Hey all
I've been a PlayStation man for some years now, although I've turned to mainly gaming on my PC since I discovered Steam (and since my PS3 has become so dusty that it overheats and turns on the fan almost instantly if I try to play games on it). Now I mostly use my PS3 as a movie library.
 
I've been looking at games like Shadow Complex and other interesting XBLA titles (as well as Alan Wake btw) and have been annoyed with the fact that they're 360 exclusive. Now I'm considering buying an Xbox 360 mainly for those games - as well as for achievement hunting (I'm a certified achievement whore, and far from all Steam games have achievement support - I've heard that the 360 is pretty achievement-minded). 
I would probably continue to watch movies on my PS3.
 
Anyway, I know next to nothing about the 360 - is it much more noisy than the PS3? Is paying for Gold membership 'necessary'? And what about the infamous RROD?
It seems that so many people are using the 360, I'm starting to worry if I'm missing out on all the fun. Also, it doesn't seem to be insanely expensive anymore (and no, I don't want Kinect). And lastly, I've softened up on my past anti-Microsoft feelings - I'm too busy hating on Apple, but that's another story.
 
I'll probably go out and read a bunch of reviews and whatnot of this "360 S" that seems to be the newest SKU now, but any advice you could give someone new to the whole 360/Microsoft Gaming culture would be very much appreciated :-)

Slims supposed to have fixed the hardware being a piece of shit. You only need gold for playing/chatting online. Futures not too bright though as far as exclusives go. If you can justify spending whatever to play some exclusives and have the cash then go for it.

Slims are quiet and complete installs make them almost silent.  If you aren't playing multiplayer gold is pointless.  RROD hasn't been a problem for like two years now.  Shadow complex is awesome too, I just got Alan Wake but haven't gotten around to playing it yet so I can't pass judgement there.  However, there isn't that many exclusives for it anymore that you can't play on pc.  

Here's the basics... 
 
-Get a 360 slim. So far barely anyone has any problems with that system. 
-The only main console exclusives I know of are Gears of War, Halo, Fable, Mistwalker game titles, and some Square-Enix games. 
-If you are mainly playing multiplayer on your PS3, unless you plan to play 360 exclusives online, then there's no point in getting Xbox Live Gold. 
-I would also suggest looking here, clicking "Live Enabled" and checking out those games. Games for Windows Live games also uses your Xbox Live account to login and gain achievements. They add on to what achievements you have on Xbox Live. The best part is that every user for GFW Live is automatically a Gold member.

If there are games that are only available for 360 that you want to play, then I'd say it's worth it.   I recently upgraded my 360 to an S and love it.  It's just as quiet as my PS3 now.  If hardware issues were a concern for you, then the S has all but remedied that.  No consumer electronic is immune from fault, but the S is a great improvement.

I am mainly a PS3 man myself and bought a 360 mainly for Gears of War and Mass Effect. Mass Effect is no longer exclusive and I rarely play my 360, but I don't regret my purchase. It's still good to have to play the occasional exclusive like Alan Wake or something.

Just play it at a friends house.

I have both, but always pick the 360 over the PS3 for multiplayer games, Netflix, and, obviously, exclusives. 

Hi, thanks for all the great responses already. Just to clarify one thing: One of my main motivations was XBLA titles (Shadow Complex being an example), as I've got the impression that there's a vast amount of quality games on XBLA - Limbo and Super Meat Boy being other examples (although I already own SMB on Steam).
How does XBLA stack up against PSN when it comes to good games?

I did the exact opposite of what you did! I've only had a 360 for the longest time but I wanted those sweet PS3 exclusives and a blu-ray player. So I say for go for it!

I think we've now reached the point where there are enough exclusives on each machine to justify owning both I'd say. Also I'm pretty sure Gears 3 is going to make every other action game released this year look a bit tame.  On a related note, I was thinking of selling my ps3 until I saw the list of exclusives for this year. Does anyone know how/why Sony suddenly has such a huge advantage in a field that has belonged to Microsoft this generation?

Unless you have lots of friends that have ONLY 360.  There really isn't any point to having both a PS3 and 360 right now. PS3 has WAY MORE exclusives than the 360.

The 360 has better online and a better online community. 
 
If you want online, stick with the 360 and Xbox Live.

As someone who is not at all interested in Halo or Gears of War, the 360 is definitely worth it for all of the downloadable stuff. While PSN has some great downloadable titles, the 360 has a shit-ton of great downloadable titles like Don't B Nervous Talking 2 Girls. Also, Game Room.

Well having a 360 isn't only good just for the exclusives or the achievements but it's also good for multiplatform games that are better on the 360 whether it's because of the superior online experience or for other various reasons. Having both consoles ensures that you can always have the best experience possible when it comes to multi-platform games.

