"It's a box made of future technology as opposed to Xbox 1.5"

[GAMEC0CK2002]

Re: "It's a box made of future technology as opposed to Xbox 1.5"

I don't think all this talk of specs is gonna make much difference. I find it highly unlikely that a developer is gonna build the same game from the ground floor for both systems. So while one system may be heads and shoulders more powerful, we won't see that big a difference. Especially, in the first set of games that will be out at the same time on each system.

Unless something drastic happens it will come down to 2 questions? Who's exclusives do you like more and How important is online gaming for you?

I have a question for those in the know: In the PS2-Xbox era almost everything was designed for PS2 and ported to Xbox. Sooo, is it easier to go from the less powerful system and just add a few bells and whistles for the more powerful system OR is it easier to start at most powerful and strip it down for the less powerful?

[PDex]

Re: "It's a box made of future technology as opposed to Xbox 1.5"

Not true. Kevin Pereira's interview with Reggie Fils-Amie(exec vp of sales, Nintendo North America) was, to put it mildly, tense. Kevin asked some very direct questions, some of which bordered on insulting. If Sony seemed to get a pass, it's because the relatively non-confrontational Morgan Webb did the interview. She did try to pin the guy down on the pre-rendered question, but apparently in your face journalism isn't her style.

Exactly, I was hoping after the Sony guy replied with "It will look like that." I wanted her to grill him on that little more before just moving on to something else. I wanted someone to make Sony show a little more of their hand. I still feel in the dark on those demos.

[Stu]

Re: "It's a box made of future technology as opposed to Xbox 1.5"

I have a question for those in the know: In the PS2-Xbox era almost everything was designed for PS2 and ported to Xbox. Sooo, is it easier to go from the less powerful system and just add a few bells and whistles for the more powerful system OR is it easier to start at most powerful and strip it down for the less powerful?

I'm guessing the answer would change depending on which developer you asked. It also may be a timing thing. In the current generation developers had longer to work with PS2, so they may have been setup better to port from PS2 to XBox. In the next generation the opposite may be true.

[Flawless]

Re: "It's a box made of future technology as opposed to Xbox 1.5"

Flawless?

It's way to early to be comparing the two, because alot still hasn't been answered. However, from what's been disclosed the PS3 has an advantage on the CPU side, and the Xbox 360 on the GPU side (just like this gen), this can change in the comming months. The theoretical numbers both of these companies are throwing out their mean nothing in realworld performance. The gap between the two, if there is one, is nowhere near the gap the Xbox had over the PS2. That didn't make much of difference for the multiplatform games, just the Xbox was a little sharper and clearer.

Now with the two so close, how are going to tell a difference?

Both of these consoles have 512MB of RAM, unlike this gen, were the Xbox had 64MB and the PS2 had 32MB. All games will run in High Definition. The difference could be with the "Smart 3D EDram" embedded in the Xbox 360 GPU, which can do 4X Multisampling Antialiasing at or above 1280x720 resolution without impacting the GPU. Therefore, not only will all of your games on Xbox 360 be in High Definition, but they also will have 4XAA applied.. Once again the Xbox 360 could end up having the sharper and clearer grahpics, as far as the multiplatform games. Time will tell though, if that's the case, as I think it's going to be even harder to distinguish the two.

Also, I can't help, but get the feeling nimble, flexible, and efficient hardware ala, Nintendo consoles, when looking at the way the Xbox 360 was built.

[Jistic]

Re: "It's a box made of future technology as opposed to Xbox 1.5"

Nice summary. Thanks.