Should I get PS3 or X-Box 360?

I don't really play video games any more. I simply haven't got the time or attention span. The short version of this story is that my daughter has decided she really wants to play Portal 2 again. Since I can no longer send her to my brother's house to do so (he moved to Kansas, just cause the Army said to!!), that means getting either a new console or a PC that can run games. I'm willing to spend about $100 on this, which means ... console.

We're a Nintendo house. We've got a Switch, WiiU, and Wii (for the Gamecube function), N64, and NES. We also have a PS2, so I'm leaning toward the PS3 but I don't know if my games are still compatible on that system. (Not like I spend any time playing them any more....)

My kids play Splatoon, Smash Bros, Legend of Zelda: the something somewhere, various Lego games, Kirby, Arms, Tetris, and Mario. Pointers?

You won't be able to play PS2 games on a PS3 unfortunately.

As a Playstation guy, who has never used an XBox, I'm not sure I can give an objective vote. I can tell you there is is a PS3 version of Portal 2
My suggestion would be to look into what exclusive titles are available for the various platforms and decide which best fits.

AdamCollings wrote:
My suggestion would be to look into what exclusive titles are available for the various platforms and decide which best fits.

This should probably be the biggest factor. And if you (meaning you and your family collectively) like JRPGs or other video games localized from Japan, PS3 is going to be your console of choice, as Xbox just didn't get a lot of that stuff (and still doesn't on Xbox One). They aren't thought of as "exclusives" because they kind of end up being exclusive by accident or just by inaction on the part of microsoft. But if Sony felt like it, they could have been trumpeting the fact that they have all these (somewhat niche) localized titles that 360 didn't. Of course compared to Halo exclusivity, JRPGs are nothing to brag about in the western market these days.

The latest model of the 360 has, as far as I know, worked out the problems of the earlier and mid-life models (overheating, etc), so that should be fine. You CAN hunt down a very specific model of PS3 that plays PS2 discs, but it will be either expensive or in potentially unreliable condition. (PS2 functionality was in the early models only).

I have a library of games on the 360 I really enjoy. In fact I'll be playing mostly 360 games for Extra-Life, I think. But if I could go back in time and somehow force myself to wait a year longer (both to save up money and wait for a couple games that got ported eventually) I would get a PS3 instead of the the 360. Even now there are some PS3 exclusives I wish I could play.

But again, as Adam said, it's all about the games YOU want to have access to. Which should be pretty easy to google up and figure out.

Enjoy browsing! A great time to get one of these console affordably, a wealth of games to play for them and a history of reviews online to help you avoid wasting time on the duds! I envy what you have ahead of you!

This Black Friday Gamestop is selling the Xbox 360s for $0 (after rebate) if you're still interested

Rickster wrote:This Black Friday Gamestop is selling the Xbox 360s for $0 (after rebate) if you're still interested

Yeah, I SAW that! Crazy town! I wonder if that's just refurbished early-model 360s. I might only take one of those for a price of free anyway for all the problems I had with them.

Rickster wrote:This Black Friday Gamestop is selling the Xbox 360s for $0 (after rebate) if you're still interested

I will look into that! Thanks!