Xbox 360 and PS3 questions

[Plork]

I know there are a lot of these threads, but please help me out here. I've got specific questions regarding the consoles. Long story short, next week I'm basically coming into $400 and since it's "found money" if you will, I'd really like to pamper myself a bit and finally splurge on a next gen/last gen ever console. I figure I can get more bang for my buck with the 360, especially since there are so many out on ebay and craigs list for much cheaper. I'll take advantage of some college kid that needs beer money (or whatever those college kids do now a days).

First and foremost, does either system play .avi files from a burned disc and/or stream those files off of your PC through your network? If it takes a little tinkering, that's fine. I have my original xbox set up as a media center now since I haven't played a game on the thing in years, but wonder if I can do that with a new console and use the original xbox in the other room as a second media center.

For some reason I think they both work with netflix right? How good is that netflix streaming service? I'm on DSL so I'm a bit concerned my bandwidth might not be good enough and I'd end up buffering a lot from the get go.

With the Xbox, would I really need more than the 60 gig hard drive? Is anyone really downloading that much stuff off live to necessitate the 120 gig?

Are there a lot of neat games to even download off the PS3 network through their store?

How much does the PSP connect with the PS3? Is it neat to use them together? Do they work in conjunction with each other at all? If not, they should. That would be snazzy.

Ok, and the games. Keep in mind I'm not going to play any FPS with a noob stick. That's why i have a PC.

I'm sure I'll get one of the Rock Band or Guitar Hero World Tour thingie. Those Skate games look neat (I was a huge Tony Hawk fan), any Star Wars games are must haves (I'm itching to play Force Unleashed on a real console instead of my PSP). Going by those examples, what are some other games I might like that are available for both systems?

The only game that's PS3 exclusive I know I want to play is Little Big Planet. That game just looks reaaaally fun. Oh wait, there's that new game from the Katamari guys too, Noby Nobi Boy or whatever it's called. I don't like Metal Gear. Given that, what other PS3 exclusives are worth getting?

Then with the Xbox, I know damn well I'd get that Dead Rising game right off the bat and I loved the first Fable so the second Fable is a no brainer. So...other games I might like for the 360?

Thanks a lot in advance for any help you guys can deliver. I'm excited no matter which console I get but I need your help in narrowing my decision down.

Watch out, MacGruber!

 

[ipp774]

wow, you are really trying to be an informed gamer. Props. Can't help you with the .avi stuff though.

Personally, I think having a 60 GB hard drive for you 360 seems outrageous. Then again, I don't exactly download that much stuff. I have about 20 games or so and my hard drive has about 10 GB left, but it also starts at 17, not 20. So if you plan on using the Marketplace a lot, then I'd definitely go for the 60 or more. You can also download games onto your HD so the load times are hardly there, but I think it's not worth it.

Games wise, I would still recommend getting some FPSs because that's the only place to get some of these games. Halo 3 is top notch despite the flame the 12 year olds give it. Gears 1 & 2 are also excellent and play very different from most TPSs. Get Rock Band over Guitar Hero. World Tour is the exact opposite of what the series started out as, and Rock Band is ridiculous fun with friends. Skate 1 & 2 are also great, but very different from any Tony Hawk. Expect to faceplant. A lot.
Do you like RPGs? Tales of Vesperia is good. So are Fallout 3 and Oblivion.
Civilization Revolution is also good, but if you have played Civ on PC then don't bother.

Hope that helped 360 wise. My friend has a PS3 but I haven't really use it. Both are great. Win: win situation for you.

 

[Plork]

Well if I'm going to buy one, I don't want to end up wishing I had the other system a week later. That's why I'm hoping people can help with all those questions I've asked.

Yeah, I don't plan on playing any FPS games on the console. I'm sorry, but that's what mice and keyboards are made for. I hate playing them with a gamepad. I really don't like Halo and would never buy that game. I'm a lot more curious about 3rd person action/adventure games and the like. I won't play RPG's. I don't have the patience. I have Gears of War for the PC and it's ok. I'm not huge on it. I'll probably pick up the 2nd one down the line, but it's not one of the first games I'll buy. With Rock Band, yeah, I reaaaally liked Rock Band when I've played it at friends houses. I'm sure I'll get that over Guitar Hero especially since World Tour is coming out on the PC anyway.

 

[Plork]

Oh wait, you can install your games on the hard drive? You still probably need the disc in the drive for verification right? I wouldn't mind being able to cut down on load times and less wear and tear on the drive is probably a good thing.

 

[frap]

I'll add more later as im in a hurry but:

Both systems play .avi files and you can use a program called tversity to stream movies and music from your pc to your 360 or PS3. The 360 has a small free store download that auto downloads the first time you play an .avi file. This download enables .avi files and many other files to play on the 360. The PS3 it is automatic. You can also put the files on a usb thumb drive (anything 32gig or less) and play the movies/music there. TVERsity is what I use for my media center and it is great.

