Which Console

[PARANOiA]

For someone that has little intention to play online multiplayer Xbox Live is indeed free.
For someone that does not have an HDMI enabled AV receiver (you do not mention if your 37" TV has hdmi) you may still need to buy component cables for the PS3 which come with the hdd enabled 360.
The xbox storage upgrade site is still active which means you could go the Arcade route and for a minimal cost get a hdd but you would need to purchase the HD cable for the 360 which will have your toslink out port on it.
It is not mandatory at all to purchase the official 360 wireless dongle; an ethernet bridge (like the original xbox wireless adapter) or any cheap router that can act as a bridge will suffice if wireless is mandatory, still this is an extra cost.
No one mentioned this but Live Arcade and Community Games, in my mind, will always be a superior service to PSN until such time as there are demos available for EVERY PSN downloadable game.
There are multiplatform karaoke games and platform holder karaoke games of which I have none so I cannot speak to the quality of any of them.

Indeed, OP, congrats on your purchase if your mind is made up, however I'd reconsider your choice. The general sentiment was echoed in a thread a while back - can't think of the link, possibly the Console Pricing Thread - however the general consensus among quite a few posters was that it was an unwise choice to recommend the PS3 over the 360 at this stage. The cost difference alone is staggering - I'm in Australia, where the PS3 is roughly the same price as in Europe - and I'd be paying well over double once everything is said and done, regardless of feature-matching. Then you have to consider that the added cost will generally get you inferior versions of the games you'll be buying.

Also note as per the post above, MS is basically letting you buy hard drives for next to nothing if you're a new purchaser, if that's what is swaying you.

Perhaps you'd be better off giving a detailed listing of what you'll be buying, and how much it would cost you, in each situation. That way, it will be much easier to see what's your "need to haves", your "nice to haves" and your "not importants".

Cheers

 

[Mize]

For someone that does not have an HDMI enabled AV receiver (you do not mention if your 37" TV has hdmi) you may still need to buy component cables for the PS3 which come with the hdd enabled 360.

PS3 comes with component cables. If you go HDMI buy online - Newegg is about 10x less than local AV store in the USA for HDMI cables.

It is not mandatory at all to purchase the official 360 wireless dongle; an ethernet bridge (like the original xbox wireless adapter) or any cheap router that can act as a bridge will suffice if wireless is mandatory, still this is an extra cost.

I bought a netgear wireless print server for like $40.

The PS3 is a great all-around choice, particularly if you have a 1080p TV and like blu-ray movies.

 

[Gubbi]

My girlfriend is crazy about Live Arcade games. Catan, Braid, Age of Booty, E4 etc. The only one I really play is Geometry Wars Evolved, which is the best €5 I've ever spent.

My advise is: Get both. By the time this gen is over and you finished buying games, the cost of a 360 will be in the noise.

Cheers

 

[Arwin]

I'm in Australia, where the PS3 is roughly the same price as in Europe

No, the prices really aren't comparable at all.

 

[obonicus]

Also note as per the post above, MS is basically letting you buy hard drives for next to nothing if you're a new purchaser, if that's what is swaying you.

The new 360s have internal memory (do they come with NXE installed?). Does the offer cover them as well?

 

[obonicus]

PS3 comes with component cables. If you go HDMI buy online - Newegg is about 10x less than local AV store in the USA for HDMI cables.

Are you certain about component? I know it comes with composite, do the new bundles come with component?

The PS3 is a great all-around choice, particularly if you have a 1080p TV and like blu-ray movies.

This I think is important to highlight. PS3 isn't the cheapest Blu-ray player anymore, and maybe not the best one either. But you get to play most modern games on it.

Given your needs, I think there's only two ways to go: either ultra-cheap with the arcade, use the internal memory, forget about online. If you can get a cheap 20GB HDD go for it, but I suspect that the site is up for people with older arcades. Karaoke Revolution or Lips! may replace Singstar. Do you get component cables with this bundle, by the way?

