ps3 and 360 detailed technical analysis

[Zabka]

http://dpad.gotfrag.com/portal/story/35372/?spage=1

A very technical approach to evaluating the hardware available on the ps3 and 360. I think it is interesting.



If you don't understand all this technology talk, which I don't, here is the conclusion:

Conclusion

Hopefully this article has helped to dispell some rumors surrounding the processing power of these two great consoles and demonstrate some of the differences that give them their unique feel. There are many attempts on both sides to distort the numbers or misconstrue their importance, but looking at the features as a whole allows the opportunity to determine how these consoles will operate overall. While both consoles shine in some areas, they do have their softer spots. Ultimately, the good features of each of these consoles outweigh the bad and the amount of high quality games being released this winter will give Sony and Microsoft fans alike a lot to be happy about.

[madmax32]

The PS3 will soon outshine the Xbox 360.
Most programmers are comfortable with linear threads but those are a poor use of the CBE's power. Breaking segments of an app up and managing them requires a fundamental change in design of the program. I wouldn't call it "hard", just different, and somewhat complex.
Soon as the programmers master this, expect games beyond what you can imagine from the PS3.

[Zabka]

Another point of view, although one peppered with pesonal opinion--

http://www.hardcoreware.net/reviews/review-348-1.htm

Excerpt:

I thought it would be a good idea to ask my friend, who is a lead programmer for a large gaming company that produces games for both PS3 and XBOX 360. He has also worked on PS2, XBOX 1, and PC games in the past 6-or-so years. Obviously, considering his position working with both consoles and both Sony and Microsoft, he doesn't want to step on any toes, so wishes to remain anonymous at this time. Here are his thoughts on the subject:

Performance: On paper, the PS3 is more powerful. In reality, it’s quite inferior to the 360. Without getting into too many details, the three general-purpose CPU’s the xbox360 has are currently FAR easier to take advantage of than the SPU’s on the PS3. I suspect a few years down the road some high budget, first party PS3 exclusive titles will come out that really take advantage of the SPU’s and do things the XBOX 360 can’t, but I don’t think the console is worth buying based on this speculation (for some it will be though, we'll have to wait and see how these games turn out).


Graphics: The XBOX 360 is a clear winner. The GPU is more powerful. It has more powerful fillrate, and far more pixel and vertex processing horsepower. Part of the reason is their choice of memory, and architecture of pixel and vertex procesing. I can’t get into details but the same vertex shader will run much slower on the PS3 than the XBOX 360. The 360 also has a clever new way rendering high definition anti aliased back buffers. To accomplish the same effect on PS3 is prohibitively expensive. For this reason I think many games will have no choice but to run in non-HD resolutions on the PS3 version, use a lower quality anti aliasing technique, or do back buffer upscaling. The end result in all cases is going to be noticeably worse image quality.

Game Selection: The XBOX 360 has a huge head start here. 1 year is an eternity in gaming. Almost all multi-platform developers have made the XBOX 360 their primary platform due to timing of release-to-market, this means the games will look and perform better on the 360. The PS3 versions will be ports of the 360 versions. (The opposite was true for XBOX 1 vs. PS2). The XBOX 360 is also far faster to develop for due to better development tools (massively popular Visual Studio .NET vs. proprietary, buggy PS3 compiler and debugger), better documentation, and easier architecture (3 general purpose CPU’s vs. 8 specialized processors that require DMA). Timing has also caused all next-gen middleware developers to make XBOX 360 their primary platform, and they will ‘add ps3 support’ as needed. This support will probably be inferior to the XBOX 360’s due to manpower and more importantly, demand. It’s this catch-22 now that will continue to drive the 360 forward and hold PS3 back.

[Tomahawk]

The real question that needs to be answered here is what kind of person are you? Are you a platform fanboy or a gamer?? We can jaw about specs for each system and their capabilities, but who really cares? Are we developing games for either system?? NO.

The 360 has WAAAAYYYY more exclusives and for most of us, that's all that matters. The Games! I'm sure there are a few Playstation fanboys out there who will hate on Xbox forever. I was one of them. Then I decided that I wanted to play much better games on the 360 than the PS2, NOW!! I don't wanna wait another 18 months for Sony to play catch up and then pay more for the EXACT same shit.

The differences are minimal in the end. Slightly better graphics here, slightly better memory here, yada yada yada. We are all gamers here, with the exception of a few techies, lol. Choose your next gen system for the games and who you want to play with.

[madmax32]

LOL, yeah I'm a gamer as well as techie nerd. I'm biased towards Nvidia. Also does the 360 offer true digital connections such as HDMI of DVI?

[Zabka]

Max--actually no....which I find surprising. I believe it allows for s-video, but other wise it is just a component cable that has jacks for non-hd. there is a switch on it to switch between the two. Then again, I don't have the system hooked to my HDTV. Actually, when I hooked my cable box with an HDMI cable, it didn't work properly---not sure if it was the cable, my cable box jack or my TV inputs. I hope that it isn't the TV.

I will be curious to see, however, if HD gaming means all that much or not. To be honest, while I enjoy watching TV shows and some movies in HD, the only place where I REALLY notice a difference that I care about is in sports broadcasts. Football, Basketball, and soccer in HD are all very nice. I wonder if it will matter for gaming. But for now, it hasn't been worth the $80 for an HDMI cable.

[Tomahawk]

Zabka - I have played GoW on a 36 inch HD and it is incredibly awesome!!!! The game looks so crystal clear it's ridiculous. Hell I go over to my friends place just to play on the HD!!

