With the holiday season upon us, it’s time to think about what gifts to buy family and friends. In this technology savvy era, the battle between Sony’s Playstation 3 and Microsoft’s Xbox 360 may be at the top of many Christmas lists.
Justin Baxter of Gamestop game store in Salt Lake said, “Our store sales more Playstation 3’s than Xbox 360, but we sell a lot of both systems.”
Both systems cost $299.99.
“It usually comes down to personal preference,” Baxter said. “If you’re buying it for somebody younger than go with the Xbox 360, that’s a little more popular with the younger crowd.”
Just because the Xbox 360 is more popular with the younger crowd doesn’t mean it’s the “best” choice.
“If you want the most bang for your buck the Playstation 3 is the way to go. It has a built in blue ray player and the Internet use is free,” Baxter said.
Internet on the Xbox 360 is a $60 year subscription. All you need for Internet use on the Playstation 3 is an email address to get online.
“The Playstation has more to offer as far as Internet goes, but for game play they are pretty much identical,” Baxter of Gamestop said.
Sony reports that over the last quarter they have sold 3.2 million consoles, compared to Xbox 360’s 2.8 million.
“Christmas time is where they find out who’s the more popular machine,” Gamestop employee Janice Walterman said.
Mycal Alo, a student at SLCC said his family has their eyes on a Playstation 3.
“It has just as good of graphics, plus a blue ray player. It seems like a no-brainer to me,” he said.
So While the Xbox 360 may be the more trendy purchase among the younger generation, the Playstation 3 is likely the better choice — due to the extra bells and whistles offered. Both are quality gaming consoles — in the end it comes down to personal preference. Either system will look good underneath the Christmas tree.