I’ve noticed this trend for quite a while and have been trying to come up with a good way to discuss it. After letting the idea mull around in the back of my mind for a while, I think I’ve seen it played out enough to easily cut to the chase. The image and reception of the Playstation 3 is very much affected by whether the person looking at it already owns an Xbox 360 or not. Let’s take a closer look at how the PS3 is viewed differently by 360 owners and non-owners.
For those of you with ADD, I’ve broken it down into categories, complete with Bold lettering!
People That Don’t Own An Xbox 360
People looking into the PS3 that don’t already own a Xbox 360 haven’t been exposed to the current generation’s improved audio and graphic fidelity, or improved network capabilities. The current gen consoles have a library of dozens and dozens of good games. As someone looking at getting a PS3 that doesn’t already have a 360, the PS3 appears as a very viable choice. Fifty (and counting) good games, free online, Blu-ray movie playback, rumble controller, industry standard items such as (USB or Bluetooth keyboard/mouse/headset support, retail 2.5″ SATA drive support, uses regular power cables, uses regular HDMI cables or PS2 component cables, optical cable support without any sort of adapters, etc.), web browser, Linux support, etc. Depending on the model considered, you even get PS2 backwards compatibility and memory card readers built in. There are a lot of positive attributes to consider.
For clarification’s sake, what I’m calling a “good game” is a game with a cumulative metacritic score of 80 or higher (Metacritic makes the distinction at 75, which would add another 19 games to the list, but I personally have been treated well by considering 80 as the cutoff.) I realize everyone has different tastes, but as a rough metric, Metacritic is a decent enough starting point as anywhere else.
Most of those PS3 titles are multi-platform titles that are also available on the Xbox 360. If you ask Xbox 360 owners what they love the most about the platform, you’re likely to hear Xbox Live, Achievements, Gamerscore, or Xbox Live Marketplace. (possibly in that order.) The thing about all of those topics though is that they’re not that compelling until you’ve already been exposed to them. Telling someone that’s predominantly gamed on an Xbox, PS2, or GameCube that Xbox Live is “all that” might not be received as enthusiastically as someone that’s used Live on the 360 for a year or more.
Achievements and Gamerscore can sound even a bit funny when you’re describing them to people unfamiliar with them. If you describe how you’ll become addicted to Achievements and increasing your Gamerscore, some folks might even take that “addiction” aspect as a negative counterpoint to consider. Why would you intentionally _want_ to be addicted to something?
Without knowing more, the PS3 would appear pretty appetizing to a new console buyer.
People That Do Own A Xbox 360
For the folks that already own a Xbox 360. They already know the quality and features of Xbox Live. They already know about Achievements and Gamerscore. They also, largely only view the PS3 as something to use for games they can’t already get on their platform. The list of PS3 games on Metacritic with a score of 80 or higher is suddenly roughly 1/3 of what it was. So instead of (currently) 50 games, they’re looking at 16 retail games plus Blu-ray playback.
On the whole, most people would probably agree that the Xbox 360 controller is a more comfortable controller than the PS3’s controller, although the DualShock3 has done a lot for the PS3’s controller issues. We’ve yet to have a PS3 box/bundle released in the US yet that includes the DualShock3. That’s set to change with the release of the MSG4 bundle next month.
So to a happy 360 owner, it’s somewhat easy to see why they might not value the PS3 as much as someone that doesn’t own a 360 (or worse yet, someone that owns and is unhappy with the 360) does. While it’s a completely valid viewpoint to have, I think a lot of the “fanboy wars” or “flamewars” on the various gaming forums around the net stem from people’s inability to put themselves into other people’s shoes. As someone that falls into this category, I can totally understand how someone crazy about console FPS games and loves to play competitively online would value the 360 very highly. I can see that.
What This Means For The Future
If you look at the combined install base from the last generation of consoles, you’ve got: GameCube (21M worldwide), Xbox (24M worldwide), and PS2 (127M worldwide). Combined, that’s a very large number… 172 million people. Yes, clearly there is overlap between the consoles and there are folks that bought more than one PS2 to replace aging/broken units, but when you look at the Xbox 360’s 19M worldwide and the PS3’s 13M worldwide, there is a LOT of room for additional sales. Even throwing the Wii’s 24M in there doesn’t drastically change the numbers. There are a LOT of folks that bought systems last gen that haven’t bought systems this generation. Those are the folks that are more likely to see the PS3 in a much better light than the 19M 360 owners do.
A lot of folks see it as an inevitability for the PS3 to surpass the 360 in total sales and I think this will play a large factor in the PS3’s success. Perception sometimes can become reality. Strong exclusives will win over multi-console folks to pick up a PS3 in addition to their 360 and the continually growing library and feature list will make it compare better and better to the folks owning neither, but looking to buy into the current generation of consoles.
We’ve got one of the biggest exclusives of the year (for either platform) launching in 30 days to very little competition. We’ve got millions of people that haven’t bought into one (or both) of the current-gen consoles. We’ve got prices that can only go down and game libraries that can only increase in size. It’s a great time to be a gamer and that certainly applies to being a Playstation 3 gamer as well. The legitimacy of owning a PS3 for gaming purposes is no longer something that should be qualified by a question mark. It’s absolutely true that the draw to a PS3 is less if you already own a 360, but the draw is still there and I’d say for folks without a 360, you can pick up a PS3 and you’ll most likely always have something interesting to play.
