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Wednesday August 23, 2006 3:59 pm
Why PS2 Succeeded, and Why PS3 Will Fail
The Sony PlayStation 2 had a lot of things going for it when it launched in October of 2000. It would launch more than a year before Nintendo’s GameCube console, a head start that proved to extend the lifespan of the console far longer than the usual five years. Normally, launching a game console outside of that five-year cycle spelled disaster (just ask Sega), Sony managed to make it work, but it wasn’t by virtue of their games. The launch lineup for the PS2 was laughable, and would not improve for the majority of that first year. No, the PS2 sold for one reason and one reason only: including DVD movie playback cheaper than a dedicated DVD player.
At the time of the PS2 launch, a home DVD player retailed for about $399. Sony was selling the PS2 for $299, taking a significant loss on the hardware and expecting to make it up on software sales (often described as the standard game industry model, despite Nintendo not following that model themselves). For the first year, Sony was taking an absolute bath on the PS2 hardware, since the initial software selection was pitiful, yet the installed user base for the machine would pay dividends in the years to come, allowing Sony to secure many exclusives.
Not only was DVD playback a huge success for Sony and the PlayStation 2, but it was one of the factors that put DVD on the map, pushing hardware prices down and forcing many of the studios not convinced about the viability of the format to bow to consumer pressure. So it came as little surprise that Sony would announce years later that they would again release a game console featuring a new movie playback format at a price significantly less than the existing hardware. This time, however, Sony is the primary player for that movie format, and has a vested interest in its future. If lightning were to strike twice, Sony would come out as an unstoppable force.
However, while all the planets were aligned with Sony the first time around, six years later the outlook is not as positive. There are several factors at work against Sony, some they are powerless to control, and it is these same factors that will likely put Sony in a losing position.
- No early mover advantage. Sony was the first out of the gate with PlayStation 2 (Sega launched Dreamcast between generations), but this time they’ll have been beaten to market by Microsoft and Nintendo both.
- Extremely expensive. While PlayStation 2 launched at a relatively high $299, it was still at a reasonable price point compared to other console launches. Microsoft was widely criticized for launching the Xbox 360 at $399, but Sony will double their own price point for the PS3 at $599. (I’m intentionally ignoring lower priced configurations for “crippled” hardware.) No console selling for such a high price point has ever been a success in the marketplace.
- Blu-Ray has competition. When DVD was released, there was no competing high-end video format. Blu-Ray was beaten to market by HD-DVD (by just about a month), eliminating the first-mover advantage in the video space. Blu-Ray has been criticized for poor video playback compared to HD DVD (though this may just be an early hardware issue), not to mention that HD DVD discs are less expensive to produce. It seems Sony hasn’t learned much from their Betamax days. Regardless, if consumers bet on HD DVD over Blu-Ray, they could go running to Microsoft’s Xbox 360 instead of PS3. It’s possible that some consumers might see BluRay and the PS3 as a whole as a “future investment” (a line of thought Sony is actively encouraging), but it’s an incredibly risky strategy.
- PS3 requires significant additional investment. While it’s laudable for Sony to appeal to the videophiles and technologically adept, for either video games or high-definition movie playback, you’ll need a significant investment in display hardware … you’ll need an HDTV. While Microsoft has touted their HD capabilities, movie playback and even gaming looks fine on regular TVs, and still superior to existing competition. For PlayStation 3, many of the features heavily emphasized by Sony (such as 1080p) require the use of HDTV to see additional benefit. BluRay looks no better than DVD on a standard definition TV, making that price tag even more painful to deal with when substitute products are available at significantly lower prices.
- No “wow” factor. When PS2 was first shown to the public, the excitement was palpable. PS2 was such an obvious improvement graphically that it was a no-brainer where you would go for “next-generation” games. When PS3 was finally revealed at the last (and I mean last) E3, the general consensus was, “Meh.” Graphically, it’s difficult to tell the difference between PS3 and Xbox 360 graphics, and in some cases, it was stated that the Xbox 360 games looked better, as developers had a year head start to work around the system. Without some other compelling feature (such as the unique controller for Nintendo’s Wii console), gaming does not have a visual improvement on the PS3. Every gamer knows that graphics are not the end-all, be-all of games, but they are a major factor and one that is working against Sony’s favor.
- The loss of exclusives. Already, word is coming out that developers are hedging their bets and releasing what were supposed to be exclusive PS3 launch titles on Xbox 360 and/or Wii. Microsoft made significant waves at E3 when Peter Moore announced Grand Theft Auto 4 would be on Xbox 360 with episodic content (through Xbox Live). It seems that every month, more titles are added to the list of PlayStation 3 games that are cancelled, usually in favor of an Xbox 360 version.
- No innovation. Another major criticism of Sony’s E3 announcements were the apparent “me too” attitude, showing off a motion-sensitive controller in a cheap attempt to steal some thunder from Nintendo’s Wii (which went on to win Best in Show), and the revelation that they will have a similar system to Xbox Live’s Achievements called “Entitlements” (apparently oblivious to the connotation that moniker elicits).
Sony is clearly behind the eight-ball, and it’s very tough to see why analysts are predicting Sony to be the winner in this console race. With a deck stacked so clearly against it, Sony is relying on backwards compatability and desirability to drive sales, seemingly oblivious to complaints about the price. While stranger things have happened, it’s highly unlikely that Sony will be able to fend off Xbox 360 and Wii without significant advantages that simply don’t exist this generation. You know that the outlook is less than stellar when the editor of the Official PlayStation Magazine comes out on her blog to address these very same issues, stating that she won’t be buying a PS3 of her own.
- Related Tags:
- editorial, failure, hd dvd, playstation 2, ps2
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Comments:
Knight
8/23/06 3:41 pm
Rob - You’re just an xbox fanboy, nuff’ said. I heard things the other way around, it’s obvious you’re just picking the negativity about the PS3 and making it to your own assumption.
I wouldn’t take this guy seriously and I’ll be laughing in your face when the PS3 does well. *LOL*
Ken
8/23/06 4:16 pm
I agreed with Knight.
THE FIRST MOVER not necessary get benefits, Quality DOES matter.
Personally I wouldn’t buy X360 which is using DVD9, because I want my game console to be HD movies ready. (Heard a not-yet-identify news that Microsoft will have add-on HD-DVD player, so how much it will cost for a CHEAPER game console X360 + a add-on HD-DVD player? I guess it would be MORE expensive than a PS3)
More importantly, I think blue-ray will win the DVD war. Because I really doubt that a 30GB-HD-DVD (dual-layer) is enough to hold a 2 hrs HD movie(1080i), unless manufacturer can make it reaches the THEORY capacity of 48 - 50 GB…
On the other hand, blue-ray is capable of holding HD movie right from the beginning (Dual-layer = 50GB), and Theory capacity go as much as 200GB.