" I am mainly a PS3 man myself and bought a 360 mainly for Gears of War and Mass Effect. Mass Effect is no longer exclusive and I rarely play my 360, but I don't regret my purchase. It's still good to have to play the occasional exclusive like Alan Wake or something. "

" @MrCellophane: XBLA has a lot more gems than PSN, I would say.  Aside from Marvel vs Capcom 2 (you really need the PS3's d-pad to play that), I pretty much get everything on XBLA if it's a cross-platform release.  You can also have a gander yourself by browsing the catalog. "

If you can afford it I think it's always worth owning multiple consoles.
 
As for quality XBLA games that don't appear on the PS3 (but including games seen elsewhere)? 
 
Shadow Complex 
Limbo 
ilomilo 
Super Meat Boy  
Trials HD 
Splosion Man 
Monday Night Combat (Unsure of how well the community has held up, though) 
Plants vs Zombies 
Hydro Thunder Hurricane 
Ikaruga 
Darwinia+ 
Rez HD 
Snoopy Flying Ace 
Dead Rising Case Zero/Dead Rising Case West 
Risk Factions 
N+ 
Alien Hominid 
Banjo Kazooie/Tooie 
Perfect Dark
Duke Nukem 3D 
The Misadventures of Mr. PB Winterbottom 
Geometry Wars Retro Evolved 2
Comic Jumper (I hesitate to put it on the list, because it's not actually that good to play) 
Doom/Doom II 
 
Outside of the first six titles listed (Shadow Complex, Limbo, Ilomilo, Super Meat Boy, Trials HD and Splosion Man) they're not all necessarily must-own titles, but they're quality titles that may pique your interest. It may also be worth noting that Microsoft typically do a good job of securing exclusives or timed exclusives for XBLA, and the platform is likely to continue to benefit from that in future. Games like Braid, Lara Croft & The Guardian of Light, Super Meat Boy and The Maw were all available for the 360 before other platforms. Assuming that sort of thing matters to you.

I bought a 360 and don't regret my purchase. I still use my PS3 more but the 360 is good for a few games and for talking to 360-owning friends.

RROD, every time they released a new motherboard redesign they said the problem is fixed but year an half later the problems begin again, but in the new 360 slim the motherboard makes sense so don't worry about it 
 
the catalog of the XBLA is indeed impressive you won't regret and some exclusives retail games are great too,  the gold subscription is not necessary for what are you going to do with the console, but if you buy the console new when you make your first gamertag you will have a free trial month of gold. 
 
if you can wait after the e3 i suggest you to wait, microsoft maybe will do a price cut, maybe.

Go for it, buddy. If it's not going to make a serious dent in your wallet, there are plenty of games on both disc and XBLA to justify the purchase. It will also give you the ability to choose one version over the other because of Exclusive DLC or better quality. More options is never a bad thing.

To answer your questions:

• The slim is noticeably more noisy than the PS3, especially when a disc is spinning, but it's only noticeable because the PS3 is so quiet. The first gen 360 was insanely louder, the Slim is fathoms ahead of that.
• Gold membership is not necessary. It's needed for Online Multiplayer, Netflix / Facebook / Twitter / ESPN, Party / Cross-Game Chat, and you get demos a week early. You'll get a free month of gold when you make your first profile, though, and if you want to subscribe, just watch the 'net for deals on 12 Month + subscription cards. Normally they're $60 a pop, but they're almost always on sale for $45 or less if you take the time to look.
• The RRoD is no longer an issue on the Slim model. It was a big overheating issue on the first gen hardware, likely due to the product being rushed. Keep in mind that was 5 years ago, and they've learned from their mistake (it hit M$ right in the wallet, and when something stabs them there, they notice.)
• Definitely get a Xbox 360 S with the 250gb harddrive. Installing games, just like on the PS3, makes a world of difference. It also sounds like you're interested in downloaded games, so that extra space will come in handy. No one should get the 4 gb model unless they aren't very serious about it. It's worth the extra money.

@ClaritySam said:

" I think we've now reached the point where there are enough exclusives on each machine to justify owning both I'd say. Also I'm pretty sure Gears 3 is going to make every other action game released this year look a bit tame.  On a related note, I was thinking of selling my ps3 until I saw the list of exclusives for this year. Does anyone know how/why Sony suddenly has such a huge advantage in a field that has belonged to Microsoft this generation? "

Get one! There will be more announces from Microsoft coming in the next few months whereas Sony basically announced their lineup already, plus some of those might be delayed. The 360 has a wicked selection of XBLA games, the online is better, and multiplatform games are usually the best on it. Plus, it has a nice amount of already-released exclusives you can look into.

