I have both, and I'd tend to agree with your overall assessment.
Honestly, my PS3 gets use as a Blu-Ray player and for some exclusives.
On the best PS3 exclusives, I *do* tend to find the graphics nicer than the best games on XBox.
But on any multi-platform games, most of the ones I've looked at, the XBox comes out on top....I don't know why. It doesn't make sense to me, because on paper the PS3 is supposed to be more powerful. In practice, however, I don't see it.
Further, the structure of the PS3 supposedly causes some problems....witness the reported issues with Skyrim, where past 60 hours or so into the game, an issue with the memory structure of the PS3 supposedly leads to some users being unable to complete the game.
As a media platform (ie. streaming videos etc.) I find the PS3 inconsistent. It's really frustrating. I have to toy with the thing to get it to find pictures on my computer, or music, or videos. And even when I *do* find that content, much of the time, I get "incompatible file format" errors.
I watched a bunch of videos in MKV format, streamed from my PC to my PS3, and half the time, it would say the file was incompatible. Forcing me to watch the videos on my laptop instead. Then, as an experiment, I tried watching the same videos on my XBox. Every single one worked, no problem, no hiccups.
Paying for XBox Live is annoying....particularly when I don't use it for months at a time (I tend to be hot/cold with my gaming....I'll play a lot for a month, then won't touch it for two months). So I prefer not having to pay, a la PS3.
However........the actual *experience* of XBox Live is better. It's easier to get games, chat etc. is integrated better, etc. Am I a fan of Microsoft Points? No. I've compared prices, and it's more expensive for me to rent a movie via XBox Live than it is just just walk to the video store and rend the Blu-Ray. But after having my credit card possibly stolen in the big PS3 hack last year, I'm not putting information like that in there again.
The hard drive issue kind of sucks too. My PS3 had more hard drive space (60 GB) than my original 360 did (20). But after my first 360 went and I replaced it, the new one also had 60 GB. Because the PS3 has to save information from Blu-Rays and so many different games onto the HDD, I find it ends up using up that 60GB so much faster. On the XBox, I just use it. On the PS3, I have to keep going on, and wasting time figuring out what to delete so I can try a new game.
That's really annoying.
I won't say the PS3 sucks....it's a cool system, but it's *really* finicky. Even using software designed to work with it, like PS3 Media Server, I *still* can't get content to stream reliably...yet that same software, intended to service the PS3, works with my 360 perfectly.
Banshee
Honestly, my PS3 gets use as a Blu-Ray player and for some exclusives.
On the best PS3 exclusives, I *do* tend to find the graphics nicer than the best games on XBox.
But on any multi-platform games, most of the ones I've looked at, the XBox comes out on top....I don't know why. It doesn't make sense to me, because on paper the PS3 is supposed to be more powerful. In practice, however, I don't see it.
Further, the structure of the PS3 supposedly causes some problems....witness the reported issues with Skyrim, where past 60 hours or so into the game, an issue with the memory structure of the PS3 supposedly leads to some users being unable to complete the game.
As a media platform (ie. streaming videos etc.) I find the PS3 inconsistent. It's really frustrating. I have to toy with the thing to get it to find pictures on my computer, or music, or videos. And even when I *do* find that content, much of the time, I get "incompatible file format" errors.
I watched a bunch of videos in MKV format, streamed from my PC to my PS3, and half the time, it would say the file was incompatible. Forcing me to watch the videos on my laptop instead. Then, as an experiment, I tried watching the same videos on my XBox. Every single one worked, no problem, no hiccups.
Paying for XBox Live is annoying....particularly when I don't use it for months at a time (I tend to be hot/cold with my gaming....I'll play a lot for a month, then won't touch it for two months). So I prefer not having to pay, a la PS3.
However........the actual *experience* of XBox Live is better. It's easier to get games, chat etc. is integrated better, etc. Am I a fan of Microsoft Points? No. I've compared prices, and it's more expensive for me to rent a movie via XBox Live than it is just just walk to the video store and rend the Blu-Ray. But after having my credit card possibly stolen in the big PS3 hack last year, I'm not putting information like that in there again.
The hard drive issue kind of sucks too. My PS3 had more hard drive space (60 GB) than my original 360 did (20). But after my first 360 went and I replaced it, the new one also had 60 GB. Because the PS3 has to save information from Blu-Rays and so many different games onto the HDD, I find it ends up using up that 60GB so much faster. On the XBox, I just use it. On the PS3, I have to keep going on, and wasting time figuring out what to delete so I can try a new game.
That's really annoying.
I won't say the PS3 sucks....it's a cool system, but it's *really* finicky. Even using software designed to work with it, like PS3 Media Server, I *still* can't get content to stream reliably...yet that same software, intended to service the PS3, works with my 360 perfectly.
Banshee