Before you assume that I am some biased Playstation fan, or fanboy, or weebol, or whatever you call each other now. This is not to bash the Xbox 360, I own one and I do love it, but I will admit to my preferrence of the PS3. So in no way am I neutral.

Grand Theft Auto originally was designed in DOS, then was later Ported to Windows (PC), and Playstation. - 1998

GTA London (Expansion to the original) released for PC and Playstation. - 1999

Grand Theft Auto 2, released originally for PC, and for Playstation. - 1999

Grand Theft Auto 3, First came out for Playstation 2 - 2001; Then it was released for PC in 2002; And finally it was released for the Xbox in 2003. (in a double pack with Vice City I believe)

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Released for Playstation 2 in 2002; Then for PC and Xbox in 2003

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Released for Playstation 2 in 2004, Then for PC and Xbox in 2005.

Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories, Released for the Playstation Portable in 2005, then for the Playstation 2 in 2006

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories, Released for the Playstation Portable in 2006, then for the Playstation 2 in 2007.

I remember playing all of these Grand Theft Auto's on either a Playstation Console or on PC. Especially from GTA III - San Andreas I played all of them on a Playstation Console. I always considered them as Playstation Games, and never liked playing them on any other console. The controller was just perfect for these games, especially if you're a cheater and use the D-pad a lot. The Playstation D-Pad is by far the best, because when you press left, it responds with left. Vs all the other competitors D-pads which went left/up when you were trying to press left.

Now I personally played GTA III - San Andreas without cheating. But I did use cheats for fun when I was playing the games to wreak havoc on the virtual cities. And I remember trying to use them on the Xbox and getting frustrated when left responded with left/up. Anyways, I was so used to playing the games on a Playstation controller, that It just never felt right using anything else.

But regardless of my preference I was so happy when I saw the GTA double pack (III, and Vice City) released for Xbox. One of my best friends only had an xbox so I was happy he got to experience my favorite game franchise of all time. I never wanted the game to be a Playstation Exclusive, I wanted all of my friends, and fellow gamers to enjoy one of the best franchises ever created.

GTA Liberty City Stories, and Vice City Stories were the reasons I got a Playstation Portable. I was glad they were released later for the Playstation 2, so people who did not have or like handhelds, did not have to buy one to enjoy the game. However, I did only see a point in getting the PSP versions, as they had multiplayer and that was amazing. (too bad I only had one other friend who had a PSP with both GTA's)

So you see, Grand Theft Auto has always been released on a Playstation first. Then everything else Later. Grand Theft Auto is a Playstation game. Just like Call of Duty is an Xbox 360 game (or PC also) It's just the way the games fit the controllers.

Grand Theft Auto IV, Released for Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 - 2008; Later for PC in late 2008.

Grand Theft Auto: The Lost and The Damned, and The Ballad of Gay Tony Released for Xbox 360...Only Xbox 360 - 2009...

I don't care that GTA IV was released for Xbox 360 and PS3 at the same time. In fact I was quite happy about that. I was glad that I would be able to play the game, and talk to my friends with 360's who also had the game. Right away, with no wait like in the past.

But Oh how you have sold me out Rockstar. Microsoft paid 50 million for the 2 extra DLC episodes for GTA IV to be released Only For Xbox 360. I still love and Respect Rockstar, but I have to say, I am disapointed, and I definitely lost a lot of respect I once had for them.

Grand Theft Auto is my favorite series, ever. And Playstation is my favorite (and Only) system I will play the game on. I will not, buy a Grand Theft Auto game for anything other than a Playstation System. (Except PC, I definitely would for PC). Now look at the list, look at the initial releases. Playstation, Playstation, Playstation, Playstation, Playstation, Playstation, Playstation, Playstation, Playstation/Xbox, Xbox only... yes, count the Playstations, those are how many initial releases that came out FIRST for Playstation, THEN for everything else. And all of the sudden it's XBOX only...Not just for both at the same time, but for Xbox ONLY. It's not right.

I have an Xbox 360, so yes, it's not like I can't get these expansions. But I refuse to buy them on my 360, I can't stand the Xbox 360 controller for Grand Theft Auto, it's like if you were growing up on one religion, then somehow being in another family who believes in another. You can say you're ok with it, but It just doesn't feel right.

Well that's about all I have to say (I know finally right?) If you made it to here then Kudos. I personally think that Rockstar should find a loophole and port these episodes to PS3 at some point. Because until then, there's no sale from me. Only one person, but still I'm not here to stop sales of the Xbox 360 version, I'm just saying I am not, nor will I ever be one of those who purchased the game on 360. Not even used.

