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The Battle of the Game Consoles: PlayStation 3 vs. XBOX 360

The gaming world was once dominated by the one and only game console known as the PlayStation but When Microsoft entered the gaming world with the XBOX , Sony's PlayStation found a very close competition. PlayStation and XBOX are now in their seventh generation era and they are battling it out for the lead. The XBOX 360 has gained the lead because of its early release last November 2005 but when Sony's PlayStation 3 hits the gaming market on November 2006, it is likely to take the lead. So the question still stands: Which game console will win- PlayStation 3 or the XBOX 360?

Both the PlayStation 3 and the XBOX 360 belong to the seventh generation era of video game consoles'an era that began with its development phase in late 2004 although head to head battle between the consoles is yet to begin late in 2006. There are actually three main video game consoles that are battling it out in the competition, the third one being the Nintendo Revolution. But with the Nintendo Revolution's features appearing to be less competent, people expect that the battlefield will be left to the PlayStation 3 and the XBOX 360 to contest.

So how do the PlayStation 3 and the XBOX 360 fare against each other? The XBOX 360 has already been released and all its features and specifications are already out for the public to enjoy. The PlayStation 3, however, is yet to be released, with the release date now set to November 2006. But while the two consoles are yet to meet on the actual gaming battlefield, the two are already entangled in a numbers and features game. Before the XBOX 360 was released, the companies behind the two consoles are already releasing figures and specifications that aim to outdo each other. The question, however, is which of the numbers really matter?

Let's start with the processor. Upon release, the XBOX 360 came equipped with a 3.2 GHz Xenon processor ' a PowerPC-based processor featuring the multicore processor technology. The said processor has three dual-core threads and capable of handling six threads at a time. The PlayStation 3, on the other hand, will be equipped with a 3.2 GHz Cell PowerPC-based processor comes its release date. The processor would feature eight Synergistic Processing Elements (SPEs), with one SPE serving as a redundant unit. With this specs, the PlayStation 3 would emerge a winner, if only processing power is concerned.

On the graphics arena, much were delighted with the PlayStation 3's performance. Even without getting into the actual specifications, the graphic capabilities of the PlayStation 3 have clearly edged out that of the XBOX 360 in various demos. The XBOX 360 is equipped with a 500 MHz ATI Graphic Processing Unit (GPU) while the PlayStation 3 is equipped with an RSX 550 MHz NVIDIA GPU.

As to which console has a better style is subjective, so there should be no winner in this category. It is worth noticing, however, that the two consoles have opposite styles. The XBOX 360 has a concave shape while the PlayStation 3 is convex.

XBOX, however, leads the race for versatility, although at a very slim margin. The XBOX 360 supports more video systems as compared to the PlayStation 3. The Microsoft console also supports more media and electronic devices. In fact, the XBOX 360 inputs from rival electronic products like iPod and PSP. The XBOX 360 also boasts of its online capability, although Sony revealed just recently that the PlayStation 3 would also have a similar feature.

So will PlayStation 3 or the XBOX 360 win the battle for supremacy? Now is definitely not yet the time to conclude anything. Microsoft has already taken an early lead with the early release of the XBOX 360. Sony, on the other hand, has been given the luxury to further enhance its PlayStation 3 with the latest technologies to give it an edge over the XBOX 360. In the end, however, one can only decide which game console is better when the PlayStation 3 is finally released.