chris82 Posted September 13, 2005 Share Posted September 13, 2005 (GTAForums disclaimer-This is not a specs topic like the official Next Generation topic. This is a general overview and review topic. Sort of a buying guide) We are all excited about the next generation consoles. The question is "Which one should I buy?" "Should I get one, two, or all three?" Well, here is a little essay to help you choose... Price: Xbox 360 Core: $299.99 Xbox 360 Platinum: $399.99 The Xbox 360 Core includes an Xbox 360, wired controller, and Xbox Live Silver. The Xbox 360 Platinum comes with a wireless controller, a 20gb removable harddrive, a wireless Xbox Live communication headset, and Xbox Live Silver. If you were going to buy all the stuff separately, and get the Core system, you should buy the Platinum, like I am. Playstation 3: $399.99 The PS3 is more expensive than the Xbox 360 because it is a more powerful system, and it reads Blu-Ray discs. It is not yet known if it will come with a harddrive, but Sony is going to take a loss of at least $1.9 Billion making them, which it hopes to make back with software sales. Nintendo Revolution: $250-299? Not much is known about this system, except that it is not nearly as powerful as either the new Xbox or Playstation. (Step on yourself, Nintendo?) Because of this, one would assume it would cost less. Release Date: Xbox 360: The Xbox 360 is supposed to be released Holidays 2005. Most likely late November. I am speculating that it will be released on November 24th, 2005. (My birthday is December 5th, so I'll be sure to have you guys a 360 review by the 7th) The Xbox is going to be the first next-gen console released. Playstation 3: Sony claims this will be released in America in April, 2006. Bill Gates however wants to release Halo 3 around June 3rd, which he claims is the PS3 release. So I'm guess this will be out in Q2 2006. Nintendo Revolution: Nintendo was quiet when asked about a release date, but a possible one was leaked. It is Spring 2006. (Vague, eh?) I'd say Q2 2006 for this also. Specs: Xbox 360: The Xbox 360 has a three core CPU with each core running at around 3.2 GHz. It has 512mb of RAM and a custom ATi graphics chipset. It's floating point performance is 1terraflopp. It uses single-layer DVD5 and dual layer DVD9 discs and DOES NOT support Blu-Ray or HD-DVD. Playstation 3: The PS3 has a very powerful "Cell" processor, being co-developed by IBM, Sony, and Toshiba. It has 256mb of RAM and a custom nVidia graphics chipset. It supports DVD5, DVD9, Blu-Ray, PS1 CD-ROM, PS2 CD-ROM, PS2 DVD-ROM, DVD-RW, DVD-RAM, DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD+RW, etc... Nintendo Revolution: Very little is known about this. It will use standard DVD5 and DVD9 discs but will support Gamecube discs as well. Special Features: Xbox 360: It has a great interface with party mode for songs. It supports streaming music from the iPod as well as streaming music, movies, photos off of the PSP. In fact at the 360 demonstration, the demonstrator said "So...Microsoft, Apple, and Sony, all together. Quite an interesting combination" But perhaps the best feature is Windows connectivity. It's WiFI out of the box. So if you've got any version of Windows XP, you can connect the 360 to it and stream away. It will also have advanced Windows Vista connectivity in the future. Playstation 3: The PS3 has great floating point performance backed by an incredible processor. This could pave the way for all sorts of things. It will wirelessly connect to the PSP, it supports 7 controllers wirelessly on one screen, and it is said to be able to run any operating system you can install on it, even Windows. Nintendo Revolution: The revolution doesn't have many other features. It is the first Nintendo system to play DVD movies and audio CDs. It will have an online service similer it Xbox Live. The best feature of the revolution is that you can download vintage Nintendo titles on their online service and play them. The mention titles for every past console. Games from the NES, SNES, N64, Gamecube, etc... can be downloaded to a (harddrive, super memory card?) and played forever. Online Xbox 360: The Xbox 360 will offer two levels of Xbox Live service; Xbox Live Silver and Xbox Live Gold. Xbox Live Silver is free and is preloaded onto every Xbox there is. The bad news is that you don't get to play games with it. With silver, you get to audio and text message your friends, and you get access to the marketplace, which offers trailers, patches, arcade games, demos, music videos, etc.. all for free. So think of silver as a moviefone for games with a giant chat room thrown in. Gold has all the features of silver with the additions of video messages and the fact that you can play online games with it. Gold is paid but pricing is low. $7.99 a month upfront, $19.99 for 3 months in advance ($4 savings) and $49.99 for a year in advance (Big $$$ of savings) (Also, getting this 50 dollar card at EB instead of GameStop will get you 13 months for 50 bucks) Playstation 3: The PS3 will offer services similar