I can only hope for a PC version of the game, but even then I may just find a friend who will get it for PC, and play it there. Really though, did Microsoft benefit that much from having the exclusive rights to it?

I honestly don't know anybody who has bought an Xbox 360 just for Grand Theft Auto, and I'm pretty sure if it was also on PS3 and PC, I'd still have more friends with Xbox 360's (Which that is starting to change actually). So why Rockstar? Why did you accept that deal when you could have easily made it and probably then some for having it out on PC and PS3?

Well this is my Rant, It's not grammatically correct, nor is it informative (unless you want it to be) It is just a rant, and I do not proofread this, I just type, and go. Hope you enjoyed it.

Here are the features:

Dualshock 3 (with sixaxis) - Every PS3 controller has motion sensing in it. It's not as much as in the Wii but it is enough to change the arc of height and length to throw a grenade (Uncharted: Drake's Fortune) or to steer a car/boat/bike/helicopter (GTA IV, Motorstorm) or to turn a valve (Killzone 2)

Built in WiFi - Yes wired connections are stronger, but that's why there's an Ethernet port in the PS3 for stronger connections. Wireless is huge nowadays, there are hotspots in many areas now such as parks, restaurants etc. So the built in WiFi is definately a convienience.

Blu Ray - Ever watch Rambo in blu ray? it will change your life! It really is that good though, and the fact that a single layer holds 25GB and dual layer has 50GB. That's just amazing. I think eventually digital distribution will take over (not for a long time) but with that will have to come much faster internet speeds. (every Playstation used a newer, better media PS1 - CD'S; PS2 - DVD'S; PS3 - BD'S

Upgradeable 2.5" SATA Hard Drive - Piece of cake to upgrade the Hard Drive to 500GB. Very inexpensive and easy to do, Just get a Notebook hard drive (2.5" SATA) Definately better than having to buy an expensive, specially designed drive.

Web Browser - Definately a neat feature, sure it's not as good as Firefox, or IE. But hey don't feel like booting up a laptop, then it's right there in the XMB. Just a nifty little feature.

Playstation Network - Quality service, stays connected, offers DLC, friend's list, messaging, voice chat (in game parties waiting for Cross game chat only feature live has that PSN doesn't yet) Video chat (PS eye)

IBM Cell processor - I showed the specs of this to a fellow IT nerd, (yes I have quite a bit of technical knowledge and know what I'm talking about) and his mouth just dropped when he saw the IBM Cell processor with 7x SPE's at 3.2 GHz. If you don't know anything about computer hardware, that is a 7 core Processor. being 7 Sub Cores. But if you still don't understand. Stanford university uses a little thing called "Folding@Home" which uses the PS3's processor (since it is quite the powerhouse) for it's power and they use that for research (like cancer research and other diseases).

GPU - Nvidia RSX @ 550Mhz, again insane power here. This allows for True 1080p image quality.

Mouse and Keyboard support - remember that web browser I brought up earlier? Yeah well you can use a mouse and keyboard to navigate and type. You can use the keyboard to type messages, and you can even use a mouse and keyboard to play games like Unreal Tournament 3.

1080p - Yes the PS3 is the only Console (note: console not including PC) that can do TRUE 1080p. link to a video for proof: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MakQpMSKP7I , This video shows proof that the PS3 uses True 1080p and the 360 only upscales it in 1080p. Don't believe it? IGN brought it up in their podcast and used this as research to also prove this (Episode 112, around 35 minute mark): http://ps3.ign.com/articles/103/1037996p1.html

PSP - The PSP is an awesome handheld, it is quite amazing when I was able to play GTA Liberty City Stories anywhere, with close to the same graphics and gameplay as the PS2 GTA's

Remote Play - You can actually connect to your ps3 with your PSP and watch video's, music, photo's stored on your PS3. In fact you can connect to it from anywhere with a WiFi connection, and stream a movie from your PC, to your PS3, over the internet to your PSP. Crazy, and an awesome feature.

Acessories - Motion controllers (not a huge fan of them but will pick them up if they're not too expensive), Logitech Raching Wheel for GT5 (always wanted a racing wheel that does 2 1/2 full turns and has a clutch and shifter), PS eye (neat little webcam)

Life with Playstation - Real cool feature that has live weather and news updates, and of course Folding@Home (mentioned previously)

Playstation Home - Well you can make an avatar of yourself, cool. Then you get to walk around with other playstation home users and go bowling and some other neato stuff. It's pretty sweet, but honestly probably won't be going to PShome instead of popping in a game.

