The Sony PS3 vs Xbox 360

The current generation of game consoles is athe significantly more powerful hardware available
market contested by three systems. Microsoft'sto them and will actually play better than on the
Xbox 360, which was released in November 2005,original system. Others, however, do not lend
Nintendo's Wii, due for release in November 2006,themselves well to this feature, and run poorly, or
and the Sony PS3, also set to release in Northin some cases, not at all, and thus, will not be
America and Japan in November 06. This is asupported by Microsoft on the 360.
short guide for consumers interested in aThe PS3 will also be Internet-capable via 1 Gb
comparison of the PS3 vs Xbox 360.ethernet, and will offer many of the same
The two systems are remarkably similar infeatures as Xbox Live Gold, using the tentatively
several ways. They both ship in two differentnamed PlayStation Network Platform (PNP)
lines, a Basic and a Premium version, and in bothservice for multiplayer and matchmaking. Unlike
cases, the main difference between the two linesXbox Live Gold, however, Sony has announced
for each is the size of the hard drive. In the casethat their service will not attract a subscription
of Xbox, the Core version does not have one,fee, but will instead be free to all users. It has a
while the Premium system comes with ahighly advanced Cell processor, which features
removable 20 GB hard drive. In the case of theeight independent Synergistic Processing Elements
PS3, the Basic edition has a 20 GB hard drive, and(SPE) for parallel computing. One of these is
the Premium comes with a 60 GB drive. Givenreserved for the OS, and another is redundant,
the similarities of the two lines for each system,making the console fault tolerant, should one of
from here on we shall just compare the premiumthe units fail. The other six can be dynamically
version of both systems.configured by each game to allow developers to
Microsoft's second console, the Xbox 360, isoptimise the console for the requirements of
Internet-capable by standard 100 Mb ethernetevery individual game.
port, has a relatively advanced on boardThe next-generation Blu-Ray Disk format is
Operating System (OS), features a triple-coredstandard for all PS3 units, which also allows
CPU for parallel processing, allowing a differentstandard DVD and CD playback, as with the Xbox
processor to focus exclusively on different360. The PS3 will support all standard HDTV
aspects of each game, has a powerful on-boardresolutions, and the Premium version has HDMI
graphics accelerator with an ATI GPU, has 5.1output support. The PS3 has Wireless Bluetooth
surround sound support, DVD playbackcontrollers, USB, Flash card and memory stick
functionality, interfaces with an onlinesupport, and 7.1 surround sound.
matchmaking and multiplayer service, namely,Finally, Sony has said that nearly every PS1 and
Xbox Live, and with a software update, willPS2 game will be natively compatible with the
support the HDTV progressive video resolution ofPS3, and has indicated that some Sega Genesis
1920x1080 (AKA, 1080p).(AKA Sega Megadrive outside the US) games will
The system also has 3 USB 2.0 ports, which allowalso work out of the box. It will gradually make
users to plug in additional peripherals, such as thethese games available for download directly to the
Xbox Live Vision Camera, and wireless networkon-board hard drive, for a fee payable via their
adaptor. There is support for both wired andPNP service.
wireless controllers. Microsoft has also announcedWhen comparing the PS3 vs Xbox 360, it can be
it will release an external Xbox HD-DVD drive forhard to make a choice. The PS3 is undoubtedly a
users who desire next-generation disk formatmore powerful machine, however, it costs much
support.more than its competitor. It includes a host of
The Xbox 360 ships with emulation software thatfeatures very similar to those offered by
allows users to play some original Xbox games onMicrosoft, some of which are definitely
the new console. The results vary significantly,implemented better. It is fair to expect generally
however, and a compatibility profile must first besuperior performance from a PS3, so any choice
released on a game-by-game basis via Xbox Live,boils down to the investment consumers are
before users can use old games. In some cases,willing to make or have already made, in the case
the older games are able to take advantage ofof older games for that experience.