Ok, I am finally buying a console due to GTA IV

[JoeFahey]

I used to have a ps2, and I thought it was alright. I play a lot of Halo and other multiplayer games at my friends' houses on their Xbox 360's. I will admit the main reason I am finally buying a console is for GTA IV. So firstly, which console would be better for this game? Also, how bad is the PS3 online gameplay? I know that this is Xbox's benefit over Playstation, but is it really bad? I would be playing a fair amount of online games, so this might bring Xbox to the front.

Any help is welcome. Thanks!

 

[nycxandy]

If all your friends have a 360, then get a 360.

 

[Ramma2]

If you think you would get any use out of the PS3 as a Blu-Ray player, then that is what I would recommend to you.

If Blu-Ray is not your thing then I would recommend the 360 because I believe it does have the stronger online presence at this moment.

 

[JoeFahey]

Another thing, what is this I hear about different types of 360's? What should I look for?

 

[Queasy]

Originally posted by: JoeFahey
Another thing, what is this I hear about different types of 360's? What should I look for?

Depends on what you want to spend. I'd suggest getting the Pro version for ~$350. It comes with a 20GB HDD and HDMI. It is $349.99 and comes with Marvel: Ultimate Alliance and Forza 2 in some cases.

If you think you're going to be downloading a lot of movies and what not or if you prefer black, go with the Elite. It comes with a 120GB HDD and HDMI. It is $449.99.

As nyxcandy said, if all your friends have a 360, that's probably the way you want to go if you want to play with them.

 

[herkulease]

well besides gta 4 what else will you be playing?

If you will play that game and that game only, then I would go for the ps3. Atleast you can use it as a bluray player and if you buy the 80gb model you can use it to play your old ps2 games.

I have yet to try gta 4 on the ps3. I'm too busy playing on my 360, so I can't tell you which is better. I'll rent it or win it from joystiq eventually to try it out.

If you are interested in playing other games then I'd lean towards the 360. Has a bigger library to choose from. Plus many of your friends have it and other than a few non-sony published or associated titles everything will be multi-console anyhow.

I won't get into failure rates and repair service. I've had both my 360s fail and had it repaired by microsoft quite easily, while other people seemingly die constantly and have nightmare repair issue.

 

[Ramma2]

Originally posted by: JoeFahey
Another thing, what is this I hear about different types of 360's? What should I look for?

Looking at Best Buy's website, there are currently 3 models for sale:

The Arcade Unit: The cheapest, but definitly not recommended for online play, as it comes with no storage media, and you need a HDD or memory card to play online. Do not get this one.

The Standard Unit: I believe this to be the best bet. Full package, wireless controller, and comes with a 20GB HDD. More than enough for save games and a handfull of video downloads.

The Elite Unit: Same as the Standard, except it is black and has a 120GB HDD instead of 20GB, for $100 more. I would only get this if you really want a black console, or plan to host a ton of media on your Xbox.

 

[Ramma2]

Originally posted by: Queasy

Originally posted by: JoeFahey
Another thing, what is this I hear about different types of 360's? What should I look for?

Depends on what you want to spend. I'd suggest getting the Pro version for ~$350. It comes with a 20GB HDD and HDMI. It is $349.99 and comes with Marvel: Ultimate Alliance and Forza 2 in some cases.

If you think you're going to be downloading a lot of movies and what not or if you prefer black, go with the Elite. It comes with a 120GB HDD and HDMI. It is $449.99.

As nyxcandy said, if all your friends have a 360, that's probably the way you want to go if you want to play with them.

Don't the Pro units come with HDMI as well now?

 

[nycxandy]

Originally posted by: Ramma2

Originally posted by: Queasy

Originally posted by: JoeFahey
Another thing, what is this I hear about different types of 360's? What should I look for?

Depends on what you want to spend. I'd suggest getting the Pro version for ~$350. It comes with a 20GB HDD and HDMI. It is $349.99 and comes with Marvel: Ultimate Alliance and Forza 2 in some cases.

If you think you're going to be downloading a lot of movies and what not or if you prefer black, go with the Elite. It comes with a 120GB HDD and HDMI. It is $449.99.

As nyxcandy said, if all your friends have a 360, that's probably the way you want to go if you want to play with them.

Don't the Pro units come with HDMI as well now?

Yes, it comes with HDMI, just doesn't come included with an HDMI cable.

 

[Ramma2]

Originally posted by: nycxandy

Originally posted by: Ramma2

Originally posted by: Queasy

Originally posted by: JoeFahey
Another thing, what is this I hear about different types of 360's? What should I look for?

Depends on what you want to spend. I'd suggest getting the Pro version for ~$350. It comes with a 20GB HDD and HDMI. It is $349.99 and comes with Marvel: Ultimate Alliance and Forza 2 in some cases.

If you think you're going to be downloading a lot of movies and what not or if you prefer black, go with the Elite. It comes with a 120GB HDD and HDMI. It is $449.99.

As nyxcandy said, if all your friends have a 360, that's probably the way you want to go if you want to play with them.

Don't the Pro units come with HDMI as well now?

Yes, it comes with HDMI, just doesn't come included with an HDMI cable.

Ah I see. If you go that route, OP, www.monoprice.com is the place for all of your cable needs.

 

[Queasy]

Originally posted by: Ramma2

Originally posted by: Queasy

Originally posted by: JoeFahey
Another thing, what is this I hear about different types of 360's? What should I look for?

Depends on what you want to spend. I'd suggest getting the Pro version for ~$350. It comes with a 20GB HDD and HDMI. It is $349.99 and comes with Marvel: Ultimate Alliance and Forza 2 in some cases.