And just the flat out reliability is enough for me. sure the PS3 has it's YLOD which strikes I believe it was at most 10% in the highest survey. But the 360 has RROD which surveys ranged from 30% - 50%

Games

Exclusives:

Agent, Demon's Souls, God of War Collection, God of War 3, Gran Turismo 5, Haze (not great but not all that bad especially since it is about $10 now), Heavenly Sword, Heavy Rain, InFamous, Killzone 2, Little Big Planet, M.A.G., Metal Gear Solid 4, Motorstorm, Motorstorm 2, Pain, Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction, Quest for Booty, and A Crack in time, Resistance 1, Resistance 2, Ridge Racer 7, Socom Confrontation (not great, hoping for a better one later with singleplayer), Twisted Metal, Uncharted 1, Uncharted 2, Warhawk, Wipeout HD

Multi-Platform:

Assasin's Creed II, Call of Duty series, Grand Theft Auto series, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Borderlands, Oblivion, Burnout, Need for Speed, Madden, NCAA football, Rainbow Six, Hawx, Brutal Legend, Crysis 2, Dark Void, Darksiders, Dead Space, Ghostbusters, L.A. Noire, Rockband, Guitar Hero, Prototype, Transformers. Braid

I'm sure I've missed a few but there's a lot of the exclusives and multi-platform games I have, or would be interested in picking up.

Now to compare it to the XBOX 360:

The Xbox 360 really has nothing next gen about it, well yes it does. The User Interface is a thing of this current gen, having a hard drive, wireless controllers, and of course online play with friends list (all the crazy online features that both have) But!!! 360 is using an old format, one used in last gen. Nothing wrong with DVD's though, but look at Playstation 1 (used CD's) Then PS2 used Dvd's, then PS3 uses Blu Ray Disks. Each console you get an upgrade.

the 360 controller has no new features from last gen's xbox controllers besides wireless. They don't have any motion capabilities at all. PS3's have some capabilities that don't make it a motion controller, but a standard Joystick and button controller with motion capabilities. There Really is nothing next gen about the Xbox 360.

Until Project Natal comes out, then I will consider the 360 a next gen console. Since that is definately a future (hopefully optional) feature for all systems. PS3 of course has some motion controllers that look pretty nice as well. Have no Idea which will be better, but I believe each will depend on the type of game being played.

Things not in the XBOX 360 that come built in the PS3:

WiFi - $100 add on for 360, built in to PS3

HD optical Drive - $200 add of for external HD-DVD drive (not in production), built in Blu Ray for PS3.

Hard Drive - 360 doesn't have this if you buy Arcade, Every PS3 has a built in Hard drive and has the same limits as any laptop. Which means you can drop a 1TB Hard Drive in your PS3. While the best 360 drive to come out is 250GB and the best one out is 120GB which is $130. When a 500GB 2.5" SATA for PS3 is around $80

Rechargeable controller and pack - $15.00 - $20.00, all controllers for PS3 are rechargeable.

Free Online play - Live's price really isn't that bad so I'm not going to complain about $50 a year, but it is just another advantage of the PS3. Considering they're pretty much the same, minus party chat. Which should be coming to PS3 very soon.

Xbox 360 Exclusives:

of course I'm not going to mention the multi-plat games but here's 360 exclusives (including PC releases)

Dead Rising, Alan Wake, Fable II and III, Forza 2 and 3, Gears of war 1 and 2, GTA 4 expansions, Halo 3, Wars, ODST, Too Human. Trials HD,

Exclusive count 360 - 16...PS3 - 29...Multi - 25

might have missed a few counts, and also note: these are games I'd actually pick up. Notice I didn't include Afrika for PS3, or Viva Pinata for 360...

The End

Alright, so I bought quite a few games over the course of the year, and I noticed 1 thing that really stands out. Very Few of the games with online multiplayer have an offline splitscreen option. Some of the games that still have splitscreen only have competitive, or co-op but no story mode with other players.

Now, I'm just wondering, what could these companies possibly be thinking? That all of our friends own the same console and are getting the same game? That we don't have friends over to play games and check them out anymore? I've had plenty of situations where I've had a friend or a group of friends over, and we feel like popping in a game, but we have to wait to play it because it only supports 1 player. Or we want to play co-op story, but they only have competitive or a co-op based on objectives rather than story. And its not just 2 player split screen, most games have no split screen at all, let alone having 4 people on one screen. Now, normally I do like having the whole screen myself, but on occasion I have a friend or friends over, who might not have the money to buy their own console or the same game, and be willing to bring over their entire console just to system link or something. We should be able to connect 4 controllers, and play offline and online splitscreen matches/co-op.

If the video game companies find making online multiplayer important (don't get me wrong I'm a huge fan of that) they need to take the time to also make splitscreen modes, so friends can join while they're already over, instead of having to go home and connect to play.