My wife bought me the PS3 collector's edition of Resident Evil 5 on the day it came out. She knew that I hadn't yet decided which system I wanted the game for, and that I might end up trading it out, but she figured it would be a nice surprise to bring it home on release day anyway. (And yes, it was a really great surprise.)
The crux of my indecision came down to deciding between better graphics on a crappier system or slightly worse graphics on a more reliable system. My wife warned me that I might regret getting the 360 version if the system died. But my 360 (my second console after my first died over a year ago) had been pretty stable for a while without any problems.
I eventually decided to go with the 360 version because of the marginally better graphics and (somewhat importantly) the fact that inventory management in split-screen co-op mode is easier on the 360. So we swapped out the PS3 version and started playing. Everything was going fantastically until the unthinkable happened. At this point, it should be pretty obvious where I'm going with this, but I'll press on with the story.
About two thirds of the way into playing Resident Evil 5, my 360 froze. I turned off the system and tried to turn it back on, only to see three flashing red lights. It was horrible. The middle of a Saturday that we had specifically set aside for playing the game, and the system died! Maybe this was some sort of cosmic punishment for gambling on the 360 version. Whatever it was, it certainly sucked. And it reminded me again of just how shoddy Microsoft's system really is. I knew that it was shoddy based on the fact that I had already had one system die on me. But enough time had passed that this knowledge had become an abstraction. I had tricked myself into thinking that I had found a good stable console that would last me for years. Not so. Perhaps the only lesson here is that when it comes to the 360 it is not a question of if the console will die, but when.
As I type, my 360 is on its way to the repair center in Texas, hopefully to be replaced by one of the newer and supposedly RRoD-resistant models, if such a fabled creature actually exists. I guess I haven't learned my lesson yet, however, because I'm still keeping my 360 copy of Resident Evil 5 on the chance that my next console will succeed where others have failed.
Am I being foolish? Should the PS3's stability outweigh my desire for marginally better graphics when it comes to Resident Evil 5?
Why wait when you can play now? Details inside!
Slightly prettier graphics for a game you might be able to play versus a very slight graphical downgrade and being able to play the game when you want at any time with no worries? Really? I'd take reliability any day over slightly better looking wooden huts.
Another thing to think about would be if the 360's warranty wasn't extended for three years and every time it broke down you had to pay money to get it fixed, would reliability be such a small factor to you?You wouldn't buy a car that had a low reliability rating (unless you have tons of money or something) so why bother with such a problem child as the 360?