Blue-Ray will lose the war? May be, but NOT to HD-DVD… My opinion is the HD-DVD will fake out soon due to the nature of its capacity. And another newer disc-technology will come out and compete with blue-ray… 
Rob Stevens
8/23/06 4:30 pm
First, HD-DVD has already proven capable of handling movie content, and the early reviews comparing BluRay v. HD-DVD versions of the same film are all suggesting that the HD-DVD versions are superior. Perhaps things will change down the road, but if HD-DVD gains ground before BluRay gets these issues settled, it won’t matter. Storage capacity is really irrelevant right now, and your information about the theoretical capacity of BluRay is wrong. Upper limit for BluRay is 50GB, HD-DVD is 40GB (IIRC). The concerns about HD-DVD not being able to hold a full film are baseless.
As for the cost of adding HD-DVD to Xbox 360, most people are still watching movies on DVD. I think many would chose to buy a console they can watch movies on now, and not want to pay more for technology they might not be able to fully benefit from. Plus, there’s the idea that since you would purchase the Xbox 360 first, and probably buy the HD-DVD add-on down the road, the cost of the Xbox 360 is “sunk”, meaning that since you’ve already paid for it, the cost doesn’t factor in.
Yes, I’m a fan of the Xbox 360. I’d be a fan of the PS3 as well if the price were closer to that of the Xbox 360, but the reality is, I could buy an Xbox 360 and four games for the price of the PS3 alone. (And if I were a Wii-man, I could get a Wii and SIX games, or even an Xbox360 and a Wii.) But that doesn’t mean that my analysis is in any way biased or flawed.
I will say this ... if this argument were solely about HD movies, it would be a much closer deal. Xbox 360 and an HD-DVD add-on would cost roughly the same as a standalone HD-DVD player, while the PS3 is $400 cheaper than an equivalent BluRay player. That’s quite significant. The problem is that while DVD could be enjoyed fully by anyone right away, both HD formats require an HDTV, making cost very much an issue.
If the argument is about games, and I’m certain that it will be, the fact is that the Xbox 360 is cheaper, plays regular DVDs just fine, and already has a year head start in software. The advantages that made PS2 so successful just don’t exist this time around.
munkyxtc
8/23/06 5:00 pm
I think PS3 will sell a fair amount of units, but it’s not going to win this round...honestly I’d be suprised if it outsold the Wii; Sony turned alot of people off with the price tag; while yes MS is going to be releasing the HD-DVD add-on later at an undisclosed price that was probably the better move. Personally I’m content with DVD content; I have over 600 movies in my collection and I have no need to make them obsolete already. MS saved the consumers from the high cost of being an early adopter; a chance Sony doesn’t offer us consumers [since the expensive blu-ray drive is in every shipped unit]. If sony brought out a dvd based system and later added a Blu-Ray add-on later in the fashion MS is approaching this I’d be more willing to pick up the PS3. The $600 price tag is just a bit extreme; until you buy a system a game and an extra controller and mem card you’ll be in about $1000. That’s quite a chunk of change to drop on a system right out of the gates for a technology that hasn’t proved itself and obviously has not been declared the ‘winner’ in the new HD movie battle. In a couple of years should HD-DVD come out on top you now have a system that has a technology that will never be supported; just look @ the PSP; while the games are great, UMD movies were quickly yanked from shelves for poor sales.
Oh, and on that note I don’t trust Blu-Ray for the simple fact it has built in license management capabilities. ..the restrictions this could impose not only in the videogame market but in the movie market could be extremely high.
Knight
8/23/06 5:02 pm
Okay Rob, it’s obvious you haven’t heard much positive news about the Playstation 3. Just to clarify, Ken is correct that the maximum capacity of Blu-ray can reach up to 200 gigabytes, this has been already done by TDK (I believe) which is still in the beta testings. That is 8 layers, since Blu-ray is such a strong laser, it can read up many more layers then a HD-DVD laser.
Have you heard the news about Resistance: Fall of Man lately? Let me tell you, the games makers are stating that the game currently takes up 22 gigabytes which can only be done on Blu-ray compared to HD-DVD referring to the most basic discs. Also, what you see in this game can only be done on a Playstation 3 (thanks to the Cell processor) and I’ve seen the videos, it looks insane!
Top developers like Konami, Eidos, Epic Games… have already stated that Playstation is a beast! Kojima (VP of Konami) stated that the Playstation 3 is like a movie theater, the XBOX 360 is like a DVD player and the Wii is like a TV. Eidos (director) said that PS3 is clearly the best spec machine as far as next-gen goes. Top developer from Epic Games said even though the PS3 is hard to program, it’s clearly more powerful then the XBOX 360.
The only disappointment I see for the PS3 is the lack of rumble feature on their controllers. I surely hope Sony adds this back before the release date as consumers and developers are also disappointed and I know this decision was mainly due to politcal reasons (lawsuit from Immersions). Hopefully both parties will find a agreement and get rumble pack back on!
munkyxtc
8/23/06 5:13 pm
Knight, I’m not being a fanboy, but I need to point this out from your last post:
-- “Top developers like Konami, Eidos, Epic Games… have already stated that Playstation is a beast! Kojima (VP of Konami) stated that the Playstation 3 is like a movie theater, the XBOX 360 is like a DVD player and the Wii is like a TV. Eidos (director) said that PS3 is clearly the best spec machine as far as next-gen goes. Top developer from Epic Games said even though the PS3 is hard to program, it’s clearly more powerful then the XBOX 360. “ --
It’s obvious that PS3 will have better/updated hardware specs. If you buy a computer today [or any electronic for that matter] today, and wait 365 days, go back to the store and tell me what has happened to the price? What has happened to the specs?
The answer is going to be this: The process is faster, it has a bigger cache, the HD is bigger, there is more RAM; the video is better; the software is better AND THE PRICE IS COMPARABLE.
Lets face it, gaming systems today are just fancily packages computers. As time goes on and technology gets better, and we can produce parts faster the cost drops; in the case of this ‘console war’ PS3 releases nearly a year later and the 360; yet the cost is 50% more expensive [when comparing the premiums editions]—now logic would tell me that the cost of technology dropping over the last year should bring the base cost of the hardware down on the PS3; while adding blu-ray & HDMI etc will tack a bit onto the sticker making them comparable in price; this is the problem with Sony’s price structure.
And on that note: Before you call me out for being a fanboy as you did to Rob; I’ve been waiting on Wii, Nintendo is my all-time favorite.
MrGoalie
8/23/06 5:39 pm
Rob,
I thought that your reporting would be a little less biased than that found on the XBox 360 website… but I was wrong… this article “smacks” of trying to influence and create your proposed doom of PS3 - but you are not a true technophile as you have several mis-statements including HD-DVD’s being better than Blu-Ray DVD’s… almost every reviewer calls it a tie or an essential tie - as there are very few DVD’s that are available today in both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray and the bottom line is that some older movies just don’t look that hot in High Def. I should know as I have a 61” HD Pioneer Elite Plasma, a new 50” HD Pioneer Elite Plasma, a 42” HD Runco LCD and a standard 36” Sony Digital CRT, not to mention a 23” Sony Bravia LCD, 4 HD-Tivo’s and about 2 Tb’s worth of HD Movie Recordings… I KNOW High Def! And the big advantage is that the Sony Blu-Ray Sets crank out TRUE 1080P which is amazing!!!!! That is why the extra price… HD-DVD’s aren’t capable of that yet - so there is a difference - on the right viewing device!
