Comparing the Competition

Part One of Five

The famed Sony PS3 was released in the US in November of 2006. By the 2nd month, over 2 million consoles had been sold. eBay pre-sales reached 17k$ on the day of release, with prices over the week staying at 2000$ and eventually bottoming out at 1000$ as in-store stocks continued to plummet.

A debate rages on about whether the Xbox 360 or PS3 Slims are the best for the hardcore gamer. In reality, the 360 is easy to use and features brand-name games, but the PS3 is far more technical, making it a hardcore, more mature version of the 360.

In 2009, the Slim model was released, following waves of controversy and rumors. The new Slim solved many of the problems the older, 'fat' models were prone to. 

The new PS3 Slim features a smaller, more compact design, better cooling dynamics, better energy efficiency, and is much quieter than the fat models. 
However, the Slim also sacrifices some loading speed, graphics, and processing capabilities.

Getting down to the dirt...

Getting down to the dirt, all PS3s feature a Cell microprocessor which often runs at an amazing 3.2ghz and features optimization for multimedia and 3D computing, making it optimal for gaming. The GPU is a nVidia RSX 550mhz running at 40nm [2], an XDR and GDDR3 extreme RAM, each with 256mb, and support for both HDMI and Composite outputs.
All PS3s also feature Bluetooth, Wifi, downstream HDMI support, high-speed Ethernet ports, USB ports, and support for hard drive upgrades.
The lowest memory model on the market has an impressive 120gb and the highest has an easy 320gb, costing on average 100$ more.


PS3 also features many brand name games--recommended to be played on the PS3--free online access, video, music, and game stores with plenty of downloadable content, and a ton of features and options for customizabliity. Such titles as Killzone, Gran Turismo, and the massive 256-player FPS, MAG, are all PS3 exclusive. Many titles popular on other consoles, such as Call of Duty and Medal of Honor are also available. 


All in all, the PS3 seems to be a high end system for low end budgets. Also, the PS3 is predicted to have over a ten-year lifespan, making it a good investment in the long run.


Sincerely,
Psychy