I've never had a problem with GFWL, it's certain superior networkingto some independant solutions such as...ahem....IWNet....

And also i've never found it that buggy, it runs smooth, doesn't resource hog and is useful for keeping saves and chatting with other friends with an in-game client.

Sure Steam offers a similar service and most of the same features. However, if the future of PC Gaming is to be digital distribution, which it looks like it's going to be for the most part; we don't want all of our eggs in one basket (Steam). Having multiple "stores/shops" to choose from promotes competition, and should ensure we don't get raped by Steam in the future if it becomes too dominant, you never want a monopoly in software. It is indeed ironic i'm pledging fair support for a Microsoft software tool against the monopoly of another's :P

Give GFWL time and it may flourish into a great service. Sure it's had a few teething problems, but for the most part after all the updates, it's pretty solid now for most people. And the GFWL Marketplace clientis definitely interesting. I would like to see more games up on the Games On Demand list, such as Halo 1 and 2 for a start.

[QUOTE="TheJuggla17"]

Neither, get a DS, PSP or both if you afford it.

RurouniSaiyajin

I agree with this. Handhelds are where it's at for RPGs right now. There's still a little while to go before RPGs are in full swing for PS3, 360 or Wii

Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion.

Nuff said.

[QUOTE="andrew_ribbons"]

[QUOTE="knight-k"]Every "exclusive 360"JRPG like star ocean will eventually come to PS3. It's a matter of time so there's no reason at all to buy a 360 unless if you want to get ripped-off.knight-k

Only the fact that a 80Gb PS3 is £300 and a 60GB (equivilent model) 360 is £160, the the 360 is half the price. Even if you factor in the 360's Wireless Adapter to give it the same basic featureset as the PS3, then it's £210, which is 2/3rds the price of a PS3. Sorry, but the 360 is a lot cheaper and in my opinion, has the better exclusive-set currently. Can't wait for Fable 2, and Project Offset is currently still in the works :)

Ok 360 is cheaper if you buy the half-assed version...and still you have to pay 50 bucks a year for online. And let's see if you want to play online 5 years on your 360, it'll cost ya 250 bucks...lol "a lot cheaper" and don't forget RROD, add-ons.

360 is the most expensive.

And about the games it's all subjective. imo PS3 has the best future of all next-gen consoles. And if you have a good PC there's no need to buy a 360 at all, almost all good 360 games come to PC in the end.

Yes they do, with DRM slapped on and horribly bad optisation...no thanks! I have a good games PC and a 360, but more often than not, i stick with the 360 edition of any said game, because the PC version is either only very very slightly improved, or is stuffed full of crippling DRM i.e. Mass Effect.

Actually the 60GB 360 is not the half assed version, it's the version with both the GPU and the CPU chips brand new 65nm editions...you probably don't know what that means do you? Well, it means they both run cooler and use less power, so less heat, less RRoD, it's now about 2% with the new 60Gb 360s. Other than having 60GB less HD space than the 120Gb Elite, and being the colour white with silver trim, there are no other differences between the Pro and Elite now.

Also, XBL is $39 per year atm on Amazon. That is 77cents per week. Dude, i almost pick that up in change i find on the floor in the street weekly! If you can complain about paying that pocket-change trivial amount for what is currently the best online service out of all the consoles, your arguement is void. Do i see the PS3 interface getting a huge, massive change this Autumn? Didn't think so. Also, XBL Gold is not mandatory. If you wanna just use the XBL service for chatting with friends, getting demos and checking up the latest Inside Xbox news service, you can without paying a penny.

I don't care for your opinion-stance, i don't mind what platform you prefer that's entirely your choice, it's just that pretty much everything you say against the 360 is bull. Apart form the RRoD fiasco, that i agree is out-of-order. However, at least Microsoft are supporting their community with free repairs and also doing everything they can to fix the issue in new consoles. Unlike Sony with the PS2's disk-read errors, everyone i know who got a PS2 had that problem at some stage. Not just 33%, more like 90%. Sony had to be taken to court over that. Did Microsoft get taken to court for RRoD issues? No, because they took the responsibility, and for that i cannot fault them.

