In an interview with TheStreet.com, J Allard said that the Xbox 360 will cost “in the neighborhood” of $300, the inital price of the Xbox. This is great news, because with all the advanced technology in the Xbox 360, it could easily have gone for more. The next question becomes: will Microsoft lose money on the sale of each Xbox 360, like they did on the original Xbox?

Oh, and that comment that the Xbox 360 will be played by a billion people? It was “intended to be an inspirational comment for the industry”. And “But if you say, ‘We’re going to get a billion people to go play games,’ that’s a big dream. And so, it’s more a challenge to the industry to say, ‘Hey, we’re all going to appeal to the core [gamers] , but let’s all do our part to take it to the next level.’ ”

Link: TheStreet.com - Xbox Chief Talks Up Games Mass Appeal

I know this is old news, but I haven’t mentioned it before. Factor 5, the developer of Star Wars games for Nintendo machines, will be exclusively developing for the HDTV-capable PS3 for the next generation of consoles.

Factor 5 has already played with Microsoft’s Xbox 360, but said the PlayStation 3’s 3.2GHz Cell chip offered more processing power over the other hardware options. The added power, allowing for a more realistic gaming experience, fueled the company’s decision. Factor 5 made no comment on Nintendo’s Revolution in the story.

Regardless of the company’s personal preference, however, they say the next-generation should offer much to gamers and developers. “I was shocked by how powerful the new consoles are,” said Factor 6 president Julian Eggebrecht to News.com. “They should really free our development.”

Link: Computer Gaming World - Factor 5’s PS3 Exclusivity
Link: News.Com - In Console Smackdown, Games are Next Punch

And in other news, Tom’s Hardware takes a very brief look at the PS3. Hopefully there’ll be more to come.

Link: Tom’s Hardware - The Playstation 3: A First Look

In an interview with Impress PC Watch, Ken Kutaragi, the president of Sony Computer Entertainment, says that the HDTV-capable PS3 is an entertainment center.

“Users will be able to store their content in an online storage server called the ‘Cell Storage.’ And the Cell processor, when it’s not being used, can refine the content’s quality. We call it the ‘aging’ process. For example, users can ‘age’ their Standard Definition (SD) video and up-convert it to High Definition (HD) video. We have many plans [for the PS3], but this ‘Cell Storage’ service is something that we definitely intend to launch. By using the Cell’s security feature, users will be able to rip DVDs that include copyright protection and lay it in the storage area to refine its video quality.”

Read the rest of this entry »

In part 1 of a series, ars technica has taken a look at the Xbox 360 and is disecting what it’s capable of. In this article, they talke about procedural synthesis, dynamic worlds, the cache, some comparisons with Cell, and some notes on IBM/Nintendo’s Gekko. I won’t even bothering trying to summarize. Just go read.

Link: ars technica - Inside the Xbox 360, part I

Microsoft is making available some HD videos of their Xbox 360 games.

Some of the trailers include clips of Call of Duty 2, Final Fantasy XI, Test Drive Unlimited, and The Darkness. If you can pump these HD videos into your HDTV, all the better! You’ll need at least 384MB of RAM with a 2.4GHz processor.

Link: Microsoft - Xbox High-Definition Videos

As well, Hit Start announced that they will produce 100 HD videos of the E3 2005 show. This series of videos will be available at FileShack and will be called “E3 in HD” (original, no?).

Link: Games Domain - E3 Goes High Def

It can’t be denied that Sony made a very impressive showing with their PS3. Compared to Microsoft’s uber-hyper-media claims of a billion users, Sony decided just to wow people with technology. Jaws dropped, bladders were emptied, Sony was declared the king of the hill. But after the dust settled, Microsoft people compared some hardware specs. They came out with some claims that the Xbox 360 is more powerful than the PS3. Read the rest of this entry »

Traditionally, Sony introduces a new video game system in Japan first, then half a year or more later they introduce it to other markets and so on. It happened with the PS1, PS2, and PSP. Now with the HDTV-capable PS3, it seems that they are considering other options. Read the rest of this entry »

Goldman Sachs is postulating that the Xbox 360 may have a “higher initial price”. Higher than what, though, they don’t say.

There is also speculation out there that the PS3 may not come in at the traditional $300US price point. Personally, I think not introducing the PS3 or Xbox 360 at $300US is a mistake. I’m a price-conscious consumer, just like most others out there, and I may be forced to wait for prices to come down before buying my next-gen console, and I think others feel the same. I was one of the first people I know to get a PS2, but I don’t think the same will be true the this time around if prices aren’t affordable.

They also estimate that Microsoft will move about 3 million Xbox 360’s in the December quarter.

Link: The Register - Xbox 360 retail price could be higher than expected

It’s like David vs Goliath. Sony vs Microsoft. Or is that Microsoft vs Sony? Okay, forget David and Goliath. Maybe it’s more like Hitler and Churchill? No no no no. Um… Mac vs Windows? Nope. Yin vs Yang? Nope. Ok, forget the analogies.

But I was curious about what OS the PS3 was running and it turns out that it’s probably Linux! Not a big surprise, but I’m sure that all you Linux-lovers out there will get a kick out of it.