After E3: Xbox 360 vs. PS3 Price Fight

Now that Microsoft's played part (if not all) of its hand and rolled out a smaller, cooler, quieter Xbox 360, how do things stack up against the competition?

Our latest build-it-yourself chart  won't tell you what to buy, since that depends what you're after, but it will give you a sense for who's overcharging (though I will say--sneak preview--that after years of high upgrade prices, Microsoft's finally carried its fully-loaded Xbox 360 down from the mountain).

Not listed here: Microsoft's confirmed $199 Xbox 360 budget-class model, coming this fall, probably without wireless and a smaller hard drive (or no hard drive at all).

Note that prices for systems and components were grabbed from Best Buy, accessed June 22, 2010.

Hard Drive: The PS3 hard drive can be user-swapped for any 2.5-inch SATA drive (e.g. a 500GB drive retails for $70 to $90) while the Xbox 360 remains proprietary, capped at 250GB, and Microsoft-locked. 

Wireless: As noted in the chart, the PS3 employs internal 802.11g wireless, while the Xbox 360 now also includes internal wireless more or less gratis (the external USB dongle cost $100) and at the hypothetically faster 802.11n spec.

Controller: The PS3 controllers charge internally, while the Xbox 360 comes with a pair of standard AA batteries. Microsoft's "Play & Charge" kit, which includes the charger cable and NiMH battery pack, costs $20.

Video: The PS3's HDMI connection adheres to the 1.3a spec, which yields higher data transfer speeds, a new expanded color format called "Deep Color," automatic audio syncing (lip syncing), and Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio support. The Xbox 360 supports the older HDMI spec 1.2. In practice, the only functional difference given current TV and broadcast limitations would be the Dolby/DTS-HD spec, and then only in relation to lossless, uncompressed audio situations, such as Blu-ray video playback. For more on this, see here.

Online: The new Xbox 360 comes with Microsoft's Xbox LIVE Silver membership, which essentially allows you to create a Gamertag and message friends. If you want Netflix, Facebook, Twitter, and online multiplayer support, you'll have to upgrade to Xbox LIVE Gold, which costs $50 a year, e.g. $250 for five years. The PS3 currently offers online services including competitive multiplayer at no additional cost, though a premium service dubbed "PlayStation Plus" is in the offing.

Acronyms: RJ45 is shorthand for Ethernet. CVBS stands for "Composite Video, Blanking, and Sync" (the lowest quality video cable, only a step above coaxial RF). YPbPr is shorthand for Component Video, and refers to the discrete green, blue, and red video plugs (component is the second-highest quality video cable, next to HDMI). For some reason Microsoft only includes the CVBS cable in the new Xbox 360, where it used to include both HDMI and YPbPr.

Disclaimer: I've said it before, I'll say it again: Remember that the above chart doesn't gauge the "soft" value of features like Xbox LIVE or PlayStation Home, or how having a network of friends clustered on a given system influences purchases.

Summary: The playing field for all-in system purchases from a component-driven standpoint just leveled out dramatically.




source:pcworld.com

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Behind the Scenes with Sony's Killzone 2 (PS3)

AMSTERDAM--Guerrilla Games, acquired by Sony Computer Entertainment in December 2005, resides in a cavernous, five-story historic bank in downtown Amsterdam. There's even a safe in the basement where the servers are kept cool. But the developer behind the Killzone franchise, gave a small contingent of game editors carte blanche access to their upcoming game, and first PlayStation 3 title -- Killzone 2.

Listening to some of the taglines for the new game like "Our war, their planet," which sets up the large-scale planetary invasion of Helghast for the single-player campaign, and it becomes obvious that Hollywood has had a major influence on the team. During a presentation, Hermen Hulst, managing director of Guerrilla Games talked about the "journey through a hostile world where he wants gamers to feel unwelcome, and be part of big set pieces, dramatic events, and engage in a Hollywood-size experience."

Mathijs de Jonge, creative director, showed off the evolution of the Killzone game engine that powers the new game. He said the goal was to bring to life great special effects like those seen in films like Saving Private Ryan.