[Zabka]

don't tell me that tomahawk. If I commandeer the 50 in hdtv, in the family instead of my 32in CRT in the basement, my wife may take drastic measures.

[Tomahawk]

Zabka - maybe the family would let you hook it up one night a week to the HD. If you think GoW looks good on a regular TV, it'll blow your mind on HD.

[Zabka]

Perhaps, but then the volume would have to stay really low as would my voice communication. I may do it once just to see it.

[Deslock]

Does it really matter?

Developers rush games no matter what the system is. There were very, very few developers that even attempted to push the envelope of the PS2 for goodness sake.

Look at some of the crappy pixelated Gundam and Amored core games, and compare them to Resident Evil 4! (Which stunned and blew me away!) or The latest Final Fantasy game, Phantasy Star, or Rogue Galaxy?

I just read the reviews on the History Channel game "Civil War".
Only 4 skins for the enemy AI. And the wonderful ability of the AI. to be able to shoot you, even though you're hiding behind hard cover, and even through walls!

I swear, it's like game developers don't even beta test any more, or Hell, even attempt to listen to our feedback (That's right, we the CUSTOMERS, that pay their bills, and make them sucessful in the first place.) and go back and patch and fix what's wrong.

You'd think that a glitch that allows the AI to shoot you thru a wall with a Civil War musket would've been fixed before release. Since when did Union or Confederate solders have thermal imaging, to be able to see you thru a wall? Ghost Recon yes, 1864, Nope.

I read serious reviews before putting up my hard earned money. I am neither a shill for either Microsucks nor Sony. Both systems have their pros and cons. They have both made what I would consider to be seriously wrong business practices in my opinion. Not as bad as Nintendo, but damn near.

But mostly, I blame the game developers, for their overwhelming desire to make a quick buck. Look at that ghastly "Superman" game, then take a look at "God of War". Night and day. Really.

Until we as a whole gaming community start demanding better, and voting with our wallets, we're going to keep getting "Drake of the 99 Dragons, or that horrible "Jaws" game. And what suprises me the most, is that there are still idiots out there that buy this dreck every day, even after I've warned them. GTA: San Andreas is NOT appropriate for your 9 year old. Hence it being rated "M". Yet everyday I'm told:

I don't care, they see worse at school"

WTF??!!!. Then I don't want to see what school they go to, if contract murders, prostitution, and drug dealing is promoted in middle school!. 8O
Never mind the language!

But als I digress. I cannot see the point of spending my hard earned money on a new gaming system that is already now considered obsolete "out of the box". And will allow me to play the PS2 games I already have, online, and for free.

I watch things very closely, and I have seen firsthand how many 360's we have returned by unhappy customers. But yet the PS3, and even the older PS2's fly off the shelves, as does the new WII.

But the good old PSP continues to sit there gathering dust, as due the games. Hell, we don't even carry the movies for the PSP anymore. It is a massive Sony flop. Gamers like the system, and the games and movies, but the price just killed them.

[RaTix]

I watch things very closely, and I have seen firsthand how many 360's we have returned by unhappy customers. But yet the PS3, and even the older PS2's fly off the shelves, as does the new WII.

Seriously man are you smoking crack. Its like you channel this stuff from dead crazy ppl.
The 360's are selling a lot more then the PS3. The overall sales numbers for the holidays were WII in first, 360, then trailing WAAaaaayyyyy beind the PS3. The most overhyped launch ever. Funny thing the PS3s are the systems being returned more often then others. A month or so ago I saw 3 PS3s being returned at Best Buy. The stores can't get rid of them. Maybe in 2 years it could start to pick up momentum and some really good games utalize its full potential. For now the PS3 is not much more then a high priced paperweight.

PS, Just because you can influence the few ppl in your store to buy the PS3, doesn't mean overall they are selling.

[5-Star]

Seriously man are you smoking crack. Its like you channel this stuff from dead crazy ppl.

You said exactally the same thing to me in the other thread about with system is better. Hey Des looks like we both smoke crack and channel dead crazy people, isn't it a fun way to spend your weekend nights. You know it does help to smoke the crack first then channel the dead crazies.

This arguement is never going to stop so I think everyone should just shut up and play whatever system that you enjoy playing. :D

As for me, they both cost to much money cause Im a poor bastard so im going to stick with my trusty PS2 for another 6 months to a year.

[Deslock]

All I can say is what I see firsthand in my store.

Which is that we seen to sell a lot more PS3'3, PS2's, and alot more WII's over the X-Box 360's, and get fewer returns on any system than the the ps2/3.

That is not conjecture, just proof from where I'm at.

Insult me all you want, but that is what I've seen from personal experience.

The Psp and the nintendo ds is dead from what I've seen. Gamers demand more from their systems, than what they are giving to us as a gaming community.

[Rdaug27]

As for me, they both cost to much money cause Im a poor bastard so im going to stick with my trusty PS2 for another 6 months to a year.

Preach on brother. PS2 all the way lol. You guys see the new God of War? NICE! I saw in an interview where they pretty much pressed the PS2 to capacity.

I'm a battlefront fanboy so IF part 3 comes to one system exclusive (which would be the dumbest move ever) then that will be the one I get. Yeah thats over a year away so that gives me plenty of time to save up the money I also read online that they are not looking to reduce PS3 prices for at least 2 more years. That would be the same timeframe for the first price drop on the PS2.

What I'm really hoping for is this cross console stuff with Vista. Hopefully they will come out with some good games and I might not have to buy a new system lol. Just buy SWBF 3 for the PC and play my 360 homies ROFL. That would be the sickest shiznit right there.