Now as to your lack of knowledge about HDTV sales - it is phenominal - Unit sales for the month of August reached 328,838 units, up 10 percent from the same period in 2003. Dollar sales, which totaled over $479 million, were up seven percent from August 2003. In year-to-date totals, unit sales have reached 2.38 million and dollar sales were more than $3.3 billion.
The population is quickly adopting HDTV and Sony will be there!! The other major item is CONTENT and Sony was no dummy when they purchased the Record/CD Vaults and the Movie Vaults - that is the major key for the Blu-Ray Success they have the ready made Movie Libraries that may only be available ob Blu-Ray! Smart Cookies! This coupled with their location free Video Viewing ( a tie in for the PSP!!!) they are driving the video world forward - and they will use the PS3 as another extension of the Home Media Center Concept - hey don’t forget - they license MS OS as well! No Rob - your arguments are week and too biased by your love of the Xbox.... Worse case a draw--- But Sony has the Brand recognition from the Video World… Nice Try!!!
Lee
8/23/06 5:55 pm
Well I am not a fanboy of xbox nor playstation; I am just a casual gamer.
As far as I know, I have no intention getting a ps3 with a price tag of $600.
I am sure it’s a better machine than ps2. However, the improvement doesn’t justify the addtional x.y.z amount of money I have to spend. Blue Ray is good, but I don’t think any TV under 52 in would take any advantage of such new technology.
Wellinformed
8/23/06 7:29 pm
Point #2: “No console selling for such a high price point has ever been a success in the marketplace.”
You could say the same for the PS2 and the Xbox 360 before they launched. Anytime there is something new in the maketplace for a higher price than anything before it, you can make that statement.
Point #3: “Blu-Ray was beaten to market by HD-DVD (by just about a month)...”
It was about 2 months.
“Blu-Ray has been criticized for poor video playback compared to HD DVD (though this may just be an early hardware issue), not to mention that HD DVD discs are less expensive to produce.”
It WAS a firware issue. Also, a few studios have temporarily decided to use MPEG2 encoding on the single layer BD-ROM which is only 25GB (HD-DVD movies are almost totally released on 30GB - a temporary advantage). Yes, it is more expensive to PRODUCE Blu-ray discs (right now...this does not hold true over time), but not to buy them.
Point #4: “...you’ll need a significant investment in display hardware … you’ll need an HDTV. While Microsoft has touted their HD capabilities, movie playback and even gaming looks fine on regular TVs, and still superior to existing competition. For PlayStation 3, many of the features heavily emphasized by Sony (such as 1080p) require the use of HDTV to see additional benefit.”
Isn’t this the very definition of “Next-Gen” console (anything else doesn’t qualify as a “Next-Gen” product). It is prepared for what you will add in your home. It gives you options the Xbox 360 just can’t (especially at that price point)! Is this not logical for a “Next-Gen” product? Maybe certain people can’t see anything but the immediate future. And when was $100 more a “significant additional investment” when compared to the HD-DVD add-on with the Xbox 360 price of at least $500 (without the 20GB hard drive=no online play)?
“You know that the outlook is less than stellar when the editor of the Official PlayStation Magazine comes out on her blog to address these very same issues, stating that she won’t be buying a PS3 of her own.”
I think that just shows how much she doesn’t know about the PS3’s internal workings and/or how easily she cracks under pressure. Microsoft is giving Sony serious competition. Microsoft is using every bit of misinformation and advertising trick known to man right now. The truth is that the PS3 in truly a “Next-Gen” console ready for anything the future can throw at it. The Xbox 360 is a “Now-Gen” console that is built for the known (not considering unknowns) and not giving all the options one deserves to have.
PS3’s baseline product, at $500, is still more equiped than the $400 premium Xbox system with the $200 HD-DVD add-on (total $600 for Xbox 360)! That is a fact and not an opinion! Look it up. 
Bob
8/23/06 9:33 pm
Comparing the 60GB PS3 with the premium Xbox 360 is like comparing apples and oranges. So comparing the prices of these two platform “configurations” make no sense.
The premium Xbox 360 is more comparable to the 20GB PS3, with the 20GB PS3 shipping with a Blu-Ray player. Note that unlike the core XBox 360, the “entry-level” PS3 includes:
- wireless controller
- 20GB hard-drive
- Blu-ray drive
LinuxJackal
8/23/06 10:04 pm
Don’t under estimate how well the PS3 will do. It will be the hottest item this holiday season and will be in a “sell out” status at least till the late spring or early summer. A friend of mine who is a Manager at BEST BUY has told me that people are ready to pre-order the PS3 and are asking if they are taking pre-orders. The best selling console right now (Aug 2006) is the PS2, that is right the PS2 not the Xbox360. With such a huge base of PS2 out there many gamers who have the PS2 will also pick up the PS3.
Most stores I go into today have Xbox360 on their shelves and a lot of people are saying that the sales of the 360 have “flat-lined”. The PS3 will take a while to catch up to the sales of the Xbox360 but it should be done within a couple of years. The PS3 will win this round since it is the better machine (even though it is expensive, but so was the PS2 at launch) and most PS2 will not switch to the Xbox360 just to save some money.
I have a Xbox360 and also plan to by a PS3 a launch (if I can get my hands on one).
mnmnmnmn
8/23/06 11:22 pm
How is the $500 PS3 “crippled”?
“PS3 requires significant additional investment” - Nonsense! I plan to get the $600 PS3 and use on my plain old TV set. There is a lot more to the PS3 than high-res. I will eventually upgrade to HDTV, but not this year.
And unlike the 360, the $600 PS3 has WiFi, next-gen DVD, card reader, large HD, full backward compatibilty, and online gaming support included at no extra charge. On the 360, the WiFi costs $100 extra, the online gaming costs $50 per year extra, and the next-gen DVD costs who knows how much extra. If you want _any_ of those options the PS3 is a better deal.
“Blu-Ray has competition” - True, but it’s still a benefit. Some people really don’t want Blu-Ray at all but I believe most people think it’s at least a nice-to-have extra on top of the games. And there are some who think it’s a great bonus. And, there is the benefit of extra game storage.
“The loss of exclusives” - The PS3 still has a way better lineup of exclusives than 360. Even the PS2 has better exclusives this year which are all fully compatible with PS3.
bored
8/23/06 11:24 pm
this is pathetic that i have to keep reading about how the ps3 is doomed because i got a few hours to kill each night. its very seldom that i actually get to read an article without someones “sony must die” mentality painted all over it. i have done my share of research, and i am lucky enough to have a 1080i flat screen tv, so i plan on taking advantage of the the next gen media abilities of the ps3. Last generation the xbox had the better graphics but it has always seemed that the games were evenly matched, which is fine. now in the current gen war sony has come through with what i feel is what we would expect from a giant technology company like sony is. a in home gaming system that provides consumers with cutting edge technology. if production prices were a big deal we would all still be playing atari, because no one would have gone the step up to NES. not to mention ps3 is only 100 dollars more than the xbos, and gives you about 300 dollars in upgrades (i.e. wi-fi, blue tooth, media attachments) im just tired of this, i feel every point of concern i have heard is easily refutted and in most cases is a positive. ok enough soap boxin.
blu-ray holds many times the amount of data as a hd-dvd, thus more high definition video. point sony
hdmi and 1080p support point sony
free online, wi-fi ready, and the most advanced console in history priceless
masi
8/23/06 11:50 pm
PS2 launch in 2000/01. Weak launch line up,expensive, developers complained it was too hard to make games for. 5 to 6 years later - 100 million ps2 sold.PS3 maybe expensive but in couple of years time, price will mena nothing as it will have dropped.ps3 is a long term investment. You only named one exclusive lost by sony.Which others? this is why I never read fanboys’ articles.You should warn us next time. Prick!!!
dave
8/24/06 1:25 am
even if the ps3 games look like the xbox 360 games, ther ps3 version will be better. developers have more room on the disk, more options, the cell chip that they can use in any way, they can push limits with the 1080p, and they dont have to worrie about the game flikering or chopping because the cell chip has that 8th spe made just for that. sony will win. nintendo second. xbox will last 2 years.
maemotaku
8/24/06 3:05 am
I get the distinct impression that the author was not playing videogames nor watching DVDs back in the late 90s.
