TopTenREVIEWS

TopTenREVIEWS - Silver Award - Awarded for excellence in design, useability and feature set

Sony’s PlayStation 3 emerged in late 2006 after a long and successful run with its PlayStation 2 video game console, which remains the best-selling console to date, selling more than 140 million units sold as of June 2008. With vast improvements made to its hardware and a new emphasis placed on online play and multimedia, the PS3 is set to continue the success of its previous models well into the future.

Sony has always coupled its video game consoles with multimedia capabilities. The PS1 offered audio CD compatibility, while the PS2 offered CD, DVD and other audio and video file compatibility, with some additional online and web browsing abilities also available. Now, the PS3 has taken a step beyond the typical range of video game consoles to offer full compatibility with the popular Blu-Ray format while also enhancing its online capabilities. In other words, PS3 is capable as serving as the anchor for any entertainment center, but with its online and web browsing capabilities, also makes a powerful companion to any office or workspace. Though given the amount of titles and the generous backward compatibility engineered into the PS3, the likelihood of work is very slim.

**Differences: PS2 and PS3**
Console	PS2	PS3
CPU	Toshiba & Sony 294.9 MHz "Emotion Engine"	3.2 GHz Cell Broadband Engine with 1 PPE & 7 SPEs
GPU	147 MHz "Graphics Synthezizer"	550 MHz NVIDIA/SCEI RSX 'Reality Synthesizer'
Cache Memory	40KB	256MB
RAM	32MB	512KB
Standard Storage	32MB	2.5” SATA 60GB Hard Drive

Though the PS3 still lacks the video output rates and features of the Xbox 360, its development and emphasis on shader technologies has helped boost the graphic and video quality, while providing for a rich and unique picture.

**Video Comparisons: PS3, Xbox 360**
Console	PS3	Xbox 360
Video Output	NVIDIA RSX 128-bit	ATI Xbox 360 256-bit 2D/3D graphics acceleration
Triangle Setup	250 million Triangles/sec	500 million
Multi-Sampled Fill Rate	8 billion samples/sec	16 billion samples/sec
Vertex Shader Processing	1 billion Vertices/sec	1-6 billion Vertices/sec (varies according to unified pipeline use)
Filtered Texture Fetch	12 billion Texels/sec	8 billion Texels/sec
Vertex Texture Fetch	4 billion Texels/sec	8 billion Texels/sec
Pixel Shader Processing with Filtered Texels/Cycle	16 billion Pixels/sec	24 billion Pixels/sec
Pixel Shader Processing without Textures	24 billion Pixels/sec	24 billion Pixels/sec
Frame Buffer Bandwidth	20.8GB/sec (shared with other graphics data)	256GB/sec (dedicated for frame buffer)
Texture/Vertex Memory Bandwidth	20.8GB/sec (shared with frame buffer)	22.4GB/sec (shared with CPU)
Video Memory Installed	256MB GDDR3 SDRAM Integrated	10MB Integrated
Max Resolution External	1920x1080	1920x1080

Despite some of the obvious disadvantages, the PS3's superior installed video memory does help to make up for some of the differences in video output and video and graphic generation between the two consoles.

PS3 Screenshots

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Game Availability:

As with the PS2, the PS3 offers full backward compatibility with PS2 and PlayStation games requiring neither software updates nor advanced storage capabilities. With more than 415 PS3 game title releases in two years, PS3 is eclipsed only by the Nintendo Wii for average monthly game releases. However, with over a thousand PlayStation and PS2 titles to choose from as well, the PS3 stands greatly outnumbers both the Xbox 360 and the Nintendo Wii for available games.

Game Titles	PS3	Xbox 360	Wii
Backward Compatibility	1250 PS1 titles, 1800 PS2 titles	465 Xbox titles (Hard Drive and Latest Software Update Required)	648 GameCube titles
Number of Games Released for Console	415	526	700
Average Number of Game Releases/Month	17	15	29
Online Games Available	83	163	92
Total (as of fall 2008)	3548	1154	1440

Though there are dozens of games that have come close to eclipsing the million-mark in sales, the best-selling games that have exceeded one million in sales for the PS3 as of early 2008 are:

▪ MotorStorm (3.31 million)
▪ Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (3 million)
▪ Resistance: Fall of Man (2.5 million)
▪ Grand Theft Auto IV (1.97 million)
▪ Gran Turismo 5 Prologue (2.23 million)
▪ Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (1.2 million)
▪ Heavenly Sword (1 million)
▪ Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction (1 million)

Online Community:

The PlayStation Network, despite early delays, has proved highly successful, offering users unique user IDs, rankings, trophies, avatars, video chat, audio chat and full messenger integration, all while providing online play that intuitively matches users according to skill set, age, language, region and other custom preferences. PlayStation Network accounts offer advanced parental controls by enabling account users to create Master accounts and manage Sub accounts that may include children, dependents as well and others whose use requires content or community restrictions.

Less than two years after the launch of the PlayStation Network, Sony has expanded its PlayStation Network by providing a video site that enables users to download videos, films and TV shows from Sony Pictures and several other major production studios directly to their hard drive.Summer 2008 also saw the launch of ‘Qore,’ a lifestyle gaming program that airs new material monthly that covers the ins and outs of PS3, PSP and the PlayStation Network, providing tips, tricks, updates and upcoming releases to PlayStation Network users.

PS3 utilizes IEEE 802.11 wireless and bluetooth technologies to achieve connectivity. With faster CPU and GPU capabilities, increased memory and expanded storage, the PS3 offers exceptional speeds and reliability for online gameplay, video downloads, game rentals and web browsing.

Multimedia:

The PS3 stands apart for its multimedia capabilities. Functioning equally well as both video game console and web browser, the PS3 also makes a strong argument as a central entertainment fixture by functioning as a CD, DVD and Blu-Ray player, while offering full compatibility with several audio file formats. The PS3 is the only video game console that can play the Blu-Ray format, and with the launch of its video downloading service on the PlayStation Network, videos, films and TV shows can downloaded directly to the hard drive.

Handheld Compatibility:
The PS3 also offers compatibility with Sony’s handheld video game console, the PSP. The PSP can be used as an additional controller, while the PS3 can be used to download and transfer original PlayStation games to the PSP, either directly or remotely.

Available Accessories:
Though PS2 was sometimes criticized for its reticence in developing wireless controls and accessories, the PS3 has been very proactive, developing wireless headsets, controllers, USB and Blue-Tooth keyboards, network adapters and even a web camera in the form of the PlayStation Eye. All of these accessories help cut down on the mess and allow users an increased range of play and function.

Technical Support:

Sony offers a variety of options for help and support, ranging from telephone, email and online chat assistance. Their official website also offers detailed information for how and where to obtain repair services, including status repair updates. Best of all, Sony offers a dedicated customer service department to respond to customer concerns, as well as downloadable user manuals and tutorials.

Summary:

Though the Xbox 360 does offer better video and graphic output features, as well as a strong, well-developed online community, the PS3 stands apart from both the Xbox 360 and the Nintendo Wii for its multimedia functionality, which includes Blu-Ray, DVD and several audio file formats, and its impressive game library which is due in large part to its generous and ingenious in-built backward compatibility. For gamers that are looking for a console that will provide for broad multimedia functionality, the PS3 is the video game console for you. However, if you are looking for an edge in energy requirements or hardware features, you might want to look to its competitors, Xbox 360 and the Nintendo Wii.