to Xbox 360 Live. Although nothing has been announced by Sony on this subject, I would say it will be just like 360 Live in order to compete. But expect more in-depth, better online game and performance on PS3, because of its 2 terraflopps. Nintendo Revolution: Nothing at all has been announced about this things online service, ther than the game downloads. Some game downloads will be free, and I expect others to be paid. Controllers: Xbox 360: Take the controller S, move the black and white buttons above the L and R triggers. Move the start and back buttons to the center. Paint it white, remove the wires. There you have it. A pure copycat of the DualShock 2, but still feels nice. Playstation 3: Turn is sideways and you've got the letter C with all straight lines. Looks a little wierd, but said to be comfortable. Bommerangish. It is wireless. Same button layout as the DS2, but with waaaaay longer ends. It is called...get this: the DualShock 3. Nintendo Revolution: No information. Games: Xbox360, PS3: Both consoles have a star-studded lineup of launch titles. There are shooters, sports games, adventures, and fighters coming for both at launch. Both consoles will launch with a similar lineup, so it's your choice based on the info provided above. Nintendo Revolution Nothing worth posting here Well there you have it. I know some of this is old news but incase you're prowling the net for news on these consoles, this is a big compilation of it. It will be updated as I find news. Please post your comments about the article. Also post which console(s) you think you will buy. Xbox 360 Review: Chris82 (by December 7th) Playstation 3 Review: Empty slot (post if you want to write a review) Nintendo Revolution Review: Empty slot (post if you want to write a review) To write a review, you must get the console within 2 weeks of its release and write it within 3 days of you having it. UPDATE 1: Updated with Xbox 360 Live Gold Pricing ©2005 Chris82. 1/3rd of rights reserved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandthefter Posted September 13, 2005 Share Posted September 13, 2005 (GTAForums disclaimer-This is not a specs topic like the official Next Generation topic. This is a general overview and review topic. Sort of a buying guide) We are all excited about the next generation consoles. The question is "Which one should I buy?" "Should I get one, two, or all three?" Well, here is a little essay to help you choose... Price: Xbox 360 Core: $299.99 Xbox 360 Platinum: $399.99 The Xbox 360 Core includes an Xbox 360, wired controller, and Xbox Live Silver. The Xbox 360 Platinum comes with a wireless controller, a 20gb removable harddrive, a wireless Xbox Live communication headset, and Xbox Live Silver. If you were going to buy all the stuff separately, and get the Core system, you should buy the Platinum, like I am. Playstation 3: $399.99 The PS3 is more expensive than the Xbox 360 because it is a more powerful system, and it reads Blu-Ray discs. It is not yet known if it will come with a harddrive, but Sony is going to take a loss of at least $1.9 Billion making them, which it hopes to make back with software sales. According to you they both cost the same, yet the PS3 is costing more? How? This is all seems like speculation by you, who as far as im aware, owns none of these systems. How do you know that the PS3 is more powerful? Have you played it? Its a good try, but its too early to be doing a 'buying guide' especially since none of them are out yet. And the nearest one to being out isn't out for another couple of months. I like the little copyright thing at the bottom though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trueno_Drifter86 Posted September 13, 2005 Share Posted September 13, 2005 I think Sony has announced it has to remove it's hardrive and make it an extra to keep the cost down and more cuts will be made. It will be roughly $300 when th cuts are done. Check the latest issue of PSM US Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris82 Posted September 13, 2005 Author Share Posted September 13, 2005 I said they both cost the same and more because the PS3 costs the same the the premium Xbox 360 but the core Xbox 360 costs less. I also get my facts and pricing from both IGN, GameSpot, and GameSpy. Also, the PS3 has a processor exactly twice as fast as the Xbox 360's. It runs at 2 terraflopps where as the Xbox 360's runs at 1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colotomy Headwind Posted September 13, 2005 Share Posted September 13, 2005 How do you know that the PS3 is more powerful? Ever heard of a thing called "spec sheets"? The PS3's CPU is theoretically nearly 7x more powerful than the XBox 360's, and the graphic accelerators are nearly on par with eachother. