Help for a console newb

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Naheal

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Think about what kind of games you play. Do some research on your exclusives then go nuts.
 

phar

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PopeJewish said:
phar said:
PopeJewish said:
phar said:
Id go with PC myself. Dont listen to the people saying PC is dying, its actually the other way around. The consoles are vastly underperforming (except for Wii) compared to previous generations where as PC is flourishing.
This is simply not true. The original xbox sold 24 million units, the xbox 360 has sold well over 40 million. The gamecube has sold 22 million units, the wii has over 70 million. The only exception to this is the Playstation series with the ps2 having sold nearly 140 million units and the ps3 clocking in around 35 with the major caveat that the ps2 is still supported while the other previous gen systems are not. (these sales figures come from wikipedia)

Whatever your friends are using is the best option.
this I agree with
Well its hard to get accurate figures but a lot of the 360s are from people having to buy a second. Something that the previous generation had very little of. Ok the 360s sold 40 million in 5 years (1 generation) thats not close to the amount of sales of the NES, SNES, Genesis, PS1 etc..etc.. and dont blame the competition of the PS3 because every generation except for the last has had a very strong competitor in the market. Theres plenty of articles around the web that explain it better than me. Just because its the most popular method of gaming it mean its growing.
again that' simply not true. Just look at the sales figures. The current gen is xbxo 360 (40 million) ps3 (35 million) and wii (70 million) so a total of 140 million units sold. Sure there's redundancy but that's a) hard to calculate in and b) irrelevant for our current point

In the 8 bit era the NES sold 61 million units according to Wiki, the Wii has already beaten it. But for that gen as a whole it's been clobbered by this gen's sales (74 million units).

In the 16 bit era we had the SNES (49 million) Genesis (40 million) and the TG16 (10 million) for a total of 99 million units.

The 32 bit era was the PSOne (102.5) N64 (32) and Saturn (9.5) for 144 so it was beaten out there but barely, and it's easily conceivable to see that number being surpassed this year as several million consoles are still being sold worldwide per month even after the economic slowdown hit the game industry

So really last gen, with the ps2, dreamcast, xbox, and gamecube, was the only one that could be said to have solidly outsold this gen. Add to that the fact that game sales figures have been on the steady rise generation over generation, and that the game industry itself is valued higher and higher, and any argument that the console industry is even stagnating (in economic terms, creative stagnation is a whole other can of worms) is simply false
Without going to the effort of pointing out problems in the figures (I dont have anything to back it up) considering how more socially acceptable gaming is meant to be shouldnt these consoles be destroying previous generations, not being the same if not similar.

Doesnt look like the home console market is growing at all.

PS. 8bit era had Sega Master System and Atari 7800. The 7800 bombed though..

Like I said there are a few articles about the web which have much more detail than I have at the moment on me.
 

Pingieking

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RyQ_TMC said:
1) Is it a good moment to buy a console, or should I rather wait? I've found articles claiming that we're overdue for a next generation, that it's gonna happen any minute now, and others stating that with the current-gen's video quality, the companies will rather concentrate on peripherals for at least another 2-3 years.

2) Which one to get? I crossed the Wii right out, doesn't seem to have any titles for me. I play RPGs almost exclusively. Sometimes I enjoy a strategy game, very rarely a third-person shooter. I understand PS3 games look and sound better, but X360 has more exclusives. The 360 is cheaper, but the price difference isn't too dramatic...

So yup, I'd be obliged if any of you guys could help me with that.
1) Probably won't be burned if you buy now. Both MS and Sony have openly committed their current consoles to at least 2015. I'm not sure if that means that no new console will appear before 2015, or that the PS3 and X360 will be retired at the end of 2015, but in either case you'd get at least 5 active years out of the console. Not a bad deal, since the X360 isn't even 5 years old yet.

2) PS3 look and sound slightly better than the X360, but unless you're REALLY into stuff like that, you'll probably not notice. The main question is, DO YOU HAVE A GAMING PC? If the answer is yes, then it's PS3 all the way. If not, then it's a bit of a toss up. The reason is that a lot of the big title games on the X360 are either also on PS3 or PC, thus a PC+PS3 combo gives you the largest library by far. Lets do a quick comparison:

The big X360 exclusives you'll miss are Halo 3, Gears of War 2 and 3, Fable 1~3, Ace Combat 6, Forza, Alan Wake, and a few more. Most of the "exclusives" are found on PC, such as Gears 1, Splinter Cell, and so on.
The big PS3 exclusives you'll miss are Killzone 2, Uncharted 1 and 2, All three Ratchet and Clank games, InFamous 1 and 2, Gran Turismo, Last Guardian, MAG, MGS4, LBP 1 and 2, SOCOM series, Valkyria Chronicles, and a few more.

