Newyork Times Review On The Ps3 Versus The Xbox 360

[sullivbt]

Why is it that we can't all be friends!!! EVERY F*&*&in article that comes up in this forum T2K and Joe Sp have to ruin it with their exotic arguments. YES guys, you are extremely intelligent, but you do have generic people like myself that want generic knowledge. NOT high tech beyond realm (who gives a sheets) that you always fight about.

It's hard to get the information that is needed with 37 posts on a single issue and (25) of the posts are 2 men fighting.

I am not being a jerk about this, just asking for some tact.

Well, some of the problem is the rampant fanboi-ism on dispaly here in this forum T2k is clearly an MS fruit and and Joe SP is clearly a Sony shill, right?

At least Bob admits he's an MS fanboi and that he has already taken "sides" in the debate; he is honest enough to admit that he's a totally biased and unreliable source of information

 

[BobMurdoch]

Biased yes. Unreliable? I dunno about that....

 

[hpman247]

As you all should know, I SUPPORT BOTH FORMATS and BOTH CONSOLES. HDDVD IS GREAT and the 360 is AMAZING, but I don't feel that they are technologically superior to BD or the PS3. At the end of the day I will choose the TECHNICALLY superior format. If the roles were reversed and HDDVD was technologically superiour i would change my opinion in a heartbeat. The same goes for the 360.

I hope people can see that though I "support" one format/console over another it does not mean that I don't like another, I just feel there is something better out there. I try to provide the facts and post bi-partisan information but i am going to support my party to a certain extent and not let misguided facts be posted. Look at my PS3 review. I said it was not in the same league as the 360. I SAID THAT. Would T2k or Bob say that if the 360 was the diminutive console right now? I can't say for sure, but I would put money on a "NO."

 

[T2k]

T2k is clearly an MS fruit

Suuuuure... You know, to be clueless or a bit slow is one thing but why don't you just ask instead of embarrassing yourself publicly?

I thought it's elementary level but it seems not for everybody: when somebody strongly disagrees with one party it doesn't mean it supports the other one, you know... I know this kind of very simple-minded 'taking side', this 'rural' way of thinking is pretty popular in the US but I grew up abroad...

 

[T2k]

Would T2k or Bob say that if the 360 was the diminutive console right now? I can't say for sure, but I would put money on a "NO."

I openly said that both 360 and PS3 suck big time compared to Wii, due to lack of inventions. I even cited concurring articles.

To me 360 is probably the least interesting piece: it's coming from MS with a well-rounded market strategy, it has a reasonable multi-tiered pricing, games that are superior on PC etc - in other words it's a dull, boring box, without any invention.

Nevertheless PS3 is the same crap but it's also horribly mismanaged thus ranks even lower: it's been horribly late, rushed to the market without any meaningful strategy and expensive as hell with a pseudo multi-tiered pricing (differences next to nothing) with missing features.

 

[hpman247]

Well you could fill that 360 in with Wii PC or whatever. But honestly you ant go wrong with PC. I just don't like playing PC games that arent RPG or FPS, and many of those I do not like

 

[BobMurdoch]

Fair enough, here's my crack at a fair and balanced comparison: gotta find a way to prove hpman wrong in his assessment of my ability to be impartial (that's not the Fox News type of fair and balanced..... just my attempt at assessing the strengths and weaknesses of each platform).

Processor - Cell vs. PowerPC Chip. Technically, PS3 should be more powerful, so it wins on brute strength, but I'll temper this with a caveat that most programmers won't be able to exploit the advantage in their attempts at developing multiplatform games. Exclusives are a different story and should find a way to push it to the limit eventually (a la Gears of War is doing now)

Controller - batarang er, "old school" PS controller vs. XBox wireless controller. MS wins this one. Comfortable grip, responsive buttons (well except for the wimpy DPad, but since I primarily use the analog sticks it isn't a problem for me) and most importantly, it can easily establish a connection with the console without plugging in to reinitialize like the PS3 (as I read elsewhere)

Internet capabilities - MS had a headstart and has exploited it fully. LiveArcade is a breeze, very little latency when a good broadband connection is used. PS3 doesn't require the fee that MS does, but I believe the onus is put on the developers to establish the server resources (I'm guessing on this one based on articles I read a few months back, feel free to correct me if I hae bad info here). I'll grade this one as an incomplete and give Sony the benefit of the doubt that they will get it to an equal level soon, but they have a high bar to contend with.