DVD players were already under $200 when the PS2 launched. I had 3 of them. The crappy DVD playback of the PS2 hardly put DVD on the map.
All major studios had been releasing titles since 1997. The competing disc format that DVD whooped was called Laserdisc. VHS was already going the way of the dodo bird.
The Dreamcast WAS the first “nex-gen” system. It’s failure was caused by its weak game library, its poor console launch history (Saturn) and the gaming public waiting for the PS2. The console war back in 1998-2000 was DC vs PS2.
Sony is not the “primary player” for Blu-ray movies. Samsung, Pioneer, and Panasonic are also making players.
The success of the PS2 was not a “lightning strike” or “planetary alignment”. The success of the PS and PS2 platforms obliterated Sega’s console business and shat out Nintendo’s last 2 attempts at a game system. Now Nintendo has given up trying to be #1 and settling for being a “second console”.
Why would I buy a new console just to play Mario Kart and Wave Race again? eBay!!!
Trust me, every PS3 manufactured will fly off the shelf by the millions. By this time next year even Universal movies will be on Blu-ray.
RE Some
8/24/06 5:03 am
I myself am not bothered about the prices of the 3 consoles. In my opinion if the ps3 came out 1st I would have got it. I’m glad it didn’t as I wasn’t impressed with the press conferences. don’t get me wrong I have nothing against sony (there mobile phones anyway) I did plan to get all 3 consoles but unless sony improves or has ideas of it’s own (there online play and motion sensor controller imho stolen from ms & nintendo) is a bad move....
John
8/24/06 6:31 am
Why are you ignoring the lower price point? thats the one im getting, the higher priced one doesnt have any extras id use. i dont care about the dvd format war but as far as games go blu ray is a hell of a lot better than standard dvds and developers have already reported that they are taking full advantage of the extra space. the reason ps3 titles are being cancelled is because the ps3 isnt out yet and developers want to release their games now. sony are just releasing the ps3 at the high price point to take full advantage of the sony fanboys who will pay any prics for a playstation. once they all have theirs the price will fall and ordinary joes will start to buy it, mainly because of the bigger games and the multimedia factor.
user203
8/24/06 7:02 am
Oh please, you people sadden me. If it were up to you we would still be watching movies on VHS because “DVDs” are to “risky” of a bet.
BluRay is the Future, PS3 is the future....get it through your heads.
The only thing xbox fans are capable of is bad mouthing superior technology in a sad pathetic attempt to envoke confidence in their 360.
IchitheKiller77
8/24/06 8:46 am
look people XBOX is best. We all know that. XBOX live is better. Your online service is free, but WHO is going to pay for the servers?? Its going to take a bad ass server to run such “great games” as you would call it, and some one has to pay for it. Unless you get a shity server and have lagg all the time. Second PC’s and XBOX 360 can join and play against each other!!!!!!!!!!!! OMFG can you do that with your shitstation3???.. hell no!!! with XBOX you can even see if your friends are online on any PC via Windows Live Messenger !!!!!!! Thirdly: Hackers ShitStation3 is a hacker whore. meaning sence its runing on linux and has some web surfing programm you can get a virus.. whait a minute didnt PSP got one???....yes it did!!!!! So not only that but to get a virus in a machine that is +600 $$$USD I would hate it!!! and sure its gona have some type of protection but it will be hacked!!! So think about that before buying a PS3, not jsut that but thier will be modders cuse of the OS ps3 is running on.. so good luck at having a fair online game!!!
Ichithekiller77
8/24/06 9:26 am
I forgot to mention NOT everyone is RICH and can afford to have all that fancy big ass T.V. and as gas price goes higher and jobs go to other countires… good luck at paying for all that ####… I thik that at the end of the day your gona end up working all day long to pay for that stuff and never got to actually use it. HD DVD and DVD look the same to me when i go to best-buy no diference thier. and all you Sony fan boys should be disepointed on how PS3 is simply coping what Wii and xbox live is doing!!! i am currently stuck with a XBOX and unable to upgrade to a XBOX 360 because of my lack of money… and me as well as probably 90% of the human population are on the same problem “money”. XBOX:simple, fun, great,AFFORDABLE, and has “GTA 4” and not to mention the game to kill PS3 “(***HALO 3***)” thats right the one game to take down a CONSOLE HALO 3… its gona be here and when it comes gaming will never be the same.. just like on Nov.4 2004. The reason that XBoX 360 is not selling so well is because of the economy… but this christmas im getting ONE.. and think about parents.. will they spend OVER 600$$$ USD to buy thier kids a video game or 299$ USD becase the 360 price is do to go down this christmas????? parents have bills to pay and food to buy.. .so think about it
napalmdest55
8/24/06 10:55 am
For all those people that believe PS3 will have 300x better graphics than the Xbox 360, you have been brain washed. Sony has made numerous statements telling something similar about what the PS3 can do… and it is all lies!
For one specs cannot lie!!! The PS3 has slightly better specs, so it would be impossiable to have a huge jump in graphics between the Xbox 360 and PS3. With that being said, the Xbox 360 is very similar in hardware/software to a PC which allows all game developers to develope better games faster versus the PS3. That means that the Xbox 360 can get any PC game easily or get any developer to make a game just for the Xbox 360. This brings me to my other point, even with the PS3 having a slightly better specs, it does not mean it will be better. The PS3 is hard to develope for and many developers have said that. Developers are not going to spend 10 years making a game for PS3 when they could have it out on PC and Xbox 360 within 3 years, see what I am saying?
Now I havn’t seen any true gameplay footage from the PS3, I mean true gameplay as in a finished game being played not some video that is CGI. I seen the launch line-up for the PS3, even worse than what the Xbox 360 had. Most of those games will be pushed back thanks to the difficulty of developing games for the PS3’s hardware.
Even if Sony can pull through to be the top selling console this time, it will be losing a huge amount of market share thanks to the $200-$400 cheaper consoles that are out.
Goebles
8/24/06 12:07 pm
The PS3 is going to sell out as soon as it laucnhes, why ? Because Sony are providing so few that whilst sales will be dismall it will sell out, and just like the 360 before it every media outlet from here to Shibuya will be touting the PS3 as the most popular ticket of the holiday season.
