Breakdown of console specs, PS3 tidbit and Revolution disclosures
11-01-05, 07:04 PM
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Breakdown of console specs, PS3 tidbit and Revolution disclosures
Courtesy of arstechnica, http://arstechnica.com/articles/paed...evolution.ars:
Introduction
With receipts from video game sales poised to pass those of Hollywood movies sometime this decade, there's quite a bit more at stake in the coming round of the console wars than there was when Microsoft first entered the fray with the Xbox. Video games, once the domain of geeks and kids, are now mainstream global entertainment, but even that doesn't tell the whole story.
Something else has happened since the advent of the previous generation of consoles with the Playstation 2: the mainstreaming of digital media downloads and the widespread adoption of broadband. Even though Apple isn't (yet) a full-fledged player in the coming battle for the networked living room, the success of its iTunes Music Store shows that the next-generation console champ may gain the privilege of providing the gateway through which multiple forms of home entertainment pass.
We at Ars Technica have been covering "convergence" devices since the site's inception, and I in particular have focused on home networked devices and game consoles. As a kind of follow-up to my previous round of technical articles on the hardware that powers the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360, I decided to step back a bit from the technical details and take a broader look at how the next generation of consoles fit into the home entertainment picture.
Sony Playstation 3 Microsoft Xbox 360 Nintendo Revolution
CPU Cell processor Xenon processor Broadway processor
GPU 550MHz RSX GPU codeveloped by NVIDIA and Sony 500MHz ATI R500 "Xenos" GPU + 500MHz 10MB framebuffer DRAM from NEC Custom ATI design, possibly 600MHz
Memory 256MB XDR RDRAM + 256MB 700MHz GDDR3 VDRAM 512MB 700MHz GDDR3 DRAM Unknown
Networking 3x Ethernet (1 in, two out), 802.11b/g Ethernet (bundled), 802.11a/b/g (with accessory) 802.11b
I/O 6x USB 2.0, Bluetooth 3x USB 2.0 2x USB 2.0
Video 2x HDMI for up to 1080p, component, composite Composite, component; Or with add-on: S-Video, VGA; up to 1080i Unknown
Audio Dolby 5.1 DTS Dolby 5.1 At least Dolby 5.1, but rumored 7.1
Storage Hard drive, Memory Stick, SD, Compact Flash Removable hard drive, two media slots SD, 512MB Flash RAM
DVD media format Blu-ray DVD DVD
--------------------------------------------------------
Edit: the above table looks like crap, go to the site to see it properly
---------------------------------------------------------
The table above breaks down the general features of the three next-generation consoles. Just from glancing at the table, a few general trends are apparent. First, all of the consoles come standard with network connectivity options. These consoles are made to talk to other devices and to the outside world, but as we'll see below their unique approaches to connectivity tell us quite a bit about their makers' ideas for the digital home.
The second trend that should be apparent is what I'll call "complexity." The PS3 includes more features, more options, and more hardware, and as a result it'll be more expensive and arrive later. The Xbox 360 is slightly less extravagant, but by no means limited. The Revolution is the most modest of the lot, and as we'll see below Nintendo intends for this console to do more with less.
Third, the two most-connected consoles, the PS3 and the Xbox 360, will likely ship in their optimal configurations with hard drive storage capabilities. While the Xbox 360 Core System does not include a hard drive, it's clear that Microsoft considers the hard drive to be part of the optimal package, since the branded "Xbox 360" (not the Xbox Ultra or Premium) has one. As for Sony, we simply do not know whether or not a hard drive will be included with a base package, but I am inclined to think that in Sony's eyes, a hard drive will be part of the optimal experience. The inclusion of the hard disk is of a piece with the Ethernet connectivity, because you'll need a place to cache the content that you get off the network.
Also of a piece with the hard drive and the connectivity are the HDTV video options of Sony's and Microsoft's consoles. Both of these consoles have the horsepower to do HDTV decoding, the storage capacity to hold HDTV video (either via a next-gen DVD format, hard drives, or in Microsoft's case, streaming from a Media Center), and the network connection to grab that video from the Internet and/or to obtain the key to unlock it.
