Video Game Time: PS3 Vs. Xbox 360 (Round 1)

Welcome to another edition of Game Time, and we've got the two next gen powerhouse systems going head to head. Of course, on paper it looks like Sony has a slight edge, but in reality, it's as big as Death's Scythe.

Without further ado, here are the specs for both:

X-box 360

Launch Date - Fall 2005

System Hardware Specs
Custom IBM PowerPC-based CPU 3 symmetrical cores running at 3.2 GHz each
2 hardware threads per core; 6 hardware threads total
1 VMX-128 vector unit per core; 3 total
128 VMX-128 registers per hardware thread
1 MB L2 cache
CPU Game Math Performance 9 billion dot product operations per second

Custom ATI Graphics Processor 500 MHz
10 MB embedded DRAM
48-way parallel floating-point dynamically-scheduled shader pipelines
Unified shader architecture

Polygon Performance 500 million triangles per second
Pixel Fill Rate 16 gigasamples per second fillrate using 4X MSAA
Shader Performance 48 billion shader operations per second

Memory 512 MB GDDR3 RAM
700 MHz DDR
Unified memory architecture

Memory Bandwidth 22.4 GB/s memory interface bus bandwidth
256 GB/s memory bandwidth to EDRAM
21.6 GB/s front-side bus

Overall System Floating-Point Performance 1 TFLOP

Storage Detachable and upgradeable 20 GB hard drive
12X dual-layer DVD-ROM
Memory unit support starting at 64 MB

I/O Support for up to 4 wireless game controllers
3 USB 2.0 ports
2 memory unit slots

Optimized for Online Instant, out-of-the-box access to Xbox Live features, including Xbox Live Marketplace for downloadable content, Gamer Profile for digital identity and voice chat to talk to friends while playing games, watching movies or listening to music
Built in Ethernet Port
Wi-Fi Ready: 802.11 A, B and G
Video Camera Ready

Digital Media Support Support for 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
Stream media from portable music devices, digital cameras, Windows XP PCs
Rip music to Xbox 360 hard drive
Custom playlists in every game
Windows Media Center Extender built in
Interactive, full screen 3D visualizers

HD Game Support All games supported at 16:9, 720p and 1080i, anti-aliasing
Standard definition and high definition video output supported

Audio Multichannel surround sound output
Supports 48 KHz 16-bit audio
320 independent decompression channels
32-bit audio processing
Over 256 audio channels
System Orientation Stands vertically or horizontally
Customizable Face Plates Interchangeable to personalize the console

Don't worry, I'll explain all this techno-crap in a second.
Now the Playstation 3:

Playstation 3

Launch Date - March 2006 (location unknown)

System Specs:
CPU - Cell Processor
PowerPC-base Core @3.2GHz
1 VMX vector unit per core
512KB L2 cache
7 x SPE @3.2GHz
7 x 128b 128 SIMD GPRs
7 x 256KB SRAM for SPE
* 1 of 8 SPEs reserved for redundancy
total floating point performance: 218 GFLOPS

GPU - Nvidia RSX @550MHz
1.8 TFLOPS floating point performance
Full HD (up to 1080p) x 2 channels
Multi-way programmable parallel floating point shader pipelines

Sound
Dolby 5.1ch, DTS, LPCM, etc. (Cell- base processing)

Memory
256MB XDR Main RAM @3.2GHz 256MB GDDR3 VRAM @700MHz
System Bandwidth
Main RAM 25.6GB/s
VRAM 22.4GB/s
RSX 20GB/s (write) + 15GB/s (read)
SB< 2.5GB/s (write) + 2.5GB/s (read)

System Floating Point Performance
2 TFLOPS

Storage
Detachable 2.5" HDD slot x 1
I/O
USB Front x 4, Rear x 2 (USB2.0)
Memory Stick standard/Duo, PRO x 1
SD standard/mini x 1
CompactFlash (Type I, II) x 1
Communication
Ethernet (10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX, 1000BASE-T) x 3 (input x 1 + output x 2)
Wi-Fi IEEE 802.11 b/g
Bluetooth 2.0 (EDR)
Controller
Bluetooth (up to 7)
USB 2.0 (wired)
Wi-Fi (PSP)
Network (over IP)

