Microsoft Xbox 360 Elite > Reviews (114)

Having owned all of the recent generation of console I feel I can now make a technical judgement on them. I will compare the Xbox to its direct rival the Playstation 3, this is not a fanboy review, this is a review based on the strengths and weaknesses from a technical perspective.

Firstly the graphical capability is superb, just what you would expect from using a 1080p source, however when comparing to its rival the PS3 there are some slight noticeable differences if you ave used them both.
The first difference is lighting the Xbox graphics use higher contrast levels that the PS3 so it looks a lot brighter in presenting its games while this does not dull the quality of the images is does produce occasional screen tearing during cutscenes.

Audio quality is the same on each machine however the PS3 utilizes its optical audio in a dedicated port for the cable where the Xbox has a Av/Optical all in one cable where it can't be used alone, but if you're not bothered about HD audio and intend on relying on the HDMI then this will not affect you.

The features of the Xbox are far superior the the PS3, this is where the console deserves it highest praise, Cross game chat is one feature I am impressed with, as a PS3 owner I wish it could do this too sadly on Sony's box you have to enter a chat room and nless you're playing the same game as your friends you wont be talking and playing at the same time. The Xbox marketplace is far more organised than the PS3 equivilent and has more variety of products and services available. You also get game reviews via the marketplace, video reviews and demo's always on time unlike the PSN I found a demo was either always later published than the Xbox or not at all. Facebook intergration is a great tool for all those social networking fans and Zune, the Xbox online video retal service is very cool, you are also entitled to free radio via the Xbox if you are a Live Gold subscriber.

The controller is the most comfortable and well designed I have ever experienced, My PS3 controller has broke several times because the R2 and L2 buttons are held on by very fragile springs that inevitably and evetually will snap.

The DVD drive while it can be noisy is not too bad when its been running a good few minutes it does calm down after a time and isnt as bad as some people suggest. Also now there is a means to install games directly to the hard drive which will eliminate the drive noise completetly.

The operating system in my opinion is far more polished and interactive that the PS3 cross media bar, I most definetly prefer the NXE dashboard. It is nore interactive and friendly, new advertising for games, demos and videos reviews are there every day, your friends list is much more fun and interective as well as the acievement system that rivals PS3's trophies.

Now with gaming cross platform games tend to look slightly better on PS3 but not a huge noticeable differece, just where the ports have been made you may notice occaional screen tearing, but with exclusive games on both sides I have noticed no such fault.

The Xbox offers more game updates regually than the PS3 does and tends to keep more on th ball with fixes and so on. I also believe in my opinion other than the incredible MGS4 the xbox wxclusive games are better than the PS3 exclusives. Gears of War, Fable, Project gotham racing, ect there are genre's to support people of all tastes.

The price range of the Xbox is more agreeable than Sony's PS3 at atleast a £50 saving. True enough the PS3 has features that are superior to the Xbox like bluetooth connectivity, Blu-Ray, and built in Wi-FI. While they are useful its your decision if you really need these utilities.

Technically its no lie that the PS3 is technologically more advanced to its rival but the Xbox is no bad purchase, it has become more reliable since its jasper released chipset which combines the CPU and GPU in one easy design which now helps to produce less heat and stress towards the machine, mening this console is now more relaible than ever.

To all reading this post ask yourself what kind of gamer are you? do you prefer to play online? if so then I reccommend the Xbox due to its superiority for online services and lag free connection. If you prefer more advanced technology and games to be played offline the go for the PS3. Both machines are awesome in their own way but I have a large social group online so the Xbox is used far more with me. I will say if you intend to play online with the PS3 if you decide this is the console for you then please be warned, while online play in not terrible you will find it lags very often and kicks you out of your games.

Good luck to all on your decission.