this is only the 10,000th time somebody started a thread like this. you haven't seen any because it's an old and tiring topic.

For me, it all comes down to the games. The console argument is obsolete at this point. I am a gamer above all else, and the console I prefer is both. If a multiplat is better on 360 then thats what I buy it for, and vice versa. The PS3 exclusives are almost always great, so I buy those too. And while the 360 exclusives have diminished in quantity, I still look forward to playing Forza 4 and Gears 3.

What an intelligent thread. I have never seen anything like it.

Anyway, for me easily Xbox 360.

Reasons:

• Halo is king.
• Xbox Live is the best online service out there. Hell yeah I am including Battle.net and Steam. NO, I repeat, NO Competition.
• Gears is boss.
• best controller ever. I sold my PSOne in the 90s, because I did not get how people like this controller. Somehow Sony pretty much sticked with it for decades. The Xbox 1 controller was bad, too. The Xbox S controller was pretty sexy though.
• I am one of the few internet-nerds, who really like Kinect. It is fun and that is all I care about. Tomorrow there will be another couple at our house and we will play some Kinect Adventures and Kinect Sports, before we watch a horror-movie. Love those evenings.

PS3 exclusives I am interested in: Uncharted series. That is it. Not much for me on that system. I dislike 3D, Move (been there, done that) and handhelds. Now ask me about my thoughts of the Sony press conference.

Wow, you just opened a big-ass can of worms here, it won't be long before a console war breaks out.

Anyway...I will divide this into sections.

Graphics:

Back when the PS3 launched, it was commonly accepted that the XBOX 360 had better graphics, but after Uncharted launched in 2007 it blew every other game out of the water graphically. Metal Gear Solid then strengthened the argument that the PS3 had better graphics, sure there were flat textures and frame-rate dips but if you found the perfect view it was (and still is in my opinion) the best looking game on consoles. For the XBOX 360, there has only been one game that stood out above the rest graphically, Gears of War. Despite the cartoonish look the game was very sharp and had excellent lighting and shadows. Despite Gears of War looking great, I still don't think it shines above Uncharted 2 or MGS4, so in this category, I will give the advantage to the PS3.

Reliability:

I'm not going to bring the XBOX 360 slim into the equation, because that launched 5 years into the console's life cycle. I think we all know about the severity of the RROD, so the PS3 takes this category.

Design:

The original XBOX 360 didn't look too bad, but the matte plastic and dull grey trim made the console look tacky. Luckily, the XBOX 360 slim is damn sexy, but it was launched far too late into the console's life cycle. The original PS3 had a nice gloss finish and looked like a very professional machine, it was probably even sexier than the XBOX 360 slim. The PS3 slim doesn't look AS good as the original PS3 but it still looks better than the original XBOX 360. I will give this one to the PS3 because it is an all round better looking machine.

Hardware features:

The PS3 has a blu-ray player, Wi-Fi, rechargable controllers, a hard drive and free online straight out of the box. SONY have basically given you everything you will ever need for your PS3 excluding a headset. The original XBOX 360 didn't have any built in features like the PS3 and they had to be bought separately, it did have a headset but what is the use of that when the majority of people require Wi-Fi to hook up to the internet? Despite the XBOX 360 slim having built in Wi-Fi, it still lacks a Blu-Ray player and the lower end model has only 4GB of flash memory, so this one goes to the PS3 too.

Software features:

While the PS3 does have the odd service like Netflix, it still doesn't have as many services as the XBOX 360. An XBL Gold subscription will give you access to tonnes of great services which are integrated into the dashboard. This category goes to the XBOX 360.

Online play:

Back when the PSN launched, XBL had already existed on the original XBOX and the XBOX 360 and Microsoft had many years of experience with their online service. PSN was very laggy compared to XBL to begin with and didn't have as many great features. But since 2008, PSN has been bought up to the same standard as the XBL when it comes to friends list's, messaging, matchmaking and connection speed. The PSN still lacks the party system and cross game chat and XBL still has faster downloads for system software updates, patches and games. But for these improvements you will need to pay £40 / $50 a year. While XBL is slightly better than PSN, some people might think that the extra money isn't worth it, so this category is a tie.

