Or, choose Xbox 360 to get Forza.
I think he misunderstood the nature of the complaint (namely, the ‘shape’/configuration of the buttons, not the number.).
I admit though, I can’t imagine that the snap on triggers give the same sort of tactile feedback that actual triggers do. Heck, aren’t actual triggers supposed to be analogue, while the ‘bumper’ style button is strictly digital? That is to say, real triggers can be used to report a degree of pressure, if, for example, you are using them for a throttle, whereas bumper buttons are either ‘pressed’ or ‘not pressed’.
I know the Dreamcast triggers were analogue, allow you a greater degree of control in titles that used them appropriately (ala Crazy Taxi). I’ve never actually checked to see if the Xbox ones are or not, but I’ve always assumed so.
The PS3 “triggers” are anologue also. Of the four shoulder buttons, L1 and R1 are on/off only, but L2 and R2 are analogue and can be used as throttles, etc.
Ah, okay. I guess that’s one of the changes they made to the controller since the PS2.
Yes, all of the buttons on the dualshock 3 controller can be read in analog mode, except the start, select and home buttons. This was the case already for most buttons on the DS2 also. I actually hate that the 360 doesn’t have this, because it means we lost something from the PS2 generation now that a lot of multi-platform games are designed with the 360 controller in mind (like pressure sensitive control of shooting/passing a ball in sports games for instance).
Anyway, I would go for the PS3, for the following reasons (I have them both):
- Better support for games for all ages
The PS3 has a better and broader selection of games for kids aged 8-10. All the interesting exclusives on the 360 tend to be shooters and/or (sometimes extremely) violent games. Contrast a game like Uncharted with Gears of War, for instance (mind you, both games allow you to shoot and kill thousands of enemies before you get to the finish, to they have questionable morals for children anyway).
Microsoft has attempted to bring their versions of family titles like Singstar, Buzz and so on to the 360, but those consistently rate significantly lower than their PS3 counterparts, and lack depth. Singstar has 100s of songs to choose from online, and with the PS Eye integration (about which more later) allows you to share performances with the world. Mind you, you don’t have to - you can enjoy what others did, and see that there’s a lot of great family fun to be had with this game. The game has been continuously upgraded, adding stuff like online battles, voice recognition and son on. This title will also be expanded with Dance and Guitar Hero style gaming support later this year.
While they may have responded a little lukewarm to a title like LittleBigPlanet, LittleBigPlanet 2 is coming out soon. LittleBigPlanet is a game, like many of Sony’s title, that offers tremendous depth and value, and can benefit your children also on a more educational level with its brilliant custom level creation software. LBP2’s improvements are incredible, allowing the creation of many more types of games.
A game like Modnation Racers offers similar advantages with being able to create your own tracks, cars, characters and so on and share them online with others, providing you with a never-ending . Both of these can be played with up to four players at the same time locally and on-line, if so desired.
And then there are all the games available on Playstation Network, which include various great games that can be played with two players like Wipeout, Super Stardust, Tekken and tonnes of other great stuff at very attractive prices.
- Additional hardware is cheaper
Additional hardware for the PS3 won’t bleed you dry nearly as much - you’ll get a decent harddrive included, but you can upgrade that any time with an off-the-shelf 2.5" (laptop sized) drive - I upgraded mine from 60GB to 320GB for $60 years ago. A harddrive is important on both consoles, simply because some of the best games are only available from the online store and those games can be extremely affordable and offer tremendous value over disc-based games. The PS3 also supports various other off-the-shelf hardware, like USB and BlueTooth headsets, keyboards, mice and lots of other things.
