Xbox360 Vs PS3 Specs

**Spaztic** · 05-17-2005

Nice side by side....

PS3 is more powerful and includes Blu-Ray. I wonder if it will be the same price as the Xbox360?

Link

**mattgame** · 05-17-2005

I thought they were not going to do blue ray, and were going to use a different format. Also I'm no techie, how is the ps3 more powerful?
Another thing Sony is going to charge out of the ass for their console.

**LiquidX** · 05-17-2005

Its more powerful on paper. Basically, it can do more calulations per second. Im wondering what the "256MB XDR @ 3.2GHz" is and how it could help with gaming.

IMO, the cell chip is hype. I dont remember readinganything from developers but I would think a new type of processor would be hard to program for until about a year or two into its use.

**mattgame** · 05-17-2005

More calculations per second means tighter graphics and smoother gameplay?

**Spaztic** · 05-17-2005

The big problem I see with the ps3 is that programmers haven't really used the cell chip as a processor in gaming. Yeah, it can do 2 teraflops but that is a spec Sony has provided and then they provide no info on how they got it. In any college logic class, sonys statement would be illogical.

Having a lack of experence with hardware can kill a games innovation. What good is 2 teraflops if programmers only know how to use 1/10th of it. Sony hands down has better hardware but are they going to provide programming tools that allow developers to exploit the hardware or is it going to be up to the developers to find out for themselves? Microsoft has been very upfront about creating tools that make game development easy and drive costs down during production. If Sony dosn't anwser with a solution more and more developers will be forced jump to Xbox 360.

**mattgame** · 05-17-2005

Shaggy you are pure genius. So we may still beat Sony down because they are going to be too costly to develop for right?

**TRSundown** · 05-17-2005

Originally Posted by LiquidX-XBA

Its more powerful on paper. Basically, it can do more calulations per second. Im wondering what the "256MB XDR @ 3.2GHz" is and how it could help with gaming.

Even thought X-Box 360 has 512 MB of memory it only runs at 700MHz... This limits the speed at which the processor can access that memory.

With the PS3 memory being only half that of the X-Box 360 most would see it as a disadvantage but the PS3 processor can access the memory at 3.2GHz... or almost 5 times per every 1 time on the X-Box. This is a massive advantage for the PS3.

SHAGGY... Your right. The programmers are on a harder learning curve than with the new X-Box BUT... they also have more power to work with. I can almost guarantee you that PS3 developers are working over time to be up on their learning curve and will be turning out games just as fast as X-Box.

My main concern is that if the PS3 has a new processor will it be backwards compatible with the old PS games.

**mattgame** · 05-17-2005

[QUOTE=TRSundown]

Originally Posted by LiquidX-XBA

Its more powerful on paper. Basically, it can do more calulations per second. Im wondering what the "256MB XDR @ 3.2GHz" is and how it could help with gaming.\QUOTE]

Even thought X-Box 360 has 512 MB of memory it only runs at 700MHz... This limits the speed at which the processor can access that memory.

With the PS3 memory being only half that of the X-Box 360 most would see it as a disadvantage but the PS3 processor can access the memory at 3.2GHz... or almost 5 times per every 1 time on the X-Box. This is a massive advantage for the PS3.

SHAGGY... Your right. The programmers are on a harder learning curve than with the new X-Box BUT... they also have more power to work with. I can almost guarantee you that PS3 developers are working over time to be up on their learning curve and will be turning out games just as fast as X-Box.

My main concern is that if the PS3 has a new processor will it be backwards compatible with the old PS games.

They said it will be compatible all the way back to the ps1. So the ps3 is the better system?

skorp · 05-17-2005

It's hard to compare both system's when they're running new technology... It's just hard to say.

The one thing that makes me wonder is....

What will be the Japanese (and whoever else) excuse this time when they try to use hardware size as an issue, with the X360 listed at 10.25" x 2.5" in dimension to PS3's 13.5" x 3.25" in comparison?

**X-Fan** · 05-17-2005

yes but the xbox360 will have a year head start over the ps3 and you know what happened last time when an inferior console got a head start on a harware wise superior console *cough* xbox/ps2 *cough* .

**LynxFX** · 05-17-2005

As for programming, the Unreal folks got the Unreal Engine up and running in less than 2 months. They specifically said it was very easy to program for, so that probably puts those worries to rest. That appears to have been a big issue with both X2 and PS3, getting a platform that is universally easy to program for. It appears both have succeded, going by what has been seen and said.

I gotta say though, the Cell has lived up to the hype in what it can do for video. Decoding 12 HD streams at once! Your average PC has trouble with one and your top of the line PC can do 2, maybe 3. That's impressive.

**techie** · 05-17-2005

There are pros and cons to both systems. To a certain point
they almost cancel each other out and become equal. I think
that this time around most people will either buy a system
due to loyalty and/or games as opposed to who has the most
horsepower under the cover.

