Xbox 360. If you can't afford xbl now, save up a few dollars here and there, because you can probably find a xbl membership card for 35.00 for a year online. I got mine on amazon about a year ago for that much. I don't know how much they are now.
My point being, I have both ps3 and a 360. I play alot of sports games and nothing beats the atmosphere like xbl. I use to buy sports games for both but now exclusively for 360.
Don't get me wrong. I play the shit out of my ps3 as well, but when it comes to sports or fps, 360. Now the people with a ps3 or a wii will tell you ps3 strictly because they hate 360 (probably never even picked up a 360 controller). PS3 owners will say that because they hate the 360,Wii owners will say that because they'd rather see people buy a PS3 than a 360.
Fact is, based on what you like (games wise) i'd go with xbox w/xbl. If you'll never pick up xbl then get a PS3. Even if you decide that you want a ps3 for the blu-ray (Hoo-ray HD DVD is dead), there's 1 problem, the 360's coming out with their stand alone (according to them, affordible) blu-ray player.

You can also get XBL cards off the Xbox Dashboard for ten dollars a month.

PS3; Haze, LBP, MGS4, FF, GoW, Resistance 2, Killzone 2

And a pretty good price.
But just my opinion.

Depends on what you want. I have a family and work so i use the PS3 for games, movies and music. There are enough games on it to satisfy me. I would get the 360 if your in middle/high school and have tons of time to play. I got a ps3 for MGS4. Im older and was already out of high school when halo came out, so i am not familiar with the newer stuff, but 360 has TONS of games, some cheap ones too.

Guys I dont think he's willing to pay extra for XBL.
If he was I would think he would have mentioned it already, yet he specifically said he cant pay for XBL. You shouldnt recommend the Xbox360 then force him to pay extra for XBL. Remember you have to pay yearly for XBL even if he somehow gets lucky and found a way to pay for a Gold subscription this year, He will have to pay for it again next year, and so on.
you should atleast look for what's best for ministaff instead of pushing your own favorite, he had enough trust to ask for our opinion, lets not lose it.
Though I guess If ministaff isnt big on multiplayer, then its a different story.

well, most people say you get what you pay for, and thats true with the DLC and online play of video games as well, the 360's online play cost around 50 a yearish ( i wouldnt know, im still on dialup internet :() and it has the better game library at the moment, most people here say get a PS3 becasue of 2 or 3 games that MIGHT come out, but the truth is, games get cancelled and delayed all the time, like i should be playing SSBB right now, but its delyayed. my point being, dont put all your faith in whats to come, like sony isnt selling as many games as theyd like, and they only get $12 for a new game for a ps3, they are losing like 900$ per a ps3, so mabey sony will go bankrupt, or just stop producing (hopefull but not likely) and the 360 has a bigger community as well, but think about what you really want to play, the 360 has shooters, racers, 1 or 2 RPGs and Xbox arcade, the Ps3 has 2 shooters, like a bunch of mediocre games (any1 remember luanch, oh god) and will eventually have like FFXIII

well you should see which has the more games but if you do more than just play games than u should get a PS3 onlines free and theirs loads of new stuff coming for 2008 plus Sony's just won the format war with blu-ray and HD DVD. Plus theres not much price difference now between the two consoles so its up to you.

Well from this point on I would say the PS3 has a much brighter future than the 360 . Also , the PS3 doubles as a BRD player and has free online so that should make your deccision easier to :)

thats a bad idea he should get an 80 gig ps3 so he can play all things for the next 5 years

C'mon, be more pragmatic! Grabbing PS2 bundle now for $99 and playing its huge library for three or four years long, then getting HDTV along with discounted PS3/whatever is so cheap and dirty, it's obvious choice. Just think of someone who neither has played PS2 before nor willing to invest into HD experience at the moment.

Do not push your own youth impulses into the inquirer.