Ask anyone that’s ever own an Xbox 360, and they’ll tell you they’ve experienced the dreaded Red Ring of Death. In fact, they’ve probably had it several times in their console’s life cycle.

And yes, I’ve had the RRD myself. Officially, they say it’s 30%, but to everyone that’s experienced it: it’s 100%. Eventually, you’re going to get it.

Anyway, when I heard that there is the New Xbox S version, with built-in wifi and large harddrive (250gb), I’ve decided it was time to upgrade. And maybe it’s buyer’s remorse, but I’ve somewhat regretted the purchase, especially when I got the Xbox Live “freezing” problem. Apparently this is an old bug, you can login into marketplace.xbox.com and clear out your current download – that should fix your freezing problem. Still, that was very, very, VERY annoying.

One good news is that Microsoft’s new machine is incapable of getting the Red Ring (because there is no red lights), but the machine will shut itself down if it overheats. Which doesn’t sound good. The machine does run really hot – put your hands over the vents after a few hours of gaming, I dare you!

I also own a PS3 “Fat”, the original heavyweight (emphasis on heavy) next gen console, so I’ve decided to give you a side-by-side comparison between the two.

Compare	NEW XBOX 360 S	PLAYSTATION 3 (Fat)	WINNER
Name	Really? The console is called “new xbox”. Terrible name.	Most commonly referred to as PS3, the original is called the Fat and their new model is called the PS3 Slim, which sounds sexier.	PS3
Looks	New is always sexy. It looks menacing too. Finger magnet though.	It looks like a grill. Although they updated PS3 to the Slim model, Xbox’s shiny black is still cooler.	Xbox
Media	Plays DVD. And HD-DVD if you shell out another $179. USB sticks only (only recently)	Plays Bluray and DVD. SD cards, USB sticks, Fat32 external harddrive. Oh, yes, the Sony memory sticks.	PS3
File Support	Xbox will play JPEG, AVI and MPEG, but for some reason, it doesn’t support certain formats ? Believe me: some files will play on the PS3, but not Xbox.	From personal experiences, some movies that plays on the PS3 do not play on Xbox.	PS3
Games	Exclusive titles like Gears of War, Halo, Alan Wake, and Fable makes this system a fan-favorite.	PS3’s exclusive includes God of War, Resistance, Killzone, and Heavy Rain is pretty nice too.	Tie
Connection	Xbox’s newer n is clearly the winner, but however, like most people, you’re still probably using A or B on your home router, so it probably won’t make much of a difference. It also has ethernet.	PS3’s wifi is only “b” grade, but it connects just fine, but hardcore gamers would probably use ethernet anyway.	XBOX
Online	Xbox Live costs $50 a year to play online and to access Netflix and Facebook. The only saving grace of Xbox’s free Silver account service is you can get all the seasons to The Guild for free. Otherwise a silver account is like a second citizen, you’re treated like crap.	It’s free on PS3. Value for value, I’d take free any day. Sorry Microcrap. Also, Playstation store includes MGM movies, which are not available on Xbox Marketplace. Hint: Sony owns MGM. ALSO: BIG WINNER: Netflix is free on PS3.	PS3
Controller	I like the weight and feel of the Xbox wireless controller… but it sometime has trouble connecting, especially if something is blocking it from the console. The elongated MS remote controller is nice and round, but that’s about it.	I don’t like the weight of the PS3 controller, but since it uses Bluetooth – you can aim it anywhere and it still just works. Also, the giant PS3 remote controller for watching Bluray works really well.	PS3
Forthcoming	Kinect looks cool, but we’ll have to wait and see. Unfortunately, Xbox thinks DVD is the future. It’s not. When massive games require more than 5 gigs of storage, it’s not going to cut it anymore. Already Lost Planet 2 is not available on Xbox because of the limitation of DVDs.	PS3’s Move looks lame. If you’re looking at the future, you may want to bet on the PS3, they are bringing 3D in September and the future of movies is clearly on Bluray … that is, until sometime better comes along.	PS3

I must sound like a PS3 fanboy, I’m not. I hate their Memory Sticks (it doesn’t work on ANYTHING, well except for Sony products). I know this sounds like an advertisement for PS3, but that’s just my honest opinion between the two consoles.

Personally, if you don’t game, don’t bother with these two – just get the Wii.

The Deviot wrote:

Sat, Jul 10, 2010 at 10:19 AM

The 360 Fail Rate is actually closer to 60% Which is why before going to EA Peter Moore instituted the 3yr RROD warranty.

The PS3 isn’t flawless either. I have several friends that had the launch ones, who had to replace them because Sony didn’t adequately provide cooling, and they too overheated, and crashed out.

The main problem (If you’ve ever taken one apart) with these consoles (Especially the 360) is that they used ALUMINUM heatsinks on their motherboards, when they should have used COPPER. Copper would displace the heat a lot more evenly. Which you need when you use a processor that draws a lot of current, and is going to be on for long periods of time.

I also know my local PnT store repairs the RROD, and essentially they replace the heatsink, CPU, and fans 9 times out of 10 on the mobo.

Personally I play mostly PC versions. They cost less, play better, look better, and 90% of the time land on Windows anyhow. I have yet to buy either HD console because of this fact, the fact that the HD twins seem to die on a constant basis (2 360’s would get you an awesome PC. I rebuilt mine with a Quad Core, 4GB of DDR3, and a pretty nice Asus mobo for only $310 in January), and of course the fact that Live is another bill I could do without.

The cost of entry isn’t high at all anymore (A decent branded oem that can play these games is between $400-$600), and you can use it for important work related things, social networking, blogging, hobbies, etc. etc.

That said I do have the Wii too. It also has a lot of great games that would indeed appeal to the Action or RPG gamer who is probably on their 73rd 360.

It’s just a shame these games aren’t covered the way everyone drools over big budget 360/pc/ps3 stuff.

No More Heroes, it’s sequel, Madworld, House of the dead overkill, Ghost Squad, Sin And Punishment II, Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, Guilty Gear, The Conduit, Call of Duty World At War, Cod 4 Modern Reflex, Obviously almost anything by Nintendo. All great games. Even some of those “Casual” games (A total misnomer if you ask me) are an awful lot of freaking fun. I’ve enjoyed the Rock Bands, the lego one, Press Your Luck, Mario Sonic Olympics, and such.

It’s just too bad Nintendo stopped caring what was put out by 3rd parties because there are a shitload of terrible rush job shovelware titles too. And I think the average person sees so many of those on the shelf they don’t see the really awesome stuff. But seriously, it’s a great system.

It isn’t perfect though. There is ONE technical problem that happens with launch Wii’s, and that is it develops this loud buzzing hum. I mean real loud. Crank the TV to drown it out loud. I looked a few things up on it, and there are a few theories about what causes it, but it doesn’t seem to affect games. They all play fine. But it is annoying, and I may have to send the damned thing in.