Nevermind the fact that the 360 hasnt managed to outsell the PS2 on monthly sales.
Much as i’m sure none of you want to hear it but the media has a major bias in favour of Sony. They’re a very well known brand and so positive stories about them get people to listen, and for media companies its more about getting people to listen than getting the truth over. Fact.
For a good example ? Try the weeks of poor analysis of the PS3s future performance by everyone from McGee to the Pope which as cropped up and shuffled of as quick as they were hurried on, but one positive review from the Yankee Group and it’s still in the news weeks later.
John Soul
8/24/06 12:59 pm
Ok.. here the thing…
All fanboys aside. The Xbox 360 is more of a machine than you give it credit for. You all are agruing about a machine not yet released.
That being said Sony boys. If the PS3 Cell processor is Soooo freaking good at processing graphics then why did Sondy have to go to Nvidia for a graphics chip????? Sony originally touted the cell processor that can handle realtime graphics and video. Obviously it could not.. thus Nvidia.
Do NOT understimate the power of a software title, GTA 3 help Sony sell TONS of PS2’s. Halo 3 and GTA 4 will do the same for the 360.
As far as Blur-ray (Blu-ray) the picture quality is NOT better the HD-DVD. As far as storage capacity, are you FREAKING kidding!!! Blur-ray use MPG2 where HD-DVD uses a new format with a higher compression ratio. You figure it out (or search the net!!). In others it will take less space of the disk!
A while ago Major Nelson at www.majornelson.com (yes I know he works for MS) did a detailed article of the throughput of the tri-core processor of the 360 and the Cell processor.. Wow talk about Sony hype. Wait till the developers take advantage of all 3 cores....
Development.. well that goes to the Xbox 360 as well.. John Carmack (you may have heard of him he created Doom and Quake) stated publicly that the 360 has the BEST development environment. As a matter of fact he said that the will develop their titles on the 360 and the port them to other platforms.
As far as Xbox live… the dude hit it on the head… “Who will maintain the crappy servers?” The price of Xbox live is worth it when you get the benefits that far exceed any game. (video chat, messages, user stats, etc.) I doubt whatever Sony has cobbeled togther well even come close.
1080P.. really… other than locally (i.e. on a disk). to transmit 1080P requires cable and sat. providers to limit the number of available channels. So good luck there!!! Go ahead and pay $30 for a movie not worth owning..
Later…
Charlie Chan
8/24/06 4:21 pm
John Soul ...
Perhaps you have played one two many Halo 3 Marathon Sessions… If any product had to base their popularity on a single game - THEY LOSE! Your rationale totally misses the point of “next-gen” and the rapidly evolving world of Total Digital Home Intergration and ENtertainment. Sure Games is a driving factor of xbox 360, PS2 and PS3 but the convergence of entertainment, gaming and PC activity is the promise of 2007 and beyond! Look how many “boxes” are now being advertised as Media Centers that combine processing, DVR, A/V functionality and HDMI inputs and out puts… Of course to Mr Soul there is no need for HDMI which is now at release 1.03, so he watches his xbox 360 games in awesome NTSC!!!!
And you have totally missed the importance of the Blu-ray Capacity… everything from downloading very “data” intensive games, to HD Movies and PC Back-up storage… All critical applications for some shelling out $600!! The other advantage of a PS3 Feature list, is that it makes it easier for parents to justify the expense as they not only get a wicked awesome gaming console, but the family gets a Blu-Ray DVD Player so it is a win-win for the family… and they would be shelling out at least $600 for EITHER a HD-DVD player or Blu-Ray Player so with a PS3 they get a High Def Player with a game console thrown in for Free!!! That’s an awesome marketing advantage!!!
Lastly you know squat about 1080P or Capacity when you brag about HD-DVD using a new ultra compression ratio so they can PACK more unto a Disc so capacity is meaningless - Bull Hockey!!! That IS the Worst Way to utilize the capacity as the key is to use the elast amount of compression possible for the cleanest end product! Maybe you were online playing Doom when this was discussed in any of your classes… Oh well - if you are hppay that’s all that counts - just don’t try to discourage others when they value the latest technology that does provide great dollar/value proposition!
Xbox 360 sixty and any game, like fish on beach, does not improve with age....
And please don’t try and “dis” what you don’t understand!
Charlie Chan
IchiTheKilker77
8/24/06 7:40 pm
I have so many friends that are converting from PS3 to XBOX 360.. Not many people are ready to get ridoff their DVDs just yet… and GAMES do matter XBOX has GTA 4 and HALO 3 gears of war and many more!!! further more FIFA “football” (soccer) is gona be available only on XBOX 360 for an entire year!!! sure soccer is not big in the U.S but all over the world people will want to play thier soccer and the fact that PS3 doesnt have it its going to hurt it. PS3 is indeed a good machine but it just doesnt belong. just like the Dreamcast. Now about parents… not many know what blue ray is.. so their just going to look at the box and see whats cheaper.. and NO NO NO a family doenst want to spend 600$$$$ USD on thier kid, they just want to shut him up and give him something to play with. and the cheapest thing this year is gona be the Wii, but of course kids dont want to be trated like kids.. they want to be treated like adults, so whats the next cheapest thing...XBOX!!! Come on Gas price are at 3$$ per gallon and many bills have to be payed mom and that dont give a poo about blue ray or HD hell i dont think they even know HDDVD or blue ray even exist!!! besides XBOX 360 looks sexy on the living room in the bedroom its design is awesome and it look butifule on any livng room..on the other hand PS3 looks well… like...a grill.. i guess this is a good way to influence food lovers to buy a ps3… but XBOX 360 looks so sexy damn i love the looks of it… hell i dont care what a XBOX 360 can do but if i can put one of does in my living room ill be happy.
give it up!!!
you had a decade with yous PS.. now
its…
XBOX Time
NO POWER IS GREATER THAN X !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Charlie Chan
8/24/06 8:47 pm
IchiTheKilker77 
YOU JUST DON’T GET IT!!!!
You are obviously NOT from the USA - and if so you have little awareness of the US Cultural and Marketing Power! Your assumptions are a tad bit off kilter… Every Network Broadcast in Prime Time advertises that the program is broadcast in High Definition and nearly every Sporting Program advertises the same… If y9ou know anything about Super Bowl Parties - Nearly all the big time ones are held at whomever home has a Big screen High Def TV/Monitor/RPTV/Plasma etc. and the exposure to HD in the States is very high!! You most likely have not been in a Best Buy or Circuit City or even a Sears where nearly every TV/Monitor/LCD/Plasma is sold as “HD Compatable” And since probably 70% or more of middle class homes and above have at LEAST 1 PC… a $600 “family” gift is not out of line… and grand parents and aunts and uncles always will throw in some games, gift cards for Best Buy, etc.
And how can ANY of your frineds be “coverted from PS3 to xbox… when the PS3 is not even available????
And you have absolutely NO Idea of the Power of the Media and MEdia Hype… like when the xbox sold out the first day it went on sale… there was collectively 1,000 of hours of news,TV and Radio coverage about the popularity of the Xbox 360 - merely because people could get them… And Sony will benefit from the same effect - Minus the initial HIGH Failure rate on the initial Xbox 360… And Sony will have free advertising for the units as trailers from every movie or movie theater that they own… They are very Smart!!!
