Clash of the Consoles on the Cards as Sony unveils PS3

With Microsoft on a campaign to capture the gaming market and PS3 scheduled for release in November, the market is steaming with energy and gamers suffer unrest as to what to go for. In such a volatile situation, would the Nintendo’s Wii suffice to be another one to watch out for?

The Nintendo Revolution -- which has been re-christened as ‘Wii’; is a great machine and binds many fans out there. But for all gaming purposes (graphics, games, etc.) there are only two major consoles to fight for you attention, with Nintendo has already admitted that its’ purpose is not to go after Microsoft or Sony.

The Sony Playstation 3 hits the retail markets on the 17th of November with an eye popping price tag of US$ 600. However, it has been very particular in making known that unlike its rival Microsoft’s XBOX 360, gamers would be able to connect to its network service for free.

XBOX users are required to pay a $50 fee to be able to connect and play online games. In Sony’s attempt to capture the market, it has declared that the same services would be offered free of cost. However, the clients of this console would need to cough up when it comes to downloading of games.

The PlayStation 3’s base price will be $499 with a premium model up for $599, compared with $299 for the Xbox 360 and $249 for the Wii. Nevertheless, Sony feels that the PS3’s powerful hardware makes it undoubtedly the best investment in today’s gaming environment.

The offers do not end here and there is much more to go through before deciding on the console of your choice. Sony’s console, both the basic version and the premium model, will be able to play high-resolution DVDs in the BluRay format that Sony is promoting. The Xbox 360 has a comparable ability for another format, HD-DVD, but only as a $200 add-on.

The BD option in the PS3 would allow its games to be bigger and be more detailed and realistic. This would definitely be a upper hand for it compared to the rival from Microsoft.

Another important thing one notices is what Sony is calling the controller’s Sixaxis feature: you can simply tilt, turn and twist the entire controller left and right, up and down, without pushing any buttons, to produce action on the screen.

None the less, it has to be pointed out that Sony’s tilt-and-turn feature does not seem quite as robust or quite as integral to the system as the similar (but more powerful) functionality in Nintendo’s Wii.

However, the price puts a big question mark on the acceptability of the system as it would take the price closer to a PC and not deliver graphics that the PC is already capable of. This machine is based on nVidia's 6800 graphic cards, whereas the 7800 series is already on the shelf for PCs.

Talking about the graphics, well they are simply gorgeous. Just check the almost photo-realistic rain spray coming off Michael Schumacher’s Ferrari in Formula 1 to find out.

But what about the XBOX 360? Currently, the graphics of both the consoles seem undistinguishable. However, in time to come, when game developers figure out methods to harness the sheer power of the PS3's silicon mind, they will definitely be able to overpower the graphics of XBOX 360.

Sony’s console has plenty of add on features such as the built in wireless, HDMI, web browsing, etc, but they never decide the fate of any console as in today’s fast paced world, any of these can be upgraded.

Sony has prevailed in the game wars so far with consoles judged largely on their power and graphics, and a big library of games. However, with the newer entrants growing more power, it would be worth a watch to see the titans fighting it out.

To sum it all up, the latest offer from Sony is a great next generation digital entertainment system. Its power is yet to be tested and may redefine the gaming world as we know it today.