Question : My husband still has the "I guess.. original " XBOX. However he can't get current games because they only make them for the newer systems. I would like to buy him a new system. Mainly he plays Football and boxing games, some bball of course as well. Which system do you all recommend? And if you know more or less how much it costs please share that as well. Thanks in advance for sharing your opinions.
As somebody who owns both, I'd say the PS3 and the Xbox 360 are really about equal. I prefer the PS3, but that's because I was used to the PS2 beforehand. Xbox has more exclusive games, but the sports ones you're looking for work equally well on both systems. If he's used to the Xbox, then it probably makes more sense to get a 360, only due to familiarity with the controller. (Plus, the 360 will play *most* of his old games.)
A PS3 with a 40GB harddrive retails for $400, I think. An Xbox without a harddrive costs $280, and an Xbox with a 20GB harddrive retails for around $350 (although you can probably find one cheaper).
From my experience, the Xbox has a lot of "hidden" costs that the PS3 didn't. The Xbox doesn't have wireless capabilities built in; if you use wireless internet, the Xbox adapter will cost roughly $80 more. Plus, the xbox controller uses batteries; you need to buy a rechargeable battery back; the PS3 has a detachable wire to charge the controllers from the console. Also, if your husband watches Blu-Ray movies, maybe it's better to get a PS3, since it has a built in blu-ray player, whereas the Xbox doesn't play movies.
Confused yet? Really, you can't go wrong with either system. I think the $400 PS3 is a better value than the $350 Xbox, but they're both really good systems (and as I said, your husband would probably prefer the Xbox, unless he's a huge movie / blu-ray buff.)