So back back in your closet or cubby hole with your xbox box twinks and we’ll call you when we think you are ready for the 21st Century!!!
“Boy who keeps looking backward end up with stiff neck and no vision”
PS I have an Xbow 360 (day 1 of release), a PS2, a PSP, Location free Sony and a 61” Pioneer Elite Plasma Monitor and a 42” Runco PRO HD LCD just for Gaming.... 
SO Bring IT ON!!!!
munkyxtc
8/25/06 7:22 am
-- Charlie Chan --
It sounds like you are the one who bought into the advertising campaigns. When I describe my setup I feel no need to point out I have a “61 Pioneer Elite Plasma Monitor”—It appears that you like many others have been sucked into the ads.
Look, the bottom line is this: PS3 is going to cost $500 & $600 for their units. Like I said earlier, they are going to sell a ton of them; I just don’t think all parents are going to run out and get one for lil johnny when they could get comparable graphics from 2 lower price point machines.
nathan
8/25/06 9:17 am
munkyxtc
All u xbox 360 fanboys are idiots.
You won’t get comparable graphics from the Wii...Wii is a souped-up current-gen XBox. Wow.
PS3 is twice as powerful as 360 on paper, so probably 1.5 times as powerful in reality. There you go.
And what about the PS fans who own tons of PS2 and PS1 games? Are they going to give those up? Why should they, when their old games can run better on a PS3 and they can get new games as well? Need I remind any1 - the 360 has very little backwards compatability. I know this seems like yesterday’s news, but it’s still an important factor everybody’s forgetting.
Where I live, people mock the 360 and plan on getting a PS3 because it’s better...duh. The Bluray is also much better than your HD-DVD, no matter what. I like the Xbox; it’s great, but PS3 is better. I like the Wii, but its graphics suck. There you go - so all you losers saying that the 360 is the best, admit the truth or go screw yourselves - cuz thats what youll do when u buy a 360.
munkyxtc
8/25/06 11:00 am
-- Nathan—
I appreciate that you refer to me as a 360 fanboy; even more I appreciate the part were you call me an idiot.
“Bluray is also much better than you HD-DVD, no matter what”
Interesting statement; do you care to back that up with any type of facts? Or is that just your inner fanboy showing? OMG, T3H Ps3 is teH roXOR !!!!!111One!!!!—Seriously, if you are going to make comments please back them up with some sort of factual evidence that indicates bluray is superior to that of HD DVD.
“You won’t get comparable graphics from the Wii”
Are you comparing actual graphics of the Wii to the rehashed CGI Sony has been releasing? I also noted that you did not use this arguement to compare PS3 to the 360. Is that because you know the graphics will be comparable? I mean, I’ve already stated that [although I though PS3 had far superior hardware]. If that’s the case it would seem to me they should be able to have graphics ~1.5x better [based on your non-scientific guess].
“Where I live...”
I’m not really suprised...you are from Canada
Ok, ok the last part was a joke...don’t want to piss off all my neighbors to the North.
Knight
8/25/06 12:04 pm
munkyxtc -
The PS3 specs was announced way before the XBOX 360 launch day and it hasn’t change since then. The cell processor was engineered & built over a year ago by Toshiba, IBM and Sony. PS3 has half the RAM of the XBOX 360. You would figure that the XBOX 360 would be superior because of the extra RAM but that’s not the case, it’s mainly due to the cell processor which you can consider as a super-computer.
Blu-ray discs are superior then HD-DVD discs, first is mainly the capacity and second BD discs are scratch-resistance. HD-DVD current gen movies might be a tiny bit sharper & clearer then BD movies but that’s mainly because BD movies are compress due to the first-gen discs which holds only 25 gigabytes. No worries since 50 gigabytes discs were just released so now movies won’t be compress like they were on a 25 gigabyte disc. Also the Samsung player are defected players, a chip causing the images to be a little fuzzy which they will have a firmware update later to fix this.
John Soul
8/25/06 1:09 pm
Charlie Chan..
Dude pull your head out!!!
I have owned EVERY console (including a Sega Saturn and Dreamcast). Funny I noticed you did NOT even address the comments I made. You have bought in on the Sony hype. I have many Sony products. I have a minidisc player and my DVR is a dual mode burner with an HDD. It works great and has a great picture.
BUT. The fact that Sony had to go to Nvidia to the the “graphics” is on sign of the problem. The cell processor is a GREAT processor. BUT is not the end all. I will eventually purchase a PS3e (when the price gets to something that returns a real value)
You really think the Sony’s “live” or whatever they call it at “Version 1.0” will compete with Xbox live.
I have serveral HDVT monitors as well as an HDTV projector on a 120” screen. I must admit the 360 looks bitching on it.
Anyway dude, I DO understand the need for HDMI (which my equipment has). But Sony is trying to lock everyone in with their content protection. You mean to tell me you do NOT even own 1 copied movie!!!
As far as MPEG2, dude you need to do some REAL research. You really think that it the compression scheme of the future???
The fact that the “great PS3” has not even one unit on the assembly line. Why is that?? Because the can not even get the own standard working.
By the way I do play Doom, Halo, as well as many PS2 games. The one thing that I do not like about the PS2 is that the games or NOT in 5.1 surrond sound.
When Halo 2 was released it sold over 110 million dollars worth on is first weekend!! No PS2 game and probably no PS3 game has hit that mark on a weekend. Ditto when Halo 3 comes out.. Pow a run on 360’s again!!
In closing just because I did not mention HDMI or PC backup does not mean I do not think that this is important. Dude you are fooling yourself if you think that everyone is going to “replace” the DVD with Blu-ray” They will simply us a really good upscaling DVD player.
The PS3 and the Xbox 360 are gaming consoles PERIOD!! I know you think that Sony or MS can create this “entertainment center”, but really that is not in the near future.
I work in the business, and just like most games and movies it is about HYPE and YOU bought into it!!!!
Have you heard of Sony rootkits or Sony batteries lately????
Please follow your own advice “please don’t try and dis what you don’t understand!”
Another place
8/25/06 1:22 pm
Chan man… are you an engineer??… Try to discredit this…
part 1
One of the great things about working at Xbox is that we have some of the smartest people in the world working on the Xbox 360. When Sony came announced the PS3, along with the product specs some of our team started looking at some of the numbers to see what they mean. Floating Point, shaders, bandwidth....what does it all mean. Clearly there are some numbers and stats that mean more to gaming then others, so the team cranked out some facts for everyone to absorb. Our world class technology team looked at the numbers and claims and decided to do what everyone else does: compare them to the PS3. The difference it that these guys are uniquely qualified to do so, and can cut through the smoke and mirrors to see what the real deal is. To that end, I present this summary, which I have broken up into four parts to make it more RSS Reader friendly.
Warning: Some of this stuff may make your head hurt, but these are the facts as they stand right now. Enjoy the read:
XBOX 360 / PLAYSTATION 3 PERFORMANCE COMPARISON
SUMMARY
Now that the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 specifications have been announced, it is possible to do a real world performance comparison of the two systems.
