Video Games

The Next Gen Consoles; Sony and Microsoft

05.16.05 | Comments

So the official specs for the XBOX 360 came out last week in a glitzy MTV hourlong show. They are impressive, I’m not denying that, but I was more interested in how Sony and Nintendo would compete with the 360’s monstrous technical power. The 360’s 3.2Ghz PowerPC CPU, coupled with a custom ATI GPU with 512MB of video ram, is nothing to laugh at. It will be able to display games in both 720p and 1080i, which would be a first for a console system.

Until today, it seemed as if Microsoft had already won the next console race. This, however, is not the case; it seems like Sony isn’t going to be displaced from console dominance easily. Just recently they released the PS3 specs, and surprisingly enough, they seem to have beaten Microsoft at the numbers game. While it doesn’t have as much video RAM, the PS3’s ability to pump out real time 1080p games is indicative of the power behind the system. For the uninitiated, 1080p is the highest possible HDTV resolution; it runs at a resolution of 1920×1080 in progressive scan (hence the p). This is better than the 1080i that the 360 will display. 1080i has to run at 50fps to achieve the visual quality of a 24fps 1080p stream. With interlaced video, the framerate is effectively halved since interlacing is really just the use of several video fields at one time. The PS3 will be able to do progressive scan, meaning it will display one single frame at a time. Let’s just say progressive scan tends to look better. I don’t intend to go over the complexities of HDTV video further, for that you have google.

What is important to note here is that both the PS3 and 360 are capable of producing playable games at 1920×1080; even a PC gamer would drool at that, as the latest video cards struggle to do the same. While both consoles are essentially glorified gaming PC’s, they are still consoles. What is significant about these PC-esque consoles, as opposed to the original XBOX which was criticized for being PC-esque as well, is that they are more powerful than the high end PC’s we have available today. The PC gamer’s argument has always been that consoles will never be as powerful as a high end PC (at the time of the console’s release); these new consoles have finally been able to disprove that. As a dedicated console gamer (despite shelling out $500 for ATI’s latest toy this summer), I am looking forward to this new generation of console. These machines will redefine our conceptions of consoles; they will take all the best aspects of console gaming and combine them with the power of a high end PC. While PC gamers may be loathe to admit it, these consoles will probably offer the best gaming experience of any platform for some time to come. The floundering PC gaming industry will have to cook up something new, and quick , to preempt the next generation of consoles.

Of course, amid all this hype for Sony and Microsoft, one major player is still missing from the equation. Nintendo chose not to announce any information on their new console, the Revolution, at E3, which is going on right now. We do know that it will be very very small; about the size of three standard DVD cases stacked together. Aside from that, we can only hope and pray that Nintendo has finally learned that they can’t survive on their first and second party games alone. It also seems like they’re off to a bad start already; the Revolution is slated to be released in 2006 whereas both the XBOX360 and PS3 are coming out by the end of this year. I owe my love of gaming to Nintendo, I just hope they pull their heads out of their collective asses. An earlier launch with some key third party titles would be a good start–

I will rant further on these new consoles as we get more information about them. For now , I suggest you all go to your favorite gaming news site and check out all the cool E3 coverage.


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