Xbox vs. PlayStation: Video Game Wars

By Dave Mathews, YOUNG MONEY Technology Editor (past articles)

09/26/2005

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This year I visited the Electronic Entertainment Expo, or E3 so called by those in the industry, to see the new consoles fighting for control of your living room TV. If you thought that the late 1980s console wars between Nintendo and Sega were intense, then you won't believe the up and coming "D-Day" caliber battle between the Sony PlayStation 3 and the Microsoft Xbox 360. Sony's third generation console will have 2 TeraFLOPS of processing power, more power than many developing nations have. This means that games will look more realistic with all of the added graphics processing power.

Microsoft's 2nd generation console is twice as powerful as the original Xbox system. I think the console was cleverly named "360" so that parents buying holiday gifts would not assume it to be inferior when compared to a Sony "3" product. For the record, since Microsoft enabled PCs have long been able to play games, I will count the Xbox 360 as an equivalent 3^rd generation product for gaming.

Defining Vision

Both consoles will support High Definition Television (HDTV) with 1,080 lines of resolution, although Sony has two video outputs and will output a 1,080 progressive signal similar to what a computer monitor produces. Microsoft has chosen to output a 1,080 interlaced signal, one of the original HDTV standards. Sony's second video output is used to show additional game data while game play is seen on the main screen, a feature stolen from Nintendo's handheld "DS" product.

Most households today still do not have a single HDTV set; so do we expect anyone to have two HDTV's in the same room in our future? As if feeding game graphics to a HDTV set at 1,080p is not enough, Sony is also prepared to give you HD-DVD movies leveraging Sony's Blu-ray disc format. This format holds more than 50GB of data or two to four hours of HD content, read through a blue-violet laser.

Twentieth Century Fox is on board to provide movies and television programming in the Blu-ray format, so there should be plenty of non-interactive content. Conversely, Microsoft has announced that the 360 will ship with a dual-layer DVD-ROM, typical of today's computers. We expect Microsoft to leverage the power of Windows Media 10 for HDTV video; MS's proprietary code for compressing high-resolution video to fit within standard definition media formats. A second release of the 360 console is hinted to have a next-generation DVD drive, which will most likely be the competing Toshiba HD-DVD format.

To Store or Not To Store

Hard drives are critical elements of a standard computer, but Sony has proven that they are not necessary with a console. The PS2 had a 3.5" drive bay which was only utilized by one game launched more than four years after the console was released. The original Xbox includes an 8GB drive, timid by today's standards, which holds game patches, ripped CD audio and game saves. The PS3 will have a drive slot for a detachable 2.5" drive, a standard form factor for laptop computers. Microsoft's 360 will include a removable 2.5" Seagate 20GB hard drive.

Extras

Sony says that the Playstation Portable (PSP) can be used as an auxiliary PS3 controller using its built-in WiFi adapter. Microsoft has countered by saying the 360 will not only exchange files to that device, but also to the Apple iPod. Online gaming will be included as a standard option in the PS3 and the 360 with Microsoft enabling advanced features for paying subscribers.

Microsoft has announced the added capability of remotely accessing media stored on your home PC through a wireless network connection - an enhancement of their Media Extender technology that you can purchase for the Xbox today. The 360 can connect your digital camera to view photos on the TV and share the images with a home PC acting as a file server. This client-server relationship will keep a big noisy PC out of the living room while providing more computing features than a TiVo or cable set-top-box can offer.

Timing is everything

Microsoft definitely has the marketing lead as the 360 is rumored to go on sale over "Black Friday" weekend - the busiest shopping day in the U.S. Sony is tight lipped on a launch date, but is rumored to be heavily discounting the PStwo slim in order to reduce the effectiveness Microsoft Xbox 360 launch. The 360 console will be offered in two different package variations costing $299 and $399 each. The $299 version will come with the console, cables and 1 wired controller, but the $399 version will come with the 20GB hard-drive, a wireless controller, headset, ethernet cable and also a wireless remote control.

Current speculation holds that the PS3 will launch in the spring of 2006. Incidentally, this delay will allow Sony to focus on gaining handheld console market share this holiday season with their PSP. The delay also allows Sony to incorporate newer technologies such as the Blu-Ray DVD player. The PS3 is expected to sell for about $299. I would not be surprised if Sony launches a marketing campaign to baby-step gamers from the PSP to the PS3 by touting their ability to create a new type of gaming experience by working together. Too bad the PSP doesn't cradle in your hand as well as their joysticks do.

The Winner

The demos of games on both consoles shown at E3 were mostly "smoke and mirrors" as they were running on development hardware platforms - not actual production consoles. That being said - the content looked amazing. If you ask me which one to buy; note that I have a PS2 and Xbox connected to my HDTV today, I would say "it depends."

If you are a loyal PS2 follower, then you will be well off waiting for the PS3. If you are a multimedia junky and wish to access to the audio/video content stored on your PC from your living room TV set, then go with the 360. This very well may be Microsoft's successful Trojan horse to reach beyond the audience of standard "gamers" glued to the couch. While the Blu-ray technology and 1080p output are stronger bets in the long term, content and HDTV sets capable of displaying 1080p are rare today, so the Sony enhancements are ahead of their time.

Dave Mathews isn't a heavy gamer as there are only 24 hours in a day, but still owns his original Atari 2600 and the latest generation consoles. His Sony PSP more frequently plays back video programs than games however. More technology stories and video clips about gadgets can be found at DaveMathews.com.