Although this is titled 'Playstation vs. Xbox', this post will also be pitting Sony against Microsoft in general. The Playstation and Xbox are just products created by these companies; therefore, when comparing the two consoles, I am really showing the difference between how Sony and Microsoft provides for their consumers.
To start, I have owned a Playstation 3 for over three years; and I just bought an Xbox 360 (slim edition) about a month ago. For the most part, the two systems do just about the exact same thing. The main reason I bought an Xbox, is to play the games that are exclusive to Microsoft and their Xbox console (ie. Gears of War, Mass Effect, Halo and Fable).
After playing the Xbox for a month, I have a lot of complaints about it--things that Sony did very well on the Playstation, Microsoft did poorly on the Xbox. My primary complaint is Xbox Live; however, I am going to save that argument for a little bit later in this post. For now, I am going to gripe about the hardware on the Xbox--for instance, it uses a proprietary hard drive. that means, if I have to buy a new one or upgrade later, I have to pay more for a hard drive because its a Microsoft only drive and they can set the price as high as they like, because they know their customer have no choice but to buy their drive. For instance, for 250 GB, the lowest I have found is $130 at Amazon.com. For those that are not aware, the Playstation 3 lets you use any 2.5-inch notebook drive, which Amazon.com has for less than $45. Obviously, Microsoft is gouging prices!
Next, the controllers you get with the Xbox does not come with a rechargeable battery pack. This, you must also pay extra for. The Playstation 3 controllers come with a built in rechargeable battery. Yet another issue is the disk drive on the Xbox--it is very loud! You can hear the disk spinning the whole time you play the game. Playstation 3 has a slot load design, making it a lot quieter. While we are talking about the disks, Xbox only plays DVD media, while Playstation 3 plays Bluray media. This is a major disadvantage, where if you have a game that is more than 9 GB in size, they have to use two discs on the Xbox. I have yet to see a Playstation 3 game that had to be separated to two disks and require you to change them out mid-game. Unfortunately, Xbox does require you to do this on some games, like Mass Effect 2.
Now, here is my beef with Xbox Live. I have to admit, Xbox Live has a better reputation with multiplayer gaming than Playstation Network. However, recently Playstation 3 has gotten a lot better. My main complaint is that you have to pay a subscription to Microsoft to do half of what Xbox Live offers, such as multiplayer gaming and watching movies through services like Netflix or Hulu.
Why is Microsoft allowed to require a subscription fee, just to watch your Netflix movies?! I already pay a subscription to Netflix for this service. Playstation 3 and Wii both allow you to stream your Netflix movies for NO ADDITIONAL CHARGE!! This just goes to show that Microsoft will go at great lengths to milk every penny they can get, out of its consumers. To me, this is like Ford requiring you to pay them a subscription, in order to listen to your satellite radio in one of their cars. Who would allow that?? For the record, I refuse to buy an Xbox Live gold account, for just that reason.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Introduction
Video games have been a part of my life since the mid-80s. I was seven years old then; our first computer was a Commodore 128, and I had probably two large boxes of floppy disks loaded with games for it. After a few years, I switched from the Commodore to an IBM PC; that sucker had an x386 processor in it and I had so many games for it, ranging from King's Quest to Sim City.
For the most part, I have always preferred PC gaming to console gaming. In the last five years, however, that has changed. My first console was a Playstation 2; I fell in love with all the Final Fantasy games and still own most of them, to this day. In 2007, I bought a Playstation 3 and use it not just for gaming, it is also great for playing Bluray, DVDs, and video files stored on a media server. The latter is what I use more than anything else.
Today, I also own a Wii console, and just recently, an Xbox 360. Playstation is still my favorite of them all.
For the most part, I have always preferred PC gaming to console gaming. In the last five years, however, that has changed. My first console was a Playstation 2; I fell in love with all the Final Fantasy games and still own most of them, to this day. In 2007, I bought a Playstation 3 and use it not just for gaming, it is also great for playing Bluray, DVDs, and video files stored on a media server. The latter is what I use more than anything else.
Today, I also own a Wii console, and just recently, an Xbox 360. Playstation is still my favorite of them all.
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