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The gaming industry is one of the largest, affecting a worldwide market with revenue generated by reaching out to the young and the young at heart. Three popular systems have taken the lead in this lucrative industry producing a choice for consumers - PlayStation 3 (PS3), Xbox 360, and Wii.
With each system offering a unique and diverse option for potential consumers, often the choice between systems comes down to hardware specs and playability.
The PS3 has been the much awaited upgrade for the PS2, and the long trusted series of PlayStation systems has created a considerable amount of hype from a loyal fan base. Released in time for the holiday season in 2006, the PS3 offered an ideal gift for gamers from gamers.
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Nonetheless, the Xbox 360 has held its own against the PS3. Microsoft envisioned not only a superior gaming platform, but a superior entertainment system as well. Microsoft has indeed taken gaming into the hi-definition world with capabilities far surpassing previous models, and with the ability to watch movies, and listen to music with crystal clear clarity, the gaming world promises to never be the same.
Then along came Wii to add a taste of the unique into the fray. With obesity becoming a world epidemic, Wii envisioned a gaming platform capable of getting people off their posterior for a little competitive action. Nintendo is a brand familiar to gamers: one of the eldest of the gaming platform icons, Nintendo has been able to compete with the gaming giants PlayStation and Xbox simply because of ingenuity as well as price.
Yet, no matter the hype about a particular gaming platform, the real comparison comes with a closer look at the specs of the three popular platforms. The PS3 CPU is a PowerPC-base core capable of 3.2GHz, with 256MB XDR RAM and 256 GDDR3 XRAM, and capable of supporting a 100GB hard drive. The Xbox 360 has 3 core CPUs running at about 3.2 GHz per core, 512MB GDDR3 RAM, and has a detachable, easily upgradeable 20GB hard drive. Last but not least, the Wii has a Broadway CPU operating at around 729MHZ, and a non-removable flash memory of 512MB for game saves and downloadable content.
Of course, when considering three giants in the industry, most individuals want to know the playability features. The PS3 controller offers support for up to 7 Bluetooth connections, a wired USB 2.0, is Wi-Fi ready, and has network capability. The Xbox 360 controller has support for wireless gaming for 4 people, has not 1 but 3 USB ports, and has 2 additional memory slots.
Perhaps the most anticipated featured of the Wii was none other than the controller capabilities. The Wii has Bluetooth wireless capabilities, but the remote controller makes Wii stand out among the competition. The Wii remote controller has a 3 axis sensor that detects movement. Now when you play tennis, you move your hand with the remote controller like you would a tennis racket. This evolutionary remote controller has made the average gamer an active participant in the gaming world. Get up and move has taken on a whole new meaning.
The PS3 and the Xbox 360 offer hi-definition viewing, but the Wii offers the standard wide-screen view. However, the Wii allows for a gamer to connect to the internet and download a slew of popular games from the past such as Pong, Pac-man, and Frogger just to name a few. The Wii has been geared towards those gamers enjoying a nostalgic look at the past decades of gaming while taking a step towards the future: an emphasis on gameplay rather than cutting-edge graphics is embraced by Nintendo.
Both the PS3 and the Xbox 360 offer a dramatic lifelike experience to gaming, while Wii offers a simplistic addition to the already popular handheld devices developed by Nintendo in the past. The PS3, Xbox 360, and the Wii all offer a sleek, slim console; easy to store and display in any home or office.
Choosing a favourite gaming console between the PS3, the Xbox 360, and the Wii will depend a great deal on what the end user is purchasing the gaming console for. Perhaps the deciding factor for many has been the low price of the Wii when compared to the PS3 or the Xbox 360. This price factor has definitely made the Wii a gaming system popular for the holiday season of 2006. But for the long haul, many people are choosing to wait for the price of the PS3 and the Xbox 360 to drop before making a purchase that will ultimately add not only a gaming system to the home, but also a complete entertainment system as well. 
Staff editor, Electronics Section, January 2007 |