- Free Online and better Online support where it counts at this age
Yes, this one is controversial to some. But when it comes to online support, the PS3 has better support in a number of overlooked areas, like sharing content (such as the examples I gave with LittleBigPlanet, Modnation Racers, Singstar, but even smaller titles like Echochrome and what not) which Microsoft has been unwilling to support very broadly (one of my favorite XBLA games, Trials HD, only supports sharing levels with people on your friends list). Even Playstation Home has become a pretty great advantage these days, offering more than 60 spaces now with loads of fun things to do. And there are plenty of games which are safe to play online - if they at some point find friends to create and play levels with in LBP2 for instance, they can do so without you having to shell out for an Xbox Live subscription. As mentioned by others, that also includes Netflix and Hulu Plus support (note that Netflix has announced a discless version of its application for late October this year, as I think their exclusive deal with Microsoft that prevented this ends in September). (Minor detail, but the PS3 comes with a 1GBit network adapter included, versus the 100Mbit for the 360 - it has some advantages with streaming and future-proofing)
- BluRay
Yes, it comes with BluRay, still one of the best around and continuously updated to the latest BluRay specifications (3D update is coming in September). It’s very convenient to be able to play these on another device in the home, if you already have a BluRay player, and otherwise it’s great to be able to play these in the first place.
- Motion Controls
The PS3’s motion controls have, in the light of the Wii, often been poo-poo’d and marginalised, but a game like Motorstorm 2 is great with tilt steering a la Excitebike or Mario Kart. The same goes for various other games that support it, from Flower to Warhawk. It’s a relatively small thing, but see how you can manipulate a sackboy in a player created cutscene for a player-created level with it - loads of small touches that are easily overlooked but great fun.
Much more important however is the upcoming Move controller (releases this September). However spectacular Kinect may look at this stage, for actual games the Move controller is going to be far superior to Kinect. I’ve done a tonne of research into this, because I’ve been interested in this since even before the DS and Wii came to the stage, and I’ll post some more of my findings in the Playstation Move games thread, but for now let me just say that:
a) almost all game types can benefit from the Move controller (which is a fair ways beyond what the Wii controller could bring) and Move support is already mature enough to find it into about 50 games, some new and some patched, before the end of the year.
b) It will be easy to appreciate the improvements to games this will bring if you already own a Wii - the Move takes WiiMotion+, removes any lag, adds loads of precision, flexibility, range and robustness (doesn’t have to keep being recalibrated), and adds augmented reality. It can even do half of Kinect’s body recognition, as does voice recognition and face recognition, which together with one or two Move controllers is enough to determine body movements from the waist up, but again without the significant lag that Kinect adds.
c) Also very easily overlooked are the Move’s pressure sensitive buttons and vibrarion features which allow for additional precise control (like grabbing something, using more or less paint, increasing decreasing selection area and so on), where the Wii only has digital buttons (and the colored ball on top is fun too, giving additional feedback like what paint you selected, if you are getting shot, or if you’re jedi or sith).
d) the Move controller detects motion so fast that it is five times faster than human reaction time and cannot be moved fast enough to lose the player’s motions ever. This also means that augmented reality looks great and works well, where Kinect has so much lag that you can basically only use it to augment virtual reality - e.g. you can only bring a virtual representation of yourself into a game, not add virtual items to your virtual self, because the lag would result in objects that you’d say overlay over your hands at a distance from your hand if you moved it at even a moderate pace.
Anyway, I’m such a nut about these things that I could go on forever - I know almost every detail, nook and cranny about these devices. 
So why don’t you just ask me some more questions if you have any?
While your point -may- be valid, this has to go down in SDMB history as one of the worst examples EVER. Seriously. Uncharted? Why I think, I love morally ambiguous main characters who will cheerfully slaughter their foes. At least the enemies in Gears of War aren’t human.
Because clearly, if they’re not interested in the first one, the sequel is a sure hit?
I would assert that XBLA is the winner in this regard.
Considering that he doesn’t even seem to be considering a hard drive a major purchase point, this probably isn’t that important.
Er… this isn’t event OUT yet, how are you pre-judging how awesome all these games are going to be with it?
Objection! Speculation!
This is absolute nonsense. Very few to none of the games I play have any place for motion controls of ANY sort.
