I think the 'main' clash would be between Sony and Microsoft. As Revolution would be on entirely different
level.
XBOX360 :
Games : from some of the games they showcased, there aren't too many
titles, actually... or in other words, the amount of games offered are not at par with Sony's. But rumors had it
that Microsoft is giving Squaresoft technicians a 'test drive' of their new machine, development-wise. If
Square were to make games for xbox360, I believe the tide will change direction and Ms will be advantageous.
Hardware : Of course, the CPU is slower than PS3's but it has a neato
Co-Processor (similar to PC's), and ppl, XBOX is now powered by the brand new GPU from ATI. Good news is, that most
games that are made from XBOX will be more likely to be ported (or released) for PC platform, or prolly enabling a true
cross-platform compatibility (this is what XBOX tries to achieve by their first XBOX concept, but it hardly becomes
reality.
First look : from the screens of the upcoming games, I am totally astounded by
the graphical ability of this new beast. Take some titles into consideration : Quake4, Halo2, Elder Scrolls IV :
Oblivion. Those are enough reasons for me to start saving up. I was a big fan of Morrowind, the latest installment of
Bethesda's ultra-realistic RPG, and I believe almost all ppl in the gaming world knows Quake and Halo. xbox360 will
be the first console to showcase full programmable Pixel-pipeline in 64-bit precision, and unmatched post-process
effects. It may not crunch and munch as much poly as PS3, but ATI's Truformâ„¢ wll be the answer to dynamic
displacement maps and real-time 3D surface tesselation, and SmartShaderâ„¢ will make grass look soft and swaying
naturally. (just take a look at Quake4, it's using a revamped engine of doom3 with all Dx.9.0c goodness)
PlayStation3 :
Games : The warehouse of games. I must say. Lots of titles, and most well-known
titles from mostly Japan will swarm this new console. Lots of games selection and already-popular title means it
wouldn't be difficult to find a game to your liking, and don't forget all the flashy titles such as Final
Fantasy, Tekken, Breath of Fire and Star Ocean.
Hardware : A true monster... IBM has developed an ultra-fast chip known as the
cell processor, and its terraflops count is jawdropping. PS3's cell CPU does all the job, from CPU, SPU and LCU.
nVidia's introducing their newest GPU to power PS3, but their advanced features can only be achieved through cG
instruction sets. As we all know, developers prefer to stay away from cG instruction sets because it will limit the
compatibility and scalability of games. They have introduced cG since 2002, but GeForceFXs up to this day has not been
used to their full extent.
First look : PS3 has lots of excellent games, and with an excellent range of
genre and types. I am most amazed by Metal Gear Solid 4. Hideo Kojima is one of the ppl who can make a long-lasting
appeal within a game serie. Final Fantasy XII is also one to look forward to.. I wouldn't want to miss it. But
judging from the published shots, I'm afraid PS3's hardware is not used fully, or rather, developers prefer to
still use PS2's spec in designing games, but they indeed increase the poly count and what not. The new Gran Turismo
has great gameplay, but I don't think it will look significantly better than Project Gotham Racing. We'll have
to wait for several months after the release to see the 'real' capability of this new console. For now, I
think xbox360 still reign in graphic quality-wise.
Conclusion :
If you are a casual gamer who plays games for fun only, and don't really mind about the overall graphics power or
stuff, I recommend PS3. It has lots of features, and game titles. :D
if you're a Final Fantasy fan, you know what to get.
If you're more leaned towards American style games, such as Quake, Halo, Morrowind, and battlefield, go get a
xbox360. The superb graphics will make your PS3 friends envious. Trust me ;)
If you want to play a totally different one, try Revolution. It will be the most advanced console out there, lots of
title selections, too.. such as Mario, Zelda (ooo sweet), Donkey Kong, Starfox, Metroid series.
As for me, I prefer (personally) xbox360, because I'm not that fond of Jap-style games too much, and I prefer
graphics quality and massive gameplay of Quake4 compared to Metal Gear Solid, and Oblivion compared to Final
Fantasy...
blargh... long post >_< gomen.