Also the streaming for Netflix is good through the 360, and it is automatically built in. You can also use a $40 program called playon that lets you watch hulu, stream every netflix video, watch youtube, ext. on the 360 and the Ps3. Not sure if the ps3 has built in netflix. Obviously, you have to have a netflix account for these programs to work.

The PSP is alright on the PS3. My PSP can connect to it fine via mi home network and stream all the movies and the music but it is slow and laggy. I wouldn't get a ps3 just for the psp connectivity.

PS3 and 360 both have tons of games, but 360 has Halo 3 , Halo Wars , and many other 360 only games. While the PS3 has Killzone 2 , Resistance, Resistance 2 , and some others. The PS3 has Kingdom Hearts 3 coming out and Final Fantasy also which are good RPG games. Rockband 2 , Rockband, Guitar Hero World Tour, Guitar Hero 3 are all for both systems. Dead rising 2 is coming out for the 360 soon as well so you would probably like that.

 

[SweetKinG]

Dead rising 2 is coming out for the 360 soon as well so you would probably like that.

Dead Rising is both for the PS3 and Xbox 360

 

[Plork]

I'll add more later as im in a hurry but:

Both systems play .avi files and you can use a program called tversity to stream movies and music from your pc to your 360 or PS3. The 360 has a small free store download that auto downloads the first time you play an .avi file. This download enables .avi files and many other files to play on the 360. The PS3 it is automatic. You can also put the files on a usb thumb drive (anything 32gig or less) and play the movies/music there. TVERsity is what I use for my media center and it is great.

Also the streaming for Netflix is good through the 360, and it is automatically built in. You can also use a $40 program called playon that lets you watch hulu, stream every netflix video, watch youtube, ext. on the 360 and the Ps3. Not sure if the ps3 has built in netflix. Obviously, you have to have a netflix account for these programs to work.

The PSP is alright on the PS3. My PSP can connect to it fine via mi home network and stream all the movies and the music but it is slow and laggy. I wouldn't get a ps3 just for the psp connectivity.

PS3 and 360 both have tons of games, but 360 has Halo 3 , Halo Wars , and many other 360 only games. While the PS3 has Killzone 2 , Resistance, Resistance 2 , and some others. The PS3 has Kingdom Hearts 3 coming out and Final Fantasy also which are good RPG games. Rockband 2 , Rockband, Guitar Hero World Tour, Guitar Hero 3 are all for both systems. Dead rising 2 is coming out for the 360 soon as well so you would probably like that.

AWESOME answers holmes. Ok, so the PSP connects via my home wireless network but not directly to the PS3 via usb or wireless? What exactly can you do with the two of them?

Of the games you listed, the only ones I'd be interested are the Rock Band thingies and Dead Rising 2. I had no idea Dead Rising was available on the PS3.

Does your PC's operating system matter at all with streaming .avi's? I'm still running XP.

 

[king killer]

360 ftw no doubt about it it has alll the good games

 

[Adam]

Whoever said that about tversity. I can stream movies, videos and music just fine with out you. Just download Windows Media Player 11 and follow the instructions on the Microsoft website. It's not too hard.

 

[Plork]

360 ftw no doubt about it it has alll the good games

I'm not asking which you think is better. I was asking specific questions about each console. "360 FTW" doesn't help me at all.

But thanks for that info Mister Adam. I have WMP 11 installed...I think.

 

[Adam]

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/pcsetup/alldownloads.htm

You can do it with the Zune software too. It's easier to do with Xp than it is with Vista, in my opinion. There's less to do in XP to get it to work.

Step 1: Download Windows Media Player Software.

Step 2: Launch Windows Media Player.

* On your Windows XP-based PC, launch Windows Media Player.

Step 3: Turn on media sharing.

* Click the arrow below the Library tab, and then click Media Sharing .
* In the Media Sharing dialog box, select the Share my media to check box.
* In the list of devices below the Share my media to check box, select your Xbox 360 console.
* Click Allow .
* Click OK .

Step 4: Configure your Xbox 360 console.

* In the Media area of the Xbox Dashboard, select Music, Pictures , or Videos .
* Select your PC. The PCs on your network are listed by name.
* Tip: if a media source is already selected, press X to select a different media source.
* Select an item to play it.

Also, I configured my firewall to allow it to come through, just to be sure. I added the Xbox's mac address to my list of exceptions.

THIS ALSO WORK FOR THE PS3. It will show up as Unknown Object in Windows Media Player 11 instead of an Xbox 360.

 

[Plork]

Awesome Mister Adam. Thank you so much for that. Good to know I can do it with each system, but unfortunately it's not helping me eliminate one of the consoles, heheheh.

