Before you ask, yes I have a similar thread in the PS3 forums. I have a 360 as well as a PS3 I thought I'd split this question between the two forums because I didn't think it'd be appropriate asking which PS3 games I should cut in the 360 forums. Anyway, due to recent unexpected and severe financial strains (car accident, if you must know), I can no longer afford my rather extensive list of preorder games. I need to cut at least one game, probably 2 to be safe, because I really do need that extra $60-$120. I can cut either from my 360 list or my PS3 list, I'm trying to decide right now. But for now please just give me suggestions on which of the following games I should cut:

Timeshift
Mass Effect
Army of Two
Guitar Hero
Fable 2
Blacksite: Area 51
Halo Wars
Fallout 3

Now I may end up not cutting anything from my 360 list, but because I HAVE to cut at least one game, I can't afford to take anything off the table. If I had to cut one of these games, which one would you suggest?

Due to recent unexpected and severe financial strains (car accident, if you must know), I can no longer afford my rather extensive list of preorder games. I need to cut at least one game, probably 2 to be safe, because I really do need that extra $60-$120. Here's a list of my preordered games:

Killzone 2
Metal Gear Solid 4
Devil May Cry 4
Haze
Assassin's Creed
LittleBigPlanet
Uncharted: Drake's Fortune
Soldier of Fortune: Pay Back

Any suggestions? What games do you think I could do without? Perhaps remove a shooter or two, since I pre-ordered so many? What do you think?

The point was to compare similar systems. It's not fair comparing the 80 gb PS3 to the 360 Arcade. I was just suggesting that the PS3, despite supposedly being the "expensive" choice is actually not quite as expensive as a fully loaded 360. Say what you want but the PS3 is just a better machine than the Xbox. How many PS3s do you know have gotten the PS3 equivalent of the red rings of death?

But like I said, while the PS3 has the 360 beat in terms of hardware, software's another story. Besides Final Fantasy and Metal Gear Solid I can't think of any other decent games coming out for the PS3. And that's where the PS3 is losing its money.

And by the way I'm no cow. Check my sig: I own a 360 Elite, and besides the games I've listed, I also own seven other 360 games, so it's not as though I say things about the 360 that I know nothing about. Having owned both systems I happen to know that despite the fact that everyone told me the PS3 was the expensive choice only for people with too much money I've actually spent a lot more on my 360.

Xbox 360 Arcade:
$279.99

Xbox 360 20gb Hard Drive:
$99.99

XBox LIVE 1 year:
$49.99

WiFi:
$99.99

HD-DVD:
$179

Total: $708.96


Playstation 3 (60 GB):
$499.99

PS3 60gb Hard Drive:
included

Playstation Network 1 year:
free

WiFi:
included

Blu-Ray:
included

Total: $499.99

Savings: $208.97

Assuming each game is $59.99, you saved approximately 3.5 games worth of cold, hard cash.

Even if we do this with the Elite it's still better. Let's see:

Xbox 360 Elite:
$449.99

XBox LIVE 1 year:
$49.99

WiFi:
$99.99

HD-DVD:
$179

HDMI Cable:
included

Total: $778.97


Playstation 3 (60 GB):
$499.99

Playstation Network:
Free

WiFi:
included

Blu-Ray:
included

Proprietary 120 GB SATA Notebook Hard Drive:
$99.99 (you can get them as cheap as $54.95 but just to prove my point I'm gonna go for expensive)

HDMI Cable:
$99.99 (You can these as cheap as $20, but let's just pretend you can't find any near you. As you'll soon see it's still cheaper)

Total: $699.97

And this assuming you massively overpay for your 120 gb hard drive and your HDMI cable!

Savings: $79

You don't save as much as you would vs the guy who tries to fully upgrade his Xbox 360 Arcade, but 79 clams is enough for a game plus some pocket change. The PS3 is looking to be a much better economic choice; ironic considering everybody seems to think that the PS3 is somehow the "expensive" choice. Not anymore, at least not for the people who want the full gaming and HD experience. But let's say you're really gimped. Well let's see, shall we?

Xbox 360 Core (not Arcade), Refurbished:
$220.00

20 GB Playstation 3:
$299.99

Loss: $79.99

So if you're absolutely strapped for cash, it's true, you can get a refurbished Xbox 360 Core for about 80 dollars less than a 20 GB PS3. But let me ask you this: would you trust that 360 not to red-rings within 2 days? It's a refurbed Core! That PS3, on the other hand, is NOT refurbed, and the PS3 in general has a reputation for being one tough machine.

