PS3 vs 360: Decisions, Decisions

[chuckro]

Amazon.com helpfully sent me the new FF13 trailer this morning. Bastards.

Final Fantasy XIII (both, Mar 9, 2010)
It’s so pretty. I wants it, precious. And the summon monsters apparently transform into vehicles? I wants it!

Final Fantasy Versus XIII (PS3, no release date)
Square-Enix has been leaning more heavily towards the 360; I’m not sure I want to place odds that this will stay exclusive. Also I have no idea when it’ll actually be released. I’m still waiting with baited breath of Dragon Quest 6 and 9 for the DS, which will hopefully be due out this year.

Disgaea 3 (PS3)
Seems to be keeping everything I liked about the earlier Disgaea games, and I liked the improvements from Disgaea 1 to Disgaea 2, so I have high hopes for the new stuff.

Cross Edge (PS3)
The fact that Nippon Ichi has thrown its weight behind the PS3 is an argument in its favor. Last Rebellion is also going to be PS3-exclusive, due out in February.

Beautiful Katamari (360)
Katamari Forever (PS3)
Whichever system I buy, I’ll buy the Katamari game for it. I get the distinct impression that Katamari Forever is a better game, though, and focuses much less on making you buy DLC to get everything that comes with it.

Dynasty Warriors 6 (both)
It’s only real advantage over the rest of the series, as far as I can tell, is that it’s much prettier on the newer systems. Heck, there’s a PS2 version of this, too. Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce also interests me, but that’s also coming for both systems.

Lost Odyssey (360)
Apparently this plays like a Final Fantasy game with some elements of Shadow Hearts thrown in. That seems like something I’d very much enjoy.

Blue Dragon (360)
Seems to be full of things I like, though noted for its difficulty.

The Last Remnant (360)
The battle system is apparently a cross between jrpg and battlefield strategy. I’m not sure how I’ll feel about that—I’d kinda like to see it firsthand. This is apparently also available for PC, though that would require a significant upgrade to my system.

Infinite Undiscovery (360)
Real-time combat and made by the Star Ocean guys. On one hand, the story promises to be interesting. On the other hand, my experience with actually playing games made by Tri-Ace has been less than stellar.

Dragon Age: Origins (both)
I’ve been told I should play KOTOR or the like before bothering to go for this.

Star Ocean: The Last Hope (both)
See Infinite Undiscovery.

So, PS3 will have a side-story Final Fantasy game, the Nippon Ichi releases, and a better Katamari game. 360 seems to have a better overall catalogue including several jrpgs that I’m very interested in. What am I forgetting, here?

(Also noteworthy: I’d really rather avoid dealing with DLC/patching; my TV is not cool enough to derive any particular benefit from HD or blu-ray; the Wii is out of the running based on my experiences playing it at parties; and I have some 40 games in my DS/PS2/Gamecube backlog. Oh, and work and classes.)

Comments

[chuckro.livejournal.com]

Which of the games on my list do you own / have you played? I know more of what to expect from Disgaea 3 than I do for any of the 360 games, which biases things.

The borrow vs. buy/rent is a useful note, but given that I tend to buy games used (most of the 360 games can be had for $20 on Amazon), it's not a huge factor. I suppose it would be nice to be playing the same games everyone else was, so I could talk about them, but there would still be the backlog issue, regardless.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

We have DW6, DragonAge: Origins, and Beautiful Katamari. On that last one, darkling1 already pointed out its failings. As for DW6: I'd sooner suggest Samurai Warriors 2--more like DW games of old, but fewer bugs and just as fun characters. Alas, it seems that its sequel is headed to the Wii only. (I have hope that will change.)

DragonAge: Origins, however, leads me to yet another argument in favor of the 360. BioWare makes some of the best RPGs out there. I loved Mass Effect (which I'm sure I've made obnoxiously clear by now), moonlightalice is a huge fan (one of many) of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, and DragonAge is already gaining just as many fans. If you like RPGs, BioWare is a company to watch, even if you're years behind. So far I've not heard that they're looking to branch out to PS3. While this could change, it's a lot to take on faith when debating which $300+ console to buy. And yeah, your games will be cheap, but borrowing from friends is free. (Uh, unless they're shitty friends.)

I know you like Jrpgs, as do I, but what I found with Mass Effect was that they ported a lot that I liked about the RPGs--building up characters, team assembly, etc.--and took out a lot of the stuff I didn't (THE CONSTANT GRINDING OMFG). That's not to dismiss your issue. You really won't find a lot of the Final Fantasy-esque things that you like best on the 360. I'm just saying that there are more than adequate games to compensate. Besides which, you have a portable Nintendo gadget of some kind (sorry, I never know what model they're on, much less what everybody has), right? Many of those sorts of games will have analogs on the handheld to make up for the lack of PS3 games.

I have to agree with ecmyers: there are precious few PS3-only games to make it worth the upgrade. I can think of two that have gotten any attention: the Uncharted game he mentioned and Infamous. The best argument for the PS3 is game console + Blu-Ray player, much as the PS2 was console + DVD player. If you're not going to upgrade to a HD TV at the same time, the PS3 is just absolutely not worth it. To me, I mean. With your backlog of games and frequent other projects, you could easily buy one and have not run out of material for it by the time they have a PS5 (or whatever).

But here's another issue: if that's the case regardless of the console you get, do you really need a new console? I mean, you've got a sizeable game backlog right now, without adding fifteen hundred new games for a new system. Perhaps it would be best to wait even another year, see where you are with your games (oh, and life in general, I suppose).

(Oh and BTW? DLC is not all evil. Yes, a lot of it is, as I ranted about before. And yes, it's absolutely a cheat to send something out that isn't polished to the utmost so the developer can meet a release date. On the other hand, it's a good bridge between games for people who aren't us and who actually buy things right away and are then forlorn without a beloved game to pass the time. DLC is also a great way to avoid cluttering up the damn apartment with Rock Band gear, to say nothing of disc after disc--not when you can just download expansions. Basically, DLC is a choice. They did a study where fully 40% of 360 gamers didn't even know DLC was an option for their games. So clearly it's not as intrusive as reputed.)

[oblvndrgn.livejournal.com]

Infamous was allright, but out of my mid-2009 guy-who-gets-superpowers-and-can-climb-around-an-open-sandbox-city style game, I prefer Prototype which was on both systems.

My two favorite eastern style RPGs that Chuckro has yet to play are both for the PS2. For what it's worth.

[chuckro.livejournal.com]

I presume you mean Persona 3 and 4, which I have yet to even own?

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

I keep seeing that game everywhere, but I haven't heard a thing about it. I'm not an active gamer in the sense that I read gaming sites everyday, but I usually hear about the biggest games. So I'll see Prototype in the store and wonder if it's any good, but then I'll tell myself it can't be that good if it hasn't penetrated the internets ether to reach me. Ah well, always can pick it up if I want it, apparently.