Arguably Microsoft can attribute a great deal of its success to the hugely successful online capabilities. The new Xbox 360 will continue with the online feature and develop it even further. Xbox 360 will offer two tiers of online function, silver and gold. With silver being a basic package for users to connect and play online, and gold offering other services such as additional downloads and content.

Microsoft has also provided additional resources for their new gaming console. The Xbox 360 will have the ability to operate as a general media centre, with the ability to stream media directory from a PC running Windows Media Player, as well as other portable devices which are supported by Microsoft.


Nintendo Revolution

No one really knows too much about the actually system. What will it look like? What kind of power will it “actually” have? What games are in development? Nintendo is, for the most part, keeping a lid on things. We don’t even really know when the official release date will be. It has been reported that March of 2006 will be the “unofficial” date.

Living in an online world, it seems everyone has “the inside scoop” on the new console. Members of blogs and forums are saying everything from holographic imaging to new methods of image processing where a developer could create hyper realistic vistas at a fraction of the current processing cost. The bottom line is, with limited facts, speculation is rampid, which creates plenty of misinformation and hype.

Nintendo seems to be the least powerful out of the three systems, but it is expected to cost almost half as much compared to the Playstatin and Xbox.. It is also anticipated that the new Nintendo will be the final console to enter the market., which means they will have a lot of work to do to catch up.

A closer look

- The Playstation 3 seems to be the leader in processing power, offering a custom “cell” processor.

- The Xbox may boast less power than the Playstation, but hopes to make up ground in offering other appealing features such as the extended online multiplayer abilities as well as in impressive media center.

- Both the Xbox and Playstation are offering wireless controllers this time around which will appeal to all users.

- In terms of graphics capabilities both the Xbox and Playstation have done an impressive job in searching for a


Below is a comparison of the three systems. This information has been collected from various online resources. As a result, it could be wrong or could very easily change from now to the time of actual production. As previously noted, Nintendo has not released a spec sheet yet for the Revolution, so we can only add bits and pieces of what we “think” we know.

http://searchwarp.com/swa13746.htm


By the middle of next year, all three consoles will have been released. Since Microsoft is hoping to have their Xbox 360 released just in time for Christmas they will undoubtedly have the upper-hand. Sony and Nintendo will have a lot of work to to do to catch up to the momentum started by the Xbox 360.

Ultimately, what will make or break the new consoles are the game titles. Traditionally, Nintendo has appealed to the younger audience, while Microsoft and Sony have targeted a more adult oriented crowd. However with these new, more powerful system, each Company has the capabilities to produce exciting games.