Sony PlayStation 3 (PS3)

"We have always attempted to do things differently. Our vision has taken us to unprecedented levels of success and innovation. Just keeping up with conventional technology is not enough for us."
Kaz Hirai, Sony Computer Entertainment America

Finally, here is the latest console from Sony. ThePlayStation 3 is powered by the "Cell processor", which is boasted to be 35 times more powerful than the PS2 (the fine details of the CPU are displayed opposite).

Its graphics is powered by an NVidia graphics chip called an RSX ("Reality Synthesizer") which operates at 550 MHz core clock with over 300 million transistors, and is claimed to be more powerful than two GeForce 6800 Ultra cards put together.

Comparing the PS3 to the Xbox 360 as far as specifications are considered is near impossible, due to the fact that the GPUs and CPUs are constructed differently. The RSX has a smaller number of pipelines than what the Xbox 360 boasts. But this could mean that they are more powerful - so its difficult to comprehend. The new Nintendo Wii is an even harder comparison, due to the completely different market that the Wii has appealed to.

The online facility, as with the Xbox 360 is an important factor. The PS3 can be played online for free, a positive in comparison with the Xbox 360 Live (a £39.99 subscription a year). However, downloadable files will cost, but this shouldn't be a major issue for the overall lifetime of you PS3 online experience. The PS3 has connection via Ethernet (10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX, 1000BASE-T) x 3 (input x 1 + output x 2) and wirelessly through Wi-Fi IEEE 802.11 b/g.

The controllers on the PS3 are not a redesign as first anticipated, infact the controller looks similar to the old PS2 controller. But the rumble feature of the DualShock does not exist, although it has the ability for wireless (Bluetooth) technology and have a motion sensor, with 6 degrees of freedom (all as standard). The PS3 can accommodate up to 7 players at one time, also additional controllers can be connected to one of up to 6 USB 2.0 ports available (front x4, rear x2). Furthermore, PSP owners will be able to connect their handheld gaming device to a Wi-Fi port as either a controller or an additional screen, perhaps even for viewing tactical information in game.

The system is available in 3 colours shown below; white silver and black. The media format that the games will be stored on is called Blu-ray. A single-layer Blu-ray Disc can hold 25 GB - roughly 5 times more storage than a standard single-layer DVD. The Blu-ray drive will support all Blu-ray formats (BD-ROM/BD-R/BD-RE) and be backward compatible with current CD and DVD formats to enable "some" PS2 games to be played (Sony say 200 do not work). As well as this flexibility, what really separates the PS3 from the Xbox 360 is the fact that the console doubles up as a Blu-ray DVD player. At the moment the benefits of such a system has not reached its full potential, but can be just as successful as the PS2 was to DVDs (providing that Blu-ray stays competitive with HD-DVDs).

The PS3 comes with the choice of a non-removable 20GB or 60GB hard drive, giving a retail value of ~£350 (TBC) or £425 respectively - which is quite considerable compared to the varied figures being banded around. Also note that the 20GB version has no HDMI ports and no WiFi, which cannot be upgraded (unlike the Xbox 360 which can). This means with the cheaper version, the maximum resolution will be restricted to 1080i (the max with HDMI ports being 1080p). Having a resolution of 1080p is the smoothest and clearer picture, therefore the 60GB is recommended. What should also be priced-in is a 2nd controller (£30) and couple of games (£80), which gives an overall total of £535!

After a couple of years this console will easily be considered value for money. A reduction in price coupled with Bluray movies being its partial sucessor to DVDs, there's no reason why it can be everyone's no. 1 choice - but would that be too late?.