I really want GTAIV, but I have neither a PS3 or Xbox360. I heard some stories about the PS3 though, like how it overheats or something. But, my friend's brother has it and I don't see him complaining.
I slightly prefer the Xbox360 because it isn't as expensive as the PS3(Really, $600 for a gaming system?). I also read an article that said GTAIV is better on that system.
http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/...ives/138345.asp
But, since I haven't experienced either I want to hear you guys' take on it.

So, here is my main question:
Which one is better, the PS3 or the Xbox360?

Either depending on your preferences. If you want blue ray or are planning to get it, then i would suggest buying PS3. That's the only way I would see buying a PS3 a good deal. However the Xbox360 is much cheaper, and runs well. I personally would get the Xbox360 as it has a good game line up.

Okay, what exactly is a blue ray disk? A DVD of some sort? I think I have that already on my computer.

Blue ray disk is like a High-Definition DVD movie. Blue ray players range to around the price of the PS3 and apparently blue ray is supposed to stomp out the DVD as the main source of buying and watching movies at home. So buying the PS3 seems to be ideal as both a gaming system blue ray player.
I still personally prefer Xbox

Oh, so that's what it is. I am not all that interested in a blue ray player anyway, I rather just buy a DVD player that plays blue-ray disks.

Before considering bluray as an option make sure you have a 1080p (or Full HD) TV.

Put simply the benefit of HD DVD (now defunct) and Bluray is that they display the image at a much higher resolution than standard DVD. Of course this is of no benefit if you don't have a HD TV.

If you are after a games machine... well I give the nod to the 360 with the best range of games and the best online service (although it is pay unlike the PS 3 which is free but significantly less powerful).

I own a PS3, 360 and Wii. The 360 definitely gets the most play time.

Well, the only HD TV in my house is the 57" screen one in the living room that I am already forbidden to play any gaming console on (paranoid mother). So, I guess that bluray does nothing for me.
I am really looking for a games machine. Xbox 360 it is then.
Thanks everyone for your replies.

I love my Xbox 360. You have to keep in mind also, that there are a lot of games that don't come out on ps3 that have or will for the xbox 360. I'm a huge Fable fan and Fable 2 will only be available on xbox 360. You have to watch out for that as well. I don't have any problems with my 360 and I have GTA 4. The online play is fun. But I would get the xbox.

Platform exclusives happen on all consoles. While there are a lot of 360 titles the PS3 wont get the vice versa situation is also true.

From what I've heard, the game looks somewhat better on the PS3--however, if you have any interest in ever playing it online, you're best bet is on the Xbox 360. There's twice as large a consumer base, and the only population is several times larger and more active than the PS3's. It does, however, cost money.

I have PS3 and I love it BUT there are much more games for Xbox than for PS3. You can't even play PS2 games on the cheapest PS3's. Though Xbox's break more often.

Oh, another thing: the XBOX360 is noisy as hell. I´m getting a bit tired of the noise level...either i move it to the living room and make sure the sound is turned up loud or i´ll have to hack the xbox and slow the dvd drive down to 4x. and while i am at it, i could replace the noisy fans in it as well. otherwise it´s a neat machine and i really really like it - if the noise wouldn´t be so disturbing.

From what I hear the XBOX 360 is a lot better.

-cheaper
-better graphics (Depending on the games and other factors-however gamespot did a graphical test and the overall the 360 was better)
-more titles
-runs better

better graphics isn't completely true, just look at GTA4 as an example, PS3 has slightly better graphics. But I guess it depends on preference and price. With the 360 you get a bigger game selection, and a better internet service, although you have to pay for the internet

Now with the PS3, you do have a lower selection of games, but there are more than enough to keep you occupied. The internet service isn't bad either. When I play online, ya there will be times when I get signed out of the network, but it also depends on your internet connection, mines not the greatest wireless network But at least it's free. The largest harddrive is 80 gigs, but that can easily be changed to a maximum of 250 gigs as I once read from a gaming website

So as to which it comes down to, how much can you spend on a new console, what games you want, what kind of internet service you want, a better one but with a price, or one that work well and is free, and a preference

With the 360 you get a bigger game selection,

This is hardly a criticism if you look at all the games coming out on PS3 in the next few months, 360 only has more due to a release head start.

There is sweet bugger all difference between PS3 and 360 graphics. Even in the case of GTA IV there is no real discernable difference with the PS3 showing slightly better anti-aliasing and the 360 having slightly better colour reproduction.

Don't buy into the whole "one has better graphics than the other" arguments they are false. Certain games look slightly better on one system while others look better on the other system.

Buy your console based on your gaming tastes. Enjoy JRPGs and kooky Japanese games that rarely make it to the West? Get a PS3... the region free nature of the system is perfect for those who like importing obscure titles.

