You are on your way to the local game store and count the money for the umpteenth time;you blew all your savings squirreled up for a rainy day (man,it's pouring now :-)!!) and it seems as if fate is directing you towards the inevitable purchase of a Play Station 2!!Your penpal from Japan, Koshiro-san had raved about how cool it was and no way you are gonna be left out of the fun!But just how does PSX2 compare to future consoles??Find out straight away...
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| Xbox | PlayStation 2 | Nintendo Gamecube | |
| CPU | 733 MHz Intel PIII | 300 MHz Sony/Hitachi | 405 MHz IBM "Gekko" |
| Graphics Processor | 250 MHz custom-designed X-Chip, developed by Microsoft and nVidia | 150 MHz Sony GS | 202.5MHz ATI Chip |
| Total Memory | 64 MB | 32 MB | 40 MB |
| Memory Bandwidth | 6.4 GB/sec | 3.2 GB/sec | 3.2 GB/sec |
| Polygon Performance | 125 M/sec | 66 M/sec | 6-12 M/sec |
| Sustained Polygon Performance (full features) | 100+ M/sec | 20 M/sec | 6-12 M/sec |
| Micropolygons/particles per second | 300 M/sec | Not supported | ??? |
| Particle Performance | 300 M/sec | 150 M/sec | ??? M/sec |
| Simultaneous Textures | 4 | 1 | ??? |
| Pixel Fill Rate - No Texture | 4.0 G/Sec (anti-aliased) | 2.4 G/sec | ??? G/sec |
| Pixel Fill Rate - 1 Textures | 4.0 G/Sec (anti-aliased) | 1.2 G/Sec | ??? G/Sec |
| Compressed Textures | Yes (6:1) | No | Yes |
| Full Scene Anti-Alias | Yes | No | Yes |
| Micro Polygon Support | Yes | No | ??? |
| Storage Medium | 4.7GB 2-5x DVD, 8 GB hard disk, 8 MB memory card | 4.7GB 2x DVD, 8 MB memory card | 1.5GB 8cm optical disc by Matsushita |
| I/O | 4x Game controller, Ethernet (10/100) |
2x Game controller,2x Memory card, Future broadband upgrades |
4x Game controller,2x Digicard |
| Audio Channels | 256 | 48 | 64 |
| 3D Audio Support | Yes(64 3D channels) | No | ??? |
| MIDI DLS2 Support | Yes | No | ??? |
| AC3 Encoded game audio | Yes | No | ??? |
| Broadband Enabled | Yes | Future upgrade | Interchangeable broadband module, separate purchase |
| Modem Enabled | No | No | Yes, 56K |
| DVD Movie Playback | Separate accessory | Built in | Possible DVD-playable version of the console by Matsushita |
| Game pad included | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Maximum resolution | 1920 x 1080 | 1280 x 1024 | Unknown, but up to HDTV resolution |
| Maximum resolution (2 x 32bpp frame buffers +Z) | 1920 x 1080 | 540 x 480 | Unknown, but up to HDTV resolution |
| HDTV Support | Yes | Limited | Yes |
| US Launch Date | Fall 2001 | Already launched | October 2001 |
Mmmmmm...anti-climax,isn't it?Remember;games make or break a console... Xbox and Gamecube may have all the bells and whistles...but their makers do not have the proven track record of Sony in getting solid games for its consoles...so keep that smirk!!!
