Phillip decided to sit down and give a quick comparison of Burnout Paradise between the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 versions.

Burnout: Paradise is arguably the best in the series so far, but what system captures its essence the best? Does Sony’s behemoth black box have the guts to plow out the best crashes, or does Microsoft’s red-ring riddled machine have the snuff to give you that all important speed rush as you zoom through traffic?

Visuals

First things first, who’s got the visuals down? Not just the car models and environments, but which one flows better through all the mayhem? Fanboys are sure to disagree, but they are nearly identical. There the slightest of leads taken by the PS3 version when ramping up the visuals using component cables on fancy-pants HDTV’s. For the average non-partisan gamer however, these differences are going to seem minuscule. Both systems perform equally in terms of framerate and smoothness, and players on either system will enjoy whizzing through traffic at breakneck speeds with no sign of a hiccup to be found.

Loading Times

Loading times are another story, as the Xbox version beats out the PS3 in terms of switching out cars, starting races, and booting up the game initially. There are only a few second difference, but it’s enough to be noticeable to a racer dedicated to his hobby on the 360 who then sits down with the PS3 version. Though this could be seen as a blessing to PS3 owners who get a gracious break in between the ramblings of DJ Automica, which many see as the worst addition to the game ever.

Controls

When it comes to the controls on both systems they are pretty tight and respond equally well. That brings the decision down to controller preference. Personally for this reviewer, the triggers on the 360 controller lend themselves to being constantly held down better than those of the PS3’s sixaxis.

Multiplayer

When it comes to multiplayer options, the game fares far better on the Xbox Live, largely because the network is much more populated than the PSN is. You can jump right into an online match from both versions’ in-game menus.

So it looks like the 360 version has this one in the bag. On the chart it looks pretty one-sided but it is important to remember that controls come down to personal preference -- the 360 controller loans itself better to this reviewer's meaty paws. Both systems offer an excellent racing experience, but for those with a choice, it looks like your faithful old 360 will be pulling the weight here.