I've just started researching the console's, (about 2 weeks now) and my take on it is this.......

PS3 is without a doubt the more powerful of the 2 systems (well 3 i guess, but the Revolution is not for me, I'm 28, so the kiddie games (except Zelda) arent what im looking for)

Anyway, we all know how sucessful Micro$oft was with the xbox, and im sure they're only going to improve their techniques with this coming Console. So which to buy? Im 90% positive im going with xbox 360 for only one reason.... The games always seem to be better for it. Maybe it wont have the highest level GPU, but the replay-a-bility as well as the concept of the games are usually more enjoyable for me.

So waddya think?

I guess it depends on more things than just the games... let me give my opinion on this subject...

1. Games.
Most top rated games will be launched for both the platforms. If you are in for the less regular titles, you may want to go for the one or the other platform, but for most people, either platform will be fine.

2. Durability.
As it looks right now, the PS3 will be up to date for a longer time than the 360 will be. It'll ship with a Blu-ray drive and a very fast CPU/GPU system. There are downsides to that too: it won't be cheap on launch. And, the CPU architecture is really new, so it will take a lot of money and time for developers to get nice results from it.

3. Backward compatibility.
The new 360 will support only the popular older games (and you need the expensive version to do so), but the PS3 will support all the PS and PS2 games. Old XBOX controllers won't work on the 360, but the PS3 can use the old controllers just fine.

Although, from a technical point of view, the PS3 looks like the better choice, I'd still go for the 360. Why? Quite simple. Sony wants the PS3 to run for 10 years. MS just wants about 5 years. In 5 years, developers will know how to get far more better results from the PS3 so I guess the 10 years for the PS3 aren't that insane. But: in 5 years, when MS (I presume) launches its new XBOX, hardware advancements will most likely be bigger than the advancements developers will have made on the PS3 architecture.

Not to mention if Ps3 is going to be such "reliable" as the 1st generation PS2 was then good luck for the Ps3 owners, hehe... Backward compatibility is not that important thing, as I know quite a few (to be precise NONE) people who play PSX games on their PS2. So who would play a PS1/PS2 game on PS3 ? Not too many I think. Anyway, I also think the Xbox 360 is better at the moment, but at this time it is quite hard to tell as we know nearly nothing about games/hardware quality/and so on...

regards, Stephen

I don't agree at this point, for many is backward compatibility one of the most important things, they have some games which they play again and again and who wants to have 3 consoles around?

How would you react if your new PC won't support your favorite game which you have bought 2 years ago?

Ok, then I should have written that backward compatibility is not important for me. As said I know quite a few people who play Medal of honor PSX version on a PS2. Anyway, having 3 consoles is not such a big deal, still have about 10 different machines around and I do not mind. Many people like to collect old machines, for example I'd never sell my C64 though I could play the old C64 games with emulator on Pc/Xbox. Anyway, good to see your post, I realised you are right, backward compatibility may be important for some people. By the way, PS2 has not been 100% backward compatibility either.

regards, Stephen