But before I get carried away with trying to put all of these pieces together, let's talk a bit about the technology that underlies the three consoles.
-----------------------------------------
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20051101-5511.html
Revolution disclosures, and a PS3 tidbit
11/1/2005 3:32:36 PM, by Hannibal
A Spanish language site called Meristation recently interviewed Jim Merrick, Nintendo of Europe's Senior Director of Marketing, and got him to cough up a few details on the Revolution (Gamasutra coverage, original interview). Merrick revealed that the console's worldwide launch window will be about 14 weeks or less for all major territories, which by historical standards is fairly short.
Merrick also stated that there's not a gap between Revolution's graphics and the other two consoles, a statement that can be taken a few different ways. For instance, if the games don't strive to realistically render real-world environments, and instead stick to more cartoonish and/or exotic fare, then it's entirely possible that from a non-technical gamer's perspective Revolution games will look just as good as, say, the PS3's Gran Tourismo 5. Merrick could also be making reference to the fact that it's going to take longer for the Xbox 360 and the PS3 to really reach their full graphical potential, and during that ramp-up time the Revolution will stack up well against the two less conventional and less rapidly maturing consoles. Or, finally, Merrick is a Nintendo rep and you'd expect him to say something like this, so it could just be hype.
Speaking of the PS3's exotic hardware, I got a random tip in my inbox that the eighth SPE on the PS3's Cell processor is not actually disabled, but is reserved for exclusive use by system security and DRM-related processes.
My understanding of Sony and IBM's decision not to enable the eighth SPE was that this was purely related to production costs. The Cell is a very large processor, so it will be cheaper to produce if IBM can increase yields by selling Cells where one of the SPEs can be flawed from the factory. Still, the idea of using one of the SPEs in a manner very much like Intel's LaGrande Trusted Platform Module (TPM) is interesting, and would be right up Sony's alley. At any rate, I can't confirm this detail and I won't vouch for it, but it's plausible enough that I thought I'd pass it along for you guys to maybe shoot down in the discussion thread.
Introduction
With receipts from video game sales poised to pass those of Hollywood movies sometime this decade, there's quite a bit more at stake in the coming round of the console wars than there was when Microsoft first entered the fray with the Xbox. Video games, once the domain of geeks and kids, are now mainstream global entertainment, but even that doesn't tell the whole story.
Something else has happened since the advent of the previous generation of consoles with the Playstation 2: the mainstreaming of digital media downloads and the widespread adoption of broadband. Even though Apple isn't (yet) a full-fledged player in the coming battle for the networked living room, the success of its iTunes Music Store shows that the next-generation console champ may gain the privilege of providing the gateway through which multiple forms of home entertainment pass.
We at Ars Technica have been covering "convergence" devices since the site's inception, and I in particular have focused on home networked devices and game consoles. As a kind of follow-up to my previous round of technical articles on the hardware that powers the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360, I decided to step back a bit from the technical details and take a broader look at how the next generation of consoles fit into the home entertainment picture.
Sony Playstation 3 Microsoft Xbox 360 Nintendo Revolution
CPU Cell processor Xenon processor Broadway processor
GPU 550MHz RSX GPU codeveloped by NVIDIA and Sony 500MHz ATI R500 "Xenos" GPU + 500MHz 10MB framebuffer DRAM from NEC Custom ATI design, possibly 600MHz
Memory 256MB XDR RDRAM + 256MB 700MHz GDDR3 VDRAM 512MB 700MHz GDDR3 DRAM Unknown
Networking 3x Ethernet (1 in, two out), 802.11b/g Ethernet (bundled), 802.11a/b/g (with accessory) 802.11b
I/O 6x USB 2.0, Bluetooth 3x USB 2.0 2x USB 2.0
Video 2x HDMI for up to 1080p, component, composite Composite, component; Or with add-on: S-Video, VGA; up to 1080i Unknown
Audio Dolby 5.1 DTS Dolby 5.1 At least Dolby 5.1, but rumored 7.1
Storage Hard drive, Memory Stick, SD, Compact Flash Removable hard drive, two media slots SD, 512MB Flash RAM
DVD media format Blu-ray DVD DVD
--------------------------------------------------------
Edit: the above table looks like crap, go to the site to see it properly
---------------------------------------------------------
The table above breaks down the general features of the three next-generation consoles. Just from glancing at the table, a few general trends are apparent. First, all of the consoles come standard with network connectivity options. These consoles are made to talk to other devices and to the outside world, but as we'll see below their unique approaches to connectivity tell us quite a bit about their makers' ideas for the digital home.