AV Output
Screen size: 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p
HDMI: HDMI out x 2
Analog: AV MULTI OUT x 1
Digital audio: DIGITAL OUT (OPTICAL) x 1

Disc Media
CD PlayStation CD-ROM, PlayStation 2 CD-ROM, CD-DA, CD-DA (ROM), CD-R, CD-RW, SACD, SACD Hybrid (CD layer), SACD HD, DualDisc, DualDisc (audio side), DualDisc (DVD side)
DVD: PlayStation 2 DVD-ROM, PlayStation 3 DVD-ROM, DVD-Video, DVD-ROM, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW
Blu-ray Disc: PlayStation 3 BD-ROM, BD-Video, BD-ROM, BD-R, BD-RE

Ok, so now that you have those in mind, I'll break all this down.
Just based on the numbers, and not any developer games or titles shown, the PS3 is twice as powerful as the Xbox 360. Despite what you may hear from fanboys or the Microsoft/Sony PR department, the PS3's power will bodyslam the Xbox 360, period.

So, this time Sony has the more powerful system. But what about online? Ok, here's another area that suffers from a common misperception, mainly the alleged fact that more people are on Xbox Live that PS2 Connect. Well, there are 2 million Xbox live users, while Sony number is around 6-8 million. The difference is that Microsoft has a central hub, whereas Sony does not.

The Xbox will upgrade to Live 2.0 for the 360, while Sony plans a similar hub to link it's PS2, PS3 and PSP users. So, once again, stalemate.

Now, the definate area where Microsoft has the advantage is Launch Date, because you'll be able to buy one in the fall...but it won't be backward-compatible with any of your Xbox games. Oops.

Let's get down to something that matters: the games!
The Xbox has many, many publishers lined up and making games for it's new baby, including Rare (Perfect Dark Zero), Bungie (Halo 3), EA (um, everything), Ubisoft (Splinter Cell 4) and others.

On the other hand, EA has also committed to the PS3 platform, as has Ubisoft, as well as the plethora of PS2 exclusives that will all be PS3 exclusives...including Grand Theft Auto (more news coming), Devil May Cry, Metal Gear Solid 4, Final Fantasy and others.

So third-party support is tipped slightly towards the PS3, because the Xbox's exclusives don't measure up to Sony's.
First-party support will be more competitive, due in no small part to the developer talent Microsoft signed up over the past year. However, Sony's studios have consistently invented new, best selling (1 million+) franchises for their parent, and that trend will most likely continue.

As far as the actual game construction, Sony's Blu-ray disc format can hold more data than the HD-DVD format supported by Microsoft, so in theory, developers can pack more content into a PS3 game. However, this is really depends on the developer and their talent.

Now that we've compared them, let go for the bottom line.
Microsoft is launching early to gain a slight foothold in the market before Sony walks in. However, there's a bigger weakness at hand: they've got a less powerful system, with less exclusives, and a reputation to improve in Joe Consumer's eye. They have no choice but to launch now. Which reminds me of another story...

Once upon a time, there was a company called Sega. They put 500 million behind their new system, the Dreamcast, had the most successful launch in history, and promptly got destroyed when Sony launched the PS2 a year later. The success of the PS2 not only killed the Dreamcast, it wiped out Sega as a console maker.
Ironically, the same guy that lead that charge into virtual Little Big Horn is overseeing the Xbox 360 launch. Will history repeat itself? Probably not as bad, Microsoft has billions to lose.

So what should you get? Well, in all honesty, you should wait and see. Support for your current console isn't going anywhere. Get a new TV, and wait a year when both will be out. However, I know which line I'll be standing in..."One PS3 please, thank you."

Till next time...