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Exkabewbikadid Posted September 13, 2005 Share Posted September 13, 2005 Also, the PS3 has a processor exactly twice as fast as the Xbox 360's. It runs at 2 terraflopps where as the Xbox 360's runs at 1. That's not true. While both have a focus on parallelism, these are two different marchitectures. Theoretical measurements such as flops don't equate to real world performance. In fact, there has been scepticism from some legitimate sources suggesting neither consoles' processors will live up to the performance hype and that desktop processors will outshine them soon after the consoles have been launched. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GritSandWiches4Breakfest Posted September 13, 2005 Share Posted September 13, 2005 Sounds about right as PS3 is better than Xbox. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CtrlAltSupr Posted September 13, 2005 Share Posted September 13, 2005 Just thought you could search for more info on the Revolution, not that I like it, but just to keep the topic fair. At this point I'm having trouble deciding if I'm going to buy the 360 or not. What worries me is that getting it means spending 400USD + Lots of USD on games. I don't work yet, so I'd be broke when the PS3 comes out and I really want one, since my PS2 died on me some time ago. Also, theres the typical strategy: they release the super new thing, a couple of months later, they re-launch it better-ed. I mean, remember with the Xbox? they launched the thomson drive ones, then drives were made by samsung. The first ones were crap, they were problematic, lots of them stoped working(the games crashed, stuff like taht), but the samsung ones did last. Then theres an even better samsung drive for it, which you could buy as an enhancement. And well, I'll use my PS2 as an example too. I bought it like 2.5 years ago, it's lens got f*cked just as the slim one was launched. Where I'm trying to get is, I'm not buying a 400USD 360 for it to end up being sh*tty compared to the one they release not too much time later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris82 Posted September 13, 2005 Author Share Posted September 13, 2005 Yes, my Xbox has a Thompson drive and it has an extremely hard time with discs. I'm tempted to just put Halo 2 on my Xbox hard drive so it doesn't have problems. That's why I want a 360 and PS3 so I can play my Xbox 1 games without disc problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neo-K 182 Posted September 14, 2005 Share Posted September 14, 2005 Nintendo Revolution Online Info: uses nintendo's own wi-fi network to connect with other Rev systems, the DS will also be able to use the Rev wi-fi to use it's wi-fi function. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LLD Posted September 14, 2005 Share Posted September 14, 2005 Not to mention the Revolution will allow you to download every single official NES, SNES and N64 game ever made. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter¥ Posted September 14, 2005 Share Posted September 14, 2005 (edited) Okay. So how isn't this like the next gen topic? Edited September 14, 2005 by Hunter¥ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tehhunter Posted September 14, 2005 Share Posted September 14, 2005 Nintendo Revolution Online Info: uses nintendo's own wi-fi network to connect with other Rev systems, the DS will also be able to use the Rev wi-fi to use it's wi-fi function. What could ever be the point of using the revolution to connect to WiFi if you are already in a WiFi area? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Superilldude Posted September 14, 2005 Share Posted September 14, 2005 I'm going for the PS3 as soon as it's out, Blu Ray will be most likely used in next generation technology so I won't have to buy a new DVD for it... And it is obviously more powerful then XBOX 360. And you are able to play PS2 games on the PS3, buy the crappy cheap price graphics and over whore games so that is good, the computers however will come back and own again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter¥ Posted September 14, 2005 Share Posted September 14, 2005 ohsnap Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CtrlAltSupr Posted September 14, 2005 Share Posted September 14, 2005 Lol, can't be that bad... Now, will the dowloadable games for the Revolution be charged? And if so, is there any estimate price yet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neo-K 182 Posted September 14, 2005 Share Posted September 14, 2005 Nintendo Revolution Online Info: uses nintendo's own wi-fi network to connect with other Rev systems, the DS will also be able to use the Rev wi-fi to use it's wi-fi function. What could ever be the point of using the revolution to connect to WiFi if you are already in a WiFi area? the DS connects to the internet in 4 ways 1) Nintendo Revolution Wi-Fi 2) Wi-Fi Hotspot 3) Wireless network in your house 4) USB connection to computer The Revolution will have it's own Wi-Fi system in it, which it will use to connect with other Revolutions and go online. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darthYENIK Posted September 14, 2005 Share Posted September 14, 2005 I just hope that if the ps3 doesn't come with a HDD that it supports the ps2 memory cards for ps3 games. But that's just wishful thinking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cran. Posted September 14, 2005 Share Posted September 14, 2005 (edited) I doubt the PS3 will be that much powerful than the Xbox360. It may look so on paper, but think about it, Sony said the PS2 was going to be a mega-super-über-man-eating-computer. What a laugh that was. Besides, the GPU does alot more than the CPU ever will, apart from physics calcuations. Think about it, if you had a Pentium 4 3.2GHz running doom 3 with a 7800GTX, and then had a AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ with the same things, it wouldn't be an amazing difference between the two. But the only thing that could change this is multi-threaded games. We'll see what happends next year, until then, don't believe what all the magazines say Edited September 14, 2005 by Cran. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlianAnt Posted September 14, 2005 Share Posted September 14, 2005 I doubt the PS3 will be that much powerful than the Xbox360. It may look so on paper, but think about it, Sony said the PS2 was going to be a mega-super-�ber-man-eating-computer. What a laugh that was. Besides, the GPU does alot more than the CPU ever will, apart from physics calcuations. Think about it, if you had a Pentium 4 3.2GHz running doom 3 with a 7800GTX, and then had a AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ with the same things, it wouldn't be an amazing difference between the two. But the only thing that could change this is multi-threaded games. We'll see what happends next year, until then, do believe what all the magazines say Well, the main argument is that of High Dynamic Range rendering, which is supposed to be some absolutely revolutionary rendering thingy that compleatly relies on something called "Floating Point Calculation" which the PS3 has a sh*tload of, and the 360 doesent have much of. Now, for some wierd reason that I dont quite know at this time, the other type of processing (the HDR does not use, but every other way of rendering does) the xbox 360 has alot of, and the PS3 doesent. Well, as far as I know. Anyways, from watching Half-Life 2 videos where its useing HDR, I see nothing absolutely ground shttattering, but thats just me. However, if HDR wasent used as much as Sony is probabily hopeing, then Id say the xbox 360 with acctually pull ahead because of its grpahics processor, which is already supposed to be far more powerful then the PS3s. The PS3 graphics card has 12 vertex (geomitry drawing) pipelines and 12 pixel (effects drawing) pipelines, bringing its grand totol to 24 pipelines. The 360's graphics card has 48 (already double) pipelines. But instead of 24 vertext and 24 pixel pipes, its useing something called Unified Pipelines or something close to that. Anyway, what this means is that the pipes can do both vertex and pixel. Thus, depending on the frame its drawing, it can devote more power to the vertex areia (if its geomitry intenceive) or pixel (if its more effects intencive). Thus PS3: Bangin ass CPU (assumeing developers will go down the HDR road) 360: Bangin ass video card. Period. But the PS3s CPU is useful for other stuff, like DVD quality and other stuff. AI uses CPU power, so we could see some really, really interesting AI on the PS3. And that doesent rely on HDR . Now, this is what iv gatherd from the gijillions of previews on the consoles. So if your an uber 1337 graphics engine programmer, correct me. But be gentle Metal up your ass! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barbaneez Posted September 14, 2005 Share Posted September 14, 2005 (edited) ... Edited December 15, 2008 by Barbaneez Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cran. Posted September 14, 2005 Share Posted September 14, 2005 http://www.computerandvideogames.com/r/?pa...que%29id=125354 sh*t, they put 35,000 3d spectators on a track in PGR3. The frame rate didn't even hitch one bit.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LLD Posted September 14, 2005 Share Posted September 14, 2005 I wish they could learn how to make a reliable system. Gamecube never crashed or broke like Xbox and Playstation2 did. Sure, they have good power and graphics. Yet half the time those systems were breaking. Gamecube hardware > PS2/XBOX PS2+XBox games > Gamecube It's a Win/Lose situation. I can only hope Sony and Microsoft release a non-buggy console first time around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris82 Posted September 14, 2005 Author Share Posted September 14, 2005 Eh, some Revolution games will be charged like Super Mario Sunshine, but I suspect older ones will be free like Super Mario Bros for the NES. Also, are you on crack? I had a Gamecube not 10 days and half the time I pressed the open button, it got stuck despite the fact it was brand new. Also, like I said, any news someone posts will be added and they will be credited. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reticulatingsplines Posted September 14, 2005 Share Posted September 14, 2005 All three are using Cell, just variations. All of them will focus on in-order processing. Which means games will be pretty, but not much else. When you don't have out-of-order processing, you can't make big jumps in AI calculations, which means enemies are still going to do one of a few minor variations on the 'run and shoot at you' theme. This, more than anything, pisses me off. I mean, consoles are designed to play games but the people developing them seem to think we're all asshats who don't give two sh*ts about gameplay. Sure, it means if you're Mr Moneybags with a HDTV and some uber-audiophile surround system the games will look and sound great, but you're still dealing with AI not far removed from Quake. I want evolution on all levels of gameplay. I can play games that look far prettier than a console on my PC, thanks. Why exactly should I drop the equivalent of a new awesome video card on a console that's not going to give me anything that makes me want to play the damned games? I want a game where I'm not some godlike being who can wade through armies of (undeniably pretty) morons because I know exactly what they're going to do in a given situation. I want a driving game where drivers are unpredictable, not just aggressive. I want an RPG that gives you storyline choices on par with the choices you get in the stats screen. Where in the hell did evolution go? When did we all become mindless saps to the Hollywood ideal of just making it prettier, but ultimately shallow and unfulfilling? f*ck I'm a jaded bastard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LLD Posted September 14, 2005 Share Posted September 14, 2005 Eh, some Revolution games will be charged like Super Mario Sunshine, but I suspect older ones will be free like Super Mario Bros for the NES. Also, are you on crack? I had a Gamecube not 10 days and half the time I pressed the open button, it got stuck despite the fact it was brand new. Also, like I said, any news someone posts will be added and they will be credited. Maybe, the rest of the world just can't take care of their videogame systems correctly. If Gamecube breaks half-as-much as you say it does, that means that since mine doesn't, PS2/PS3 won't break on me either. I feel complimented, I guess I just know not to shove slices of meat and cheese into my game systems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CtrlAltSupr Posted September 15, 2005 Share Posted September 15, 2005 The gut ^Above^ has a piont. Gamecubes are more reliable than the other 2. And well, Nintendo products have style. I mean, when the wavebird was released (and I think still now) it was the best wireless controller around: comfortable, light, lasting battery life, nice range, little/simple plug (not like the ones I've seen fro PS2) and well, just over the ones for PS2/XBox because it was released by Nintendo. I think neither Sony nor Microsoft bothered, the ones I've played with are Logitech's and I think there was a Pelican (or was it a Gameshark?). Nintendo had more focus on the client, they deal directly to ppl, they make their own games. And don't say Nintendo games are ALL retarded, there are excellent games for the Cube that you won't get on a PS2/XBox like Zelda, Metroid or Super Smash Bros. Melee. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlianAnt Posted September 15, 2005 Share Posted September 15, 2005 My xbox never had a problem...... but iv lost two PS2s. Metal up your ass! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cran. Posted September 15, 2005 Share Posted September 15, 2005 I wish they could learn how to make a reliable system. Gamecube never crashed or broke like Xbox and Playstation2 did. Sure, they have good power and graphics. Yet half the time those systems were breaking. Gamecube hardware > PS2/XBOX PS2+XBox games > Gamecube It's a Win/Lose situation. I can only hope Sony and Microsoft release a non-buggy console first time around. What the hell are you on about? Xbox is much more powerful than Gamecube. The Gamecube is more powerful than PS2, which leaves the PS2 at the bottom in hardware terms. How do you even know that PS2s and Xboxes fail all the time? Do you own one? Gamecubes are more reliable than the other 2. Huh? Got some proof of this, or is this just pure fan-boy-ism? My Xbox has held up though the time, whereas my friend has a PS2 which is about the same age as the Xbox. The PS2's laser is a bit screwed up and the disc drive motors that move the disc drive out have been screwed up. It moves pretty slow.. The only problem i've had with my Xbox is my 120GB HDD failing because it's a crappy Samsung HDD My Xbox is one of the first ones to come into Australia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LLD Posted September 15, 2005 Share Posted September 15, 2005 My xbox never had a problem...... but iv lost two PS2s. 1. My friend lost 1 PS2 2. My friend's friend lost 1 PS2 3. AlianAnt claims to have lost 2 PS2 4. My brother's friend has lost 1 PS2 5 PS2 lost. Hmmm.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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