Every "exclusive 360"JRPG like star ocean will eventually come to PS3. It's a matter of time so there's no reason at all to buy a 360 unless if you want to get ripped-off.knight-k

Only the fact that a 80Gb PS3 is £300 and a 60GB (equivilent model) 360 is £160, the the 360 is half the price. Even if you factor in the 360's Wireless Adapter to give it the same basic featureset as the PS3, then it's £210, which is 2/3rds the price of a PS3. Sorry, but the 360 is a lot cheaper and in my opinion, has the better exclusive-set currently. Can't wait for Fable 2, and Project Offset is currently still in the works :)

Exactly as other people say, if it last 3 years then you have little to complain about. Most electronic stuff has issues after 3 years, or you're a very lucky person if it doesn't have issues. Yes there are still NES consoles, working, around to this day. However you don't exactly see them everywhere, do you? Only the absolutely best treated, best loved, most luckily manufactured consoles last longer than say, 10 years, on the whole.

One thing to note, is that the 360 3 year warrantee, does NOT cover any other break-down issues, than 3-red-ring errors. If your Hard Drive, or DVD Drive breaks, then it's subject to the standard 3 month factory-warrantee, and 12 month store warrantee, service. The 3 red-ring-errors are the most common, that's why MS are supporting customers who at some point, with first-manufactured 360s from 2005/6, get. Although on the upside, if you do get a RRoD error, on return to MS they give you entirely new, and improved, motherboard. It's not just a tweak any more. That's a recent development, to ensure less 360s need to be returned.

I've had my August 2006 manufactured 360 now for a good 8 months. It hasn't so much as squeaked in error. So i'm going to assume i've picked up a good one :)

Through process of elimination, some common sense, some research and based on Microsoft's claims, i have discovered the Graphics card which lies within the 360's core. Please forgive me if this is common knowledge, as far as i know it's not.

The 360s box states "ATI 500Mhz GPU". I know the GPU in a 360 is compatible with DirectX9c, so it's a Shader Model 3.0 compliant card, this can also be seen in the games.

Ok, so it's not gunna be a X800 range chip, since they're only SM2.0 compatible. It's not gunna be a Radeon X2*** chip, because they're DX10 and also far too recent. So it's gunna be in ATI's X1*** range somewhere.

The only card in that range, which has a 500Mhz Core and was available around 2005, was the Radeon X1800.

Therefore, it's not conclusive, but it's a damn good guess if i don't say so myself, the 360s GPU is a heavily modified Radeon X1800.

[QUOTE="xXSN1PERXx"]why dont u just buy vista?? :)Evilmaster101

Because Vista has more problems than I'll be able to count in a lifetime?

The only people i know who have problems with Vista i wish i didn't know, they're all idiots. I've had it since it came out and barely any problems. There is no reason not to get Vista at the current time, most if not all of the driver issues have been fixed, but they were teething problems compared to the issues XP had on launch.

The only reason the PS2 did so well was the lack of good competition.  The gamecube wasn't all that great and the Xbox was a console from a company brand new to console gaming, so people were reserved.  The DreamCast was a flop and the Sega consoles had recently died out, so Sony had the market pretty much all to themselves.  Halo with the Xbox made a nasty dent, but still didn't know the PS2 off it's perch.  Now, however, Nintendo have a good console, which has incredible originality, the Wii.  Microsoft have a HUGE fanbase, as well as a year advance of sales with their next gen console, the 360.  The PC is more popular for gaming than ever, leaving Sony gasping for breath.  Sony's expected Sales for the PS3 are rediculous.  Hell, even the PS2 beat the PS3 in sales in America over christmas.

It's only a matter of time before Sony begin to die.  Their recent problem with Laptop batteries have made a MASSIVE dent in their yearly profits for 2006 financial year.  With the PS3's making them a loss for every unit they sell, from now until the end of this year, i can't really see Sony pulling out of this.  Their audiovisual departments are under threat too.  The only thing sony do really really well, are phones and laptops.  Even there, they are pretty much screwed.