Ya I agree that this thread can end poorly because we have had similar flame wars over this topic as well as the infamous nVidia vs AMD topic as well. Like Ranthus said, it will def come down to personal preference. Each console has its good & bad things bout it. I would like to highlight both good & bad things about them both so you can get a better idea of which direction you may want to go. Mind you that I am only starting with the Sony Playstation 3 because I have one right now, I am not trying to show favoritism towards that console at all.
Sony Playstation 3:
-Blu-Ray player built in
-certain versions of the 1st gen PS3 have built in legacy technology so you can play PSX & PS2 games (Sony is slowing putting more legacy games into their console store now)
-size and weight difference in fat model (called fat because of how much bigger it is next to the slim & current model)
-some systems have had their hardware failure known as YLoD (Yellow Light of Death). normally system light goes blue if everything is operational. there have been magazines published about how much fewer the hardware failures in the ps3 systems happened than the 360 systems (feel free to read this article, even tho its a rather bit old, but it gives you kind of an idea of how bad the hardware failure rate was during the beginning of the "console war":
http://gamer.blorge.com/2009/08/18/xbox-360-failure-rate-over-50-percent-ps3-wii-more-reliable/
-free online gaming, however you can become a member of the Plus group for like $15 a year (dont quite me on that figure tho please, just 2 lazy 2 search it up)
-certain games are only available for PS3 & PSN (Playstation Network)
-Sony's network did get hacked, in case you were oblivious to it. However, they corrected the issue & rewarded all their customers who were willing to stay with them free games as well as a 30 day free trail of the Plus program (not valid to new customers of course). I got 2 sweet games because of this malfunction. I do have friends that have the Wii console as well as the Xbox 360 & respect them for their gaming decision.
-Almost forgot, Sony came out with the Playstation Move (which is an idea of Wii's controllers)
Microsoft Xbox 360:
-notoriously known for their RRoD (Red Ring of Death), which is a hardware failure in the video port of the console. this has supposedly been mostly fixed, but there are few reports of newer systems having Red Light of Death (sorry if this isnt the correct term), but still same issue but with different look to the power button.
-system is known for its modifications to the outer casing, not to mention external third party fans installed to help with the cooling of the hardware
-$50 for an online membership every year
-certain games are only 360 exclusive (same for Xbox Live Arcade aka XBLA)
-Microsoft of course has the Kinect. Unlike the Playstation Move, it uses your whole body to move around on the screen without the need for handheld motion detected controllers.
Now im sure that theres a few things that ive either missed or flatout forgotten bout either side, so please dont chew me out bout it, im just simply going based on my memory. However, if you do post something that is painfully obvious that comes standard with the console, then that will be a good right to chew ya out via PM (however I sincerely hope it doesnt have to come to that). Overall, lets respect this person's interest in wanting to understand their choice of which console that they want to go after & NOT start up a stupid flame war on this.
I will say right now that both the PS3 & 360 have always been neck & neck in graphics. Certain games look better on the PS3 than the 360 & vice versa. It really all just depends on which looks better in your own opinion. It is true that most of the gaming industry uses the 360 for the graphics to show off their game, while a select few use the PS3 to show off their game.
