Originally Posted by Fight0

Not unless you're a serious gamer and play stuff like Uncharted and Gears of War.

I agree. I don’t play games myself, but my brother has both a PS3 and a 360, and he is always switching and using both systems. He plays some games on the PS3 and some on the XBOX. He has both systems and uses both of them. From my experience, it doesn’t seem redundant to have both the XBOX and PS3. But that is just my two cents.

If it comes down to a psp or 360, I'd definitely go for the 360 seeing as they won't be missing anything if they don't have a psp since they already own a DS for portable gaming. The 360 also has a wide range of games to choose from as well as exclusives such as halo and gears of war which you can't get for the ps3, making it the better option. I'm also pretty sure that the new PSP go can only download games and not play UMD's which is something to consider.

Originally Posted by Infinity

well since they are T. you should go with psp. Xbox is only good for M titles.

Assuming that they don't play 'any' M titles. If they had bought a 360, then undoubtedly they would have to purchase M titles to get the best games on the system (even though the ESRB ratings don't really mean anything).

Originally Posted by Fight0

Not unless you're a serious gamer and play stuff like Uncharted and Gears of War.

Outside of Halo, Gears, Fable, L4D (which is considerably better on PC), and Mass Effect what other must have games would you really be getting by buying a 360? $300 so her kids can have access to about 5 more games that they cannot already play on their PS3, Wii, or DS all of which have an M rating and by the criteria set wouldn't be suitable for the kids would be downright stupid. She could spend some cash and buy her kids a PSP which has a decent library of T rated games (including exclusives) or just spend the $300 on 5+ new games for the kids for Christmas rather than a new console.

BTW if their parents are still buy their games for them, those kids can't call themselves serious gamers regardless of their age.

I would agree with the notion against the 360 and get the previous version of the PSP. The new PSP doesn't have a disc drive so you can only download games onto it.

Also, the 360 isn't cheap. It's a barebones system with only 512 MB of memory. If you want to get it to a decent stand point, espec. compared to the ps3, a 60GB hard drive for the 360 is already over 100. So it's automatically over 299, which is the price of the ps3 slim now.

Originally Posted by Fight0

Not unless you're a serious gamer and play stuff like Uncharted and Gears of War.

Only PC gamers are truly "serious" gamers. Consoles are child's play. A truly "serious" gamer is able to build a gaming machine hundreds of times better than any console.

Today, the Xbox and Ps3 are essentially equivalent in terms of graphics and playability, and in fact, the PS3 is a much better machine since it is also a high-quality blu-ray player.

Like others have said, with the exception of a few exclusive titles, having both systems is redundant, especially since the titles they are playing are restricted to a T rating.

I think most of the MLG people would disagree with that assessment.

Originally Posted by A.Marlowe

I think most of the MLG people would disagree with that assessment.

I never said console gamers can't take their gaming seriously, but I consider people who build incredible machines worth thousands of dollars just for the sake of gaming to be more "serious" than people who pick up a console and a game. There's just something more respectable about a person who is not only good enough to go "pro", but who has a custom-built machine that would put any console to
shame.

Also, for the sake of standardization in a "pro league", it makes more sense to force all of the gamers to compete on consoles, since a gamer who has more money could easily build a machine good enough to give him an unfair advantage. It's the same reasoning why we can only use a single type of calculator in tests here at Mac.

Either way, this is getting pretty off topic. The point still stands: it's not worth buying a 360 for some kids who already own two other consoles.

I can't be of much help to this conversation b/c I'm only a for fun gamer and have only Nintendo stuff like a Wii and a DS. If it were me I'd just buy a bunch more games for the Wii and/or DS unless they already have a extensive list of games for both systems.

That said like many others have said it does seem like having a PS3 and a 360 would be redundant for the reasons mentioned, most games are multi platform these days and most of the games exclusive to XBOX that are the best are M rated, not T. Based on the things my cousin with a 360 tells me all the best games are like shooting type games, I don't play those but if your kids are into those maybe.

