Price: 360
On average, the 360 arcade sales are $150 less than the PS3 slim deals, which are scarce (and usually involve bundled games more than major price savings).
This difference in price is about the cost of buying a 20GB hard drive & a blu-ray player, which imo nullifies the value of the ps3, unless you have an old tv with too few hdmi ports.
Xbox 360 Arcade Spring 2010 Bundle + $30 Gift Card $130
Online:
More reliable, robust, and populated system.
Following your friends in the party system is great for staying together in gaming servers, or joining a friend in am existing game.
The party chat system is huge. Playing bad company 2 with 8 teammates connected via voice chat is great, especially since the regular game only offers 4 player chat. The teamwork and joking is fun.
I also enjoy it for coordinating activities. Having folks in a party chat helps with planning a team match for a fps (someone might be off playing a random game while waiting for a teammate to show up)... Or during ncaa offseasons, we chat, drink and make fun of fothdogs mom throughout the tedious steps. This also speeds up communication when a user is not done or is but did not back our far enough for it to upload/register as done. Typing messages is very time consuming, especially when exchanging multiple... plus it halts the user from finishing up, making then even later.
The cost of an annual membership is about 33 bucks during most sales. Only suckers buy it at retail cost, but those folks make best buy the entertainment leader of the us.
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Movie Playback: PS3
Both devices offer Netflix streaming & online rental/downloads of movies through the XBL/PS Network.
The PS3 offers a blu-ray player, which is a huge advantage, IF YOU USE IT. If you are the type to spend a premium on buying & renting blu-ray movies, then this is a great feature and makes it painful to watch regular dvds. If you only do it once in awhile because of the high cost of the discs, then this technology is not as useful.
Controller: 360
Both controllers are good, but the joystick placement on the 360 is more comfortable, as is the ergonomic shape of the controller. The PS3 isn't bad by any stretch.
Games: 360
This advantage isn't huge (like PS2 held over the Xbox), but it is there. Microsoft has paid a lot of money to have a better chunk of the exclusive titles, but especially an advantage with the expansion packs, either getting them earlier or sometimes exclusively. As far as titles, you'll get the vast majority for both.
The mainstream titles are largely on both (EA Sports titles & first person shooters), but the Mass Effect, Halo, Gears of War series are also very mainstream and not available for PS3. The PS3 has Grand Turismo, Metal Gear Solid & Resistance but I believe the 360 list is a bit more popular.
Either way it's not a huge factor in your decision. If you are in love with those series, it could shape your decision. Otherwise, you'll be happy with either set of games, since they largely overlap.
Overall I prefer the PS3 because it runs quieter and I haven't had any problems with it. The Blu-Ray addition is a real nice + and when I bought my PS3 the XBox 360 didn't have an internal WIFI. The new 360 closes the gap, but Blu-Ray wins. I think the 360 will be obsolete before the PS3 technology-wise.
Not at playing games, but playing movies.