 

[Adam]

I was just pointing out, you'd still be able to do it with either console. If you have a nice TV, I'd get a PS3, because it's also a blue ray player. It doesn't have any of the problems that the 360 does. My friend has gone through three 360s.

I would eventually buy a 360 though, because of some of the games they have.

 

[Plork]

Yeah, I have 2 HD sets but this will probably end up in my office with the smaller set since I spend more time in that room. I really appreciate all the info, I was clueless about all that stuff. I don't know if the Blue Ray is much of a difference maker for me personally.

I've been doing some research on the interwebz trying to learn more about each one all afternoon. So far, I think I'm favoring the Xbox just because of the price I can get one for with a hard drive. After getting the console I figure I'll buy two games, a xbox live starter thingie and a $20 card for buying stuff in their market place just to check all that junk out. I know Force Unleashed will be the first game I buy, don't know about the other. On the other hand, I REALLY want to play that Little Big Planet. I don't know what it is about that game, it just looks like a lot of fun.

 

[Adam]

I enjoy my 360 but I'm not looking forward to the day it RRoD.

 

[Plork]

I enjoy my 360 but I'm not looking forward to the day it RRoD.

Hehe, yeah. That's just the risk that comes with the 360, but from what I've read today it sounds like the newer ones don't have the issues the older ones did.

I'm still searching around for a good deal on a PS3 though. If I find a great price on one of those, I might be swayed the other way.

 

[frap]

AWESOME answers holmes. Ok, so the PSP connects via my home wireless network but not directly to the PS3 via usb or wireless? What exactly can you do with the two of them?

Of the games you listed, the only ones I'd be interested are the Rock Band thingies and Dead Rising 2. I had no idea Dead Rising was available on the PS3.

Does your PC's operating system matter at all with streaming .avi's? I'm still running XP.

You have the option of using the ps3's wireless network or your home wireless network. Choose which one is better for you. Also Dead Rising is NOT for PS3. If you google it you will see tons of petitions and questions, but no store locations or places to buy it. Nope you can use any operating system that you would like. Windows Media Player will not play .avi files or Windows Media Center on the 360. That's why I use my thumb drive or TVErsity. TVersity can also stream music/movies/radio stations/rss feeds to your ps3, 360, psp, other computers in the house, ext.

The PS3 has been out for a lesser period of time, and it has trophies in it now (new feature) and a free online (unlike LIVE). It just depends on what you want to do with it. They are basically the same except the PS3 is more of a computer and has more options for a media center and the 360 is what most people play and therefor has a way larger online community. I have both PS3 and 360 and I have been playing my 360 more lately but that's just because I have Grand Theft Auto 4 on it. They are mainly the same thing, there is a price difference I believe but get what suits you. Sony is a good company I have always liked them, and Microsoft does not impress me. I had to send my 360 in because the games would always freeze up (no red rings) and then I would have to restart. They gave me a new one free because I havn't had it for one year yet. I use the ps3 mainly for resistance, killzone, and rockband and guitar hero world tour. The 360 is mainly for grand theft auto 4, halo 3, gears of war 2, and my main media center.

 

[TehLemur]

I can help you out with the question on Little Big Planet. I own the game and it is basically a 2-D platformer in which you can play as a normal platformer or create your own levels and items with a very intricate system in doing so. Think of Donkey kong but cute with customizable characters. The singleplayer(which is co-op up to four people) is really well-made and actually helps (in my opinion) give you ideas when you start creating. Once creating a level you can throw it online for others to play, and you can play anyone's creations as well. Media Molocule is always adding new items whether it is new costumes, new items to use in creation mode, or map packs (metal gear solid maps). It's easy to jump into a friends main menu and begin playing games with them.

If you have any other questions just ask.

 

[Plork]

Ok, so I went all criznazy yesterday while I was running around from one appointment to the next and bought a 360 arcade, Dead Rising, Rock Band 1, the strat guitar for it, the mic, and a portable drum kit thingie. Ran out today and bought a cheap HDMI cable for it (10 feet for $8 at Fry's). YAY! I fiddled a bit with the .avi stuff but long story short, I think it was working but something was awry. I'm on a weeklong work trip now (but I'm only like an hour and a half from my house but I'll take a free condo for a week if it's offered) and I brought it along as well as my whole desktop set up. Yeah, I'm that big of a dork. I'll fiddle more with the xbox video streaming when I get home and I'm looking for a hard drive on the cheap right now. I just want to download more songs for the Rock Band, hehe. I LOVE that game. Suckered some friends into coming over and playing with me last night and they all fell in love with the game. Unfortunately that probably means I'm going to be asked to drag the console along with me to other peoples places or end up hosting a lot more get togethers. Ug. That means I'll have to clean more, hehe.

Thanks again for all the help. I really do appreciate it.