Xbox 360 or Playstation

Xbox 360 for online gaming (although it costs more, it is worth it), and ps3 for movies, services like Facebook, and driver sort of games is my 2 cents.

 

I'd go with the Xbox, but keep in mind the next gen consoles are coming out fairly soon.

 

I'd go with PS3 and save money on the online features. He's 12, he doesn't need the advantages Live brings. Online gaming with Playstation is absolutely fine, the big games are populated, voice chat works fine barring cross-game and you get the advantage of a few less whiny kids since (and this is both a negative and a blessing) you don't get a free headset.

For a kid of that age, the difference in consoles is practically negligible, so it really comes down to you. Do you want to pay a monthly/yearly subscription when the free alternative works perfectly well? There are other small advantages too, such as controllers that come with rechargable batteries built in (just connect 'em via USB whenever they get low, no worrying about buying batteries or a plug n' play kit) and having games on a single disc rather than several is a nice added touch. Oh, and the store deals in real money so there's no messing about with magical pixie points, trying to figure out which combinations of points cards to buy.

I say this as an owner of both consoles with over 50 games on my 360, so it's fair to say I've given them both a chance.

 

Kinect isn't really used for games very well. It is interesting, but there is yet to really be an amazing Kinect game. It's good for party games though.

I'd go for the PS3 because it has better exclusives, but if he is more interested in multiplatform games, the Xbox might be better, though you do have to pay for online, and it doesn't make for a very good all purpose media device like the PS3 does. Also depends on what type of games he is into. If he likes platforming games, the PS3 would be the better choice as there are few on Xbox. If he's into shooters, the Xbox would be better, because those are the types of games the system was designed for.

 

You should try to find out which system the majority of his friends have so then he could play with them.

Also I would highly recommend getting the xbox. The online for only $60 a year is FAR superior to the catastrophe that playstation network is. And no this is not a blind opinion. I have had a PS3 sitting in my basement collecting dust, unplayed. It only serves as my basements blu-ray player now.

 

Listen to him, not me. Very good post by the way.

 

It might not be blind but it still sounds biased. I can turn my PS3 on right now and play online with my friends with no lag or notable problems, where's the issue in that? I'd admit to flaws if you'd care to name them, but right now you're sounding suspiciously vague. There have been a few spurts of downtime, but in general it's more or less what you'd expect from an online service, and at a far more compelling price. I'm actually in agreement that Live is better too, it's just not $60/year better. I'd probably pay a one-off fee of about $20 to unlock the cross game chat and party features and other than that there's nothing I want from it that I can't get from PSN.

 

Well, lack of cross-game chat and party isn't due to PSN. It's because of hardware limitations of the PS3. Sony actually tried to get it to work, but couldn't. It's because they divided its 512MB of ram in half- 256MB for the CPU, and 256MB for the GPU, whereas the Xbox has 512MB that isn't divided, and is shared between CPU and GPU, so the amount of memory going to both can change on the fly and doesn't hit the ceiling as quickly as the PS3 does. The Vita's RAM is configured in the same way as the Xbox's due to this, which is why it is able to do party and cross-game chat.

 

Oh yeah, granted. Sony definitely messed up when it comes to system memory, the slowness of the XMB during games testifies to that.

Interesting fact that reminded me of this thread... and without intending to start a flame war: turns out PS3 is a better seller after all. MS announced the 360 hit 70 million units sold back in September, PS3 reached the same number in November. Given the 360 had a year head start, Sony's console is selling at a slightly faster rate. Who knew? Should ruffle up a few fanboy feathers over at GameFAQs.

 

Got both systems, and both extensively used - however, my kids have many more friends with Xbox than PS for on-line gaming.
At least if they have a number of friends you know, there is a bit more control. If they just go online, there are a lot of "colorful" individuals out there that will definitely expand your kids vocabulary, and teach them etiquette that you were probably not interested.
So, go with the system that the friends they are going to play with use. Also, check the games the friends are playing - if you want your kid to be playing Dora takes her cat to the market, but all the friends are playing Borderlands 2 or Black Ops, you may need to get all new online friends for your kid.

 

One thing that bums me about the PS3 (I'm getting one for me and my two boys for xmas) is that it doesn't allow more than one headset to be used at the same time. So while they'll be able to play online with a cousin of their's that has a PS3, only one of them will be able to talk to him. I know you can use a PSEye, but I don't want the conversations in the house to go over the thing, so that's not an option.

But if there is a way to do this and I have it wrong, please let me know, because I didn't know going in that it had that limitation.

Also lack of Party Chat sucks. But there are some good exclusives on PS3 and I'm still pretty excited to finally have one.

 

I have a 360 but to me the grass always looks greener with the PS3, I do want to buy one but I know it's almost at the end of it's life and I never actually do.

Vitas done a lot to make me want to switch but also I've always love the Gran Turismo series.

 

If you ever get one, and get the GT series, you HAVE to get a wheel - the best ones are made by Logitech - I have this one, and it makes for an incredible realistic experience - there are more expensive wheels, but this one is pretty good....

Logitech GT Force Steering Wheel