I purchased a PS3 last week, so now I have both next-gen systems. (OK, maybe the Wii is next-gen in its control scheme, but the CPU and graphics chip are more GameCube x 2 than next-gen. And it is still sold out everywhere. According to the guy at Best Buy, they’ve already sold what they planned to sell the entire year. Not sure if he’s talking fiscal or calendar year or if he’s talking out of his ass.) I’ve remarked via e-mail to a couple friends on how impressive Motorstorm looks and what a nice DVD player it has (very quiet, very responsive to transport controls). I’ve put down a few other thoughts below.
How good the DVD player is, etc. is pretty irrelevant unless you have the games, and the better games are still on the 360. I bought Motorstorm (dirt racer with amazing graphics, fun game, although no local co-op and the campaign mode is supposed to get old quick, but overall impressive) and Resistance: Fall of Man (first-person shooter that has me pretty bored after a couple hours of play–Gears of War is much more fun, especially with its use of cover in fire fights). Other than the latest NBA Street, which is also out on the 360, I don’t think there is anything that I want to buy on the PS3. Further, the biggest games down the pike this fall are either a non-exclusive (Grand Theft Auto IV) or an Xbox exclusive (Halo 3). Presumably Sony has retained the exclusivity for the next Final Fantasy (which I don’t play) and I know they have for Metal Gear Solid (supposed to be great, never got into the series). I believe Resident Evil (which I love) will be out on both.
Beyond loss of exclusives for various reasons, including low installed base, the reputed graphical advantage of the PS3 will be wasted if games are released on both platforms, since programmers have to write down to the lowest common denominator. The PS3 controller does have motion sensitivity a la the Wii controller, although in a standard package, but it was unveiled so late in the game to developers that the first round of games don’t really support it. This could be a differentiator from the 360, but the 360 has force feedback, unlike the PS3 (due to Sony’s refusal to license the technology after losing a patent lawsuit; word is they may be changing their mind on this point).
On the topic of the controllers, the Xbox controller is more comfortable. It is larger and fits your hand better so that you can more easily hit the two shoulder buttons. The 360 controller doesn’t come w/rechargeable batteries, but the batteries are user replaceable, unlike the PS3 (goodbye, $50 controller after the batteries run down in a year and a half? Unclear what Sony plans here) and rechargeable ones are available as an accessory.
While the PS3 DVD player is very nice, the controllers operate via Bluetooth, so one can’t program DVD functionality to one’s Harmony universal remote–you have to keep the controller handy. Whereas the 360 has an IR port on the front and thus can be controlled via a universal remote (which I do when watching HD-DVD movies on my 360).
I prefer the PS3 user interface for your home screen, from which you can access the respective stores or play a game or movie (what Xbox calls the Dashboard), in terms of layout and visuals. But the Xbox has a lot more content in their online stuff.
One additional major differentiator for the 360: nearly all 360 games let you choose your own music for playback during the game, in place of whatever tunes the game includes. You can either rip the music onto your 360′s hard drive, connect an iPod to a USB port or browse music on a networked PC or Mac (I use the latter method). This is just a tremendous feature. So how does the PS3 stack up? You can rip music to the hard drive (and it looks the CD up in a database to get track name, artist info, etc., nice). But the iPod isn’t recognized when you connect it, and there is absolutely no support for access to networked media (360 also lets you view photos and, if properly encoded, videos from a networked computer).
So there you have it: I’m very happy with my PS3 purchase, but if I was only buying one, it would be the Xbox 360.
Good to know about the Wii. I guess I will give up on buying one. Pretty big misstep for Nintendo, given that it seems like the Wii was generating a lot of interest among people who aren’t typical video game players and haven’t owned a system in a while (like me!), and I wonder if that buzz factor will have worn off by next year…