There are three critical performance aspects of a console:
? Central Processing Unit (CPU) performance.
o The Xbox 360 CPU architecture has three times the general purpose processing power of the Cell.
? Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) performance
o The Xbox 360 GPU design is more flexible and it has more processing power than the PS3 GPU.
? Memory System Bandwidth
o The memory system bandwidth in Xbox 360 exceeds the PS3’s by five times.
The Xbox 360’s CPU has more general purpose processing power because it has three general purpose cores, and Cell has just one.
Cell’s claimed advantage is on streaming floating point work which is done on its seven DSP processors.
The Xbox 360 GPU has more processing power than the PS3’s. In addition, its innovated features contribute to overall rendering performance.
Xbox 360 has 278.4 GB/s of memory system bandwidth. The PS3 has less than one-fifth of Xbox 360’s (48 GB/s) of total memory system bandwidth.
CONCLUSION
When you break down the numbers, Xbox 360 has provably more performance than PS3. Keep in mind that Sony has a track record of over promising and under delivering on technical performance. The truth is that both systems pack a lot of power for high definition games and entertainment.
However, hardware performance, while important, is only a third of the puzzle. Xbox 360 is a fusion of hardware, software and services. Without the software and services to power it, even the most powerful hardware becomes inconsequential. Xbox 360 games?"by leveraging cutting-edge hardware, software, and services?"will outperform the PlayStation 3.
CPU
The Xbox 360 processor was designed to give game developers the power that they actually need, in an easy to use form. The Cell processor has impressive streaming floating-point power that is of limited use for games.
The majority of game code is a mixture of integer, floating-point, and vector math, with lots of branches and random memory accesses. This code is best handled by a general purpose CPU with a cache, branch predictor, and vector unit.
The Cell’s seven DSPs (what Sony calls SPEs) have no cache, no direct access to memory, no branch predictor, and a different instruction set from the PS3’s main CPU. They are not designed for or efficient at general purpose computing. DSPs are not appropriate for game programming.
Xbox 360 has three general purpose CPU cores. The Cell processor has only one.
Xbox 360’s CPUs has vector processing power on each CPU core. Each Xbox 360 core has 128 vector registers per hardware thread, with a dot product instruction, and a shared 1-MB L2 cache. The Cell processor’s vector processing power is mostly on the seven DSPs.
Dot products are critical to games because they are used in 3D math to calculate vector lengths, projections, transformations, and more. The Xbox 360 CPU has a dot product instruction, where other CPUs such as Cell must emulate dot product using multiple instructions.
Cell’s streaming floating-point work is done on its seven DSP processors. Since geometry processing is moved to the GPU, the need for streaming floating-point work and other DSP style programming in games has dropped dramatically.
Just like with the PS2’s Emotion Engine, with its missing L2 cache, the Cell is designed for a type of game programming that accounts for a minor percentage of processing time.
Another place
8/25/06 1:25 pm
Sony’s CPU is ideal for an environment where 12.5% of the work is general-purpose computing and 87.5% of the work is DSP calculations. That sort of mix makes sense for video playback or networked waveform analysis, but not for games. In fact, when analyzing real games one finds almost the opposite distribution of general purpose computing and DSP calculation requirements. A relatively small percentage of instructions are actually floating point. Of those instructions which are floating-point, very few involve processing continuous streams of numbers. Instead they are used in tasks like AI and path-finding, which require random access to memory and frequent branches, which the DSPs are ill-suited to.
Based on measurements of running next generation games, only ~10-30% of the instructions executed are floating point. The remainders of the instructions are load, store, integer, branch, etc. Even fewer of the instructions executed are streaming floating point?"probably ~5-10%. Cell is optimized for streaming floating-point, with 87.5% of its cores good for streaming floating-point and nothing else.
GPU
Even ignoring the bandwidth limitations the PS3’s GPU is not as powerful as the Xbox 360’s GPU.
Below are the specs from Sony’s press release regarding the PS3’s GPU.
RSX GPU
? 550 MHz
? Independent vertex/pixel shaders
? 51 billion dot products per second (total system performance)
? 300M transistors
? 136 ?oshader operations? per clock
The interesting ALU performance numbers are 51 billion dot products per second (total system performance), 300M transistors, and more than twice as powerful as the 6800 Ultra.
The 51 billions dot products per cycle were listed on a summary slide of total graphics system performance and are assumed to include the Cell processor. Sony’s calculations seem to assume that the Cell can do a dot product per cycle per DSP, despite not having a dot product instruction.
However, using Sony’s claim, 7 dot products per cycle * 3.2 GHz = 22.4 billion dot products per second for the CPU. That leaves 51 ?” 22.4 = 28.6 billion dot products per second that are left over for the GPU. That leaves 28.6 billion dot products per second / 550 MHz = 52 GPU ALU ops per clock.
It is important to note that if the RSX ALUs are similar to the GeForce 6800 ALUs then they work on vector4s, while the Xbox 360 GPU ALUs work on vector5s. The total programmable GPU floating point performance for the PS3 would be 52 ALU ops * 4 floats per op *2 (madd) * 550 MHz = 228.8 GFLOPS which is less than the Xbox 360’s 48 ALU ops * 5 floats per op * 2 (madd) * 500 MHz= 240 GFLOPS.
With the number of transistors being slightly larger on the Xbox 360 GPU (330M) it’s not surprising that the total programmable GFLOPs number is very close.
The PS3 does have the additional 7 DSPs on the Cell to add more floating point ops for graphics rendering, but the Xbox 360’s three general purpose cores with custom D3D and dot product instructions are more customized for true graphics related calculations.
The 6800 Ultra has 16 pixel pipes, 6 vertex pipes, and runs at 400 MHz. Given the RSX’s 2x better than a 6800 Ultra number and the higher frequency of the RSX, one can roughly estimate that it will have 24 pixel shading pipes and 4 vertex shading pipes (fewer vertex shading pipes since the Cell DSPs will do some vertex shading). If the PS3 GPU keeps the 6800 pixel shader pipe co-issue architecture which is hinted at in Sony’s press release, this again gives it 24 pixel pipes* 2 issued per pipe + 4 vertex pipes = 52 dot products per clock in the GPU.
If the RSX follows the 6800 Ultra route, it will have 24 texture samplers, but when in use they take up an ALU slot, making the PS3 GPU in practice even less impressive. Even if it does manage to decouple texture fetching from ALU co-issue, it won’t have enough bandwidth to fetch the textures anyways.
For shader operations per clock, Sony is most likely counting each pixel pipe as four ALU operations (co-issued vector+scalar) and a texture operation per pixel pipe and 4 scalar operations for each vector pipe, for a total of 24 * (4 + 1) + (4*4) = 136 operations per cycle or 136 * 550 = 74.8 GOps per second.
Another place
8/25/06 1:26 pm
part 3
Given the Xbox 360 GPU’s multithreading and balanced design, you really can’t compare the two systems in terms of shading operations per clock. However, the Xbox 360’s GPU can do 48 ALU operations (each can do a vector4 and scalar op per clock), 16 texture fetches, 32 control flow operations, and 16 programmable vertex fetch operations with tessellation per clock for a total of 48*2 + 16 + 32 + 16 = 160 operations per cycle or 160 * 500 = 80 GOps per second.