The other one is the PS3, the 80Gb. You get a Blu-Ray player, you can play Singstar. You'll have to buy component cables, which play.com lists at between EUR13 and EUR25, depending on whether you want the official product or knockoffs.

 

[Gubbi]

Given your needs, I think there's only two ways to go: either ultra-cheap with the arcade, use the internal memory, forget about online.

Why the arcade? The 60GB Premium 360 is half the price of a 80GB PS3.

Cheers

 

[obonicus]

Why the arcade? The 60GB Premium 360 is half the price of a 80GB PS3.

Cheers

Where? Checking play.com, the cheapest premium is 250EUR but the 80GB is 400EUR. The arcade's 180EUR.

Crazy number of bundles there, for both consoles. Is Play particularly expensive?

 

[LordNerevar]

Amazing, you bought a PS3 because of three games, of which none is available, bar for a GT5 demo?

No, at that point i actually bought it because i wanted worry-free gaming (not having to search for game patches, drivers etc.) and since my computer was quite old, it was either PS3 or a new, gaming, computer.
I basically bought PS3 because i wanted home entertainment center (since i knew HD TV&HD movies are quite close to mainstream) and an excellent gaming platform.
The only game i wanted to play badly at that moment was TES4: Oblivion, which had a quite good PS3 port.
Just checking out future lineup of both consoles made things pretty clear, and since i'm kinda of a casual gamer (rarely play more than 1h a day), i just wanted to get a console that will have the best games in the near future, but will still last for at least 5-6 years (and i was quite worry for Xbox 360's life span, because first Xbox barely lasted for 4 years & RRoD issues didn't help either)
For me, it was the PS3.
After playing Killzone 2 beta for about 20 hours, and GT5: Prologue earlier this year, i'm now, more than ever, happy with my purchase.

 

[Gubbi]

Where? Checking play.com, the cheapest premium is 250EUR but the 80GB is 400EUR. The arcade's 180EUR.

Crazy number of bundles there, for both consoles. Is Play particularly expensive?

360 prices here

PS3 prices here

1695 DKK (€227) for the premium vs. 3050 DKK (€409) for the 80GB PS3
1745 DKK(€234) for the premium+2 game bundle vs. 3549 (€476) for a 80GB PS3+one game bundle.

Those prices are including our *ss-raping 25% vat.

Cheers

 

[Arwin]

Please people, when taking part in giving MatiasZ advice, try to take account known facts about him and his needs, his situation, location and so on. If you are too lazy to read all posts, then at the very least take into account his summary post #55. If you disagree with anything in that post, then do so intelligently and backed up with some half-decent facts and solutions.

This thread should really be renamed into the 'Which Console for MatiasZ' lest people forget what we're discussing here.

 

[obonicus]

360 prices here

PS3 prices here

1695 DKK (€227) for the premium vs. 3050 DKK (€409) for the 80GB PS3
1745 DKK(€234) for the premium+2 game bundle vs. 3549 (€476) for a 80GB PS3+one game bundle.

Those prices are including our *ss-raping 25% vat.

Cheers

Hm, didn't know there was such a large variation within even the EU. Anyone know of a Spanish retailer we can check the prices for? I used play.com because it was the only European one I could remember.

Edit: GAME, looks like it's the same as the UK one, lists the 80GB for 379EUR. 360 for 234EUR. They're out of stock of Arcades.

 

[wco81]

Try fnac.es for an idea of Spanish electronics prices.

 

[BadTB25]

Are you certain about component? I know it comes with composite, do the new bundles come with component?

My PS3 MGS4 bundle only came with composite cables. I had to buy the cables on New Egg to take advantage of the HD goodness. Composite looks bad on a 1080P set.

 

[BadTB25]

Where is the arcade + Lips package located?

I was thinking of updating to an Arcade (jasper) and buying a 120GB HDD to replace my launch 20 GB 360.

 

[Mize]

Are you certain about component? I know it comes with composite, do the new bundles come with component?

My mistake. Oops. Go HDMI if your TV has it though.