Playstation 3 v. Nintendo Wii 鈥?Which is best for you

Both Sony and Nintendo will release their latest generation system in the late third-early fourth quarter of this year. Never before have two same generation systems been so different in what they offer.

The Playstation 3

The Playstation 3 is slated to be released in the United States on Nov 17, 2006 and there is no doubt in anyone鈥檚 mind that unless you鈥檙e on a waitlist for the system eBay is going to be your number one place to pick up the product. The playstation 3 will come in two models, a base system that will cost $499 and a premium system which will cost $599. The high price point of the system has been a sticking point for many critics who suggest that Sony鈥檚 arrogance or lack of price sensitivity will result in less sales. In exchange for the high price, Sony is jamming lots of goodies into its next gen system, including state of the art graphics generators and a blu-ray (next generation DVD) reader. Games are expected to cost 75-100 dollars each.

The Nintendo Wii

The Nintendo Wii on the other hand has decided to go a different route. Instead of jamming its system with the latest and greatest in hardware Nintendo has opted for middle of the road processors and innovative game play. Earlier this year, Nintendo reveal its motion sensing controller. Words really can not do justice to how innovative this system is, so I suggest searching google or youtube for some promotional video clips of how this new controller could change the face of gaming. Additionally, the Wii marks Nintendo first real foray into online gaming with each consule being shipped with a built in wifi. It should be interesting to see how Nintendo, known for being a party game platform makes the transition in to play such games as Mario Party and Super Smash Brothers online. Nintendo鈥檚 strongest coup however might be its pricing strategy. Rumors from Japan and the gaming media in the states have suggested that the new system will be released for no more than 250 dollars meaning non-brand discerning parents doing Christmas shopping are likely to pick up a next-gen Nintendo and couple of games instead of the PS3 based on price alone. Again, never before in gaming history has the gulf between two next generation system been so great. It should be interesting to see how this chapter in console gaming plans out.

Nintendo Wii Specs (Wikipedia)

Processor:
CPU: IBM PowerPC processor codenamed "Broadway" (made with a 90 nm SOI CMOS process)at 3.1Ghz

GPU
GPU: ATI "Hollywood" (made with a 90 nm CMOS process[26]).

Memory:
1T-SRAM [27]

Ports and peripheral capabilities:Up to four Wii Remote controllers (connected wirelessly via Bluetooth)
One SD memory card slot
Two USB 2.0 ports
One Sensor Bar port
Four Nintendo GameCube controller ports
Two Nintendo GameCube memory card ports
Compatible with optional USB 2.0 Ethernet LAN adaptor

Storage:

512 MB built-in flash memory
Expansion available via SD card memory and USB mass storage[9]
Slot-loading disc drive compatible with:
DVD(4.7 GB Single layer or 8.5 GB Dual Layer)
8cm GameCube optical disc
Mask ROM by Macronix[28]

Built-in content ratings systems:
PEGI, ESRB, CERO, and OFLC

Video:

Up to 480p and will work with a computer monitor as well as any TV or projector[29]
Component (including Progressive scan), S-Video, or composite output
16:9 widescreen support

Audio:
Main: Stereo - Dolby Pro Logic II-capable[30]
Controller: Built-in speaker

PS3 Playstation 3 Official Specs

CPU
Cell Processor
PowerPC-base Core @3.2GHz
1 VMX vector unit per core
512KB L2 cache
7 x SPE @3.2GHz
7 x 128b 128 SIMD GPRs
7 x 256KB SRAM for SPE
* 1 of 8 SPEs reserved for redundancy
total floating point performance: 218 GFLOPS

GPU
RSX @550MHz
1.8 TFLOPS floating point performance
Full HD (up to 1080p) x 2 channels
Multi-way programmable parallel floating point shader pipelines

Sound
Dolby 5.1ch, DTS, LPCM, etc. (Cell- base processing)
Memory
256MB XDR Main RAM @3.2GHz 256MB GDDR3 VRAM @700MHz

System Bandwidth
Main RAM 25.6GB/s
VRAM 22.4GB/s
RSX 20GB/s (write) 15GB/s (read)
SB< 2.5GB/s (write) 2.5GB/s (read)

System Floating Point Performance
2 TFLOPS

Storage
Detachable 2.5" HDD slot x 1

I/O
USB Front x 4, Rear x 2 (USB2.0)
Memory Stick standard/Duo, PRO x 1
SD standard/mini x 1
CompactFlash (Type I, II) x 1

Communication
Ethernet (10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX, 1000BASE-T) x 3 (input x 1 output x 2)
Wi-Fi IEEE 802.11 b/g
Bluetooth 2.0 (EDR)

Controller
Bluetooth (up to 7)
USB 2.0 (wired)
Wi-Fi (PSP)
Network (over IP)
AV Output
Screen size: 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p
HDMI: HDMI out x 2
Analog: AV MULTI OUT x 1
Digital audio: DIGITAL OUT (OPTICAL) x 1

Disc Media
CD PlayStation CD-ROM, PlayStation 2 CD-ROM, CD-DA, CD-DA (ROM), CD-R, CD-RW, SACD, SACD Hybrid (CD layer), SACD HD, DualDisc, DualDisc (audio side), DualDisc (DVD side)
DVD: PlayStation 2 DVD-ROM, PlayStation 3 DVD-ROM, DVD-Video, DVD-ROM, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD R, DVD RW
Blu-ray Disc: PlayStation 3 BD-ROM, BD-Video, BD-ROM, BD-R, BD-RE

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