I'd like to take time out to note that, by far, the Xbox 360 is the worst console on the market in terms of reliability. Let's face it, even we lemmings are forced to admit that the Red Rings of Death happen way too often for the 360's own good. But look at it in a different way: the Xbox 360 is still wildly popular despite its (rather significant) technical woes. Technical woes that, mind you, would cripple just about any of its competitors. Would you buy the Playstation 3 if it cost $600 and had around 30%-50% failure rate? Neither would I.

Just to clarify: I love my Playstation 3. Just because I love my console and the games I own on it, however, doesn't mean I'm not well aware that it will probably still lose the console wars. It's just a matter of coming to my senses. Unless Sony starts making radical changes to the Playstation Network, it won't be a new Xbox LIVE. And unless it gets its act together, not many besides the affluent or the extreme fanboys will be able to afford the Playstation 3 (or at least, have the patience to save up long enough to purchase one).

As for the Wii - I have never played it. Never seen it played ... ergo I can make no statements about it. All I can say about the almighty Wii is that it does not, at least on the surface, seem to appeal to my particular kind of gamer. It seems tailored to the kind of gamer who never used to buy a console (any kind of console), because they were uncomfortable with analog sticks and button pushing and trigger pulling. I might be wrong about that, but the Wii-mote really looks kinda gimmicky to me. But what do I know, I never tried it.

Not that I think it'll disappear the way of the Dreamcast (may it rest in peace). But it will be relegated to struggling to catch up, much like the Xbox was last generation against the all-mighty unbeatable PS2.

Before I start I should mention that I own both consoles and in fact bought the Playstation 3 first, followed by an Xbox 360. So it's not as though I've never played either of the consoles. Now that I've got that out of the way, let's get to why I think the PS3 is going to lose.

Time

The PS3 was a bit late on the timing, coming out a full year after the Xbox 360 (similar to how the original Xbox came out on the tail end of the Playstation 2). A year was enough time for the Xbox to grab a lot of exclusives, and of course after Halo 3 the 360 got a huge boost of momentum.

Marketing Strategy

Sony seems to be making a lot of very strange decisions. First, they cut out the 20gb version (why?), thus eliminating the cheap entry-point system. It's a damn good thing they're making a 40gb version but it's too little, too late. The whole reason for a cheap entry-point system is for the vast majority of people who don't have $600 to blow on a system (like, umm, me. I had to get my 60gb version for $450, used). If they had, for instance, a no-hard drive system for, maybe, $300, that MIGHT induce people to buy it (considering that the PS3 can take any 2.5" SATA notebook harddrive, upgrading the HDD is very easy on the PS3).

As long as Sony decides to over-price the PS3 without offering a cheap entry-level version (and the 40gb version doesn't really count, it's still more expensive than both the Core 360 and the Premium), the only people that will buy it will be idiots like me, cows, and 20-something techies making 80k+ a year with nowhere to spend their money.

Game selection & online play

Yes, I have quite a few games on the PS3. Yes I'm expecting a lot more too. But still, I'm in the minority. I happen to like JRPGs (Final Fantasy, Folklore), and shooters (Warhawk, Resistance). I also happen to be a Ratchet and Clank fan. But for most people out there, they want to melt face online, and there's where the PS3 falls flat on its face. The Playstation Network is frankly unimpressive. There's practically no voice chatter, and while there's usually people online, there's no way to tell what they're like (no gamercard for the PS3).

Xbox LIVE is infinitely superior to the PSN, and probably because it's been around for much longer. Sony really needs to get its act together if it wants to beat Microsoft at this. Oh and one other thing: the PS3 is technically far superior to the Xbox in terms of the kind of graphics it can push out, but I've not seen any developer take full advantage of that yet. Has there been any game out that beats Gears of War graphically? If there has I haven't played it.

This on top of the fact that Sony has been hemmoraging exclusives like crazy. Losing Assassin's Creed wasn't a very smart move, if you ask me. I was going to get it for the PS3, now I'm getting it for the Xbox. Why? The Achievements, of course :). Yeah, you'd probably get a statue in Playstation Home for playing Assassin's Creed ... next year. Sometime. Or you could get achievements on launch day.