Overall, the automatic shader load balancing, memory export features, programmable vertex fetching, programmable triangle tesselator, full rate texture fetching in the vertex shader, and other ?owell beyond shader model 3.0? features of the Xbox 360 GPU should also contribute to overall rendering performance.
Bandwidth
The PS3 has 22.4 GB/s of GDDR3 bandwidth and 25.6 GB/s of RDRAM bandwidth for a total system bandwidth of 48 GB/s.
The Xbox 360 has 22.4 GB/s of GDDR3 bandwidth and a 256 GB/s of EDRAM bandwidth for a total of 278.4 GB/s total system bandwidth.
Why does the Xbox 360 have such an extreme amount of bandwidth? Even the simplest calculations show that a large amount of bandwidth is consumed by the frame buffer. For example, with simple color rendering and Z testing at 550 MHz the frame buffer alone requires 52.8 GB/s at 8 pixels per clock. The PS3’s memory bandwidth is insufficient to maintain its GPU’s peak rendering speed, even without texture and vertex fetches.
The PS3 uses Z and color compression to try to compensate for the lack of memory bandwidth. The problem with Z and color compression is that the compression breaks down quickly when rendering complex next-generation 3D scenes.
HDR, alpha-blending, and anti-aliasing require even more memory bandwidth. This is why Xbox 360 has 256 GB/s bandwidth reserved just for the frame buffer. This allows the Xbox 360 GPU to do Z testing, HDR, and alpha blended color rendering with 4X MSAA at full rate and still have the entire main bus bandwidth of 22.4 GB/s left over for textures and vertices.
CONCLUSION
When you break down the numbers, Xbox 360 has provably more performance than PS3. Keep in mind that Sony has a track record of over promising and under delivering on technical performance. The truth is that both systems pack a lot of power for high definition games and entertainment.
However, hardware performance, while important, is only a third of the puzzle. Xbox 360 is a fusion of hardware, software and services. Without the software and services to power it, even the most powerful hardware becomes inconsequential. Xbox 360 games?"by leveraging cutting-edge hardware, software, and services?"will outperform the PlayStation 3.
LinuxJackal
8/25/06 1:32 pm
As for performance
The PS3 is rated at over 2 teraflops, the Xbox360 manages only 1.2 teraflops.
The PS3 is almost twice as powerful as the Xbox360 PERIOD! I read that article a while back and that person is a huge xbox fan. (a billy gates lap-sitter). The Cell CPU is a 64-bit CPU while the Xbox360 is only a 32-bit. All game developers have said that they can do more with the PS3, though it many be a bit more difficult to program with.
munkyxtc
8/25/06 2:06 pm
-- LInuxJackal --
“The PS3 is rated at over 2 teraflops, the Xbox360 manages only 1.2 teraflops. “
See that’s the problem, these are just numbers—looking at them on paper is great, sure PS3 looks to have an 80% advantage on the 360 but can the PS3 handle 100% of it’s potential? Early benchmarking has confirmed what many have thought...Simply put, no they cannot. Look I’m not blasting the PS3, the 360 has it’s fair share of problems; but as stated a couple posts above the technical details for rendering are broken out so I won’t go into it again but the PS3 has mismatched hardware that cannot support 100% of their functionality, Cost to benefit factor to me is nill.
-- Knight --
“The PS3 specs was announced way before the XBOX 360 launch day and it hasn’t change since then”
I’m not sure what reports you are watching but I see spec changes all the time. Additionally, announcing specs and actually mass producing an item are 2 different things. Eventually the companies have to lock into their hardware so they can begin producing the components. Same happened to MS; they announced the internals long before release day. It’ll be approximately 2 years difference between the time MS announced what their system will run, and when Sony actually comes to market with their offer, technology changes an awful lot over the course of 2 years. Have you ever heard of the “Moore’s Law”?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moore’s_law
Over 40 years old and still true in the microprocessor world.
IchiTheKiller77
8/25/06 4:24 pm
to all PS3 fan boys do i need to remind you that the editor-in-chief of Official Playstation Magazine said that she can’t afford to buy a PS3?????!!!… Do sony not pay well to thier workers, or what? here is the link to the blog of OPM’s editor-in-chief. I mean it sounds like a fancy title to have, and i want to asume that shen is the boss at OPM but i dont know and if she is the boss… how can she not afforded??
ENJOY!!!
http://opm.1up.com/do/my1Up?publicUserId=5380375
if you read this, and realize that a person with that kind of Job would get pay well. now people might have better jobs than her but their are still bill to be payed!!!! this post says it all… XBOX is for the middle class… and middle classs is more populated that the rich class!!!! so PS3 was made by rich people for rich people.
SHE THE editor-in-chief of OFFICIAL PLAYSTATION MAGAZINE SAID that PS3 IS TOO EXPENSIVE. SO COME ON THIS SAYS IT ALL. SO ALL YOU PS3 FANBOYS SHUT THE fU** UP AND ADMIT THAT XBOX IS GOING TO WIN THIS WAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
what more do you want do you want: Mr. Mitsubishy to say it himself or what???
LinuxJackal
8/25/06 4:29 pm
In one sentance when it comes to computers....."NUMBERS ARE EVERYTHING!”
I own an Xbox360 and I like it. I am a gamer and will buy a PS3 and also a Wii.
If people cannot except that the PS3 is the better of the three then they need to educate themselves. I am not a “Sony Fanboy” so please, no ignorant posts about that.
I am just a gamer trying to state the FACTS period.
Charlie Chan
8/25/06 4:45 pm
John Soul
My name is not Dude… maybe when you start shaving you might realize the value of logical thinking!
Sony is not some upstart company.... and I don’t consider working at ToysRus or Gamestop - working in the industry…
And those who throw stones at any Sony difficulties - must all use Linux or Unix - cause MS has such a sterling track record of software development… Just ask any hackers! 
They are constantly late, and when their products are released they are a lot less than promised!! Xbox 360 had promised High Def with it’s release… and had to scale back… and HD-DVD players couldn’t put out 1080p which is the driving force behind TRUE HD....
And Mr Soul DUDE… MPEG2 was initially used because the very first Blu Ray discs were only 25 Gb’s so the had to compress and now that they are up to 50 Gb it is NOT an issue…
You see very few NON-Xbox fanboys always blasting Xboxes Do YOU!?? Bottom line is that ALL the Xbox Fanboys/twinks are SO THREATENED by Sony that they have to try and trash it before it even comes out!!! WHY ARE YOU SO SCARED???
And they idea that people are how did you phrase it…
“Dude you are fooling yourself if you
think that everyone is going to “replace” the DVD with Blu-ray"… you sound like the VCR folks when DVD was announced… No way will anyone buy DVD’s when they can rent VHS Tapes for $1.00 a night - who is going to pay $22 for a DVD - and $$600 for a DVD player…
I guess that is the beauty AND Folly of Youth!!!! No Memory = No History… so they just play the old - trash what you don’t know or don’t understand… I have sony’s vey first DVD Player… I have JVC’s (the inventor of VHS) Very first VCR, I have 1200 Laser Dis
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