The War Gets Bloodier...

The battle over which is better, the XBox360 or the PS3, seems to never end.  Though many improvements, both in features and price, have come down the line; neither side seems to be able to claim a victory nor the other cede it.  One great claim to the height-ground for XBox360 had been its Netflix compatibility.  Yes, you have to pay for the gold membership and the Netflix subscription, but it would stream movies and episodes to your entertainment system. 

This week, everything changed.  As several news sources have pointed out, Netflix compatibility will be coming to the PS3.  That’s right; you will be able to use the same feature on the PS3 for $9 a month that XBox360 users are paying $9 + $60 annually to use.

To fully understand the impact of this, one has to understand that the war between the consoles is heated.  PS3 users, like me, cling to the systems’ ‘bang for the buck’.  It has Blu-Ray, DVD up-convert, wi-fi, and full access to the Playstation Network (PSN) without the need for an annual subscription.  This also includes standard wireless controllers and full USB and Bluetooth compatibility.  Xbox360 does have many of these features, but most of them require the purchase of additional accessories or subscriptions.  And to be fair, the XBox360 online feature, as far as connectivity and the social connections, is still ahead of the PSN. 

But when talking to XBox360 owners, many would run for the hills and mention the Netflix capability.  In the face of all the other added costs, they would cling to this one feature as the shining example of the XBox360’s now and forever superiority over the PS3.  How the mighty do fall.

So I’m waiting for it now.  What excuse will the XBox360 owners come up with now to explain why a system that is the same price as the PS3, but has half the features out of the box, deserves our hard earned dollars?

Let’s hear it…