Buzz! dev wades into console war

360 'is ugly and makes a lot of noise'. '£250 PS3 Slim is a bargain'.

The Xbox 360 "is ugly" and "makes a lot of noise". The PS3, on the other hand, "isn't ugly", "doesn't make a lot of noise" and at £250 "is a bargain".

So says Buzz! boss Andrew Eades, who has delivered his verdict on the console war.

Eades is executive director of Relentless Software, the Brighton-based Sony-exclusive independent developer behind the popular Buzz! series and the upcoming PSN-exclusive murder mystery quiz game Blue Toad Murder Files.

When asked for his honest assessment of the PS3, Eades answered: "It's great. It's got better and better. The new Slim is excellent. I bought one already. I really, really enjoy it. It's the only machine that my wife allows in the living room. The Xbox was exiled to my office until it broke."

Why was the Xbox 360 exiled?

"Because it's ugly and it makes a lot of noise. And the PS3 isn't ugly and doesn't make a lot of noise. The Slim's even better. It makes even less noise. The kids love playing the games on PS3. And we watch all our movies through it. For me it's a brilliant piece of machinery. I'm not just saying this as a sales pitch. It does really feature in my living room. That and my Apple TV."

Eades added that his only frustration with the PS3 is that he can't play Xbox 360 exclusive action game Gears of War on it.

"Honestly, £250 for a PS3 is a bargain. If you account for inflation and rising costs, that's a competitive price for what it is. It's only getting better. It's got interesting features on it now. I'm trying to work out the best way to record TV in my house. PlayTV is one of the options. As an all in one device it works well.

"The games on it are astonishing these days. It's brilliant. The only thing I'm frustrated about is I can't play Gears of War on it, which I'd like to do. But if Microsoft made me an offer and gave me a 360 that actually worked, then I'd play it. I spoke to Microsoft and said, you know my 360 doesn't work anymore? And they just shrugged their shoulders. I think it's appalling. Everyone has experienced the same issue."

He added: "I'm looking forward to playing Uncharted 2, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 on my PS3, whereas I played Call of Duty: Modern Warfare on my Xbox. There's not a lot to differentiate the two in terms of software. It's hard to write on a PS3 at first. Once you've got over that hurdle, which most people have, what is there to choose between the two? Not that much. Plus you get something that doesn't make a sound, which I think is really quite important."

In among the glowing praise Eades offered his explanation for the PS3 not being, as he put it, "as ubiquitous" as the PS2.

"It's obvious," he said. "It was very expensive at first. But also it had some stiff competition, which PS2 never had. I don't think, for whatever reason, Sony was able to make their case clearly enough. I'm not really supposed to criticise any of their campaigns of anything, but I didn't understand. I didn't know why I should like a PS3. In fact I was confused about what it was for, for a long time, and I don't think they figured that out. But I think they have now.

"The campaign now is more impressive. It makes it easier to know what it's for. People are coming back to PS3. They've had the onslaught of Nintendo popping up and reminding everyone that they know how to make a video game too. So it's been quite a tough time for Sony. Some through their own failings and some through the fact that the competition's a lot stiffer. But that makes it better.

"360 has done a great job of saying we can build a rival machine to Sony. Competition is good. I don't think we should have just a monopoly on who can make video game consoles. It's good for us because it keeps us on our toes."

Episode one of Blue Toad Murder Files: The Mysteries of Little Riddle will be available exclusively on PSN on December 17 priced £6.49. Episode one and two will be available on the same date as a bundle for £9.99.

What's your take on Andrew Eades's verdict on the console war? Let us know in the comments section below.