The battle of the third generation video game consoles is under way. The Sony built Playstation 3 has now launched in Europe, sometime later than originally planned. Whilst gamers rush out to be the first to get their hands on this eagerly anticipated follow up from the PS2, Microsoft have been building a strong platform around their Xbox 360, the first of the new generation consoles to launch. The question everyone is asking is which one should I buy?
Starting with their appearance or shall we say 'sex appeal' the PS3 comes out on top. It's sleeker more modern looking design with nice curves and overall styling make the bulky Xbox look a little dated. On the controllers both have gone with a wireless option which works much better than you might expect, once you've tried it you won't want to go back the old style with tangled leads a constant bother. Sony dabled with the idea of launching with a radical boomerang style controller but has launched with a more conventional looking controller, much like the dual shock 2. However the rumble technology has gone and been replaced by a mvement sensor technology a little like the Nintendo Wii. this is a shame as I actually really liked the rumble sensation at key nerve tingling moments duringa game.
On styling it is also worth pointing out that the Xbox 360 comes with a large power supply unit that looks a little unsightly and the Xbox is a much noiser machine whilst operating. However it was recently reported that the PS3 is a very power hungry machine using upto 7 times more power than its predecessor the PS2.
The Technical Specifications
Both machines come with a large 3.2 GHz processer but the Xbox edges it in terms of memory. It comes with 512 MB of installed RAM as opposed to 256 MB on the PS3. The Xbox has 1 MB of cache memory compared to 512kb but the PS3 has an awesome RAM speed of 3200MHz compared to 700 MHz on the Xbox. Importantly for gamers you will always want to study the graphics capability. The Xbox can produce a staggering 500 million Polygons per second to the PS3 75 million but the PS3 has a slightly quicker grapgic processor speed of 550 MHz compared to the Xbox at 500 MHz. the Xbox gives you HDTV technology and the PS3 comes fully integrated with its own Blu-ray next generation technology. We could go on looking at lots of technical stats but to the gamer it doesn't matter, all you need to know is that we are looking at two top end gaming machines. What matters is the games...
Games
The Sega Mega Drive, the Spectrum 48k, the Playstaion 1 were all a huge success and not always because they were the most powerful games machines around. They were all well priced machines that had a huge selection of high quality, playable games that gamers just couldn't resist. This is where the real battle will be fought. Microsoft have taken the advantage here by releasing a huge array of high quality titles over the last 12 months. All the usual franchise classics are now made available on the Xbox due to the size of their market such as Pro Evolution Soccer 6, Fifa 2007, Tiger Woods Golf 2007 etc. Of course Sony will have all these titals but Microsoft have signed a few houses to deliver bespoke games just for the Xbox 360. Titles like Gears of War have been a huge success and it is feared that Sony don't have any knockout titles to launch the PS3 with. many believe it was the case with the PS1 and PS2 that it took more than a year before the real quality games started to reach the markets. Xbox have been through that launch period and the quality titles are flowing fast. This gives Sony a huge challenge that has only been complicated with the initial success of the Nintendo Wii. Titles to look out for on the PS3 include Assasin's Creed, Heavenly Sword and Eye of Judgement that will use the Sony Eye Toy.
Conclusion
You can buy the Xbox 360 Premium for just over £200 and the PS3 will cost double that. A large part of this cost is the Blu-ray technology but gamers are buying these machines right now for games. Nobody knows if Blu-Ray is going to really take off at this stage. the Xbox is ahead on the games front and Microsoft are craeting some very nice exclusive titles. Right now I think I'll buy the Xbox and spend £150 on all the latest games and still be in under the PS3 budget. However if Sony gets their act together, prices come down and Blu-Ray takes off I may be forced into a switch.
The cubalaya Shopper