So the total quality library size is larger for a PC+PS3 combo. But if you don't have a PC, then you have to sift through the library to see which one you like better. Basically, look through the games published by Sony (1st party stuff) and decide if you want those. If you don't, then you should lean X360. Generally the X360 has better online stuff, but it'll cost you about the equivalent of a game a year.

One last thing, the X360 isn't cheaper. It's the same price; unless you're counting stuff like HDMI cable and headsets. But then again, PS3 has wireless and that goes for almost $100 for the X360. Also, there are rumours of a slim X360 that may be shown at E3. But I don't think this is going to do a whole lot. Prices aren't likely to drop for a few more years, and short of the slim X360 packing Natal with it, it probably won't be a huge change from the normal X360.

After all this, I almost want to tell you to just stop looking at the consoles and stick with PC. RPG+Strategy+a-tad-bit-of-3rd-person-shooter? This sounds like a PC gamer to me.
 
Sep 14, 2009
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phar said:
snip snip flaming
now can't we just help the thread OP out? we aren't here to argue, and in fact i think both markets are growing healthy and will keep on growing, as unless the companies make some grave mistakes, i dont see the end of either choice of gaming system(s).

RyQ_TMC said:
well welcome to the wonderful side of never having to be an elitist or worry about exclusives ever again =]

(mostly)


well since i have all systems, ill try and help the best i can.

the 360 is a great system, cheap, doesn't RROD much anymore, has plenty of exclusives on the console, HOWEVER, as you stated your are a PC gamer who enjoys RPG's, so im assuming just about all 360 rpg's you basically have on your pc, therefore, this plus online payment, i dont think would be healthy for you in the long run, and sony has stated before that they are thinking long term with the ps3, hopefully for another 5-8 years im guessing, and as people have stated, demon souls is a rpg worth the generation, its alot to handle for one game, but from what you seem like i think you will really enjoy it, and there are tons of exclusives on ps3 now that aren't on 360 or pc, so i think you can have the maximum amount of fun and longrun cheapness with a ps3, so there is my 2 cents (maybe wait till e3 this year to see how things look? such as upcoming releases and the motion controls if you are interested in that at all?)

hope this helps!
 

Revolutionary

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May 30, 2009
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Ps3 has less exlusives
Xbox 360 has Rrod

Ps3 has free networking capabilities
36o has better media functions ie. being able to play music during gameplay

Just look at the exclusives and decide based on that.
 

YouCallMeNighthawk

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1)you can wait for the new generation if it comes out soon and take a mortage out to buy it.

2)Depends, do you like playing online and for free? then PS3 for you. But if you want alot of variety in games i would go for 360.
 

chozo_hybrid

What is a man? A miserable little pile of secrets.
Jul 15, 2009
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I'd say 360, but mainly due to the sheer amount of content available.
 

michael_ab

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RyQ_TMC said:
so you like stratagy, rpgs, and dont like 3rd person shooters. im sorry but those are all best played on the computer, if you want a game that works better on the console you should try fable, prototype, assassins creed, and overlord

i have been playing the xbox for six years, and i have to say that its forte is the communication. it is simply a more virtually social console (the wii is more IRL social). and as such it lacks in good, non-competitive multiplayer titles. gems to look out for are boarderlands and castle crashers

i think that to your tastes, playstation 3 would be a good, albeit pricy choice. although if a new flavor is what you are looking for, the communication of the 360 is sweet, but it does have some sour undertones.

id say get an earlier generation, it will save you a fortune and offer you the stepping stones to understanding console games. the bargin bin is your friend
 

acosn

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Sep 11, 2008
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The next generation is a ways off yet. Honestly if it's really that big a deal I'd wait.

At a bare bones level?

The PS3 has better technology behind it and it's more reliable than an X-box 360. It's also more expensive, and it remains to be seen if blue ray will catch on.

X-box 360 has a larger (not necessarily better) community online.

The PS3 tends to get more Japanese based games. The X-box 360 tends to get more westernized games.

