Xbox 360 vs. Playstation 3

The two new generation game consoles are now released for some time and available for purchase. Although how much different are these two consoles from each other? The PS3 promised high end technology with a sleek design offering outstanding gameplay. Although, after releasing such hype for the PS3 but taking so long to release the product, the hype has died down and Sony is now having a hard time selling the PS3’s. At the same time Xbox 360 was release quite a while before PS3 causing people to go out and buy it first and also gave developers a chance to create games for it. Now that both of them are released which one do you think is better? Let’s compare the specs:

Product Name	Sony PlayStation 3	Microsoft Xbox 360
Release Date	2006	Q4 2005
Controller	Bluetooth Wireless	2.4 GHz Wireless
Graphics Core Clock Speed	550 MHz	500MHz
Graphics Processor	RSX “Reality Synthesizer”	Custom ATI Processor
System Memory	256 MB XDR	512 MB UMA (Shared with GPU)
Video Memory	256 MB	512 MB UMA (Shared with CPU)
Embedded Video Memory	n/a	10MB eDRAM
Resolution	480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p	480p, 480i, 720p, 1080i
Controller Ports	Supports up to 7 Bluetooth Controllers	Supports up to 4 Controllers
Digital Media Formats	Compatible with CR-ROM, CDR+W, DVD, DVD-ROM, DVD-R, DVD+R	DVD-Video, DVD-ROM, DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW, CD-DA, CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, WMA CD, MP3 CD, JPEG Photo CD
Game Media Format	Blu-ray BD-ROM	Dual-Layer DVD-ROM
Integrated Communications	802.11 B/G Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.0	802.11 A/B/G Wi-Fi ready, adapter not included
Other I/O Connectors	Ethernet (RJ45), 6 USB 2.0, CF Slot (Type I, II), SD Slot (Regular, Compact), Memory Stick, Memory Stick Duo, 1 x Optical Audio	3 USB 2.0, 2 Memory Slots, Ethernet Port (RJ45)
Plug and Play Storage	2.5in Removable Hard Drive (Unkown Size)	20GB Removable Hard Drive
Standard AV Output Connectors	2 x HDMI, 1 x AV	n/a
L2 Cache	512KB L2 cache, 256KB per SPE	1MB
Processor	Cell Processor	Custom IBM PowerPC CPU
Processor Clock Speed	3.2 GHz	3.2 GHz
Built-in Features	Backward Compatible with PlayStation 2, Stands Vertically or Horizontally	Backward Compatible with Xbox (limited), Stands Vertically or Horizontally, Interchangable Face Plates, Xbox Live Service, Media Center Extender
Memory Bandwidth	25.6 GB/s main memory bandwidth, 22.4 GB/s video memory bandwidth	22.4 GB/s main memory bandwidth, 256 GB/s to eDRAM, 21.6 GB/s FSB
Surround Sound	Multichannel Output (software driven)	Multichannel Output (software driven)

In conclusion, which one do you think is better? The specs aren’t too different, so why spend a couple hundred dollars more when you don’t have to? For me, I would choose the Xbox 360.

-Andrew Webster