Just since yesterday, I’ve come across two games that I really would love to play, but they’re both on PS3 (the new Studio Ghibli game Ni No Kuni and Journey). I’ve never really considered getting a console before since I’m not interested in shooters, which so many of the games seem to be. I mostly play games on PC, but I do have a Wii which frustrates me with its poor controls. To give you an idea of what I like, on PC I’ve enjoyed Guild Wars 2 and Minecraft, and in the past had fun with Sims 3 and okay I’ll admit it: Animal Crossing (Wii). I do enjoy aesthetics and originality, but don’t want to be bored to tears with games like Osmos.
Do different consoles tend to host different types of games? Is there something about a PS3 that lends itself to games like the two I just learned about? If there are lots of games like that on PS3, I might consider buying it.
(Lost the edit window.) In addition to aesthetics and originality, I do enjoy collecting, creating, and sandbox games, but also like interacting with other players.
360 has more exclusives, but whether they’re better or not than PS3 exclusives is for you to decide. After that it’s mostly down to which controller you prefer. I have large hands, so much prefer the 360 controller; wrapping my hands around the PS3 controller will actually cause pain even in a short session.
Personally, I only have a 360, though whenever I hear of a PS3 exclusive I’d like to play, I wishlist it, and when the list gets big enough to justify buying a PS3 I will. The PS3 has been around for about 7 years now, and I still don’t have enough on the list to justify its purchase.
In addition to exclusives (here’s a list that popped up on google), other things to consider:
Willingness to pay to play online (Xbox is going to charge up $35+/year, PS3 will not).
Need of a bluray player.
Controllers (I’m now a PS3 owner who still pines for the 360 controller)
Media center functions (in limited testing/experimenting, I’ve found the PS3 far easier to set up as a media extender - but there are plenty of options for both. However, things like Netflix will need a Gold XBL account to use on a 360).
I tend to think that for someone of your interests, a PS3 is the right choice out of the current generation. I’m very similar - most of my gaming is on PC, don’t care for most shooters (though the right one comes up every once in a while and I get really into it), focused mostly on RPGs, strategy, and occasionally sims. The PS3 has the edge on exclusives within these categories (top of my head, Ni No Kuni, Valkyria Chronicles, Disgaea, and I’m sure I’d be able to roll off another several if I thought about it for five minutes). The Xbox has the edge in exclusives for shooters (Gears of War and Halo being the obvious first choices). I also run most of my media through my PS3 now, and it plays very nicely with my PC as well as Netflix/Amazon Prime and other apps.
You should also try out Xenoblade Chronicles for the Wii if you haven’t already, if you’re into RPGs (which I assume you may be, given the interest in Ni No Kuni and GW2). That will suck up 100+ hours with probably the best console RPG experience of this generation, and may get it out of your system so you can save money on buying a new console.
I would definitely recommend the PS3 based on your tastes in gaming.
Caveat: It’s been years since I’ve closely followed gaming news.
I own all 3 consoles of that generation (360, ps3, wii), and while I strongly prefer the Xbox 360, what the others have said is true; the Xbox has a more impressive list of exclusives,* if you’re into shooters and western-made games*. If you have a decent PC for gaming (lot of overlap with Xbox), and you’re eyeballing Japanese games, then the Xbox is at a noticeable disadvantage to the PS3 in terms of game libraries as I understand it.
The xbox 360 shares too much of it’s library with the PC (where you can play the games at better graphics settings and with better performance, also mods!).
The PS3 definitely offers a lot more exclusives that you can’t find on the PC. It’s specially good for Japanese games, which you seem to be interested in.
The PS3 does tend to have issues with some games, but it’s usually the multiplats, most of which are on PC, and are better on PC anyway. First party and second party titles on it fare much better.
I don’t have a particular interest in Japanese games, per se, but was intrigued by the Studio Ghibli connection with Ni No Kuni, being a Miyazaki Totoro fan. Yet still, I don’t generally watch anime or read manga. Now that I think of it, I loved Okami on the Wii – except that the nunchuk never worked well enough to get very far in the game. As for grindy Korean games, not a fan, and am not sure if there’s a similarity there with Japanese games.
I appreciate the input, but am not sure if the recommendations apply considering this clarification. I should look more deeply into the PS3 catalog. So many games to sift through.
You can probably cut out a lot of work by googling things like “ps3 exclusives”, “best ps3 exclusives”, etc. If it’s not exclusive it’s probably on 360 as well and therefore isn’t really a selling point for either console in particular.
Also, for what it’s worth, there’s VERY little relationship, overall, between the grindy Korean-style MMO and…er… almost anything made in Japan. I think the closest parallel is that there might be some artistic similarities.
I agree with the general consensus here that you’ll probably better served by a PS3. While the 360 has its advantages, mostly in that its online store and interface aren’t complete garbage, whereas the PS3 annoys me pretty much every time I boot it up, if you want the sorts of games you’ve mentioned here so far, the PS3 definitely your animal, since it is still the best supported platform in Japan, where the Xbox and PC have never really made much in the way of effective inroads.
To add a couple of ideas to your list that are probably worth checking out, you might be interested in the Atelier series (Rorona, Totori, Meruru so far on the PS3, with Ayesha coming soon. It’s a strange series to recommend, because the first game is pretty so-so, but at the same time, the later games are much better for having played the previous ones. Note: This does not apply to Ayesha, which will be a start of a new story.) and the Tales Of games (Tales of Graces F right now, with Tales of Xillia coming… at some point this year, anyway.)
This is a humorous and uninformed perception you have, since grinding started to go out around the same time the ridiculous cutscenes went in; I haven’t had to grind to finish the story in a JRPG in years. If anything, JRPGs tend to lean too far towards the ‘easy’ side of the scale, where it’s difficult to actually take advantage of the meat of the combat system because things are just so easy to kill. None of the titles I listed in my post will require you to kill anything more than the stuff you will incidentally encounter throughout the course of the game in order to complete it.
Now admittedly, most of them ALSO have grind-centric post-game content, but that’s the equivalent of farming for gear post-victory in Diablo 2 - it’s something you do because you enjoy the crunch of the game.
