It's all to do with games! Have a look at the games on both systems and compare.

Personally, I would love to play Gears of War and Lost Planet and BioShock on the 360. The only other game I'm interested in is really Mass Effect...nothing else apart form that.

Although, the PS3 doesn't really have loads of games out compared to the 360, I would like to play Resistance, Heavenly Sword, Uncharted and Ratchet & Clank.

And then there's next year....what exactly is coming to the 360 for 2008? I don't know, but MGS4, Killzone2, LittleBigPlanet and FFXIII are 4 huge games for the PS3.

This is why I would lean towards the PS3 personally. I also have the niggly feeling that the 360 will go the same way as the original XBox as well.

The more I think about it, if you honestly have to ask yourself which to get, perhaps you should wait a little longer and let the choice become more obvious to you via the games and success of each console.

Thats a good question. I bought my brothers a 360 and they really like it. It has a lot more games now. However, for myself i don't know.

1. 360 has more exclusive content.
2. 360 is cheaper.
3. PS3 is more reliable.
4. PS3 has bluray.
5. 360 has better online features and content.
6. PS3 online is free.
7. 360 blade system is easier to use making it a preferred media center.
8. 360 integrates w/ Vista really well, making it a preferred media center.

That's about it. I would probably go 360 for media center reasons and when I got an HDTV I would get the HDDVD addon.

I'd go with the PS3.

Free Online
HD movies out of the box
MGS4
FFXIII

I'm not so sure about the upscaling...I mean, I guess it's cool, but I barely notice it. What I DO notice, however, is that they load about 6-7 times faster, there are virtually NO load times for PS1/PS2 games when you play them on the PS3. At least when you have the disc speed turned up.

I guess you also need to factor in if you a PC gamer as well? The thing that keeps the 360 from being an easy choice for me, is that a lot of the "exclusive" content that I care about is also on, or coming to, the PC as well. Bioshock, Gears, Lost Planet, eventually Mass Effect. The upcoming PS3 exclusives see to be a bit more exclusive.

A gamer is predominantly concerned with games. The reality is, and I doubt anyone will argue this the 360 has more must have games. Further more it has greater genre penetration. You will get more games in your preferred genre playing with a 360 especially if you place it up against the new 40 Gig sku. Remember you will get two generations of games to choose from.

Another poster pegged it ironically Microsoft has more JRPGs and more in development then the PS3. Further more they have more western RPGs. They have what will probably be the best RPG of the year in the form of Mass Effect. You of coarse have Blue Dragon, and Lost Odyssey as well. So if your looking for RPGs Microsoft has the volume, and Final Fantasy is so far out that it should probably not weigh on your decision.

I made the same decision you are making now a few months ago. Granted I bought slightly used with a handful of games, but I think the console has a lot more to offer. The only real issue is the malfunctions, but those are brought on by excessive heating.

The ring of death only apparently afflicts one in three consoles. Further more it rarely does so right out of the box. Out of those who had their console crash and burn ask yourself one question how well did they treat their machine. You have to treat a 360 like a PC. Anything you would not do to a PC you should definitely not do to a 360. Give it ample ventilation, keep it in a cool environment, do not run it for twelve hour sprees, don't smoke around it, and finally do not pile other hardware on top of it.

The odds are actually on your side that you will not have a issue. Taking good care of the machine should increase your odds further, and if the unfortunate does happen Microsoft will honor its warranty. The worst you will get is six weeks of inconvenience. You might get the cooler units, and I would venture a guess that the bundle pack will have the more reliable hardware.

Really if the RoD terrifies you that much you only need wait a month.

 Sorry, I have to disagree with you here. 

1. Almost every person I know who has a 360 (5 out of 6) has had rrod. I think MS stated 1/3 but it is much higher in reality.

2. All of them have it is the same environment as their pc's and laptops. Only thier 360's are having issues.

3. It is a major concern, and the only one that would potentially cause me to want a PS3 over a 360.

4. I leave my pc on nearly 24/7 for the last 4 years. I have only turned it off to clean, upgrade, and when I leave the house on vacations, and until this February when I got a Wii, I almost exclusively played games on it. Battlefield 2, Civ IV, and others.

Face it, the 360 is a very poorly designed machine. 

I'd serisouly contend that the RROD problem has drastically been addressed since about last May (that is, consoles made in May, not consoles on the shelf in May) since they have put in a much better heat sink, better DVD drives, better fans, and better X-clamp on the motherboard. I think regardless if the CPU was 65 nm, the actual problem is the GPU; so it is still 90 nm (which I think it is as of now), it'll still generate the same amount of heat. However, these fixes I described go a very long way to fixing the RROD problem (in my opinion, probably bring failure rates to a respactible industry level).

I bought a 360 in early August, and this system is very solid. It has all the additions to the hardware. I leave it on for hours at a time (I once accidentally left it online for 3 days straight...I was gone for a weekend, and somehow left it on) with no problems. It's much better at getting the heat out (you can feel the difference because the air coming out will be hot (which is good...out = good) while the air coming out of an older system, pre-May 07, will be cooler)). Honestly, I don't think it'l be as big of a challenge to land one of these newer consoles since the system has been selling like crazy.

If I were you, I would buy the holiday bundle that is coming late October. I'm not sure what you would get out of waiting, because I have a strong feeling the 360 isn't going to drop in price for a while (look at how long it took for the first drop: almost 2 years) and I feel like this bundle is their way of making a "price drop" (although it clearly isn't a price drop, you do get more for your money). I've also heard that this bundle may be a temporary holiday thing, so if you're interested in getting a couple of games thrown in with your system, then this holiday will be best.

Again, I'm not sure what you'd get out of waiting, other than missing out on some games this holiday. If you're not totally sure, it might be better to wait to see how the PS3 does; but if you think you'd enjoy the 360, late october when the bundles come out would definitely be the time to take the plunge; and I can all but gurarentee that these systems will have the fixes in their hardware (Falcon chip or not, it's the fixes I described above that really make the difference in overheating; and I can certainly bet that these systems will have these fixes).

Good luck!