Clogging up the Web

I have only owned my XBOX 360 since just before Christmas ‘06. Before buying it, when I was deciding on which console to buy, I researched the question of which was the best console Wii, PS3 or XBOX 360. In the end, my decision was made by availability. I had no trouble getting the XBOX 360 before Christmas, but the Wii, though released, was not generally available unless you had pre-ordered some time in advance. The PS3 was not going to be available for at least 3 more months (more when you consider the waiting lists). So, anxious to return to serious gaming after many years of being a grown-up, I decided to bite the bullet and get the XBOX 360 (I found a nice bundle in Virgin with Gears of War and got an additional 10% off with my *cough* student discount card *cough*)

There are so many Wii vs XBOX 360 vs PS3 blog posts, forum threads, etc, and so many heated opinions. The fact is, who cares? The XBOX 360 is a fantastic piece of engineering. The 3 x 3.2GHz CPU cores, excellent GPU, more than adequate DDR3 memory and ultra fast memory and front-side buses make the XBOX 360 a real graphics processing powerhouse even at 1080i HD (and supposedly 1080p, which it supports, but cannot easily output). Gears of War, purportedly the best game ever, is something to behold at 1080i on a 40″+ LCD or Plasma TV (especially my Sony 40W :)). Fact is, I don’t care what Wii or PS3 is like - I am enjoying nextgen game play right now with fantastic online gameplay with various “friends” around the world who I can talk to while playing.

Each console has it’s pluses. The Wii’s claim to fame is the motion sensitive controller. The PS3’s main claim to fame is the Blu-ray High Definition video player and the “9-cell processor”.

But the Wii isn’t HD and I consider graphics to be important with a nextgen console. The PS3 has lot’s of raw power, but can it be harnessed? The XBOX 360 has had a huge head start on the PS3 and many game developers will develop for XBOX 360 and port to PS3. I have heard that the PS3 is difficult to develop for with it’s complex multi-cell architecture and that the XBOX 360’s 3 core architecture is much easier and faster to develop for (especially using Microsoft Visual Studio). I’ll adopt a wait and see approach on the PS3’s power and whether it will truly ever be harnessed. Also, the XBOX 360 has an addon HD-DVD drive for when HD movies are more widely available in the likes of Xtravision and Blockbuster.

Another huge factor is the choice of games. The XBOX 360 had some real quality games to choose from, notably Gears of War and Rainbow 6: Las Vegas. And just wait for the furore surrounding Halo 3 when it comes out! The Wii has a handful of “family” games and PS3 has been slow out of the blocks. As a 30-something gamer, the Wii’s selection isn’t appealing to me, unlike the more adult and sometimes darker choices on XBOX 360.

The XBOX 360 also has an excellent online experience, with a great friends system and easily downloadable content. A web browser would be nice, but I think it’s probably best to avoid one given the Microsoft software powering the XBOX 360.

So, for 30-something gamers, the PS3 still has a lot to prove for me. Once the initial reported glitches with frame rates are fixed and a better choice of games becomes available, maybe, just maybe, the PS3 will stack up against the XBOX 360. For now, though it’s no contest. The XBOX 360 wins hands down.

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Question 2 is: Should I hold off buying an XBOX 360 until this mythical “Zephyr” version 2 of the XBOX 360 becomes available? The simple answer is “no”.

Zephyr, reported to have anything from 80 to 120GB of hard drive space, a smaller more quiet CPU (to reduce that annoying fan noise) and HDMI, is nothing more than a rumour. I have seen images of this supposed new version console, but they look suspiciously like modified purpose built cases. The fact is, I don’t know what the upgraded version of the XBOX 360 will be like, when it will become available (most likely just before next Christmas) or if it will ever become available.

What I do know is that Halo 3 is being developed for my version of the XBOX 360. All future games will continue to run on my version of the XBOX 360. Why? Because there are already over 10 million of us out there and growing fast. Sure, there may be a few extra things you could do like store more video or music - not a factor for me since I can stream from Media Centre. And it may be easier to connect to modern HDTVs (not a factor for me since the composite HD works very well with the Sony 40W which has plenty of HD connection options). I also would not have too many plans to download games - not the way broadband is in Ireland anyway. What would be nice is if I could connect external storage (like my Western Digital MyBook Pro 500GB external HDD storage device) using the USB interface - something I’m sure could be allowed with a software update from XBOX Live.

So, am I concerned that a newer version of the XBOX 360 might suddenly appear? Absolutely not. Would I be mad with Microsoft for doing so? Absolutely not. I like what my XBOX 360 does for me now and that won’t be diminished by what may naturally happen down the road. I don’t see myself trading in my old XBOX 360 for a new XBOX 360 when I just have no need to.

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