The second trend that should be apparent is what I'll call "complexity." The PS3 includes more features, more options, and more hardware, and as a result it'll be more expensive and arrive later. The Xbox 360 is slightly less extravagant, but by no means limited. The Revolution is the most modest of the lot, and as we'll see below Nintendo intends for this console to do more with less.
Third, the two most-connected consoles, the PS3 and the Xbox 360, will likely ship in their optimal configurations with hard drive storage capabilities. While the Xbox 360 Core System does not include a hard drive, it's clear that Microsoft considers the hard drive to be part of the optimal package, since the branded "Xbox 360" (not the Xbox Ultra or Premium) has one. As for Sony, we simply do not know whether or not a hard drive will be included with a base package, but I am inclined to think that in Sony's eyes, a hard drive will be part of the optimal experience. The inclusion of the hard disk is of a piece with the Ethernet connectivity, because you'll need a place to cache the content that you get off the network.
Also of a piece with the hard drive and the connectivity are the HDTV video options of Sony's and Microsoft's consoles. Both of these consoles have the horsepower to do HDTV decoding, the storage capacity to hold HDTV video (either via a next-gen DVD format, hard drives, or in Microsoft's case, streaming from a Media Center), and the network connection to grab that video from the Internet and/or to obtain the key to unlock it.
But before I get carried away with trying to put all of these pieces together, let's talk a bit about the technology that underlies the three consoles.
-----------------------------------------
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20051101-5511.html
Revolution disclosures, and a PS3 tidbit
11/1/2005 3:32:36 PM, by Hannibal
A Spanish language site called Meristation recently interviewed Jim Merrick, Nintendo of Europe's Senior Director of Marketing, and got him to cough up a few details on the Revolution (Gamasutra coverage, original interview). Merrick revealed that the console's worldwide launch window will be about 14 weeks or less for all major territories, which by historical standards is fairly short.
Merrick also stated that there's not a gap between Revolution's graphics and the other two consoles, a statement that can be taken a few different ways. For instance, if the games don't strive to realistically render real-world environments, and instead stick to more cartoonish and/or exotic fare, then it's entirely possible that from a non-technical gamer's perspective Revolution games will look just as good as, say, the PS3's Gran Tourismo 5. Merrick could also be making reference to the fact that it's going to take longer for the Xbox 360 and the PS3 to really reach their full graphical potential, and during that ramp-up time the Revolution will stack up well against the two less conventional and less rapidly maturing consoles. Or, finally, Merrick is a Nintendo rep and you'd expect him to say something like this, so it could just be hype.
Speaking of the PS3's exotic hardware, I got a random tip in my inbox that the eighth SPE on the PS3's Cell processor is not actually disabled, but is reserved for exclusive use by system security and DRM-related processes.
My understanding of Sony and IBM's decision not to enable the eighth SPE was that this was purely related to production costs. The Cell is a very large processor, so it will be cheaper to produce if IBM can increase yields by selling Cells where one of the SPEs can be flawed from the factory. Still, the idea of using one of the SPEs in a manner very much like Intel's LaGrande Trusted Platform Module (TPM) is interesting, and would be right up Sony's alley. At any rate, I can't confirm this detail and I won't vouch for it, but it's plausible enough that I thought I'd pass it along for you guys to maybe shoot down in the discussion thread.
Last edited by Chaos; 11-01-05 at 07:06 PM.