I just did pretty much the opposite and got a ps3 (for the second time).  Picked up the god of war series, heavy rain, infamous and the uncharted's.  I'm trying to give the PS3  a chance this time but it is so hard when everything has huge updates that need to be downloaded,  then they need to be installed,  then you finally get the game loaded and that wants an install.  It took 30 mins just to start playing heavy rain.  The games themselves are worth the time up front but it is definitely different then the close to instant access you have on a 360.  Overall though because I got it used and at a good price I'm happy with it.

I WAS you, I was always a hard core PC gamer that had dabbled with consoles until picking up the ps3 seriously about 4 years ago. Every game I can play on ps3 I do but there were some franchises and exclusives I wanted to play on 360. So after buying my 3rd ps3 with a huge HD I decided to pick up a 360. I went with the basic 4gb model and a couple flash drives in the back for some extra memory. I have bought in to both psn plus and 360 gold and found both of them are completely optional, I have never gotten anything from either one that made me feel like I got my money's worth but I never felt completely cheated either. I would say make one your primary system and invest heavy in that, there are cheap enough options whether, used, refurbished or even new to have both systems with one that is at least capable of the large memory files needed for some games or at least quality of play. In the end I thought I would get a lot more play out of the "dual option" than I did but at the same time I'm glad I made the decision and I love both my consoles equally, (that is to say, less than my PC, but how can they possibly compete with a $2000 difference in pricetag?). Now I can say I never have to miss a title no matter what and for a couple slow months I was able to explore a back catalog of exclusives which really helped get me through some droughts. I wouldn't replace one for the other but having both is becoming more common and for gamers who want access to all new titles, it's a necessity for sure. 

The only thing that made me want a 360 over my PS3 recently was Limbo, and that was for a split second. :P 
I wouldn't get one just get a new PS3 or go to PC...we got lots of new stuff coming now, I have a good balance between PS3 for games like FIFA and Fight Night and PC for games like ArmA 2 and COD 4...really have no need for a 360 I don't think you should get it for exclusives you sound like you're good with PC gaming too

The RROD isn't a big deal anymore. I suggest getting a gold membership. It's $60, and grants you access to Netflix and playing games online. However, if you do most of your multiplayer gaming on the PS3 the membership isn't imperative.

Go for it.  I have an original xbox 360.  Never red ringed or anything the disk drive is getting a little loud but not bad and if you dont run your fan the system is not loud at all.  I really never understood people complaining about it begin loud. 

" The 360 has better online and a better online community.  If you want online, stick with the 360 and Xbox Live. "

" @Helushune said:

" @MrCellophane: XBLA has a lot more gems than PSN, I would say.  Aside from Marvel vs Capcom 2 (you really need the PS3's d-pad to play that), I pretty much get everything on XBLA if it's a cross-platform release.  You can also have a gander yourself by browsing the catalog. "

Unfortunately, that doesn't really show how much of the XBLA repertoire is actually exclusive to the 360. I know that Limbo and Shadow Complex are, and those two games alone are *almost* enough for me to justify getting a 360. But surely, there must be more? "

Honestly not worth it... You should simply just stick with a gaming PC. Eventually all those other games will be back on the PC someform or another.

"I'm considering getting a 360 for exclusives, I am a PS3 guy to, but I really want to play Viva Pinata! "

Damn you guys, I just ordered one online! Bought 3 years of insurance as well. 
 
That's a lot of money. You better be right or I'm gonna be veeeeeeeery disappointed!
 
Now I'm kinda super excited!

360 exclusives really didn't impress me. So I did the opposite and got rid of mine.

"Hi, thanks for all the great responses already. Just to clarify one thing: One of my main motivations was XBLA titles (Shadow Complex being an example), as I've got the impression that there's a vast amount of quality games on XBLA - Limbo and Super Meat Boy being other examples (although I already own SMB on Steam). How does XBLA stack up against PSN when it comes to good games? "

@MrCellophane:
Congrats!  I'm jealous.  I've always had a 360, and I'm thinking of buying a PS3 just to experience that new console state of wonderment.... 
 
Check out the indie games channel too on XBL.  There are many gems (and countless crap titles) on there.  Search this forum a bit for some of the quality choices.  If you like shmups, you'l be in heavan!

im a ps3 guy to just got the slim. its nice but paying for a gold account for online is just beyond absurd and refuse to pay it. thinking 360 has a lot of exclusives i get it and no games. mass effect is awesome and im enjoying it. gears 1/2 ???? i played one and i dont think i will ever again. forza is great but ps3 has granturismo soooo. alan wake havent tried it yet but maybe that will satisfy my 360 purchase. cause if not what a waste of money.