If you like Halo...well, I can't see why you would not like all the newer ones. Never been a fan (except for 2...great story/scenes) and 3 made me dislike it even MORE due to crappy level design.

Yes, the battery issue peeves me big time. I usually use my wired controller just to not have to worry about batteries. I DID buy a wireless headset for $30, though. I have the 360 to PC adapter so it serves double duty for me. Pretty nice actually.

I have NEVER had my 360 eat a game. I am only on my second one as well and I play a LOT. Honestly would not worry too much about that.

Yes, avatars are useless. Just like Miis on the Wii.

I have all three current consoles and the previous handhelds. Really would have a hard time picking just one, but, for me, Gears of War makes me lean towards 360. Then again, Little Big Planet pushes me towards PS3...and Monster Hunter towards Wii. Really is lose lose...or win win depending on ones point of view!

I'm seriously pissed at the idea of having to buy another controller that doesn't use batteries, or a charge kit, or rechargable batteries.

I like Halo, although I'm not one of those people who claim its one of the greatest games of all time. Its just a shooter. With some seriously fun multiplayer. When I have parties at my house a group of use always end up having like 5 hour long deathmatches. I'm a big fan of the halo novels. I never found the games lived up to them though.

Obviously I never had the 360 eat a game. But I did start buying some games on ebay while I waited for them to deliver it. And the one used I bought, listed as "barly used" came covered in scratches, although it did work, so far. But its put me off buying used.

Ironically that game was Gears of war, which I played just a little to make sure it worked before wading starting the 3 halo games. One thing I found really jarring about it though was how slow the guy moves.

I've got all the consoles, but only some gameboys for portables. I don't like a system just for the games its got on it. thats motivates me to buy the system, but doesn't convey any affection for it.

I hate the wii, no good games and having to move the controller is no fun for a sustained single player game. Which is basically what I like to play, unless its some online deathmatch.

PS3 and xbox both have TONS of games I like, hell most games I want are available on both. Although PS3 has a real lack of zombie shooters.

But hardware wise the PS3 wins hands down to me. FREE online, rechargeable controllers, any usb accessories, no stupid avatar, and with a $2 adapter I can use PS2 controllers, or buy $8 generics.

Also there is the xbox failure rate too. My whole life I've only ever had to replace 1 console, the PS2. And it was like 3-5 years old, and broke after I loaned it to someone. They had it setup against their microwave, and even then it worked for months in that spot.

The fact that you're "only on my second one" is not reassuring. replacing it once is a far as I would ever consider taking a console. if it breaks twice I'm not touching it again.

As a 360 owner, I have to say that the big draw for me was the game selection. Let's face it, the 360 has, in my opinion the better selection of titles. Most games are multiplatform but just looking at the selection of 360 vs PS3 only titles... . the 360 wins every time for me.

As for eating games???? I got my first 360 about 6 months after it hit the market and I have never once had it eat a game. Rumor has it that people claiming that it scratched a disk actually turned the system from it's vertical position, to horizontal while running...

Lastly, as far as batteries go, I just have a set of rechargeable ones that cycle through my controller.... certainly not a very big issue.

I actually have two 360's now. One for me and one for my wife. We are playing Reach now and greatly enjoying it. If you haven't already played Left 4 Dead (part one or two) I highly recommend them..... Not a lot of depth, but great for blowing off steam (and zombie heads). I also have had a lot of fun with Fable II, Mass Effect 1 and 2 and Dragon Age.... but I'm sure you are fully aware of them....

Really the only online games I play are shooters. So I definitely wanted to play halo online.

But I haven't been real impressed by Halo either. I'm not a fan of how you can't pick the type of matches you want to play: death match, king of hill, etc..

Really what I wanted to try was a multiplayer firefight on ODST. But there doesn't seem to be a way just play that, or anything on ODST. As far as I can tell its only an invite game from your friends list. Something I don't have after playing 1 hour online, in Halo 3, not ODST.

Really I don't even bother making friends lists since my online usage is so odd. Not only do I not play at the same time of day, I might not even play it every week. So I really need to be able to play against whoever happens to be online. I've had PS3 online for like a year and I have a friends list of like 4 people. And I haven't gamed or chatted with them in like 2 months.