I've decided to pick up a PS3 or an XBOX 360. I used to own a 360 a year back now but I sold it on due to a lack of interest (and a lack of good games).

What with the flow of titles coming on to the next-gen consoles this year (and an influx of unexpected spare cash) I've decided to upgrade to the ol' 360 or PS3. But I'm stuck. Allow me to state my predicament:

(Based on GAME prices):

XBOX 360 with Assassins Creed and Halo 3 (I think?) costs £269.99. I must take into consideration that I really want to participate in online gaming once again so we're looking at £309.99 for XBOX 360 after I've added in the Live subscription.

PS3 with a choice of one of six games (I will probably opt for Resistance or Virtua Tennis 3) is £299.99. I would have to spend extra on a component cable seeing as the PS3 doesn't come packaged with one. So again we're probably looking at about £310(ish) here.

Both consoles are the same price then (there and there abouts). What other predicaments are there?

Well the games are pretty much the same on both consoles. While Sony seems to have the better exclusives at the moment missing Halo 3 is a bit of a downer and also Banjo Threeie.

But LittleBigPlanet and MGS4 interest me greatly.

Now XBOX already has their Live system in place so it's pretty much subscribe and get playing. However for free Sony will have their "Home" system in place which looks infinitely better than Live. It's a case of waiting but from what I've seen it looks worth it. And it's free.

However I HATE the Playstation controller and LOVE the 360 controller.

It's a serious case of "I don't know what to do". It's a lot of money and both consoles are neck and neck.

Which would you favour and why?

God help me I'm doing it - Bump.

Well, considering I hate anything made by Sony, I'll have to go with the Xbox 360, if I were you.

Like you mentioned with the PS3, it doesn't come with anything HD as standard which is just strange considering it's HD.

The only positive thing about the PS3, is that it does come with a blu-ray player, which is now unfortunately the future for HD films for now, as HD-DVD is almost dead

Or you could just not PS3 or 360, and buy more Wii games

I am in the same boat as you are, I am planning on getting a 360 or a PS3 sometime this year. Right now I am leaning more towards a PS3, but that can change at any minute. The one thing that bothers me is 360s failure rate.

I am no help am I, sorry.

Haha The Stig - yeah I could buy more Wii games. But it'd mean missing out on Resi Evil 5.

Go buy a Xbox 360, the PS3 has no real advantages unless you really really want a BR player.

The Xbox failure rate has apparently been ALOT better in the recent hardware revision, mines a 1.2 and hasn't failed, so far so good!

Wii360 all the way.

See I disagree with that - maybe I'm biased because I'm already 90% decided but to me the PS3 seems to have a lot of advantages - mainly being more exclusive games.

And it's £40 a year to take 360 online which is thoroughly off putting.

360 has the better controller though.

Personally i prefer the ps3, When the next update comes out for it soon the chat will hopefully match xbox live. The games feel alot better on the ps3 pad plus you will get games like Killzone 2 and MGS4. Halo is rubbish!!!

I played Halo 3 and felt it wasn't even deserved of the name "3". It felt more like "2.5" such was the similarity to Halo 2.

Firstly, £40 a year for live (£28-£35 if you look about) is a negligible amount- a pound a week, if that. The level of service is fantastic on live- I have no gripes at all with paying for the service, because it is top quality.

Secondly, while I think the PS3 will find its feet soon, the 360 will be the stronger machine for at least another year. It has a healthy back catalouge of games, and lots of promising titles coming out in the future. I look at the PS3 and see an expensive piece of kit with lots of wasted potential and next to no AAA games. But this is all opinion which is probably not really going to sway you either way.

I personally reckon you should make a list of all the games you want- out now, and scheduled for the future- for both machines. Take a look at which one has the most, and chose that. At the end of the day, the machines are practically the same, its just the games that count.

But my opinion will always lie with the 360.