xBox or PS3? Plus...what to buy?.....etc! (1 Viewer)

[Aaron Silverman]

Seriously, Ron -- you're debating between a PS3 and an XBox 360, and the first thing you want to know after deciding is where you can get Tetris and card games?!?!?!

For shame!

 

[Bryan X]

I'm glad you don't miss it like I do. I'll be nice and not say your opinion is absurd, though... Anyway...

To me, no vibration is like having no sound. It's that extra sensory stimulation that just pulls you into the game that much more. I played CoD4 on a friends' PS3 a few weeks ago, and to me, the game just had a sterile feel to it without the vibration. Of course, YMMV....

 

[Edwin-S]

In my case, I don't really miss the vibration function; although, it is nice to have. It is a moot point anyway, since SONY is going to be putting out a PS3 controller with rumble function. It is obvious that a lot of PS3 gamers felt as you do. SONY must have been fielding a lot of complaints from gamers because, at first, they were adamant that rumble function wasn't needed. Now they are changing their tune and making it available. They should have done so in the first place.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Dude, you are making me look real bad here.

I ordered Call of Duty 4 and Grand Theft Auto 4

I'm just looking for smaller additional games that I can play
when I am not in the mood for the more complex fare.

 

[Edwin-S]

I think he was just pulling your leg a bit. I don't think his intent was to make you look bad. You have to admit it is kind of humorous to be looking at buying powerful game system like the XBOX360 and then immediately ask where you can get Tetris for it.

The system you ordered doesn't come with the Xbox Arcade Unplugged disc?

 

[Ronald Epstein]

It's hard to show emotions when typing on this forum. I have
known Aaron for many, many years and I know he was pulling
my leg.

This is what comes with the Elite bundle...


Xbox 360 Elite console (black)
120GB hard drive
Wireless Controller (black)
Xbox Live Headset (black)
HDMI port
HDMI cable
Xbox Live Silver membership (Don't need it since I bought GOLD membership)
One-month subscription to Xbox Live Gold
Forza 2 Game
Marvel Ultimate Alliance Game

I ordered an extra black controller, one battery pack (wanted two
but I was limited to one), quick charger, optical cable, GOLD membership.

I was told that the HDMI connection only carries 2 channel audio
so I got the optical to enable full surround capability.

Now...what is the Arcade unplugged disc? I'll have to look it up
on Amazon.

Update: Just found Arcade Unplugged on Amazon. It looks crappy.
What I am looking for is a Vegas Casino game where you can walk around a casino
and play card games, slots, etc. A Tetris game would be cool, too. Thought these
might be small downloads made available through xBox Live. Just saw Tetris Evolution
which looks kinda neat.

 

[Brandon_T]

The funny thing is, the day I got my Xbox I purchased COD4 and Burnout Paradise, and yet the first thing I did was download the old arcade Double Dragon and Contra from Nintendo. I loved those games. My son loves the Wall-e trailer in HD and I also got the full version of Zuma for when I don't feel like getting into anything to deep. Although I can't get by level 9...

Congrats on the purchase Ron.

 

[joshEH]

One word:

Ikaruga.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

Hey, I'm old and cranky (by video gamer standards, anyway). If you remembered playing Shark on the Commodore PET as fondly as I do, you wouldn't miss rumbling controllers so much.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

Mine too! I'm thinking that might be the first movie I take him to see.

Fingers crossed that they put Ikaruga on PSN at some point. . .

 

[Zack Gibbs]

Ron, have you considered what you'll need for networking? If you need wireless you'll have to buy an addon for it, just FYI.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

For reals? That's weird. Is that a limitation of the 360's HDMI port?

Or is that because of the TV pass-through issue (IIRC, and I could be RI, no TV will pass a multichannel audio signal from an external component via HDMI)?

 

[RAF]

Two words:

Bejeweled
Puzzle Quest

(Actually, that's three words! )

Lots of positively addictive games in the XBox Arcade and the nice thing is that you can download the trial version for free before you decide to buy the full thing. Most titles are 800 MS points which equates to $10. The math is easy: You get charged $.0125 (1¼ cents) per point. So 400 points cost $5, 800 points cost $10, etc.

No matter what your tastes are in "mini" games there's bound to be scads of titles for you to consider.

As an owner and user of all three gaming consoles (XBox360, PS3 and Wii) I find myself using the PS3 to watch Blu-ray movies 90% of the time since I like the 360 more for gaming. Ironically, the games I like best on the PS3 are PS2 titles (God of War, God of War II, Shadow of the Colossus, etc. - most at bargain prices as "Classics"). I'm fortunate enough to own an "original" 60gig PS3 which included support for PS2 games in hardware, not just software. The newer models of the PS3 have pared back the HW support for PS2 games by removing the hardware specifically designed to run PS2 games. As I never had a PS2 I feel that the PS3 came with two nice bonuses - a GREAT Blu-ray player (still the most functional out there after all this time) and a PS2 in the PS3 box. So I'm not sorry for one moment to have purchased a PS3. I am ticked a bit that I have to shell out $59.95 for a vibration controller. I hope the new PS3 come with the vibrating controller. They really should offer some sort of trade in accommodation for those of us who have the original, non-vibrating controllers.

One thing that I really find better on the XBox360 (and which sways me when buying titles available on both the 360 and the PS3) is the existence of achievement points. It adds another dimension to most games at no additional cost. Yes, some of the achievement points are ridiculously hard (and others are ridiculously easy) but I like the fact that they are there to be sought out and earned.

Lots of great advice here and it all comes down to what type of games you like, what games and systems your friends use (if you want online play) and whether or not Blu-ray performance is a priority. Right now, since we are talking about video gaming, and leaving all other aspects out - to me the clear choice in this area is the XBox360.

But, probably some of the most fun I've had (I resist using the irritating term, "funnest"!) with a console is with the Nintendo Wii. Nothing fancy in sight and sound but ingenious and inventive.

And that's why I own all three systems. One can make a strong case for all three (as well as the DS and the PSP).

Game on!

 

[TonyTone]

Slightly off-topic but related to the online gaming discussion--some of the 360 games support the use of the Xbox Live Vision camera while gaming online...you can only imagine as to how some (many?) folks use the camera in "interesting" ways...

 

[TonyTone]

400 or 800 points per game, depending on the game; you can read feedback for the games available for download on Xbox Live Arcade over in the xbox.com gaming forums. Most--if not all--of them are rendered in high-res (1080i--dunno if there are any 1080p ones).

 

[TonyTone]

You might consider creating a secondary XBL account and just apply the Silver membership to it, while assigning your personal/own XBL account to the Gold membership you bought; dunno if it actually can be done but if so, then it's an idea to consider.

 

[Bryan X]

I did that exact thing. Set up my Silver lifetime membership which came with the 360 and then set up another account which is Gold for online playing. So you can do it. I can't really think of any benefit to it though.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

If only I'd learned the code to set a PET on fire while there were still PETs around. . .

BTW, is the chick in your avatar the same as the one in your .sig?

 

[Adam Gregorich]

They did a very basic revision of the motherboard when they added HDMI, so they just routed 2 channel audio through it. Adding multichannel audio to the HDMI port would have required a more extensive (expensive) redesign. If you want surround sound you need to use an toslink cable in addition to the HDMI.

 

[Greg_S_H]

The chicken his sig is Michelle "Bionic Woman" Ryan. I don't think she's the purple-haired girl.