From a strickly technicial standpoint the PS3 is the better system.

However, better is relative.

With new technology it will take time for programmers to learn to
use the potential that the PS3 has to offer. Most likely what you
are going to see is only the better developers with some of the
best programmers are going to be turning out games with the "WOW"
factor. Also I believe you will see longer developement cycles for
games that going to be designed to impress unless Sony provides
a better developement kit to make it easier to program with. But then
again, maybe they already have.

**Spaztic** · 05-17-2005

Originally Posted by techie

There are pros and cons to both systems. To a certain point
they almost cancel each other out and become equal. I think
that this time around most people will either buy a system
due to loyalty and/or games as opposed to who has the most
horsepower under the cover.

From a strickly technicial standpoint the PS3 is the better system.

However, better is relative.

With new technology it will take time for programmers to learn to
use the potential that the PS3 has to offer. Most likely what you
are going to see is only the better developers with some of the
best programmers are going to be turning out games with the "WOW"
factor. Also I believe you will see longer developement cycles for
games that going to be designed to impress unless Sony provides
a better developement kit to make it easier to program with. But then
again, maybe they already have.

I agree, we will probably see better games on the xbox360 sooner, but ps3 has better potential. Honestly it comes down to what games you want to play. Both are really similar. I am curious what Sony expects to charge for this thing? It has to pretty expensive...

**X-Fan** · 05-17-2005

Originally Posted by Shaggy

I agree, we will probably see better games on the xbox360 sooner, but ps3 has better potential. Honestly it comes down to what games you want to play. Both are really similar. I am curious what Sony expects to charge for this thing? It has to pretty expensive...

I dont think sony would be able to lose as much money on each console as MS can. so i think it will be atleast 50 dollars more than the xbox 360's launch price.

**LynxFX** · 05-17-2005

Yeah game development time is going to be interesting. There were some titles that took 3+ years on the Xbox, and some even scrapped after that amount of time (some say due to limitations with the current hardware).

The launch titles from both systems will really show what can be done in short development cycles taking into concideration that the first gen will also have that learning curve. I don't think the X2 or PS3 has an advantage with the learning curve. They both are on new architectures. Even though the powerpc chips are in Macs, you don't see games being developed for that platform, only ports which have always shown to take quite a bit of time.

Hopefully with strong game engines such as Unreal 3 engine will free up a lot of dev time.

Launch times will be under 6 months apart, so any extra time the PS3 devs have, won't be much.

**mattgame** · 05-17-2005

I know that microsoft designed this system to be developer friendly, meaning easier to use and make a profit off of right? So ps3 is going for the more powerful system so they will catch a lot of people who go for the eye candy.

My thing is I think microsoft will lead this gen war because their online capabilites. I think they are going to blow ps3 away with that.

**LynxFX** · 05-17-2005

We still haven't heard anything about Sony's online plans have we? I don't recall anything about it in their keynote, at least not covering multiplayer.

From what we have seen MS has the best online plan, but still nothing I would pay for. If Sony gives online play for free, I think that would be a big blow to MS even if their service is better.

**MixMasta** · 05-17-2005

Originally Posted by LynxFX

We still haven't heard anything about Sony's online plans have we? I don't recall anything about it in their keynote, at least not covering multiplayer.

From what we have seen MS has the best online plan, but still nothing I would pay for. If Sony gives online play for free, I think that would be a big blow to MS even if their service is better.

They annouced a few things though, I think video chat and messaging. Let me find an article.

EDIT: Something I find really interesting:
Dimensions About 13.5" x 3.25" About 10.25" x 2.5"

The PS3 is larger than the Xbox 360. So how will the Japanese react to this, since they complained about the Xbox's size before? With Square on board, things are looking bright for the Xbox 360 in Japan.

**techie** · 05-17-2005

Price on the PS3 is going to be a tough one to figure out.

Sony has two new technologies plus a new proprietary dev
kit that will need to be figured into the price. Anytime
you have new technology, there is usually the associated
high price for early adaptors involved. Most companies
will charge a high price in the beginning knowing that only
the people who either want bleeding edge technology or
the bragging rights will spend the money to have their
product. This provides two things in general, revenue to
continue putting out the product and time for the majority
of people to accept the product and begin to purchase
allowing the price to come down as volume is increased.

Sony is different in a couple of respects.

Sony has never given their technology away, you pay for
it.

This time around they have a alternative reason for wanting
the PS3 to succeed, high definition video. Sony has already
invested a lot of money into Blue-Ray and purchased several
major studio video libraries. Sony alone now has the single
largest video library in the world. If they can put out the PS3
at a price point that will allow them to quickly saturate the market
then they will have the ability to push Blue-Ray as the HD
standard due to a large installed base of Blue-Ray capable
products.

Price high or price low, either way it will be a gamble on Sony's part.