The official Post-Leipzig Report

Okay readers, it's time I cracked down and did a grand overview of what we've seen this year so far in the Next-Gen market. No, this is not a stupid "This console > That console" article. I'm going to genuinely go through each console and outline what we've seen, and then make an overall opinion on the console for your thoughts. This might be helpful for some of you who have not seen the new consoles recently and are looking for just some Cliff's notes on what's going on.

Please keep in mind, PS3/Revolution fans: there has been a lot of rumors started about the aforementioned consoles, in which I will ignore. I'm not going to mention Revolution "Holographic" stupidity, or PS3 being some sort of gundam robot. I'm simply going to state what has been officially stated, and make some comments as thus. That way, we're all equally presented, as opposed to some of the opinions that get posted on sites like Gamefaqs.com. Okay?


THE XBOX 360

The most shown and the most detailed of all the system, the XBOX 360 is actually slated to be released this Christmas. First (notoriously) shown on MTV, the 360 has been run around from tradeshow to tradeshow this year, cramming in potential buyers as they go toward Santa's bag to all the gamers everywhere.

The XBOX 360 features a PowerPC processor (Yes, what Apple uses exclusively for Macs) running at 3 symetrical cores of 3.2 ghz each. Along with a custom ATI GPU and some hellacious RAM, this system is besting $5000+ gaming PCs available today.

ADVANTAGES:

1. The XBOX 360 is the most realistic of the three consoles. The processors are all standard, single-core-multi-processor systems, meaning that developers will have the easiest time coding. What does that mean to you? More games.

2. The XBOX 360 mixes in all the great things about XBOX Live and fixes the bugs. Adding in some great features like the Friends list and the Media Center, this definately will feel happy in an entertainment center environment, as opposed to a "HARDCORE GAME CENTER".

3. The XBOX 360 has the best lineup of potential games so far, if not only because demos are already available. While most demos have been run on PCs, the Leipzig show had real 360s, showing that Microsoft wasn't blowing steam about the power of the 360. Potential games like Final Fantasy 11 add a very realistic game lineup to the system.

DISADVANTAGES:

1. The XBOX 360 is weaker than the PS3, possibly making the system become outdated faster.

2. Japanese developers have notoriously disliked the XBOX, so many popular Japanese games, especially RPGs, may not see life on the 360.

3. Many heralded abilities like Wifi controllers and XBOX Live cost extra, instead of being standard distribution.


THE PLAYSTATION THREE

The Playstation Three was shown originally at E3 as a psuedo-360 killer. All that has been shown of the system currently resides as either tech demos or technology information, which means that we have not yet seen a PS3 actually in action. This is mainly because, while the PS3 is "Out in the open", the PS3 is going through many re-designs and re-mixes before actual distribution. This may be benificial to the PS3, or it may be detrimental.

The PS3 runs on the most innovative setup ever, running on the CELL processor, an Intel/Toshiba/Sony project over the last few years to design an extremely powerful processor. The processor and the system itself generates two terraflops of floating point performance, double what the XBOX 360 can pump out.

ADVANTAGES:

1. The most powerful system setup ever seen, trumping the XBOX 360, hands down. The CELL processor alone makes the PS3 a killer setup, but the available ability to run not one, but TWO HD screens at once displaying different things make the system amazingly powered.

2. Japanese/Popular developer support out the ass, promising such titles as Devil May Cry, Virtua Fighter, Final Fantasy, Killzone, and many more.

3. The PS3 has insane amounts of storage capability in it's new Blue-Ray format DVDs, assuring longer, more detailed games.

DISADVANTAGES:

1. The PS3, running on CELL, is going to be a major problem to program for. Multiprocessor systems in general are hard to program for, and the PS3's unique development environment and complex running are going to be hard for the lay-developer to program for.

2. We have not yet seen the PS3 run standalone, meaning these tech demos might be smoke-blowing from Sony.

3. The PS3 has many issues already presented with it, namely the issues with heat. Because of this the PS3 may be delayed constantly until issues like heat and controller design are fixed.

4. The PS3 has not yet shown a strong Online offering. Decisions like removing the Hard Drive from the initial launch and not showing any technology for online play insinuate a weak online gaming experience.


THE NINTENDO REVOLUTION

Not much has been said about the Nintendo Revolution. Here is all that matters to you:
- The Revolution uses an Intel-designed processor codenamed "Broadway".
- The Revolution will allow downloads of all old Nintendo games, promising a huge backwards-capable system.
- The Revolution wil allow DVD playback with an adapter.
The rest is either rumors, incosequential, or just stupid. Naturally, many rumors have been presented, but I cannot take these into consideration. Therefore:

ADVANTAGES:

- Backwards compatability will allow for a huge launch library
- Hidden statistics may lead to a powerful system

DISADVANTAGES:

- Unknown statistics is usually a bad thing in the industry
- Backwards compatability is just keeping up with what's already been named available on the PS3 and the 360
- "Broadway" will not be able to compete with "CELL" due to lisencing restraints.


THE VERDICT ON....

XBOX 360:

Personally, I'm warming up to the 360. The system looks more and more like a media center PC with a strong gaming platform. Such additions as the Final Fantasy XI release and many other online-centered games will promise definate life out of this system. The disadvantages are there, but they could be easily overtaken by a strong launch lineup and great online support.

PS3:

Actually, I'm cooling OFF on the PS3. Liepzig has shwon us that Sony isn't all about the PS3 yet, and that's fine: but the back-and-forth design of the PS3 shows many people that Sony should have waited before their E3 launch. Heat problems and multicore programming aren't easy to fix out of the blue, and the dev issues are bad. However, if all that is fixed and the issues aren't in the way, the PS3 will definately destroy the 360, especially when it comes to pure game quality.

REVOLUTION:

The Revolution is a wildcard at this point, but we've seen some good and bad out of it. The system's backwards compatability is a dream for every Nintendo fan, and the small form factor of the case will make it ultra-portable and a great party system. However, Nintendo has not yet addressed the NEW games on the Revolution, which leads me to believe they're going to be substandard. This is definately not something one would favor out of a NEW system, when someone can emulate most old NES/SNES games on a PC anyway.