Xbox 360 or PS3? Still Can't Decide

Falcon 1.0 screenshot

I've been a gamer ever since MicroProse released Falcon 1.0 on the IBM AT back in the 1980's, and always considered the Atari 2600 console - as prominent back then as the Playstations and the Xboxes are today - as beneath me, since I was using a more powerful IBM machine, and was playing 'serious' games with it, and not just moving frogs across the streets between speeding cars and so on.

I soon changed to the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, and later on, the Commodore 64 once I was old enough to realize that the IBM machine wasn't just for games! That move basically got me hooked on video games for life. Titles like "Ninja" and "Paperboy" were as addictive to me as cocaine! I spent so much time playing games that my school work suffered considerably, but I enjoyed it. Obviously, as punishment, I never got to owning the Commodore Amiga, which was much more superior than what I had at the time.

Commodore 64

Then, in college, came my very first Pentium-based PC, a Micron machine, with 28.8k modem, AGP 2X graphics card and a Pentium 100 processor, and the age of Command & Conquer, Jane's ATF Gold, and sleepless nights skipping college classes. Game consoles just weren't in my mind and I never bothered to play with them, the only exceptions being when I was visiting a friend's house or something.

Fast-forward years later, I still play similar games on a similar platform, although much more powerful, with more of my personal customizations and using much more powerful games. But now that the console games are as equally powerful as PC-based games, and much more maneuverable, with the advantage of playing with one or more other players besides myself, which makes sense since now my 4 year old is an avid iPad user! I do have the Nintendo Wii, but honestly it's nothing like what I had hoped for. And unless you're a persistent fitness fanatic, there aren't many entertaining titles to chose from on this platform, so that investment is down the drains for me, and I don't want to be in this predicament once again.

And here lies the dilemma; What to get? An Xbox 360 or a PlayStation 3?

Sifting through the many sites that recommend one or the other like this one, and after about 2 months of research and procrastination, I'm still undecided. Although I'm yielding more towards the PS3, I'd hate to make the investment when it may be possible to reap more benefits from the Xbox. Both have unique and similar benefits and advantages over each other, and it's quite obvious from the way their respective manufacturers and resellers are beginning to bundle & market them lately.

Sinclair ZX Spectrum

Personally speaking, I don't mind grabbing an original copy of the games, as opposed to 'cracked' ones that are sold at some places here or over the 'net, since by doing so, I'm actually helping the industry make even more great titles (to each his own, I suppose!). So that removes the 'hackable platform' option out of the list of decisions to consider. Playing online is not much of a choice, since I don't really play for competition, but it would be a great advantage, of course.

So here it is, my big decision for the time being; what to chose for a new and entertaining Gaming platform for myself (primarily) and my family, with the option to upgrade should a new compatible add-on technology come into existence.

For the time being, I'll be enjoying my latest purchase on my hi end gamin PC, Medal of Honor, with some BF2142 and Civilization V thrown in for good measure, until I can make that choice.