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PS3 vs. Xbox 360
The Guardian Gamesblog has a point by point breakdown of the Xbox 360 and PS3 spec sheets, comparing and contrasting the two consoles based on what we know about them so far. In the end, they come to the rational conclusion that for gamers what will end up deciding the battle is the gameplay. From the article: "We've pretty well reached the point of complexity with dual analogue sticks, analogue triggers and four face buttons, so while you can expect to see more content in terms of things happening, not much originality was on display. Gameplay advances will come from peripherals and Sony really showed that off with their kooky EyeToy games. Nothing wrong with controlling two bondage-clad Japanese spy chicks via videoconfering in my mind :)"
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"Gameplay advances will come from peripherals and Sony really showed that off with their kooky EyeToy games."
We know this because NES ROB and Zapper were so darn successful at shaping gameplay for the next 20 years after their introduction.
Yes, that's sarcasim. Perhaps gameplay advances will come from a new theme once in a while. I don't wanna be a space marine any more.
"Isn't it a little premature to be doing comparisons on these?!?!"
Is it even worth comparing them based on graphical prowess? The PS2 is significantly inferior to the XBOX when it comes to graphics, but its game library is far richer. It is for that reason alone I have a PS2 and not an XBOX.
"Derp de derp."
In case you don't read this old article.
You know, one from when people were so excited about all the USB ports and the Firewire port and the PCMCIA port on the PS2, how it could render Toy Story in real-time and movie studios were looking at using them for render farms. Where it would be easy to edit home movies on the PS2. And how it was HD compatible so you could play all your games in HD.
Or how Sony stated that the PS2 would be a viable entertainment platform for 10 years.
Does anyone actually expect the PS3 to ship with the 255 different ports on the thing that the E3 demo one had? I sure as hell don't. I expect the PS3 that is sold to be a substantially different machine. The Xbox 360, however, will be little changed.
"You know your god is man-made when he hates all the same people you do."
It took me forever to buy an Xbox. I wanted one, but every time I went to the store, I'd stare and the box and just feel compelled not to buy it. No problem buying games though.
Nintendo, hell yeah I'd buy it. Sony, yeah, what the hell. M$...eh, not so much.
"or maybe it really is only 2-3x more powerful than the cube." .. a 3rd possibility is that they're simply using a different scale. One of the common comments made about the XBOX 360 screens is that it looks like the same number of polys but with normal mapping and some shadows. To a gamer, that doesn't look like 10x the power, especially when some XBOX games already do shadows.
"Derp de derp."
I'm surprised that the article didn't really compare (in any detail) the online strategies of these two companies. The Xbox's more fully integrated Live service is a real draw to those who do any significant amount of their gaming online. The fact that Sony (as far as I can tell) mentioned just about nothing regarding any integrated online services for the PS3) is pretty amazing... Also, their HD comparison didn't note that games for the 360 are mandated to run @ 720P. The PS3 having 1080P (very rare on any HD TV most of us could afford) might be of strategic importance a few years down the road when those sets are more common, but right now it's an empty spec. I don't know, maybe it's just me but I never really have any faith in either the console manufacturers' hardware claims or these early light reviews. I'm just waiting for John Carmack to weigh in before I'll believe anything.