People have already touched upon most of the big stuff, but here's a few other tidbits.
- You don't
need a wireless adapter to play online on the 360. It has a regular network jack in the back so you can just use that if the 360 would be placed close enough to your cable model or DSL router that you can run a wire.
- Only the 80 GB PS3 is backwards compatible with PS2 games. It has currently been discontinued, but
retailers report that a new one will come out sometime this summer, which will include the new Sixaxis controller with rumble.
- The 360's backwards compatibility is done via emulator and not all Xbox titles are currently supported, but every so often Microsoft adds more titles to the backwards compatibility list. The last update was done in November. The list can be found here:
Xbox.com | Xbox 360 - Original Xbox Games on Xbox 360
- I haven't used the PS3 online, but from everything I read it seems Xbox Live offers a better experience (universal friends lists, voice messaging, etc.) Although Xbox Live does cost $50 while Playstation Online is free. If online play is important to you, you should do some research on the net and hear from people who've used both.
- And finally, I'd like to point you to the games review comparisons I do every few months in the
Game On thread. Here's the latest results:
Games scoring 90 or better
PS3: 3
Xbox: 10
Games scoring 80 or better
PS3: 33
Xbox: 67
Those stats are from gamerankings.com, and the linked thread has Wii stats too.
In closing, like others have said, for gaming I'd definitely suggest going with the 360. If Blu-ray is more important, obviously the PS3 is your best bet.
Both would be a good idea if you can swing the money. I myself am gettng a PS3 come this summer when the new 80 GB version comes out.
KM