Would that be the significant lag that everyone who has seen Kinect in person asserts isn’t actually there?
I hope you got a nice check from Sony for all that hype. 
Worst examples EVER in the history of SDMB? Suuuure.
I was citing this as an example of types of violent that stand out in cometing flag-ship titles. Uncharted has shooting and melee combat, sure, but Gears has chainsaws and kerb-stomps that run on pure testosterone and foul language, with blood splashing all over the screen and monsters that might just give an 8 year old nightmares still (someone on the In This Thread podcast suggested that Gears of War 9 would have characters that filled half the screen and the dialogue would consist of expletives exclusively :D).
Anyway, in that game they are certainly not less intelligent beings than the protagonists … At least the final boss in Uncharted calls you out on it ("you’re not that different from me, how many men have you killed to get here?)
Both games are of questionable value for 8-10 year olds, as is almost everything in which you can shoot and kill people, but Uncharted is much closer to a PG or family film than Gears by a long long mile. Whomever has any doubt can simply youtube both games, as the whole game can be watched on internet.
LittleBigPlanet is a title with a surprising amount of depth, in its core gameplay, coop play, level editing, downloadable levels, expansion packs, customisation, and so on. It needs a little time, and if they have the game at home it’ll get that time, particularly as it rewards playing with two or more players handsomely. And particularly the level creation is something that takes a little investment to get them into, but once they do, they’ll have a gaming experience that stimulates their creativity with skills and insight that readily transfer to real life. I wouldn’t give up just because their initial impression wasn’t hot - the game has some of the highest reviews ever and while that doesn’t always mean the world, in this case the game is worth that little investment. And I recommend LBP2 in particular because while the first had a few niggles that got in the way of enjoyment of people used to Nintendo platformers (like unpredictable jumping from moving platforms, because the whole game is physics driven), the second game solves those readily, and adds just so much awesomeness that it is mind-boggling (like being able to create your own vehicles including customised controls, control physics at any step of the game, etc.).
You can assert it, but that doesn’t make it true.
Which is why I tried to explain why a hard drive is important (for full downloadable titles, XBLA games, DLC, demoes and various other stuff). Having bought a launch 360 with 20GB, I’m keenly aware of it, and while it is nice that after five years I am now able to plug in two 16GB USB sticks into the console for some extra memory (and they need to be drives that are fast enough to pass the 360’s internal tests), you get up to 20x that much for a similar price these days for a harddrive. Therefore even when buying a 360, I’d strongely recommend getting the 250GB unit, particularly as Microsoft doesn’t allow you to freely upgrade it with anything but their own brand.
Because I’ve read and watched just about every impression of the games that were available at this years E3 last month, combined it with looking at all the various tech demoes, have done research into how these things actually work and what their technical limitations are, etc. Many of the games available can be seen being played on youtube if you care to be interested or at the very least read about.
Perhaps it is speculation, but it’s speculation based on actual impressions and evidence (i.e. on the games that will be available this year, most of which have been shown extensively at E3).
Give me a list of the games you play, and we’ll see! Chances are I may already have actual video of games being played to prove you wrong.
No, it would be the significant lag as has been measured by sites and blogs like Digital Foundry, who specialise in that kind of thing. For a bunch of the games that Kinect will have available at launch, the game has very cleverly hidden the lag (giving hints for jumping over hurdles that are corrected for lag in Kinect Adventures, not showing actual video of the player in any game, not showing the player’s movements directly or in a prominent position in Dance Central), but that doesn’t mean it isn’t there, quite the opposite obviously. Kinect adds a minimum of 50ms of lag, but for many of the games we’ve seen it’s as much as 200-400ms (it also partly depends on how many people are in the background for instance, because it tracks up to four additional peoplle in the background for jump-in multiplayer - which by the way doesn’t mean six player multiplayer, as that is limited to two players).
I wish! 