What kind of games do you play on the PC? RTSs? FPSs? Racing games?
 

michael_ab

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Milky_Fresh said:
...but I only really prefer it for the controllers...
funny thing is the controllers ar not that different, make the triggers r2 and l2 and switch the d-pad with the left stick, and you got a playstation controller
 

Corpse XxX

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i'd say got for a ps3. Because im guessing you already got a PC.. And since most games that are xbox material, also come out for PC.. You will be able to play the most games having a ps3 and a pc..
 

Gigano

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Oct 15, 2009
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I'm a PS3 man myself, but if you like RPG's then the Xbox 360 is probably the way to go, as it has both the Fable and Mass Effect, while the PS3 has no exclusive RPGs after Final Fantasy has gone crossplatform.

The most important thing is probably the controller preference. The main reason I got a PS3 was the dualshock (and a preference for its exclusives), otherwise I would have stuck to the 360, as its cheaper, gets the better/more stable versions of crossplatform games (Fallout 3, Bayonetta, Orange Box) when there's a difference, and sometimes get DLC out faster.
 

Guffe

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I will only answer your second question and these are my thoughts only.

Nintendo: You will probably go for the wii if this is what you choose. My family is a Nintendo family and we've had all the Nintendos that have been on the market for about 15 years now. The wii is fun to play but what everyone say is that the graphics suck. This is half true but it doesn't bother me, what I want in my game is good gameplay experience, over good graphics, which the wii has.

Playstation: Good graphics and free internet is what I've heard are the best things with this console, a few of my friends own this one. What they don't like is that they still don't use the full capacity of the console and the some people don't like the controllers, I don't have any clue why, they are (according to me) the same as PS2 controllers and they work nice for me.

Xbox: I have an ordinary Xbox and many of my friends own a 360. Good graphics and everything works maybe a little bit better than the PS3 as far as I and some of my friends (even the PS3 owners) do. Controlls are a little hard in the begining but as with everything else you get used to it (and you have been playing this). The Thing every Xbox360 gamer I have come across so far complains about is that the Live costs and they say that is what the PS3 is good for but otherwise almost everyone that has been in the same place as you are in now has gone for the 360. The ones who chose the PS3 were the ones with PS2 before, and they had a long think about which one to chose.

I hope this gives you a bit of guidelines in what you think about when getting your console. I like the Wii but as you have been playing the PC all your life and lately a bit of Xbox I don't suggest you get the Wii cause the graphic thing might really bug you, unless you try out the wii first and happen to like it. Happy Console hunting.
 

RyQ_TMC

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Thanks for all the help so far! So I guess that first of all, I'll wait for the E3 and look out for any major news.

A few of you recommended getting a PS2 and starting with that, but how does it look in terms of game availability? I'm guessing it's exclusively second-hand market by now, isn't it?

And to answer some questions posed before:

I am not planning a complete switch from a PC to a console right now. My current PC should last about 2 more years (got it 2 years ago as a high-end, still runs most new games at max details), and maybe then I'll think about switching. And some games just play better on a PC, from what I've seen.

Both WRPGs and JRPGs are fine. In fact, one of the reasons I'm thinking about getting a console is that most single-player WRPGs are trying to be like Oblivion now, and TES games just don't stick with me. Dragon Age: Origins and the Mass Effect series are both brilliant, but aside from BioWare, there seems to be this massive shift from single-player RPGs to MMOs going on right now. Doesn't suit me.

So JRPGs are a logical course to me. I've played some before, and mostly enjoyed them. Looks like there are a few great JRPG exclusives on the consoles.

And when I said "very rarely third-person shooters", I didn't mean I don't play them, just that they are the third genre on my little list. After RPGs and strategy games (which seem to be undergoing an "arcadification" right now), third person action games are my next big thing. Don't think I'll ever warm up to FPS.
 

Snownine

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RyQ_TMC said:
Thanks for all the help so far! So I guess that first of all, I'll wait for the E3 and look out for any major news.

A few of you recommended getting a PS2 and starting with that, but how does it look in terms of game availability? I'm guessing it's exclusively second-hand market by now, isn't it?

And to answer some questions posed before:

I am not planning a complete switch from a PC to a console right now. My current PC should last about 2 more years (got it 2 years ago as a high-end, still runs most new games at max details), and maybe then I'll think about switching. And some games just play better on a PC, from what I've seen.

Both WRPGs and JRPGs are fine. In fact, one of the reasons I'm thinking about getting a console is that most single-player WRPGs are trying to be like Oblivion now, and TES games just don't stick with me. Dragon Age: Origins and the Mass Effect series are both brilliant, but aside from BioWare, there seems to be this massive shift from single-player RPGs to MMOs going on right now. Doesn't suit me.