Okay, let me have it guys. I want to hear what you think. If you decide to simply take the “Bah! He’s just a fanboy!” way out and not give any weight to what I say, I’d love to hear your arguments for why the PS3 doesn’t compare at least (if not more) favorably to the 360 for someone that doesn’t already own or isn’t very familiar with a 360. Be objective and realize things you value may not seem valuable to them. Bring it.
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PS3 + PC for the win. The only thing 360 does well is shooters and shooters are much better on PC with a keyboard and a mouse…
ok im a 360/pc gamer amd i think that both sides have a valid point. however from what i have gathered about the PS3, makes me believe that it is a largely toned down PC, (internet acces + photos + skype, sorry video chat). the 360 dose have these features to, in a lesser extent – the internet accesability, however i only use my console for gamimg on my own and with friends and pc for even more gaming and anything else. i have owned a ps1, n64, gameboy (colour and sp), xbox, pc, ps2, 360 in that order. each one has brought me games that i have wanted and like. the ps3 just sadly dosent do that for me and none of its coming games have tempted me(the only thing thats done that is the sarcastic gamer playstation podcast and thats not enough
].
no ones mentioned the banjo kazooie 3 game that i have read, comes out near christmas. and personaly i dont want gears 2 as i never realy got into the first one. fable however was one of my top ten favorite games of all time (is that a forum post, if not it should be) i am greatly antisapating this game. as for the red rings, 14 out of 14 friends have not had it to date 15 including me. i bought my 360 3 months after realese. in my opinion, if you look after it properly, everything will fine
.
oh and i havent gotten a wii cause the novelty wore off for me in the store. sorry but its true.
@Rothbart: Yes! It is me! Yes I’m trying to rise above the riff raff. You should too. I got over these fanboy flame wars six months ago… I guess some of us haven’t moved on…
@sneak :
No, RROD is not fiction, it’s a fact. MS acknowledged a 33 % failure rate, which means it’s probablu much much more… Your friends were lucky, other people report all their friends had RROD….
There’s no way I’ll buy a product which has something like 50 % failure rate, no way… Fix your product first, MS.
Oh man, the moment I saw the title of this post I knew the comments would be an all-out fanboy war.
Each console has good points and bad – the 360’s online service is second-to-none and the console has some killer exclusives, but the hardware issues and a lack of ’social’ games for a wider audience has cut down the console’s target audience. While the PS3’s online service is not as encompassing, the hardware can perform more than the 360 can (with the architecture supporting Linux), and while our exclusives list isn’t as big and the games not quite as popular (Ratchet and Clank, Uncharted) PS3’s future line-up looks more promising.
I have all three of them. =) Wii is the worst. So far 360 has been my favorite. I just don’t like playing with dualshock 3 (yes, I bought it for the rumble……) and no achievements? C’mon! How can I get my cheevofix without them?
Can’t wait for MGS4, FF13, Ninja Gaiden 2 and Gears 2. 
Mostly a good article, although you tread close to considering those who haven’t played an Xbox 360 as somehow ignorant; the “if you like the PS3, you just need to be educated” sort of thing.
I have all three systems, and just can’t be bothered with the whole Gamerscore thing; I love unlockables the way Ratchet and Uncharted do them, but points for the sake of points just isn’t my bag. Between that and having an apparently uncommon controller preference, I’ve stopped paying for LIVE and spend most of my online time on the PS3.
I can’t be bothered with the whole Friend Code thing, either, but I mostly play single-player or multi-player-one-couch games on the Wii.
Everyone has a preference; I’d be curious to see an article on the opposite side. What is the opinion of the 360 between PS3 owners and no-HD-console owners?
I have been bothered more and more about this… but when are we going to get cross-platform online gaming across the board? Square-enix was able to accomplish this for a game that is now 6 years old… is it not possible to take a page out of their book and apply this across the board? seriously… i have a bunch of friends who all play cod4 on 360, and while fps’s are really not my thing, it would be nice to be able to play alongside them between my weekend rpg sessions.
@iwantmyps3
One statement you made details what a complete idiot you are, and here it is:
“I work at Gamestop…”
What you think just because you work at Gamestop you have some sort of industry cred? Every GameStop I go into has nothing but inmature, uninformed, idiotic, teenage or teenage wannabe employees who look like they just woke up in the morning and smell like they haven’t taken a shower in a week.
It’s the cream of the crop numbskulls like you who make the rest of the “real” gaming world look like freaks.
Oh and btw, I’m not an Xbot fanboi as you said it, but I don’t have any love for ignorant GameStop.
Well I had a choice between xbox and ps3 and I have to say I didn’t see a thing I wanted in the ps3 at the time and I still don’t.
@ XxAdyxX
LOL! a little harsh on him, but he was talking crap.
and working in gamesstop isn’t the best credential… hehe
@ Lono and Rothbart
Grow up and say “how do” to the fanboy world!