If you think you're going to be downloading a lot of movies and what not or if you prefer black, go with the Elite. It comes with a 120GB HDD and HDMI. It is $449.99.

As nyxcandy said, if all your friends have a 360, that's probably the way you want to go if you want to play with them.

Don't the Pro units come with HDMI as well now?

Yeah, I just mentioned that as a feature because it seems like every time I answer a question like this and don't mention that the Pro comes with HDMI, someone asks if it comes with HDMI.

 

[Xavier434]

Well, you mentioned friends and a 360 so that would be one of my main deciding factors. In addition, since you said GTA IV is your main motivator then just remember that only the 360 version is getting the extra downloadable content in the future for that game.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: Xavier434
Well, you mentioned friends and a 360 so that would be one of my main deciding factors. In addition, since you said GTA IV is your main motivator then just remember that only the 360 version is getting the extra downloadable content in the future for that game.

:thumbsup:

Other things to consider -
- 360 reliability
- 360 doesn't have built-in wifi if you need that. 1st party wifi adapter is expensive.
- You have to pay for Xbox Live
- 360 has much better game selection
- PS3 version of GTA IV is slightly better graphically (specifically pop-in issues on the 360, although I haven't noticed anything too bad).
- You'll probably want to buy a 360 that has a hard drive
- PS3 has Blu-ray
- PS3 has some big exclusives coming out in the future. Metal Gear Solid 4, Gran Turismo 5 and Final Fantasy XIII, if you're into those series.
- Do you have a preference for either controller?

 

[onlyCOpunk]

There are different pros and cons to each. But like you said you enjoy mutliplayer and your friends have 360's so it sounds like you already have your mind made up for 360.

Unless of course you want a BluRay player as well.

But just remember what mugs said. If you need wifi, a 360 wifi adapter is another 100 bucks, so that extra 100 bucks is something to take into consideration. It then becomes $450 vs $400.

And whatever you do, DO NOT buy a used 360.

 

[Queasy]

Originally posted by: onlyCOpunk
But just remember what mugs said. If you need wifi, a 360 wifi adapter is another 100 bucks, so that extra 100 bucks is something to take into consideration. It then becomes $450 vs $400.

He doesn't have to buy MS's wifi adapter (though you are starting to see it on sale for $20 less). He can mod a router with DD-WRT or Tomato or he can use an ethernet based game adapter/bridge. He can even use the original Xbox wifi adapter. All solutions are easy enough to do for $50 or less.

 

[randay]

...or wait for the pc port?

 

[Baked]

From the info you posted, you should definitely go for a X360. Get the standard unit w/ the HD, then buy a 1 year gold xbox live card from buy.com, that will give you 13 months at less than $3/month. GTA for Xbox comes w/ a free month of xbox live, and the X360 comes w/ a free month of xbox live too.

 

[zinfamous]

Originally posted by: Ramma2
If you think you would get any use out of the PS3 as a Blu-Ray player, then that is what I would recommend to you.

If Blu-Ray is not your thing then I would recommend the 360 because I believe it does have the stronger online presence at this moment.

what he said ^

my PS3 is 90% used for Blu Ray playback. and it kicks ass.

so yeah...you'll definitely get more versatility by going PS3 at this route, but if you don't have an HDTV, and thus have no use for HD playback, then buy a cheaper 360.

Of course, if you plan to upgrade sometime down the road, keep an HDMI port in mind. standard on PS3, model-specific on 360.

 

[imported_Imp]

One major plus for PS3: when you play, you can actually hear the game audio cause it's so quiet. On the 360, get used to the jet circling overhead in every game.

 

[BladeVenom]

Originally posted by: randay
...or wait for the pc port?

That's what I'm going to do.

 

[Queasy]

Originally posted by: Imp
One major plus for PS3: when you play, you can actually hear the game audio cause it's so quiet. On the 360, get used to the jet circling overhead in every game.

Uhhh....no. My son and his friend are playing Cars on the 360 behind me right now. I can't hear the 360. I can hear the game.

 

[Robert Munch]

Originally posted by: Queasy

Originally posted by: Imp
One major plus for PS3: when you play, you can actually hear the game audio cause it's so quiet. On the 360, get used to the jet circling overhead in every game.

Uhhh....no. My son and his friend are playing Cars on the 360 behind me right now. I can't hear the 360. I can hear the game.

yea never noticed it either, owned my 360 since xmas 2007 and casually play from time to time and my volume levels are never cranked.

 

[Imported]

Originally posted by: Queasy

Originally posted by: Imp
One major plus for PS3: when you play, you can actually hear the game audio cause it's so quiet. On the 360, get used to the jet circling overhead in every game.

Uhhh....no. My son and his friend are playing Cars on the 360 behind me right now. I can't hear the 360. I can hear the game.

Wish it was true for all 360s. Mine sounds like a jet.

 

[Fingolfin269]

Originally posted by: Imported

Originally posted by: Queasy

Originally posted by: Imp
One major plus for PS3: when you play, you can actually hear the game audio cause it's so quiet. On the 360, get used to the jet circling overhead in every game.

Uhhh....no. My son and his friend are playing Cars on the 360 behind me right now. I can't hear the 360. I can hear the game.

Wish it was true for all 360s. Mine sounds like a jet.

I've never understood this either. Launch 360 and I don't even notice it.

To the op, every review I've seen that actually answers this question says go for the 360 version due to the extra content (future) and online component.

 

[Jules]

Originally posted by: randay
...or wait for the pc port?

Or not.