E3 Summary: Xbox 360 vs PS3 vs Wii

With the E3 now over, it’s time to summarize the status quo and see how the Xbox 360 stacks up against its upcoming competitors, the Sony Playstation 3 and Nintendo Wii console.

Microsoft released a list of new Xbox 360 accessories: An external HD DVD drive, a wireless steering wheel, a wireless headset, and Xbox Vision, a camera peripheral that will be used to conduct video chat and possibly setup real life gamertag photographs. We also expect other games to hit the market that are based on motion detection, not dissimilar to Sony’s Eye Toy camera for the PS2.

The HD DVD drive has long been expected (and denied), but at the E3 it was finally confirmed. It is an external box that looks like a mini Xbox 360 and can be used to watch HD DVD movies.

All of the new Xbox 360 peripherals are meant to hit the shelves before this year’s holiday season. Better get your Christmas wishlist ready!

One exciting and very ambitious project is “Live Anywhere”, a system that is meant to allow for cross-platform gaming between Xbox 360 and Games for Windows. Live Anywhere is to be a part of the upcoming Microsoft Vista operating system. It even includes Xbox Live features that can be enjoyed using a mobile phone!

This means that it may soon become a reality that mouse and keyboard-wielding PC gamers can square off with their controller-clutching Xbox 360 counterparts.

As expected, Halo 3 has now been officially confirmed, with Microsoft showing off a short teaser trailer. The Masterchief and Cortana are going to battle the last battle, and according to the trailer, “This is how the world ends”. We’ll see.

What’s the competition up to? PS3 price and release date revealed

In comparison to Microsoft’s announcement of their accessories and now online gaming features, the PS3 - as is widely known - will come with a built-in Blu-ray drive (and a hefty price tag!). This means that both the PS3 and the Xbox 360 will compete in the HD format war, whereas Nintendo has no such plans for the Wii, but announced that their next console would definitely support HD gaming - but will it support HD media as well?

Sony announced the price and launch date of the Playstation 3 amid much scepticism. The PS3 will be released on November 17 and ship in two separate configurations similarly to the Xbox 360 - something Microsoft’s Peter Moore was quick to point out.

Sony revealed the Playstation 3 would retail for $599 for its premium package and $499 for the other.

The premium configuration comes with a 60 GB hard disk drive while the cheaper version ships with a 20 GB HDD, no HDMI port, no memory slots and without WiFi support. The lack of a HDMI port effectively eliminates the chance of being able to output dual 1080p video, one of Sony’s major selling points.

In terms of online gaming, nobody really quite knows yet what Sony’s service will offer, but it is likely to be quite similar to Xbox Live, with a centralized service, previously hitting the ‘net with the codename “HUB”. No further details were announced at E3.

In other news from Sony, the final design of its controller was revealed. It now takes the shape very much the same as the current DualShock. It does however come with some motion sensing capabilities - Wii wonder what inspired that.

Nintendo’s Revolution is now Wii

While Nintendo didn’t release any new information concerning the price or the release date of the Wii (formerly codenamed “Revolution”), another secret of the amazing Wii controller was revealed: The “Wii-mote” will have a built-in speaker! This actually sounds quite cool, and I suppose we could consider it a good thing if Sony and Microsoft copy that in their next generation of video game consoles.

With Wii’s lower price tag and extremely innovative gameplay, the Wii may well find a place in homes that already have an Xbox 360.

Summary

So there you have it - nothing revolutionary has been revealed. Given the hefty PS3 pricetag and one year delay compared to the Xbox 360, Xbox 360 owners can feel satisfied that it was a wise choice to get an Xbox 360 instead of waiting for the competition.

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Related:

• Microsoft announces new Xbox 360 titles
• Halo 3 coming to Xbox 360
• Wireless steering wheel for Xbox 360 coming this fall
• Grand Theft Auto 4: exclusive content for Xbox 360