Finally, they are all here. The Xbox 360 has had the next-gen gaming market to itself for a year now. Now its two competitors, PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii, are here. No more speculation about speed. No more guessing about memory. Now we can take a look and see exactly how they stack up against each other.
Let the console war begin again.
Price
The PS3 has two configurations very similar to the Xbox 360. The PS3 comes in a $499 version that comes with a 20GB hard drive and a $599 version that comes with a 60GB hard drive; wireless; and slots for Memory Stick, SD and Compact Flash.
The Xbox 360 has two configurations. It comes in a $299 basic version and a $399 version that comes with a 20GB hard drive.
The Nintendo Wii is the cheapest of the bunch with a single configuration costing $250.
processing power
The PlayStation 3 comes with its Cell processor. It is a PowerPC based kernel running at 3.2GHz and also has seven DSPs running at 3.2GHz. This setup can do around 2 Teraflops.
The Xbox 360 has a custom IBM PowerPC processor. This processor also runs at 3.2 GHz. However, Xbox opted for a true 3-core processor over Cell’s only general processor and seven additional DSPs. This setup can do about 1 Teraflop.
The Nintendo Wii includes its Broadway processor, a PowerPC-based processor that runs at 729 MHz.
disk media
Part of the reason the PS3 is so much more expensive than the Xbox 360 is because Sony decided to include a Blu-ray drive in the system. The drive can play regular Blu-ray and DVD movies. The Xbox 360 comes with a DVD player and an HD-DVD add-on is planned. The Nintendo Wii uses a DVD drive; however, the system will not work to play movies, only Nintendo games.
backwards compatibility
The PlayStation 3 is like the PS2. You will be able to play PS2 and PSone games on the PS3. Nintendo is taking things a bit further. Your system will be compatible with Gamecube games as well as Gamecube controllers as the two systems use very different controllers. Not only that, but the Wii will also have the ability to download games from the original Nintendo (NES), Super Nintendo (SNES), and Nintendo 64.
sweet features
If you want high definition gaming then the PS3 is the way to go. It comes with a built-in Blu-ray drive and can output in 1080p. Although the PS3 controller may look familiar, it has had a few updates. The controller now detects movement, so in some games you will be able to move your character or fly a plane simply by moving the controller.
The Xbox 360 was designed to work with the Windows XP Media Center. If you have a computer that already has a media center, you’ll be able to view pictures, videos, and even recorded TV using your Xbox. You don’t need to put your PC in your living room to take advantage of having a Media Center PC.
The Nintendo Wii decided to completely change the way game controllers are built. In the past, a controller was always held with both hands. The Wii controller looks more like a TV remote than a game controller. It has a built-in motion sensor, so to swing a sword, for example, you just move your hand as if you were actually swinging a sword.
We hope this review has helped you compare the three next-gen gaming systems. Each has its advantages and disadvantages, and features that are unique. Ultimately, your decision will likely come down to which system has the games that appeal to you the most. And that’s a decision only you can make when deciding which system to buy.