All gamers are awaiting the release of the Xbox 360 and the PS3.
This article takes an in depth look at how the two systems
compare.
Graphics: Everyone has seen an Xbox and a PS2 in action and we
are all waiting to see which of the two next generation consoles
for the two systems will have the edge when it comes to
graphics. We have all seen the screenshots of the games on the
two systems but what about actual gameplay graphics. Despite the
hot debate, when you look at the numbers the two systems use a
different but equally effective method of delivering graphics
processing power. The XBOX uses a custom ATI processor with 48
graphics pipelines and the PS2 has a custom NVIDA graphics
processor with an estimated 24 pipelines. The numbers are
misleading because the PS2 pipelines are more powerful than the
XBOX pipelines. In the end the two different graphics processors
will deliver about the same amount of power, we can expect to
see impressive results from both sides.
Games: Both systems have several franchise titles such as Halo2
for the XBOX and Gran Tourismo for the PS2 that you will see in
the next generation systems, but what other games can you expect
to see. If you are a fan of genres such as role playing that are
dominated by Japanese and other foreign developers such as
Square, you should look forward to the PS3. There is no
indication that the XBOX 360 is going to gain much more support
from foreign developers and buyers than the original XBOX. An
article on GameSpot.com reports that only two percent of
Japanese gamers are interested in buying an XBOX 360, with sixty
percent looking forward to the PS3 and eight percent to the
Nintendo Revolution. Overall you can expect to see more games on
the PS3 than the XBOX 360, reflecting the selection for the
current generation systems. Only time will which console will
have the quality of games which all of us are been expecting.
Media Type: Will the media storage type be a factor in the
quality of the games? Since PS3 is owned by Sony and BLUray is
Sony’s next high definition storage medium, the PS3 games will
be stored on the BLUray discs which hold approximately 54 gigs.
The Xbox 360 games will be stored on Double Layer DVDs which
store 9 gigs. Obviously the BLUray discs can store a lot more
data, but at the current stage of game development, any game
developed will fit just as well on the 9 gig DVDs, so this is
not a major factor but one that may come into play later on.
Processing Power: How do the two systems compare when looking at
brute processing power? The PS3 uses a Cell processor with a
PowerPC-based core with seven synergistic processing units while
the Xbox comes with a Custom IBM PowerPC CPU with three
dual-threaded cores that can handle six total threads at a time.
An important comparison to look at is the number of dot product
calculations per second the systems can perform. The reason this
number is important is because it is used extensively during
gameplay in 3d math to calculate various things such as vector
lengths, projections, transformations, and more. Both systems
are clocked at 3.2 Ghz. The PS3 can handle 51-billion dot
product operations per second and the Xbox can handle 33.6.
There is a debate over which system has more brute processing
power and these numbers can be confusing to the average person,
but overall it seems that the PS3 has an edge over the Xbox when
it comes to overall processing power.
Media Type: Since PS3 is owned by Sony and BLUray is Sony’s next
high definition storage medium, the PS3 games will be stored on
the BLUray discs which hold approximately 54 gigs. The Xbox 360
games will be stored on Double Layer DVDs which store 9 gigs.
Obviously the BLUray discs can store a lot more data, but at the
current stage of game development, any game developed will fit
just as well on the 9 gig DVDs, so this is not a major factor
but one that may come into play later on.
Games: When considering games, you have to look at the XBOX and
the PS2. The XBOX is very popular in the US and has a few great
franchise games such as Halo, but the PS2 has an international
reach and several popular game franchises such as Gran Tourismo
that the XBOX has yet to beat. The XBOX 360 will need to appeal
to foreign game developers and consumers to compete with the
PS3. Only time will which console will have the quality of games
which all of us are been expecting.
Controllers: The controllers on the two systems retain the basic
shape from the original systems with some modifications. The PS3
controller has the most dramatic change; it has a streamline
shape that looks more like a stealth airplane than a game
controller. The XBOX controller is basically the same shape as
the previous system with a different color scheme. From the
pictures released, it seems the XBOX controller will be more
comfortable and natural to use. The PS3 controller looks like it
would just slip out of your hand but we will not know how the
controllers feel during actual gameplay until we get our hands
on them.
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