Matan

Hi,

I know there are countless playstation vs xbox threads on the internet, but I wanted to ask the opinion of adventure game fans on this site, which I trust more than some random gamers on the internet.

I bought both my DS (three years ago) and my Wii (two years ago) based on recommendations of people in these forums, who said they have some great adventure games. I really enjoyed these consoles, with awesome exclusive adventures like Zack & Wiki, Silent Hill:Shattered Memories, Phoenix Wright and Ghost Tricks. I also, from time-to-time, enjoyed playing some other non-adventure games on both consoles (e.g the Zelda games, which I've never played before I got the DS and Wii). Now, I feel that I'm missing on a large part of the fun because I do not own one of the two "hard-core" consoles, not being able to play new adventure games like LA Noire or Heavy Rain, and also some other non-adventure games like Bioshock or Brutal Legend. My only other gaming platform (except for the Wii and DS) is a Macbook pro.

The problem is - I do not know how to choose between an Xbox360 and a Playstation 3. I keep hearing of different games that are exclusive for one of these two (like Heavy Rain for PS3 or Gray Matter for Xbox360). Also, PS3 has the PS move, while Xbox360 have the Kinect, both might offer new gaming experience for both adventure games and non-adventure games.

So - which of the two would you say is the best gaming system for an adventure gamer who also likes to play story-rich non-adventure games from time to time? I'd really appreciate help choosing the right one.

Thanks!
Matan

Weare6

Well in my opinion they are equally as good as each other... although the PS3
has more grunt but theres not much in it.
The PS3 has the whole Blue-Ray thing but Game wise the 360 probably has more
titles to its name....... mmm its hard.
I guess really it will come down to your personal preference.
I personally have a 360 & a PC which I play most of my AG's on anyway.

Crunchy in milk

I'd expect both the 360 and especially the PS3 to drop in price later this year, early next. The Wii U's announcement coupled with the PS3's recent difficulties is bound to trigger a price cut there.

On paper the PS3 touts its greater 'power' but in practice many games just don't port well to its architecture. Most games that figure on both consoles will perform or look better on the 360. Few games that feature on both platforms make use of the PS3's unique strengths. You don't normally see higher textures or such to take advantage of even the greater storage space on the disc.

So it comes down to what console choice has always come down to, the annoying 'exclusives'. The only way to tell which platform is right for you is to look at what you can play on it, that's not available elsewhere.

I'd recommend heading to a site like mobygames and looking at the titles for each system in the genre's that interest you. It even has a game browser to make this as easy as possible, browse by platform and genre combined.

The 360 and PS3 are entering their ~6th year of service. Wii U is announced for next year and its announcement was rife with cross platform titles (like Arkham Asylum). Prices could (should) fall, especially the PS3.

Interplay

I agree mostly with the other posters, in that I think they are pretty similar consoles. I think it really comes down to two things:

1) Blu ray player - the PS3 has a blu ray player. The 360 does not. If you have a HDTV and don't already have a stand alone blu ray player, I would get the PS3

2) Exclusives - by and far, almost all the games are released on both platforms - however there are exceptions and those are the ones you should look at. From a purely adventure gamer stand, I think the PS3 wins out. Heavy Rain is one of the most innovative games in recent years (only on PS3). Other adventure games like Red Johnson's Chronicles (a new PSN downloadable) are exclusive to the PS3. The only adventure-type game I can think of that is exclusive to the 360 is Alan Wake (Gray Matter is available on PC, though not Mac yet that I know of).

You probably can't go wrong either way, but the PS3 seems to be getting more and more adventure type games lately.

Also, while Wii U was announced at E3, I'm not really sure I would anticipate any significant price drop on either in the new future.

Let us know what you decide.

UPtimist

With consoles though, should you base your decision on AG-type games? (not that you probably suggested that exclusively either). PS3's AG selection, as you can see, isn't that much bigger either. It's got a few games where the XBox has a couple. Anything AG oriented is such a niche on consoles that you shouldn't look too far into that alone as a major part of your decision.

I have an XBox myself, but I haven't really experienced the PS3, so I can't really compare that well. The only game I remember wishing there was was Heavy Rain (and perhaps Uncharted), but then again the XBox has its own exclusives (like Mass Effect, even if ME2 is now finally on the PS3). Of course the PS3 has free online multiplayer where on the XBox you have to pay for Live Gold, but at least for me that's very minor as I wouldn't play online that much anyways.

Matan

Thank you for the replies!

Blue-ray isn't an issue for me.

Regarding the exclusives, it's a bit hard for me to judge since I do not know any of the games (I've really been out of the loop for a long time, since I don't know much about the games I couldn't play). I've heard of uncharted first on the sony E3 presentation this week (it looks great, though). I never heard of Mass Effect (except for the name obviously).
Metal Gear Solid looks good, and I know it's supposed to be a very story-oriented game. I would also really love to be able to play Heavy Rain. I can't currently play Gray Matter, so it would have been nice to be able to play it.

Bioshock seems amazing (never been able to play it) but it's available on all platforms. On the other hand, Bioshock 3 will have specific support for the PS move, which could really change the way the game is played. In general, I'm a bit worried that either kinect or the PS move will shift gameplay in a way that will make the two systems more differentiable (for example, if suddenly a lot of good kinect-only games will start popping). This doesn't seem to happen so far, but is this expected to happen in the near future?

UPtimist

Honestly, I wouldn't expect anything too huge to come out for either Kinect or PS move. To me they seem to be more novelty than serious gaming. Of course, depends where your interests are, for party games and stuff they're probably great.