I was very excited about Kinect too, but so many of the game ideas they showed last year they haven’t been able to deliver on. No sitting down while playing yet (even the dashboard controls only worked standing up during E3!), no augmented reality stuff (again, probably because of the lag), no more than 2 players multiplayer, no hardcore games at all, etc. The technology is fantastic and ground-breaking, but so far only seems viable for very specific game types. Mind you, that doesn’t mean it can’t be a success - it could be the best fitness equipment you’ll ever get into your home, and at $300 a relative steal at that. I also believe it will be able to teach you how to dance fairly well. I may well get Kinect too for one or two specific titles, but Move I expect to add to or even take over fully from dualshock controls for the majority of my gaming.
Exageration for the making of the point. 
You’ve basically done the equivalent of comparing Starship Troopers (movie) or Aliens to Rambo or some relatively ‘cerebral’ film that involves heartless slaughter. They’re both bad in different ways, and trying to compare them is pretty meaningless. I myself am way more creeped out by Uncharted and the casual “Yeah, I was just listening to these guys chat about stuff, and now I’m going to mercilessly kill them” than I am by over the top absurdity in GoW.
Though no GoW discussion is complete without THIS
Again, your enthusiasm for products that you’ve not yet played worries me to the extreme. People were basically saying everything you’re saying about LBP2 about LBP back before -it- came out. Maybe they’ve fixed it, but for god’s sake, can we stop with the “well researched hypotheticals”? Unless you’ve gone to E3 and actually played this stuff, your opinion is worth no more than anyone else’s on the 'net right now.
That’s nice. I followed E3 as well, and my impressions are largely contrary to yours, so…
Again, unless you have some firsthand experience with this stuff, you are just speculating. Products show at E3 aren’t even necessarily final builds.
In the last three days, I have played:
Super Street Fighter 4
Geometry Wars 2
Machiavelli’s Ascent
King’s Bounty: The Legend (PC, but included for completeness)
Kingdom Hearts (Original. I’m late to the bandwagon)
Left 4 Dead 2
Expanding that out to a week or so adds:
Castle Crashers
Lord of the Rings Online (Again, for completeness)
Bayonetta
Protect Me Knight!
The demo for LIMBO
We <3 Katamari
I am fairly sure that while you -could- come up with ways to play most of these via motion control, they would be the opposite of a gameplay improvement.
Most modern televisions lag more than 50ms. Will there perhaps be problems? Maybe. But again, I object your statements of fact here, since you have no experience with any of the products involved. I appreciate that you have done research, but that means that you have 2nd hand info at best and more likely 3rd or 4th hand info, considering that VERY few people got hands-on with any of this stuff at E3.
Ugh. I swear, if Move takes over for the standard controller, I will NEVER buy a PS3. I have -yet- to play a game for which I felt motion controls ADDED something except, I suppose for Boomblox, which is still sortof a wash since the controls were so clunky. I have played many games where motion controls have taken away from my enjoyment. Even Nintendo realizes that motion controls are fundamentally a bad fit for most traditional style games. I don’t expect Move’s ‘magic technology’ to somehow fix this.
Well, let’s not drag this out too much - I think there’s enough Uncharted and Gears videos out there for anyone to make up their own minds.
Moving on to LBP, I’ll just say that I am mainly talking about the first game - I still play it regularly on both PS3 and PSP, the Pirates of the Caribbean DLC is pretty cool and their level design is very nice. I want to particularly single out again that it is a great game to play together with co-op (up to four) and for the rest I’ll leave it to metacritic. I’m just saying that the second game looks to be a pretty big step up from the first, based on all the demoes we’ve seen at E3 and the extensive list of features and changes available online.
As for the rest, which is basically all motion control related stuff, I think we should probably create a motion controls themed thread for this and just refer to it here - I don’t want the OPs basic question thread to get too polluted with detailed back and forths like ours.
Have you tried any Wii Motion+ games though, by the way, or just regular Wii stuff? If the latter, any of the pointer games, like Resident Evil 4 or Metroid?
Will create a new thread for answering of motion control questions.