Did they tell you specifically why they want either of these? Do they just want to have every console or are there specific titles they'd like to have that come on either platform. It might be beneficial to find out if there are certain games your kids want and see which platform has more games your kids might be interested in.

My kids already have a Wii, PS3 and each has a DS.

dont think they need any more systems.. jus get em games.. or a ball in a cup.. the ball is on a string attached to the cup.. so theres no worry if you dont catch the ball in the cup .. and clean up is as easy as catchin a ball in a cup

Originally Posted by Taunton

Only PC gamers are truly "serious" gamers. Consoles are child's play. A truly "serious" gamer is able to build a gaming machine hundreds of times better than any console.

I could (in terms of labour and in terms of 'selecting the parts'), but with what budget? It's far from true to say this makes me a 'non-serious gamer' or a 'nub' whichever it is.

Unless of course serious is an analogous term for 'stupid' at which point I'd have to agree that I'm not serious given that I go to school and don't spend all my money on games. :p (Not saying this is you, but I know a few 'serious gamers' who have no future xD)

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To mtam: As you can see, you're not going to get anything definitive from strangers because everyone is being a 'fanboy' and clinging to their own personal preferences. You might be better off just asking which one they want more...I mean if they know they're getting a console, maybe they'd like to have a say in the matter, as opposed to being surprised by the one they want less (a risk you're taking by asking us).

My tastes? You've already gotten them a PS3, you're a winner in my books. :p

Trying to be unbiased, I think the PSP is more suited toward 'younger' audiences who can't play M games. In particular, since the XBox 360 and PS3 have in large part, the same games, you probably don't want to buy a 360 unless you see one of your kids raving about a particular game which is exclusive to the 360.

Here's a list of my (attemptedly unbiased) pros and cons:

360:

PROS - You only need to buy one...
- It's a superior machine to the PSP (but not to the PS3, which has better hardware to my knowledge)
- A few of the exclusive titles are extremely good choices

CONS - Most of the games are available on PS3, making it a redundant choice
- Online play costs a monthly fee...Online play is free for the PS3! So if a particular game is available for both, PS3 and 360, you'll find yourself buying it for the PS3 anyway
- XBox 360 has a great selection of "M" games, but I can't think of too many great "T" games

PSP:

PROS - Portable
- Lots of titles which are 'prequels and sequels' to titles on the Playstation (ie. Assassin's Creed, Jak and Daxter, Final Fantasy 7, etc.) so if your kids like these games, they'll probably love the portable analogues

CONS - Many of the games are 'novelty games' which are kind of short. For "T" games, the DS may be a better choice (which they already have), depending on their gaming tastes...but the DS and PSP have entirely different games.

***For the PSP, make sure you buy the PSP SLIM and not the PSP GO...the PSP Slim is approximately 50 dollars cheaper, looks nicer, and allows you to play UMDs as opposed to just 'uploading' games

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I'd recommend looking into some new games for PS3. (: More games > More consoles in my opinion.

Hope that helps!

EDIT:

This is the PSP Slim (Good):



And this is the PSP Go (Bad):




(They look quite different)

i agree that the kids have enough consoles. if you must though, I'm +1 for the 360. I hope you are setting some ground rules/gaming times so they don't go crazy and play 16 hours a day (games can be very addictive )

I don't think saying that X360 "T" games aren't numerous is an argument for not getting an X360, because it's not like you're only limited to T rated games on a new system you buy.

Originally Posted by Alchemist11

I don't think saying that X360 "T" games aren't numerous is an argument for not getting an X360, because it's not like you're only limited to T rated games on a new system you buy.

No, but it's an argument when paired with:

Originally Posted by mtam

My kids already have a Wii, PS3 and each has a DS. They play "T" games.

If I say 'chainsaws are dangerous,' by itself, that's not a reason to avoid them...if however I also say "my child is 6 months old" then it's a reason not to buy them a chainsaw.

Originally Posted by Alchemist11

I don't think saying that X360 "T" games aren't numerous is an argument for not getting an X360, because it's not like you're only limited to T rated games on a new system you buy.

Read the entire thread before commenting please