Momentum

Momentum is built when you start moving. Then intertia takes you along; it's easier to keep running than it is to start running. Microsoft had a rough start for the Xbox 360, but that's because, like I said, it's harder to start than it is to keep going. Most consoles have rough starts, but Microsoft had a year to get their act together. And they did. And they had the HUGE advantage of not having any competitors making their job harder. Now the PS3 is relatively new, so some of the problems can be attributed to just working out the kinks, but they're doing it while trying to fend off the 360. So which would you choose? A relatively new, unproven system, or the well-established 360?

But the real loser is going to be...

PCs, I predict. I remember a long, long time ago, when I walked into a GameStop, or EBGames, or any other game store, there were whole shelves of PC games. Even a shelf for Macintosh games. And of course, the back row was full of PS2 games and a few Xbox and Gamecube ones too. Now, the whole store is covered wall to wall in 360, PS3, and Wii games, and there's maybe one shelf of PC games, and most of them are more than five months old. While the PS3 is going to lose the system wars I think the biggest loser is going to be the PC - it's always going to be the "also-ran", the system that console games are going to be ported to "eventually, when we have time, maybe".

I think the real reason that PCs are getting less attention is, ironically, because of the Xbox 360. A little history lesson now: back when the Playstation was out, Microsoft was (justifiably) worried that console gaming would overtake PC gaming (if you ask me it already has). Obviously, PC gaming was big for Microsoft, so it wanted to protect its market. It decided to release its own console to match the Playstation 2: the DirectX Box (to show off the DirectX capabilities of the Xbox). Later that got shortened to just "Xbox". But since it now had its own console to support, I get the feeling Microsoft isn't so hyped up about PC games anymore since it doesn't need to worry about it so much.

Let the flaming begin! :) :) :)

1. Has the 360 elite got wifi so you dont need a cable to run to your computer?

Motodo

No. You need to get the Xbox 360 Wireless Network Adapter seperately. Plus it doesn't come in black.

2. Does the HDMI cable only run on HD televisions?

Motodo

Since HDMI is a multimedia interface specifically for high-definition images and 5.1/7.1 surround sound, it'd be a waste to use it for a standard television anyway, when the component cables will do just fine. But in answer to your question: yes.

3. What is necessary to buy when I have bought an elite?

Motodo

Besides the games? :D Well, a play-and-charge kit is useful, since it saves you from replacing AA batteries all the time. The wireless headset MIGHT be a decent investment (but it doesn't come in black). The textpad is useful if you use LIVE messanger a lot.

Is the Elite truly that good? And in this particular case, what I mean by good is "does not get Red Rings of Death as often as the Premium or the Core". In order to find out, I thought I'd make this little poll. It's by no means definitive, but it would give us a rough idea of the failure rates of the elite vs the other Xboxs.

Please tell us, if your 360 has failed, how many times it did so. Did you have 1 RROD? 3? Were they all on the same type? Or did you, like many, buy a Core, have it fail many times, then get a Premium, only to have THAT fail too?

I'm making this poll because I bought my Elite specifically because I heard it got fewer RROD. Except that just a few days ago, it started freezing up, which as I understand it is one of the first warning signs of RROD...

Xbox 360's are $600 in the Phillipines? That's insane! How expensive are Playstation 3's then? $1,000? Anyway, in answer to your questions:

Unfortunately, the Red Rings of Death are quite common among 360s. I'm a microsoft fan, but even I have to admit that unfortunately if you buy a 360 you'd better prepare for the RROD because more often then not it WILL hit you sooner or later, especially if your 360 is an older model. I really discourage you from buy the Core system and go with at LEAST the Premium even if it is more expensive because the Core is notorious for getting RROD.

If, as you say, the newer HDMI Premium is unavailable, then if you want a 360 go with the Elite. It's your best bet, but unfortunately, my Elite also RROD'ed so it isn't RROD-proof, but at least it'll be better than the Core.

Since Microsoft's warranty won't cover you, I suggest waiting until the new 65nm chips are standard before buying, but it really depends on how much you want a 360, and how soon.

The cheapest Xbox 360 that'll work is a refurbished Xbox 360 Core off of eBay. You could probably get it for the amount you already have, if you're lucky. Then again, refurb Core is RROD waiting to happen, so I don't suggest that route, not unless you MUST have a 360 RIGHT NOW.

Premiums, even refurbished ones, go for around $200 minimum, so no matter what you're going to have to keep saving (the $200 one was from a local BestBuy, they were trying to offload used Prems and were selling at $209.99). Most premiums, though, are around $350, I think, and I REALLY don't suggest refurbished. If you want to get a NEW 360 then you have a ways to go saving up, I'm afraid, because I doubt you can get new for any less than $300.