Video Game News - XBOX vs. PS3
 XBOX
360 vs. PS3: An In Depth Look
by Tony James
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 piplines 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.
About the Author
Tony James is an author and webmaster. He currently runs
the website Freeware Games.net |
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Max Shooter XBOX & PS2 Keyboard
& Mouse Adapter Review
by Jeromy
The third and latest XBOX/PS2 keyboard & mouse adapter
to hit the market is the Max Shooter. Before this adapter
was released there was a good chance that the guy destroying
you in Halo 2 was using a regular XBOX controller and
not one of the previously released keyboard & mouse
adapters. Enter Max Shooter stage right. Now you should
be afraid, very afraid, as the Max Shooter basically turns
the console FPS into a PC FPS with all the accuracy that
that entails. After spending a good few days playing Halo
2, Socom II, and Unreal Championship 2 there is little
doubt that FPS games were mostly made to be played with
a mouse and keyboard.
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