If someone is a fanboy of something, then they are bound by the imaginary fanboy rules that they must declare all other items associated with their love “bogus”.
It’s simple, and it is a dumb thing, but it happens. Nothing is going to change as long as there are fanboys, because here’s the skinny – fanboys who say everything else sucks are huge idiots!
You can argue and argue and argue against fanboys about your side of the argument, but they are so self-involved and righteous that they won’t listen to a word you have to say, if you are saying that something is better than their love-item, or nicer-looking, or has better features…
I owned a 360 way before I got my PS3. But I don’t care. Because I love playing on them just as much. Yes, I am slightly more on the PS3 side, but that is only because you have to pay 100 pounds in the UK (thereabouts) to play online wirelessly, and I can’t afford that cost.
Stop your bickering, you two, and settle on the simple fact that makes the whole argument better – the 360 and the PS3 are both way better than the Wii. =D
You two are just jealous at the other one for having something that the other one doesn’t possess as much of – Rothbart has more posts, but Lono has more fans… lol.
Still, it’s hilarious to read this stuff. Keep up the great article fights! They’re great material! Lol…
Oh, I’d just like to point out that the comments on this article are the continually longest comments I have ever seen on any article. People really cannot agree on this argument, can they? Hopefully people will come to the conclusion that the 360 and Ps3 are both better than the Wii, and this argument will die down a bit… haha…
See! Mine is a long post too! It’s like a fanboy argumentative curse! Doc and Dave, join the debate!
One thing left out is longevity. As a 360 owner, even thought of the PS3 being the console leader in the future doesn’t mean I need to buy one now. Sony is always saying that their console is to have a 10 year+ life cycle. With me buying my 360 a year before PS3 came to the market, that means that I have a number of years (my guess is at leasat 5 or so, to not be at end of life) that I can wait before buying a PS3.
In that time I can monitor news about PSN (how much better is it going to be?), exclusives that may interest me, are my friends jumping to Sony (big pull is where the group is playing), and also wait for the price to drop. As long as I have digital downloads on XBLM and my HDDVR (cable box w/ HBO & Showtime) bluray and upscaling is not a major selling point… even though I really respect what PS3 accomplishes in SD DVD upscaling.
I just know I have time… and no am in no rush. Especially not w/ the economic troubles that the US is in. I have more important things to do w/ my spare cash (mortgage).
As it stands right now, there are very few and I mean VERY few exclusive titles for the 360 or the PS3. Most of the major games will come out on multiple platforms so everyone can be happy with what they have.
Of course, we all know that those games will look better on the 360 than on the PS3, but that is another argument alltogether.
XxAdyxX are you high?
After reading so many comments, I can only add this: only one of the companies is putting all the eggs on the same basket, and that’s Microsoft. If Sony is so convinced that their blue-ray unit is the best console of all…
THEN WHY DO THEY KEEP SELLING THE PS2 AND RELEASING GAMES JUST FOR THE PS2?!?
Everyone blames Microsoft for being too proud, but then, Sony can give them a lesson or two.
@tyrone hawk, the ps2 is targeted at a a market with gamers in the lower end of the disposable income spectrum, which turns out its the single largest market segment, because as you might not be aware 2/3 of the population of the world live in poverty, of the lucky 1/3 only a few can actually buy a 360 or a ps3
@wackyiraqi77: no i said, that there is 2 groups of people, 1 group has only the ps3 or xbox, that group will bitch and wine and say what they have is better…the group that has both will enjoy both, and see all the fanboism as idiocy…but in the end of the day ps3 is slightly better in terms of net-present-value (net present value in referent to its potential relative to the xbox360)
OK… who cares?
seriously consle wars are so stupid. All of them are good, all of them have there pros and cons, 360 has gears and halo, ps3 has uncharted and GT5,wii has brawl and zelda…
Seriously, everyone is getting so fed up about this over nothing
Ps3 seemed bad to me at the beggining and since the price dropped it is good now.
wii may seem gimicky but if you buy the classic nintendo franchise games and forget the crap it is good
360 has no blu ray but it has gamerscore and achivements
THEY ARE ALL GOOD!!!! WHY CARE ABOUT CONSLE WARS!!!
Damn. So true, Rothbart so true. i was just talking to a friend yesterday about xbox 360 acheivements (no lie) and he was like, “WTF”.
he’s a playstation 2 owner and his ps2 broke on him. I’m also a ps3 owner and he enjoys the hell out of it when i let him play. And guess what, he’s looking forward to the 80gb ps3 next month.
I think its ironic that I see an add for the 36 on a pro PS3 article.
I havent bought a system yet, and I see what you are saying, but to me, a guy who doesnt have an HDTV, so no need for blu-ray, and I dont see any real desirable games for the PS3, plus everyone I know already only has the 360, the 360 is the better choice to me.
*360
@krakdol
sorry if i diddnt come out clear. what i meant is that my friends and i have taken a lot of care with our consoles and possibly as a result have not gotten the RROD. plus i know that MS stated that but they are fixing them for free with an extended warrenty in place. if i recall the guys talked about this in a podcast.
happy gaming