Playstation 3 or X box ?

my only interest is in driving simulators in hi def so which is better x or 3?

gt4 vs forza2?

thanks for advice as ive been thinking of getting a sim set up for 2 yrs and am now ready to get it done

 

Thats a tough one.

As a 360 owner and a soon (hopefully) PS3 owner, i can honestly say, go for the Playstation.

The only benefit to a 360 over PS3 is the Xbox has Xbox Live.

Right now on PS3 the main racing games are, F1 Championship Edition, Motorstorm, Ferrari Challenge (comes out first quarter of '08), and Gran Turismo 5(comes out about this time of next year).

Those games will be worth the wait IMO.

 

To each his own, but I'm thinking you might overprioritize the resolution question. I've been playing racing sims for a decade now and have dealt with all kinds of resolution. While a better resolution looks better when you compare the pictures, that isn't the whole story: Immersion into the game is more important. At some point you no longer feel you're sitting in your living room, but you're in the car duking it out. There are several elements contributing to that immersion, resolution is one of them, but only one.
- IMHO most important is Force Feedback. You need to know what the car is doing or you feel so remote it is a game and not a sim anymore.
- Another key is how good the AI (artificial intelligence) of the opponent cars is if you are not playing online against real humans. If they drive like robots you feel that and it is a give away that you're in a game.
- Another factor is the crash model the game supports. If you can literally bounce off the walls, it is no fun.
- Somewhat related to FFB is the physics model of the car. The more realistic the better.
- Screen resolution by itself is useless if the designers don't make full use of it.
- Screen clutter is another thing: The less "information" shown on the screen, the better. Good games allow you to select what you want on the display. Things like scores (WTF?!) or directions don't belong into a racing car.
- And one of my absolute key points: Driver's perspective. I don't drive a real car flying behind it, but by sitting at the wheel where I have a dashboard in front of me. Very few games allow for that perspective. Now with the next console generation out, the programmers are starting to support this (PGR4 on XBox360 and GT5 ons PS3).

Yes, hi def is important, but please note there are other factors you should consider.

 

Gran Turismo 5 just hit Japan today, from what I've seen there is not that many cars (37) & tracks (10, 5 of them are in reverse) but it does have 2 Ferraris in this game.(F430 & 599) What I might expect is more cars & tracks to be downloaded or unlocked as you progress though the game. The PS3 is still not selling well, make me wonder if Sony will be prepared to lower the price again.

 

I think what you are referring to is GT5 Prologue. GT5 full version is due in another year and will have tons of tracks and cars.

Not sure on this, but I'm hoping that GT5 Prologue has the Topgear track.

 

Our kids (11 & 13) have all three systems. But, what completely prevails is the internet connectivity of the xBox. They can hook up with their friends. Never mind the interactive qualities of the Wii and the high resolution of the PS3. We might as well sell the other two systems.

 

Yes, the full GT5 is going to have the Top Gear test track.

Thats the one thing i dont like about the PS3, the internet play SUCKS.

Other than that, i cant wait to have one of my own.

 

TBH, first person shooters have way better button set-up on xbox then the ps3. I've played through COD4 on both systems and would rather have the box then the ps3. Not only that but you also get xbox live, which in its own right is worth paying for. if playstation wants to start competing they need to get a standardized system like live or else they aren't going to succeed.

 

I just got an XBox 360 this weekend + a few games (Forza 2, Halo 3, Bioshock and Madden 08) as a gift from some friends and love it so far. I dislike Sony as a company, particularly their business practices, so I'm glad to see people buying XBoxes. That's just me. MS knows connectivity is the future and I think that will be what will make it tough for Sony to compete.

RMX

 

That could very well be, I forgot that the Japanese market gets versions like that & the rest of the world doesn't.

 

Will there be a revised version of the PS3?

 

I recently purchased a PS3 and the graphics aside, there aren't too many interesting games at this time. I use it mainly as a blue ray movie player as of now.

 

Actually we will get it here soon enough as well.

http://www.gamespot.com/ps3/driving/granturismo5prologue/index.html

I'd agree with that. For instance their copy protection of their own Mini DV camcorders (which I think are the best in the world) doesn't allow me to make a backup of my own tapes. That's just plain crazy and reason enough not to buy their camcorder. With F1 for PS3 they screwed the pooch by not turning on Forcefeedback despite the fact that they had it for PS2. That's going backwards. Having said that, Microsoft doesn't strike me as a company without blame either.

 

Bought a 360 last week. I'm happy with it for the most part. I don't like how you can only DL music onto it and not pics or vids. And it doesn't have built in wireless, you have to buy that separately for $100 (way overpriced). The rest of it I like so far. My sis-in-law has a PS3 and a Wii. Those are fun too and have their strong and weak points.

 

Don't forget about them surreptitiously installing rootkits on peoples' computers. Also, exploding laptop batteries among other things.

They've really turned into the company who couldn't shoot straight.

RMX

 

What do you mean you can only download music to it and not pictures or movies? If you have a network in your home, the 360 can play any movie, picture or music file saved on your computer. You can also download movies from Live. My gripe with it, is that there is no internet browser...now that would be cool.