PS3 or XBOX 360....?

Besides all fanboy blah..blah.. it doesn't really matter. If you like to play halo, then buy a xbox360, if you like to play killzone, then buy a PS3. If you want to playback blurays, then buy a PS3. etc. 99% of all games will be available for PS3 & Xbox 360 with differences only relevant to fanboys.

What kind of games do you like to play? What genres? Are you interested in any non-gamepad peripherals -- e.g. steering wheels, motion controllers, etc...?

Or buy both.

This is not a mutually-exclusive decision.

It is simply a platform for specific games. If you want those games you will need the platform. If you want to play Mario Kart neither will work.

If you wait a few weeks the Wii.U will be out, making it the best console available. I know you didn't include it but I'm not sure why not ?

If there are Wii U games you want to play then sure, that makes sense... of course you'll have "the best" (and I dispute that anyway) for about 12 months at which point the next XBox and Playstation are expected to be out and will more than likely kick the Wii U squarely in the nuts before running off with its lunch money.

@phantom - you dispute that ? Please entertain me with your disputation

I believe the Wii ran off with the lunch money of the PS3 and the XBox 360, it sold 20-30 million units more than either of those consoles. Now consider that the Wii U is going to push the Nintendo back towards the hardcore gaming market. I think it would be stupid to discount the Wii U as you just did.

Edit : And Mario's got some pretty tough nuts.

Disputing is a problem because in order to do so with any real authority I'd have to violate a few NDAs with regards to hardware specs

But to give you an idea; the X360 version of "F1 All Stars" which is coming out soon hits 60fps in single and 2 player spit and easily clears 30fps on 4 player split screen. The PS3 version doesn't perform as well as the PS3 GPU is a big pile of crap. The Wii-U will probably hit 60fps in single and maybe 2 player split but we have siginicant worried about the CPU when compared to the much older X360 and PS3 setups when it comes to the workloads we have to do.

Don't buy either. The new generation of systems will be out next year. And then the answer will be what was said above - buy the system that has most of the games you want to play.

This is a question that only you can answer. We don't know what kind of games you like. Many games are multiplatform and available on both systems, but many are exclusive to each system. So your decision should be based on which exclusive games line up appeals to you more and then pick one based on that. And that's assuming you are buying these systems to play just games. Both these systems have many more features apart from being able to play games, so you might wanna look into that as well.
I have a PS3 and a Wii. The Wii has been collecting dust since 2007, which has taught me a lesson that one should never buy a console when it first comes out. Give it a year or two and then see how the library of games is coming along. I recently bought a gaming PC and have now access to some of the games that are available on the XBOX360 and not on the PS3. Infact I have enjoyed gaming on the PC so much that it is now my preferred place for gaming.

Spend a little time researching both systems and then buy the one that makes sense.

I think I'd rather build a little PC to plug into the TV which boots up to a collection of emulators to run games I actually want to play (and which were legitimately purchased).

Honestly, I'll wait until at least six months after the new XBox comes out.

The Wii U does not interest me in the least. (Oh look, Zelda with a touch screen controller, whoop-dee-do.) Nintendo has always been experimenting with controllers and peripherals even in the late 80s with things like the Power Glove. (They would license certain third parties to make gimmicks like this, but it goes to show they had an interest in games beyond a controller pad.) It doesn't always work, but the Wii showed that it could. But, I want a controller.

I have a PS3, and it's not nearly as interesting as my experience on Xbox 360. I had actually given that away to some neighbors, incidentally. Say what you want about paying $60 a year to play online, or everyone getting a gamerscore that's extended with achievements, or obnoxious online players, but it was more fun. It was also more fun to write something in XNA and get it to work on my Xbox...

Crap, I want my Xbox back now. >

@Hodgman/frazchaudhry - i love to play FPS(COD, Crysis) and TPS(Assassin's creeds,Hitman) games like + action games like Taken, Street Fighters(multi players) etc.

also soon many of the games will be released like Crysis 3 and Hitman so wondering to take decision asap.

@frazchaudhry - i totally agree with you to spend some time on researching and to find out the best console..

although i have no idea about the nintendo wii..

the games that you have mentioned are all multiplatform and available on both systems. Have a look at this list. of exclusive games for each system. What about online? The 360 is considered to have the superior online experience but it costs you, the ps3 online network is free and they have recently revamped the PSN.

Get the WiiU. It's true next gen device. And anything Microsoft or Sony could release with better hardware specs would be pretty expensive (not that I'm not buying a 720 on launch day). I don't think the graphical leap forward will be as much of a difference with the next gen consoles as it was from XBox to XBox360 and PS2 to PS3. So the WiiU should be able to hang in there for a while.

Get the WiiU. It's true next gen device. And anything Microsoft or Sony could release with better hardware specs would be pretty expensive (not that I'm not buying a 720 on launch day). I don't think the graphical leap forward will be as much of a difference with the next gen consoles as it was from XBox to XBox360 and PS2 to PS3. So the WiiU should be able to hang in there for a while.

The graphical difference is always a leap forward. The fact that Unreal 4 can't run on WiiU but on the new Xbox and PS (and PC) should tell you something.

I have a question though. Is it true that the WiiU is not as powerful as the 360 or PS3?

I have a question though. Is it true that the WiiU is not as powerful as the 360 or PS3?

This depends on what 'power' you are talking about; no one system is the over all metric of a systems power.

For example, you can have the best GPU in the world but if the CPU can't push the draw calls then it won't matter much beyond 'making more expensive shaders isn't a bottle neck'.
By contrast, as with the PS3, having a good CPU (SPUs are very good at what they do, if not a pain to work with) but a GPU which is a pile of garbage means you can push all the draw calls you want but can't render them.

At some point I should probably check how much knowledge about the Wii-U is in the public domain so that I can properly point out why we are worried about the CPU on it...

As for the original question, 90% of the games I loved this generation were all cross platform. Whether or not the PS3 or the X360 got the better versions was done to each specific game. I started using the PS3 a lot more than my 360 just because everyone I knew was online with the PS3.

If you want Skyrim, get the 360, because we got screwed on the PS3! (yes, I know it's on the PC too, but that isn't the topic of this thread).

But the better games Red Dead Redemption, LA Noire, Dark Souls, Skyrim, Arkham City, Arkham Assylum, Oblivion, GTA 4, Mass Effect, etc... are all cross platform.

I you're in a hurry, from what I've seen the 360 would be best, but if the Wii U has games you want to play that might be the way to go. And I feel the need to point out that it's relatively trivial to find 12 month Xbox Live Gold subscription cards for around $35-40 USD online.

I you're in a hurry, from what I've seen the 360 would be best, but if the Wii U has games you want to play that might be the way to go. And I feel the need to point out that it's relatively trivial to find 12 month Xbox Live Gold subscription cards for around $35-40 USD online.

Especially with the holidays coming up. I tend to buy gold cards for $20-30 when they go on sale for boxing day/black friday.

Anyway, I'd hold off on the WiiU till at least after the holidays if you can wait. Between 360 and PS3 it's more of a tossup. Wait for holiday sales and see which one you can find cheaper. Personally I'd go with a 360, but I really don't like the PS3 controller. That's most of the reason I don't play as much on PS3, though I do use it more for movies.

If I had to pick between a 360, PS3, and WiiU, I'd probably pick a WiiU. I'm a Nintendo fan. But if I'm waiting for the latest and greatest, then I wouldn't get a WiiU.