Video capability - Sony wins with BluRay and 1080p availability via HDMI out of the box (cable sold separately). MS offers 1080p via component only, which many don't support. HD DVD looks just as good (using store displays I've seen as a guide), but Disney, Fox, Sony, and MGM titles are NOT available right now for HD DVD. Blu Ray users need only forego Warner Bros., Universal, and Image titles right now. Paramount and a few others hedge their bets and offer both (a path I hope they ALL take..... so consumers can decide for themselves...). If we must, make it like VHS and Beta was in 1980... peacefully coexisting as far as the studios were concerned).

Audio. - Assuming Sony can pass HD DTS signals, they will win this by a nose (er, an ear) by supporting more codecs, although 360 somehow converts DTS to a DD output, so it isn't a fatal shortcoming, just a puzzling design choice... one that will probably disappear via a future upgrade if it becomes an issue (I know...... you call BS on this, I gave you the win for now)....

Family Friendly - MS gets the nod on this one. Different zones set up attempt to shield Junior from some of the riff raff so they can play Viva Pinata in peace. The camera images can be set to default OFF if you have children and are sensitive to this. Lots of old school Arcade titles suitable for the under 10 set....

Games - Tie. For every Gears of War and Halo 3, there is a Final Fantasy and Killzone. Category killers like Grand Theft Auto will be day and date for both systems next time around.

Programming Content - MS plants the flag on the first iteration of TV over IP with movies and TV content hitting today. If you are a VOD fan this may win you over. PQ may be an issue as huge file sizes will occur otherwise. But it will be nice to have a way of catching up on that Heroes episode you missed....

Soundtracks - MS lets you 86 the thrashmetal soundtrack from any game and replace it with anything you want that is on your drive (or your connected PC, Ipod, or Zune). This is one of my favorite capabilities. Try playing the Uno Arcade game WITHOUT this feature and you'll go slowly insane.

Initial game slate - Sony wins. Call of Duty 2, PGR3, and Dead or Alive 4 were the only decent games available near launch. Perfect Dark Zero was the biggest disappointment, with Kameo following close behind. Gun and Condemned had their fans, but I wasn't one of them. Madden 06 flatout sucked.

OK, using my comparison the 360 EKES out a slight edge, but any one of these factors may be more important to you (Family Friendly?, who gives a rats tookus!).

Is either machine dramatically better than the other? No. If you don't want HD DVD, then 360 may be better for you as it is a couple of hundred bucks cheaper. Supply is a real problem for Sony right now as initial estimates are that only 200K consoles hit the stores on launch day, so if you CAN'T wait past Christmas, it may make the decision for you by default as the 360s are plentiful. Basically none of these will make any fanboy switch sides, its the casual buyers that are in play.....

How was that?

 

[T2k]

Processor - Cell vs. PowerPC Chip. Technically, PS3 should be more powerful, so it wins on brute strength, but I'll temper this with a caveat that most programmers won't be able to exploit the advantage in their attempts at developing multiplatform games. Exclusives are a different story and should find a way to push it to the limit eventually (a la Gears of War is doing now)

Every time I read it I feel I have to post something very ugly - there's no such thing as "brute force" when it comes to comparing programmable CPUs unless they are identical in terms of everything (architecture, running sw, etc).
Both are in-order animal which means they would be badly beaten in everyday tasks by out-of-order CPUs from our home PCs, especially Cell (no branch predictions, cahce etc functions).
A CPU is worth what you will use it for which depends on coding - and that's where Cell is a BITCH as coders say.

[/QUOTE]

 

[T2k]

Here's my take on your system...

Processor

Who gives a sh*t? You wanna code? Get a PC!

Controller -

Wii wins hands down. I guess no need for further explanation, it's a fact.

Internet capabilities

Wii has an online shop with old NES, SNES, N64, DC and TGFX16 games for few bucks. Wii offers the best browser, Opera for free for 6 months, starting within a week or so. Wii supports online multiplayer though it won't come before 2007.
Wii even has online 'Mii mingling', you can see others' profile paradeing on your Wii on a sunny Sunday morning.

Video capability

Wii kinda sucks here, SD only but at least supports progressive. Cables should be available everywhere within a week or so.

Audio.

? Wii has only stereo sounds yes... kinda disappointing the lack of digital 5.1 output but who - apart from Acid Joe - cares about 7.1 uncompressed HD and such crazy stuff when you screaming and laughing during gameplay anyway?

Family Friendly

WIi wins hands down again. Parental controls, daily list with playtimes per game etc. To me being "family friendly" is more about giving an opportunity the family to play together, isn't it? No other console will bring together all kind of people, only Wii.

Games

Wii plays all GC and will have over 60 titles within 4 weeks.

Programming Content

It's a gaming console, for God's sake...

Soundtracks

Sou... wha'?

Initial game slate

Wii Sports already won two of my crazy anti-console friend and they will by Wii...


If you just want to play games and have a LOT of fun, you have only one choice: Wii.