Have your say & ask the experts

Well, you will need some space. It's not only about games. If you want to, say, download vidzone application to watch & hear free music online, you'll need HDD space. Also, when you play games, the PS3 stores information about the levels you've achieved so far, or the tournaments you've won. If you're not fussed about saving movies etc. like me, then 120GB PS3 is good enough for you.

If you want to future proof it (you never know what applications come on PS3 in the future, including online HD movies), then 250GB is a better bet.

Its a very good point Ginder.  I bought the PS1 when that came out, I still own a PS2, and I just thought I would naturally progress to the next one and get a PS3.  However all the reports I read, talk about how it functions as a blu-ray player, which I'm not interested in.

I've never even considered an Xbox but now you mention it, that may be the way to go.  As I say its purely to be used for games.  Do xbox's have an hard disc then?  And if they do.......same question. What are the advantages of a bigger one?

barnsleydave,

I have both consoles so can tell you that the larger the hard drive the better even for gaming but i would say that 120gb at present is more than enough. The PS3 will require you to install your games to the hard drive (or portions of game data) each time you buy one with the ammount of space required varying between games (3 - 4gb is the max i have seen) and then you still need to create a game save and allow for updates over the internet so as you can see a single game can take up to 4-5gb on your hard drive. So it is just a case of how many games you will be playing....unless things like Home, Playstation Store, Vidzone etc interest you in which case they all require extra storage space aswell. Home on PSN is a 3gb file in itself plus extra space is required to keep it up to date (i wouldn't bother as it's rubbish!) BTW not all PS3 games require an install but the vast majority do. PSN is free and the MW2 issues have been sorted long ago so i wouldn't worry about the service although it can have it's moments they are resolved quickly.

As for the xbox it is a similar setup but not identicle. Xbox live is superior to psn as an online service but you have to pay £40 a year for the xbox live gold service (£26 if you buy a code online) but the xbox live silver service is free. The xbox 360 can come with or without a hard drive but only the arcade version of the console comes without a hard drive. Unlike the PS3 the xbox gives you the option to download your games to the HDD to speed up loading times and crucially to make the thing less bloody noisey! The xbox is very loud when compared to the PS3. But game installs are not mandatory on the xbox just an option but games like forza3 buck that trend and demand 3gb of your HDD, these are rare however so you shouldn't need such a big HDD for xbox in theory. Xbox live can eat your HDD though if you like the vast ammount of games, videos, avatar stuff and demos etc that are available for purchase.

And don't forget that the xbox (no matter what MS will tell you) is unreliable and suffers from the 'red ring of death' which appears on the console front to announce it is dead! I am on my 5th xbox 360 at the moment so you have been warned. The PS3 has had a similar problem only this time dubbed the 'yellow light of death' but those problems only apply to the original 1st generation of 60gb models and i have had no problems with my PS3 atall. Time to make a choice.....hope the info helps

Noise is not an issue if you install the game to the xbox as the disc drive does not need to spin so therefore the fans dont kick in either.  I have the 120gb model and around 40-50 games..obvisously i would not be able to install all of them as each one requires about 5-7gb so i just install the ones im currently playing or play the most..once i finished a game that is purely single player i tend to delete the install and move on to the next therefore never running out of space.

Oldboys description of the hardware failures of the xbox were true about 2 years ago, as you are looking to buy one now you will be picking one up that has the latest hardware inside it..most likely the "jasper" chips which in my experience have not failed on anyone owning one.  My xbox is the elite 120gb version and have had it about a year and a half old now and iv never had a problem with it..although i did purchase the extended warranty from gamestation just incase (3yr warranty for 30 quid it was).  Also in my experience of setting up lan parties iv come across alot of xbox's and again with the elites iv rarely had a problem.

Also £40 for xbox live is something iv never done, iv always purchased it from ebay and its always been under £30 which to be honest is not alot at all when you compare its structure and reliability compares to PSN.

In the end if you want a games console you have really got to look at what games you want to play.  Most games that are cross platform are better on the xbox.  However when it comes to exclusives, you may want to look at what is appealing to you on each console before you make your purchase.

I think in the end it comes down to what games you will be playing

Old Boy & Ginder - Thanks for the responses.  I must admit after reading oldboys post I did wonder whether I should bother at all and just stick to my trusty old PS2.

In terms of games which will be played on it, my Mrs loves driving games & I like the war type games. So those two will form the majority of the games played on it.  I also love football manager games but I play those on the mac or the windows laptop.

Not sure whether I can be bothered playing against other users.  We'll see.  I think the 120GB elite xbox is the one I'll probably be going for.  They seem to retail around the £200 mark.  I'll have a good look around see if I can find any good deals.  Thanks again.

Is this the best bundled deal out there?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Super-Elite-Console-Drive-Forza/dp/B002PU9UCM/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1258548616&sr=8-2

I would also buy call of duty 2 modern warfare.  May also try and get call of duty 1 as haven't even seen those games but hear good things about them

LOL! Yeah the PS3 can be very confusing but its a great machine, either console will leave you a happy chappy. For your needs i would as you have said go the xbox elite route but go to your local game stores as there are some great deals on the high street at the mo...Forza3 is a MUST though, i can't stop playing it (or should that be 'driving it'?). For example Argos will do the Elite, Forza3, Pure and Lego Batman plus an extra pad for £249.99...you will have to check if the offer is still running though but deals like that are there to be had on the high street. If you just want Forza3 however then the Amazon deal is a good one, whatever you decide i wish you happy gaming!!

Edit: modern warefare 2 has a very short single player campaign (5-6hours) so unless you plan to go online with your xbox you won't get full value from it but there is absoluetly no way i would say don't buy it as it's so good, just something to be aware of.

That deal is really good in my opinion, forza 3 is quite new and worth about 30 quid, the extra wireless controller is worth around £25 and you cant even buy a 250gb drive seperately so thats worth it in itself. You get a hdmi cable with it too if they pack the same wires as they do with the elite and also an adaptor that allows you to connect an optical cable too.

Personally i would print that off and take it down to gamestation and see what they offer because if you do ever get a problem you can just pop down to the shop rather than send it back to amazon..do amazon honour the year warranty or would you need to send it back to the manufacturer??

I just looked on gamestation website and they do have this offer so they should have it in the shop too:

http://www.gamestation.co.uk/Xbox360/Hardware/Console/~r417421/ModernWarfare2SuperEliteConsole/

I think the modern warfare 2 xbox is limited edition so will be worth a few bob once out of stock.

They also have this offer that looks decent to me but theres only one controller

http://www.gamestation.co.uk/Consoles/Xbox-360/Xbox-360-Elite-Console-with-Call-of-Duty-Modern-Warfare-2-and-Forza-3/~r418078/

Like i said, i would print off the amazon deal and take it down to gamestation and see what they can do, they may even throw in a free plug n charge kit for the controller.

Yeah nice one forgot about gamestation price match!! They will not price match the internet however i dont think (my local store certainly dosen't as i've tried) but it's a great idea to make them your last stop and play them off against all the deals you find elsewhere...they should match the price and then beat it by 10% so you must be able to get a great deal! Happy hunting!

Ginder: good work, great deals! And yes the MW2 branded Elite console is a limited edition as are the controllers....i want one!