Prefer the more western gaming genres like RPGs, shooters and sports titles? The 360 will be a better bet.

If you plan on doing a lot of online gaming then the 360 will be your best bet with the best online service of all three current gen systems even though it is a pay service (though AUD$90 for one year isn't all that much in my books).

Want to use your console as a home media centre in addition to a games machine? The PS3 is the way to go unless you want to stream video content from your PC in which case the 360 is the only option if you want to play WMV files but misses out on the web browser functionality of both the Wii and the PS3.

You need to look at exactly what you want out of your machine and then base your purchase decision on that basis alone.

OR you could just be a loony and get all the systems. :D

On point I'd like to add is that, to the best of my knowledge, TVersity, the best of the freely-available media sharing programs, best works on the Xbox 360. With a little bit of work, it's very easy to setup your 360 so that it can play, in addition to WMV, AVI, MKV, OGG video files in pretty much any encoding under the sun, as well as podcasts and youtube streaming. This includes all normal rewind/fast forward functions with the latest update of TVersity.

I've met people who use TVersity on the PS3 (the two people I know who own PS3s both dabbled in it). Those who got it to work properly had limited support compared to what I can do on my 360. Personally, thanks to TVersity, I'd recommend the 360 over the PS3 when it comes to media sharing.

Plus, Ninja Gaiden II has just come out--still waiting to see how it stacks up to DMC4.

From experience, I do think that graphics are better on the PS3, but I would still recommend you go for a 360 for the games. The controller is also better, although this is a matter of personal preference.

I own neither, but I want to share something I've noticed while looking at a PS3- not all PS2 games will play well. If you have a PS2, and buy a PS3, some games are going to run with bugs.

I've owned 2 Xbox 360's and 1 PS3. Both Xbox's broke (the red ring of death) and the PS3 is still going strong...so, I would have to say PS3. The only thing missing from Playstation3 is the achievements they have for Xbox. They are pretty much the same price now too. And PS3 has Home coming out which is a free program that appears to be a virtual, interactive sims type program. Click Here for Home Trailer.

xBTAx- Very true. PS2's Bully did not run on my PS3...so that sucked.

El Presidente- I would have to disagree with you about the Xbox having better colour display. Me and my boyfriend have played GTA IV side by side (him on the Xbox and me on the PS3) and that was the first thing that we noticed is that the colors were so dull on the Xbox. We both have 1080i HD tv's as well, so it was a fair comparison.

Same model TVs with that have both been configured using colour configurators?

People forget how much of a role TVs have in colour reproduction. There are big differences between different models. You need to have two TVs with the same calibration settings to accurately judge between the two. The fact you noticed such a significant difference (the real difference is very slight) certainly suggests to me the TVs are not similarly calibrated.

Basically if you are noticing major differences between the graphics of the two games the difference is TV related, not game related. GTA IV needs to be studied before you notice the difference, they are really quite small so a major difference being shown is not the game.

Wow. That sucks.

I have a launch Xbox 360, which is still working fine (it's lasted longer than my first PS2, in any case).

The PS3 is still more expensive, however. New Xbox 360s can be had for less than $300 (For example, the Xbox 360 Arcade costs $280). The cheapest PS3 I've seen, new, is $350. It's still the difference of one new game, even if it isn't that big.

Metal Gear Solid 4 tomorrow!!!!!!!

I know you don't care Synth but I'll forgive your black twisted heart... everyone else get excited! :D

yep, got me a ps3+mgs4 bundle.... well, that was in fact yesterday and i didn´t have much time to check it out, but from what i have seen so far it looks very, very good. now i have to replay mgs and mgs3 again, before i start on mgs4.

Hah. My twisted black heart has nothing to do with it. I'm apathetic because it's another overhyped title that will be plastered everywhere I go online, regardless of it's actual quality, and there have been a lot of those recently and it's distracting--thankfully, most of them turn out to be good games (I'm looking at you, GTA4).

Don't believe it's overhyped? Watch the fanboys bitch and moan about how it deserves a 10 and not a 9.5 (because, apparently, it's the Second Coming of Christ, not just a very good game, and that means '10').

I normally don't say this, but I cannot wait until Zero Punctuation's Yahtzee sinks his teeth into it. This is MGS we're talking about here: great games that are fantastically campy and easy to make fun of. Should be very, very entertaining.

I have had a chance to play about 10 minutes of it, and thought it was a very, very pretty game. But that was at a neighbor's house--I don't own a PS3, and this specific title wouldn't sell me on it (a few others would though). I might have picked up a PS3 for those titles (I won't say which ones, you can guess on your own), but I just purchased a new PC: HP Blackbird. Broke, but THAT'S what I'm exciting about.