Xbox or PS3 for 11yo/family

chorlton

My 11 year old son is desperate for an Xbox 360 and, as he's been working really hard for his 11+, we are going to buy one for him once he's done the exam.

There is also a slight ulterior motive - my wife and I don’t play games but we need a new DVD player, and it would be great to access iPlayer and also if possible to stream music/media (either wired or wirelessly) from our computer, which is a Mac with all music in iTunes. Basically what I'm really after is functionality similar to Apple TV.

Would the Xbox 360 do any of this?

And would a PS3 do more? or do it better?

Final question - the Blu-Ray factor is making me quite keen on the PS3 , but it is primarily a reward for my son and he's dead set on the Xbox because friends have them and he says the games are better. I have to admit that a quick look seems to suggest that the PS3 games are more violent and adult oriented - but for an 11 year old boy (with a younger sister) what are the pros/cons of what games are available for the 2 systems?

bigmacca81625

ok, heres the thing, im not aware that that iplayer will stream to either piece of kit!

both will however, stream video and music although personal preference, i find the xbox streaming easier to set up and use.

if his friends have the xbox, he wont want the ps3, playing only on the ps3 has its issues with reliablity and quality.

Xbox online is amazing but ther is a £5 pm charge. The xbox however does have a high rate of failure.

If you want something that pleases everyone, then it has to be the xbox, but im almost certain it will be shipped back to microsoft at one point for a warranty repair

danny1978uk

I think Big Macca makes some very good points above, not mostly what do his friends have? I am a big fan of the PS3, i understand what you want to do and i don't really think streaming from your Mac to PS3 is possible.

However the PS3 now has what i called VidZone which has 1000's and 1000's of Music Video's free to listen (And watch if you want)

From reading around i seem to think that PS3's are more reliable that XBOX's but at the end of the day it's electronic and their is always a chance something could go wrong.

For me it would come down to what his Friends have.

Hope this helps.

Dan

timberflake

I think when the PS3 video store launches, you will be able to watch the iPlayer through that, rent/buy movies, much the same way Apple TV works.

I'm not sure about the whole Mac and PS3 thing, but if you upgraded the HDD to say a 320gb/500gb (which you can't do on an Xbox), you would be able to sotre music, pic, movies etc directly to it.

If your kids friends have xbox's, this alone would prompt me to say get an xbox as he will want to play what they're playing.

As a rule of thumb, the PS3 is the slightly better media hub in terms of streaming, upgrading the HDD, Blu Ray etc. However, the Xbox still has the edge over the PS3 in terms of games library and a more comprehensive online, although the PS3's online is free.

chorlton

Cheers folks - I think gaming with friends is a big aspect that I kind of under prioritised - several of his friends have Xbox and none PS3.

So... it looks like I'll have to wait a bit longer for Blu-Ray and work out another way to get iPlayer on my telly!

littlem00

My b/f's is on his 4th Xbox 360 But he did buy his over 3 years ago.
So I'm not sure if the newly built Xbox's are effected by the red lights
of death (that's what I call it)

Marty_J

Streaming iPlayer to the PS3 is possible through its web browser.

You can stream you music, movies and photos from your Mac to either the Xbox 360 or the PS3, but you'll need to use either Connect360 or MediaLink, which will cost you $20.

The PS3 comes with wireless built-in, but if you want to use wireless internet on your Xbox 360, you need to purchase a wireless adapter for it (currently £41 on Amazon).

The PS3 plays Blu-ray disks, enabling you to watch HD movies if you have an HD TV.

It's free to play online with the PS3, but you'll need an XBox Live gold subscription to do it on the Xbox 360, which costs £34 for 12 months from Amazon (though you can find it cheaper if you shop around). Some people think the Xbox 360 offers a better online experience than the PS3 however.

The Xbox 360 has a larger games library, some of which are very cheap.

All in all, it just comes down to personal preference. Apart from playing Blu-Ray and watching BBC iPlayer, they're pretty evenly matched and both very good consoles. If your son really has his heart set on an Xbox 360, so he can borrow games from his friends and play them online etc, then perhaps that's the way you should go. You can always save up and get yourself a PS3 (which has just had a price-cut) for watching Blu-rays and BBC iPlayer, and streaming media.

4743hudsonj

Marty_J wrote: »

Streaming iPlayer to the PS3 is possible through its web browser.

You can stream you music, movies and photos from your Mac to either the Xbox 360 or the PS3, but you'll need to use either Connect360 or MediaLink, which will cost you $20.

The PS3 comes with wireless built-in, but if you want to use wireless internet on your Xbox 360, you need to purchase a wireless adapter for it (currently £41 on Amazon).

The PS3 plays Blu-ray disks, enabling you to watch HD movies if you have an HD TV.

It's free to play online with the PS3, but you'll need an XBox Live gold subscription to do it on the Xbox 360, which costs £34 for 12 months from Amazon (though you can find it cheaper if you shop around). Some people think the Xbox 360 offers a better online experience than the PS3 however.

The Xbox 360 has a larger games library, some of which are very cheap.

All in all, it just comes down to personal preference. Apart from playing Blu-Ray and watching BBC iPlayer, they're pretty evenly matched and both very good consoles. If your son really has his heart set on an Xbox 360, so he can borrow games from his friends and play them online etc, then perhaps that's the way you should go. You can always save up and get yourself a PS3 (which has just had a price-cut) for watching Blu-rays and BBC iPlayer, and streaming media.

not to mention the new slimline version announced at the same price, looks ugly though, just matt plastic. looks like an old rover dashboard or something, eugh, bring back piano black with chrome!!

Marty_J

4743hudsonj wrote: »

not to mention the new slimline version announced at the same price, looks ugly though, just matt plastic. looks like an old rover dashboard or something, eugh, bring back piano black with chrome!!

Making the PS3 suck a little bit more with each hardware revision seems to be something of a tradition at Sony now.

I'm waiting on a new version that can't play PS3 games.

4743hudsonj

Marty_J wrote: »

Making the PS3 suck a little bit more with each hardware revision seems to be something of a tradition at Sony now.

I'm waiting on a new version that can't play PS3 games.

haha yes i have the orginal 60gb and i love it

but if i had to choose now a days, xbox would win

the ps3 was a clear choice then because of little things like ps2 backwards compatibility, second os support(which in the new version is removed), memory card slots etc its what made it better than a 360 in my eyes, plus it looks fantastic. but now, there nothing in it, accept for xbox has a larger games library.

donnajunkie

i wouldnt use an xbox as a dvd player even though it can play dvds. the reason is that as already mentioned it has a higher failure rate so why put extra wear and tear on its parts by using it to watch dvds as welll as for playing games. if you need a dvd player just get one as well, they are pretty cheap now. i dont know why you feel the games on the ps3 are violent but the games on the xbox arent. both have a similar amount of games that have violence. there are still many games for both that arent violent. the positives of the xbox are,
1. it has more good games available.
2. online play seems to be more popular on the console.
negatives are,
1. it runs quite loudly although you get used to it.
2. it has a highish failure rate but in my experience the repair service is very good.

ps3 positives are,
1. blu ray player.
2. free online play which in my opinion is as good as xbox live. i am in the minority though.
3. runs quieter.
4. most games come out on both consoles now.
negatives are,
1. costs more.
2. less good games.
3. less popular.

if you are wanting a more family orientated console then maybe you should be considering the nintendo wii. you mentioned you dont like the idea of games with violence in them. i cant see your son being happy if you get him an xbox and then stop him from playing games like call of duty and gears of war.