Controller:

This all comes down to preference. I have fairly large hands and I like the well rounded shape of the XBOX 360 controller better. But the PS3 controller has far better analogue sticks and buttons. The different controllers suit different people and different genres of game. I don't prefer either controller over the other, so this category is a tie.

Price:

The PS3's launch price back in 2006 was very high. Luckily the price has been lowered significantly since launch to compete with the XBOX 360. Despite the XBOX 360 still being cheaper than the PS3, the PS3 has no hidden charges such as online play and a hard drive etc. When these add-ons are included to the XBOX 360's price, it ends up being higher than the price of a PS3. But if there is somebody who doesn't want these extra features and they just want a next generation without online play or features, then the XBOX 360 still ends up cheaper. This category is a tie too.

Games:

This one all comes down to preference, I prefer JPRG's and Action/Adventure games and I grew up playing the Playstation 1 and 2, so I prefer the franchises exclusive to PS3. The XBOX 360 has more shooters and a few great games in other genre's too. Back in 2008, the XBOX 360 would have had a huge advantage over the PS3 when it comes to exclusives, but recently the PS3 has had a huge burst of great exclusive games. It only gets better with the exclusive line-up for 2011 / 2012 too. While the XBOX 360 does have some great exclusives, the PS3 has arguably better exclusives and a much larger variety. While this category does come down to opinion, the PS3 exclusives cover a much larger variety and there arguably more higher rated exclusives for the PS3. When it comes to future exclusive titles, the XBOX 360 line-up is looking pretty bleak, where the PS3 is set to have one of it's best years so far. This category goes to the PS3 because of raw numbers, but it all comes down to opinion.

If a person is choosing between a PS3 or an XBOX 360, it all comes down to their opinion. While the PS3 did win most of the categories when it comes to statistics and facts (such as reliability and hardware features), if somebody prefers a certain genre or is a huge fan of a certain franchise then that makes the decision for them. I am sure fans of Halo would definately give up a Blu-Ray player and free online to play their favourite franchise.

In my opinion, these are the only reasons to choose an XBOX 360 over a PS3.

• XBL and it's features
• Ability to install games to the hard drive
• A few exclusives like Tales of Vesperia and Alan Wake
• Better performance in multiplatform titles
• More of your friends own the XBOX 360

The ps3 beats the 360 in every aspect except online service. And even then it cost money on the 360. Ps3 for me.

If we take the games out of the equation, because that is opinion. Then what you said is true.

PS3 of course due the exclusives (and soon PSVita crossplay).

yep, im still gonna buy one tho when its super cheap

You say this thread is never done -_- I literally answered this same question in another topic today.

Xbox pros-

• The best FPS game- Frontlines: Fuels of War. (No you cretins, its Halo)
• XBL features are above PSN's- faster firmware downloads, party chat, demos for each game, etc. After 5 years- Nearly the length of World War 1- the PS3 cannot do cross game voice chat.
• Game installs. Brilliant idea. Why Sony haven't copied this idea like they do most ideas is beyond my reckoning, my slim gets loud after a couple of hours even on downloadable games.
• Better perfoming multiplats- I get most multiplats on PS3 so it doesn't really apply to me. But for the "less powerful" Xbox to get better performing multiplats is something to be applauded.

PS3 pros-

• The exclusive library. At this point it's overtaken the PS1&2 to become my favourite exclusive library. For Microsoft to be so far behind after a decade in the industry and billions at their disposal is horrifically disappointing. Sony's library is so much broader.
• Blu-Ray- worth the extra dough.
• Free online. I play online more on PS than XB for free and with more dedicated servers. Utterly indefensible, Microsoft.
• The company. Something tells me Sony will always put in more effort for the core audience than MS will. MS are focused on Kinect with the yearly Halo, Gear & CoD to shut up their core audience and keep them occupied. Sony release great core games throughout the year.

^Based on this PS3 takes it. Still love the 360.

I haven't spent enough time with a PS3 to determine that...
But as for the X360 and the Wii... The 360 has advantages, and the Wii has advantages.