Monday, November 20, 2006

It's the battle of the ages, played out with a new generation of hardware that, for the first time, appears to leave even high-end gaming PCs in the dust. Opinions about Microsoft Xbox 360 and Sony PlayStation 3 vary, but it's pretty clear that both devices kick serious butt from a technical perspective. Looking over the specifications, and listening to representatives of both companies, however, I've come away with a few general thoughts.

From a pure processing standpoint, the PS3 appears to beat the Xbox 360, but the first generation PS3 games are not graphically superior to anything that's available on the Xbox 360. Xbox 360, however, drops the bomb on the PS3 in a few categories as well. And then there's the Nintendo Wii. Nintendo's next-generation console eschews technical prowress for a truly innovative new hand controller system. This system is much less expensive than Microsoft's and Sony's offerings, and it is much more appealing for kids of all ages.