"One of the big things about our engine is the lighting system," said de Jonge. "We're able to apply lights post-process and it allows us to use an infinite number of lights, where most engines stop at three sources of light. This allows for a level of detail not seen before in any Killzone game."

A separate team worked on the artificial intelligence that powers the assorted Helghast enemies as well as the buddies who help the player through the journey. Rob Heald, AI designer, said the PS3 offers each AI a much wider range of on-the-fly options.

"The advanced processing power results in more intelligent AI across the board," said Helad. "As a result, players will see a greater range of animations. Each individual enemy is able to do things like jump over objects, use doors and ladders and have intelligent reactions to dynamic things that happen on the battlefield."

In addition to creating proprietary technology to power Killzone 2, the team made sure to take in other game experiences and keep an open eye to other sources like films, books and architecture.

"When you're working on something like Killzone 2, which takes a lot of long hours, you don't get to play many games through to the end any more," said Hulst. "What we do here every Friday night is put the directors in the exterior house (an isolated home behind the bank equipped with plasma TVs and PlayStation 3s) and have FragFest at 5 pm. We have some beers and watch movies like Apocalypse Now or play the newest games like Resistance 2. We get to play together with the guys and break down the new game with the technology guys. We look at the effects and the gameplay. Gaming is as much a profession today as it is a hobby."

That same exterior house was loaded with single-player campaign levels -- all 10 scenarios from the Killzone 2 were playable for the first time. Highlights include a level on a moving train in which the wind affects the player's ability to target enemies. Another challenge that gamers will need to overcome are the Elite Shock Troopers, the best of the best in the formative Helghast army. These soldiers do more than just toss back grenades; they'll come at you with a knife as a last resort.

Hulst promises that the final challenge in Killzone 2 will be "more intense than anything you've seen before, more enemies than ever before," and while details are currently under NDA, the action towards the end of the game has been elevated to a new level.

Inside the main studio building, Guerrilla set up eight PS3s for online multiplayer action. The new game supports up to 32 players and will ship with eight maps. What separates Killzone 2 multiplayer from other games is five different mission types that players can change on-the-fly within a single match, which completely changes the strategy of a game. Angie Smets, senior producer in charge of multiplayer, said that the online game will not only change from round to round, but within each round.

"In the Create Game screen, players can select a preset like Warzone, which is everything on (all five mission types and eight maps), or he can go to a Customize Game screen and just play team deathmatch," said Eric Boltjes, senior online game designer. "We go even deeper and allow the player to just have medics in a match or turn off scouts completely. We allow players to create sniper rifle only games. You can turn off friendly fire. You can even add bots if you don't have enough friends to play. After tweaking this, you can save the preset so you can jump back into that game type at any time."

Smets said that Assassination mode is quite popular with the team. This mode chooses a single opposing player as the target that everyone on your team has to kill and everyone on the other team has to protect. The target has 30 seconds to set up defenses and then you're told where he is and that you have to kill him.

"There's also something scary about seeing you as the assassination target. It's a real adrenaline rush."

"People set up turrets and mines around the player to make sure he doesn't die," said Smets. "There's also something scary about seeing you as the assassination target. It's a real adrenaline rush."

Smets is overseeing the extensive community site, Killzone.com, which will host leaderboards, tournaments and enough statistics to satisfy the most diehard of gamers. In addition, the site offers developer stories, blogs and a place where players can create their own page and link with friends. Like Insomniac Games' recent Resistance 2, community will remain a major focus for Guerilla once the final game is completed.

Guerrilla Games will support clans from the outset with the ability to participate in clan tournaments for up to 256 clans. Like a game of poker, each clan player will have to wager some clan valor into the pot and the winner will divide the spoils. These points can be used as currency within the game universe.

"Every aspect of Killzone 2 has to be just right," said Smets. "We began testing multiplayer two years ago. It's that extra level of polish that will separate this game from other titles."

SOURCE:PCWORLD.COM

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