Just like abboudc, I have both the PS3 and 360 Elite. I do not blindly support any console or company. I have been gaming since the colecovison and owned every major console since then (include pc gaming back to the DOS era.)
Here's what I think:
The PS3 is a hugely powerful and flexible system. However, as mentioned, the weakpoint is that there are not many games. Most of the best games on this system are on the 360. While Resistance is a decent game, it is nowhere near the level of some of the 360s top titles. There are some big releases coming out in the future though.
The PS3 has been reduced to a media player for me. It's great for BD and the upconversion of DVDs are fantastic. Surfing the web and watching youtube in my HT is very nice as well.
Now the thing with the PS3 is that the concept of "muti-functionality-media" player follows what the PSP was doing. Sony decided to spend lots of time and money to update both consoles via monthly updates (which is awesome, as both machines do much more than I had originally hoped for), but it seems like they aren't putting much effort into helping developers make games for the system. Hard to code on this system + limited dev support = fewer AAA games and poor ports from other systems.
Now, I don't have anything against the PS3. In fact, I use it more than my 360. But I don't play games on the PS3 anymore - until a big release comes out.
Currently, if there's a game released on both consoles, the 360 gets the go-ahead first.
Now, on the other hand, the hardware in the 360 isn't impressive at all. The games are all on DVDs as opposed to any new gen storage media (BD/HDDVD). I have seen slowdown in Halo 3 in certain cutscenes (weird). People complain about the price of the PS3, but if you add all the wireless network adaptor, the HD-DVD Drive, and the Battery Pack for the controllers (yes, it doesn't come with a battery pack. Ridiculous), you'll find the price is pretty equal between the two.
Of course the 360 has a much, much better library than the PS3. It's been out for much longer, and making games for it is similar to making games for the PC. There's tons of dev support for this system. Just take a look at some of the insane graphics that this system is pushing. Gears of War and Bioshock are two awesome examples. I believe that the PS3 is capable of doing better, it's just that nobody knows how yet.
The selling point for the 360 for me is X-Box Live. True, there is a subscription cost ($70ish per a year or something like that), but you pay for what you get. Live is so well organized and so easy to use (If you ever tried online gaming back in the Win 95 era, you'll appreciate this). Microsoft has made it manatory that any game that wants to go on Live must support voice chat. The implementation of this is awesome and is revolutionary.
Live is much more than access to online gaming. It's really a community, or a world wide arcade. Everybody gathers points for achievements in games (on or offline), and it's viewable by everyone. It creates a sense of competitiveness that isn't found in the PS3 networks.
One of my favourite features of Live is that, if I'm playing some Gears of War single player, my brother can view his friends list, see what I'm playing, and send an invite to me to play some Halo 3. I just accept it and pop in the disc, and I'm in the game. No need to wait in a lobby, etc. Just.. simple and easy.
But the main thing the OP will need to ask himself is:
- which games do I want to play and what system(s) are they on?
You can't go wrong with either system, they're both good at what they do best.
