XBOX 360 vs PS3

I always see exchanges like the following in the comments for game-related news:

360fanboy: Halo 3 is the best game ever. PS3 wishes it had a game like Halo 3.
PS3fanboy: At least my system works. I've got 3 friends with 360s, and all 3 have had Red Rings of Death.
360fanboy: PS3 sucks. It sucks because there are no games for it. It's hard to program for, and it's too expensive.

I'd like to finally tackle this complicated debate myself. I have both a 360 and a PS3 now, and I see advantages and disadvantages to both.

If you strictly want a game machine, you should get a 360. There shouldn't be any doubt about that in anybody's mind. PS3 has Heavenly Sword, and that's pretty much it right now.

If you want a high definition movie player that also plays some games, you should get a PS3. It's a better deal. A lot of people would probably read that and think there's no way a PS3 could ever be a better deal than the 360, but let me break it down for you with current prices from Circuit City.

Playstation 3 w/HDMI, 60 GB hard drive, wi-fi built in, Blu-Ray, free online multiplayer
$500

360 Premium Console w/HDMI & 20 GB hard drive
$350
360 Wireless Networking Adapter
$100
360 HD DVD Player
$180
Xbox Live Gold 12 Month Membership Card
$50

PS3 = $500
360 = $680

The PS3 is only a better deal if you want high definition movies, wi-fi, and you play games online.

I'm not totally on Sony's side here, though. I actually think Microsoft had the better idea by making you buy everything separately, that way the cost of entry is a lot lower for people who don't care about all the extras.

I chose the 360 as the platform for Wizard Combat because it was the easiest. There is no free, publicly available development kit (that I'm aware of) for the Playstation 3, and even if there was, I can't imagine it being any easier to use than XNA Game Studio Express.

That said, I really wish there was a free, publicly available development kit for the PS3.

I read some news from the Playstation Blog about Everyday Shooter, and how it became a PS3 exclusive. Apparently, the developer (just one guy) built the game (which looks like another Geometry Wars clone), and people loved it. He had it on display at GDC 2007, and Sony liked it and asked him to port it to PS3. They gave him the development kit, and within 3 days he had it running.

That doesn't make programming for the PS3 sound all that difficult, and it also gives me hope that Wizard Combat might get picked up by a publisher somewhere.

This is something else I found interesting from that article: "So the first thing I did was figure out how I could get a hold of the developer Jonathan Mak or his agent if he had one. I found out that I knew his agent already so I gave him a ring..."

Wait -- developers are supposed to have agents? No wonder MIPSter never took off!