CNET reviewers recently published their latest “prizefights” between products, the Xbox 360 vs. PlayStation 3. They compared various facets, such as overall design, game library, features, etc. I’ve been heavily weighing the same choices in my own mind for months now, and I was interested to hear who the winner was in this comparison.
Am I ruining the surprise if I tell you the verdict now? They rated the Xbox 360 slightly higher. They rated the Xbox 360 the best gaming machine, and the PS3 a “compelling, do-it-all” machine. I still like the PS3 better. I would have felt a bit more sure of myself if the PS3 won, but I still think it fits my simple needs best.
I think the PS3 comes out on top as having the better hardware between the two. Most in the gamer community are well aware of XBox 360’s infamous “Red Ring of Death”, the ominous console harbinger, which signals that the XBox must be sent away for repairs and will be out of commission for at least a month. The “Red Ring of Death” occurs on a reported 16% of all XBox consoles, according to an article on ShackNews about the XBox 360. According to the article, Microsoft contends that the failure rate is only at 3%.
While the hardware repairs are paid for through Microsoft’s warranty plan, that’s a big potential minus for the 360 in my book. Not only does the PS3 have no major hardware issues, but you get Blu-Ray. The XBox 360 is cheaper but with worse hardware.
I do wish/hope that Sony incorporates Netflix streaming to the PS3 one day. That would be awesome, as you can already watch Hulu and Youtube. What I like about the PS3 is that it is regularly upgraded through firmware updates, so Netflix streaming is still a possibility. That’s just cool.