However, I'm no expert and can't predict the future.

default

As most people here, I play most of my games on PC. However if I'm reading your tastes right, the PS3 will have more titles available that will suit you.

There are some other slight advantages as well. The PS3 does have a bit more graphics power and the Bluray allows for games to fit on a single disc. A number of cross platform games have ended up being split across multiple discs on the Xbox360.

Neither of these matter all THAT much. But I personally feel that the PS3 has more exclusive titles that will fit you, as well as offering all the cross platform games.

MdaG

I have both and my PS3 hasn't been touched since I finished Demon's Souls. Everything just runs smoother on the XBOX. If there are any exclusive titles on the PS3 that you have to play, then go with the PS3. Otherwise XBOX is just a smoother experience in my opinion.

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Weare6

Yeah I agree... it seems to be made for the casual gamer.
I can't see it revolutionising anything from what I've seen.
You just get so much better control with the Controller.
Jumping around for a bit is fun but I can't imagine playing
a full length single player campaign when you have to physically
act out everything you want to do.
Anyway thats just like my opinion man........

fov

I recently bought a PS3 and am glad I did. I started with Heavy Rain and am now playing Red Johnson's Chronicles along with an RPG named Eternal Sonata. (I'm a sucker for JRPGs!) LA Noire is in the mail. Many of Telltale's games are available on PSN (more than on XBLA, I think) and there are others like Stacking and Costume Quest that have caught my eye. Some of these are available on Xbox as well but I think as far as exclusives go, the PS3's (basically Heavy Rain) are more compelling.

Also worth considering -- because of Heavy Rain, there are other devs looking at the PS3 as a platform for adventure or adventure-like games. I met with the developer of Red Johnson's Chronicles at GDC and asked whey they were debuting on PS3 and the answer was that they wanted to create something for the Heavy Rain audience and thought that other devs will be following suit. (This rationale basically put me over the top in my decision to buy one...)

I also have a PC, so that's where I played Gray Matter. If you don't have a PC, I could see an Xbox being more compelling because a lot of games that come out for PC also come out (only) for Xbox. But to be honest (and I say this as a big Jane Jensen fan) -- if you're basically deciding between buying an Xbox because of Gray Matter or buying a PS3 because of Heavy Rain, then you should go with the PS3. Gray Matter is a great game and I enjoyed playing it, but if you have to buy a console to do so, it's not worth the price of admission. And IMHO, Heavy Rain is.

Intrepid Homoludens

Tough choice now (not so tough a few years ago).

I have all three current gen consoles but the one I end up using most often is the 360 (which I've also owned the longest). I have very few titles for the PS3 and they're mostly exclusives - Heavy Rain, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, Demon's Souls. On the PS3 I also downloaded Flower.

I side with Crunchy in that titles that come out for both 360 and PS3 seem a little better graphically and performance-wise on the 360 (though I've read L.A. Noire isn't as poppy or choppy on the PS3).

If most of the games you've got your eye on are story and character rich AND multi-console releases you may want the 360. But remember that very strong games with good stories and characters also feature exclusively on the PS3 (the ones I listed above, except for Demon's Souls).

Sorry, didn't make it easier for you. Tough choice.

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platform: laptop, iPhone 3Gs | gaming: x360, PS3, psp, iPhone, wii | blog: a space alien | book: the moral landscape: how science can determine human values by sam harris | games: l.a.noire, portal 2, brink, dragon age 2, heavy rain | sites: NPR, skeptoid, gaygamer | music: ray lamontagne, adele, washed out, james blake | twitter: a_space_alien

Ashok

In terms of exclusives for 2011-2012, the PS3 is killing the 360.

PS3 = Killzone 3, Infamous 2, Resistance 3, Twisted Metal, Uncharted 3, Agent, Peace Walker, Yakuza 4/5, Last Guardian, FFV13

360 = Halo 4, Gears of War 3, Ryse

Weare6

Yeah but if your talking about quality game exclusives then really you can knock
off most of those games for the PS 3 and leave.... Uncharted 3...
and maybe the Last Guardian!

360 quality exclusives - Get ride of Gears and Ryse and that just leaves.....
- HALO 4 yeah yeah!

Intrepid Homoludens

Personally that means nothing to me because I own both consoles.

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platform: laptop, iPhone 3Gs | gaming: x360, PS3, psp, iPhone, wii | blog: a space alien | book: the moral landscape: how science can determine human values by sam harris | games: l.a.noire, portal 2, brink, dragon age 2, heavy rain | sites: NPR, skeptoid, gaygamer | music: ray lamontagne, adele, washed out, james blake | twitter: a_space_alien

Jannik

Judging from your list I'd say PS3 is the best choice, since most of the games on your list are either adventure games or action-adventure games.

For adventure games it's arguably a tie, and PS3 probably wins when it comes to interesting action-adventure games.

Jannik

Just saw that you categorize L.A. Noire as an adventure game, so my recommendation might be a bit off

squirly

I have xbox 360 and ps3, one game on ps3 will push me to recomend ps3 more thou. And that game is little big planet 2. over 4million user created levels. I've seen some amazing community created levels. some very impressive adventure based created levels to.

here is a fine example http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iA85n8VSLc

Burns11

If you didn't have a PS3, don't neglect the Ico and Shadow of the Colossus HD remakes in your decision, they are two of my best gaming experiences of all time.

Heavy Rain and the Uncharted series I wouldn't trade for anything. My vote is, and does go to (I got rid of my 360 long ago), the PS3.

Matan

Thank you for the help!
Based on what everyone said, I finally decided I would get a PS3

Can't wait to start playing all these games...