So JRPGs are a logical course to me. I've played some before, and mostly enjoyed them. Looks like there are a few great JRPG exclusives on the consoles.

And when I said "very rarely third-person shooters", I didn't mean I don't play them, just that they are the third genre on my little list. After RPGs and strategy games (which seem to be undergoing an "arcadification" right now), third person action games are my next big thing. Don't think I'll ever warm up to FPS.

Not even remotely second hand only. You can still buy many factory sealed games for the ps2 online. So if you want "new" there is plenty to choose from. There are also a lot of second hand if you want to save some cash though. Whichever floats your boat.
 

omega 616

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May 1, 2009
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Baron_Rouge said:
I may be a bit biased, as I have a PS3, but the only time I've ever regretted not choosing a 360 was when Bayonetta came out, and that regret was easily counteracted by the brilliance that is Valkyria Chronicles and InFamous.
Bayonetta is on the PS3 aswell, so enjoy.
 

JEBWrench

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If you enjoy the JRPGs, get a PS2, see if there are any series that you can get into, and then go from there.

No, I'm not joking, the PS2 has a pretty nice selection of JRPG goodies.
 

irishstormtrooper

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1) I read that most of the console manufacturers want to keep this generation at ten years long, so it may be a few more years before the PS4 or the XBOX-whatever comes out.

2)Since I have a PS3, I'm probably also biased, but you should get one. Uncharted 2 is a massively fun game.
 

private

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Apr 21, 2010
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1) With motion controls being released later this year, this console lifecycle still has a number of years to go, so don't worry about a ps4 or xbox720 coming out anytime soon. The Wii showed everyone that most people aren't impressed enough by better graphics dish out another few hundred dollars, than they are on something that is innovative. But this opens up a whole other issue of motion controls that I won't go into...

You might also want to take into account that the ps3 slim is likely to be sony's final iteration of the ps3. The xbox being sold today is essentially unchanged from the xbox sold in 2006 (except for internal hardware improvements). There are rumors of microsoft releasing a redesigned 'slim' version of the xbox 360, like sony did with the ps3. It makes sense that such a release would coincide with the release of natal (microsoft's stab at motion controls) at the end of this year, since they are approaching the release of natal like the release of an entirely new console. Whether you're willing to wait so long is up to you.

2)Owning both a ps3 and an xbox, I can confidently say that the ps3 is a better console in terms of overall features. The blu ray play is a big one, but it also has wifi (a $100+ addon if you want this for xbox), internet browser, a much better interface, and feels like a more complete overall entertainment center rather than just a gaming console. Some may argue that the xbox has the rrod issue, but that isn't a problem with new xboxes. In terms of just games however, xbox does have more exclusives (Mass Effect, Conviction, Forza), whether they are better is up to you (ps3 has uncharted, gran turismo, ratchet and clank).

Since you're into rpgs, off the top of my head one of the best xbox exclusive rpgs is probably Mass Effect (personally one of my favorite games on the planet), and one of the most prominent ones on ps3 being Demon's Souls.

Quite a few games released a couple of years ago on both platforms also tend to run and/or look a bit better on xbox than on ps3, though this is becoming less and less of an issue. These differences are usually minor; the ps3 versions had slight vsync and frame-rate issues; but there are a couple of games with more pronounced variations e.g. dragon age, bayonetta.

So I guess it depends on what you are looking for, I got a xbox first purely because of the games it had over the ps3, but i eventually got a ps3 mainly for the blu ray player.

One thing I'd also like to point out, games released on both platforms will look essentially identical. Exclusives on the ps3, namely uncharted, will look better that almost all of the games on xbox, but this is because of the work put in by developers rather than superior hardware. The hardware behind each console is different, but at the same "level".
 

Baron_Rouge

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omega 616 said:
Baron_Rouge said:
I may be a bit biased, as I have a PS3, but the only time I've ever regretted not choosing a 360 was when Bayonetta came out, and that regret was easily counteracted by the brilliance that is Valkyria Chronicles and InFamous.
Bayonetta is on the PS3 aswell, so enjoy.
True, but from what I heard the slowdown is pretty bad. I don't like to be in the situation where I know I have the inferior version of a game. Still, I really enjoyed DMC IV so I might check it out, I hear it's a similar sort of game.