Playstation 3 160Gb or 320Gb?

My 'almost' 11 year old just bought an XBox 360, and we went with the higher gig model simply because there are many games that you can't buy on disc. You HAVE to download them. I figured we could use a separate hard drive or flash drive, but the 'hassle' factor was too much to bother with. I'm not sure if PS3 is the same way, but it'd be worth checking into. That being said, the Xbox that we got is only 250g, so it's certainly possible 160g PS3 would be sufficient.

We're very happy with our PS3 and haven't used up our 160mb yet. There are TONS of family friendly games at the PS3 store online to be downloaded, some of them are free or very cheap (Angry Birds is like $5 and there are many different versions of it available now, to use one example) so I'm not sure what Beth is talking about.
Sometimes the kids buy hard copies of games, but most of the ones we have are in the hard drive. This is also how we watch tv by using Netflix streaming, Hulu plus, and Amazon Prime (in our trial month right now). We didn't buy the warranty.

(did I say mb? I meant gb.)

The playstation 4 is due to come out the end of the year so that will have an impact on the 3's prices if you don't want the 4. But as far as the 3 deninatly get the 320gb as far as I know you can't upgrade the hard drives but they make external storage devices.
Added: we've had our ps3 for 6 years and it still works great:) they are built to last

I think that buying extended warranties is almost always a waste. And, if you make your purchase with a credit card (no matter WHERE you purchase), most credit cards automatically double the warranty anyway. Check your card and see...
We have the 320gb, but I don't know that it does/doesn't affect anything they do on it. I haven't let them download any games... (I don't think! lol).. The ones we have were all purchased on disc in stores, not downloaded... so I don't think all the memory matters unless you are downloading games?

I wouldn't get a ps3 at all.
I'd go for an xbox 360.
PS3 is designed for the " hard core" gamer and has few family games. And many games you do find on PS3 that are family games you can also find on other platforms.
The 360 has the kinect which allows you to use your body for the controller.
PS3 has the motion controllers but they are pretty much like wii controllers. PS3 does have the eye toy but it's not supported very well.
For a family game system look into the Xbox 360 with the Kinect .
For the 25 yr old hard core gamer get the ps3.
Beyond the gaming style of the games , Sony has had some rescent security issues with their servers.
If you want it for the blu ray player just get a blu ray player. They are getting cheaper every year. And you can get them with apps.

with the ps3 the higher gig hard drive is better, because 90% of games HAVE to be installed on the hard drive before they can even be played to help run smoother