gaming Generations | XnogarD Production - Soon!!!

I've only played the 60GB version. My friend got it the first time it went on sale for $100 off. I cannot believe the lag on Fight Night Round 3. Like 15 seconds just for the preview of each fighter to load when selected. Maybe that's the issue that leads to PS3 bricking. I have to get him to stop buying EA games. That really sucks.

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As for the laser comment you said yourself Here. As for the bricking would that be covered under the warranty? I would still like to play COD:4...

As for the demos...does the PS3 have an online store of such? Or do you go through the browser and download from there? Are they actual demos like you would see in the store or are some full fledge games?

As far as the bricking issue, I didn't know that about EA games. Your best bet is to just get a two year in-store warranty. At Wal-Mart it's like $30 for the two year service plan, full replacement with no hassle. I'm sure Best Buy and other chains have similar service plans. What's $30 or $40 on a $400 purchase? Honestly, the only EA game that doesn't totally blow nowadays is Tiger Woods golf, football hasn't changed since 2005, and the franchise/dynasty modes in college and pro are still not as deep as the PS2/Xbox/GC versions.

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