Cheaper Price for Sony PlayStation

taken from videogames.yahoo.com by Mike Smith

Old Console from Sony namely PlayStation 2 to drop under $100 on April 1, 2009. Sony confirmed in the early hours Tuesday that it will be dropping its price by $30 for the Playstation 2 to $99.99. The price drop was previously leaked by an insider at retailer Kmart, who spotted a price change in his system and tipped off gaming blog Joystiq about the news.
Playstation 2

Playstation 2 Under $100?

Price cuts are always welcome, but it's not quite what hardcore gamers were hoping to hear. Consumers and industry analysts have been calling for a price cut on Sony's flagship Playstation 3 system for months now: the PS3 is the most expensive games machine on the market by a hefty margin. But Sony put a stop to that speculation in a statement today, saying "We do not have plans for a PS3 price drop, and any rumors to that effect are false and are the result of speculation."

So, is the nine-year-old PS2 a good deal at less than $100? Assuming you don't already have one, there's no question about it. Sure, it's no match for current-gen consoles like the Xbox 360 or PS3 (or even, more arguably, the Wii) but it has a software selection that's absolutely superb. If you're looking for a way to play great games on the cheap, and you're prepared to be a little behind the tech state-of-the-art, you can't do much better.

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How to Build Powerful PC for Gaming, Gaming PC vs. Next-Gen Consoles (Part 2)

...... continuation of Part 1

Standard Native Resolution of the Consoles and PC

When the game consoles follow standard HD 720p and Full HD 1080p, then PC follow a standard called XHD. It seems that representative of the Xtended HD or Xtreme HD.

There are 3 types of resolutions that are categorized as XHD, namely:
- 1680x1050
- 1900x1200
- 2560x1600

Third resolution is used on the 19" wide LCD monitor, 22" Wide, 24" Wide, and 30" Wide. HD 720p resolution used by the popular next-gen game consoles and 32" LCD monitor in fact the quality is still lower rather than SXGA (1280x1024) resolution are commonly used on the PC with 17" LCD monitor. HD 720p resolution actually is Wide version of the 1024x768 resolution that commonly used on the 15" LCD monitor.

Maximum resolution supported by PC game has reached 2560x1600 (WQXGA), while the game consoles maximum still 1920x1080 (Full HD 1080p). But very rarely console games that really supporting Full HD 1080p resolution. The majority of PS3 games and Xbox 360 just to use the 1280x720 resolution (720p HD), a resolution that much lower rather than common resolution among PC Gamer is 1280x1024.

Can or not a PC gamer reach to XHD resolution depends on the videocard and monitor that they have. The good videocard and the higher the type of monitor, then the higher resolution that can be use by them to play. Meanwhile for consoles gamer, they will remain trapped in the carried game resolution that the majority only 1280x720. Even if they use the LCD monitor Full HD 1080p, the picture will still be broken because the original game resolution only 1280x720. In this case, LCD TV 1080p only do "upscale" the game that still 720p resolution.

Some games in the Xbox 360 and PS 3 even has a lower resolution rather than 1280x720 (720p). Examples are Call of Duty 4, Oblivion, Tomb Raider Legend, and Alone in the Dark that has a 1024x600 resolution (600p), and the more severe is Jericho only 996x560 (560p) and Guitar Hero 3 only 1040x585 (585p). While that games on the PC are supports the resolution of 1920x1200 and even 2560x1600.

Grand Theft Auto 4 on Xbox 360 and PS 3 are also only 1152x640 resolution (640p) is much lower rather than in PC version that supports 2560x1600 resolution. In addition, only a few game in Xbox 360 and PS 3 use the Anti-Aliasing (AA) to refine the image. A lot games in the consoles are not supporting AA, which means the image is certainly very jagged. While in the PC you can even increasing AA to 8X.


How to Choose Video Card for Gaming PC

Please note that the purchase videocard for $100 and below will only make you regret that poor performance and can not be compared games sensation in Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. Therefore, rather than waste money $100 to buy low-end videocard better to save your money and collected to buy a middle-class or high-end videocard.

Facts prove that the best seller of videocard in the world at this time is Radeon HD4850 that notabene is middle class ($200), not low-end videocard. Previous the best seller of videocard is Geforce 8800GT, which is also middle-class videocard. (Geforce 8800GT now changed the name to the 9800GT).

Therefore, if you want to experience the performance of the Gaming PC, which should to use Radeon HD4850 512MB videocard. This videocard include middle category with $200 price, which means still much cheaper and more powerful than Xbox 360 or Playstation 3. It have the ability to play all the games are well in maximal detail setting, and will still be able to play games that will appear in 1-2 years.

Another alternative to the performance equivalent of Radeon HD4850 is Geforce 9800GTX+ 512MB. The advantage is support PhysX and CUDA. But a weakness of this videocard is extravagant power and very long size. Unlike the Radeon HD4850 that can use 400Watt PSU and the size definitely enough to all casing, Geforce 9800GTX+ often require users to upgrade to 500 Watt PSU and replace with a larger casing. Because of "hidden cost" is large enough, the giant videocard is less in demand rather than Radeon HD4850, especially Geforce 9800GTX+ is still more expensive around $30.

Geforce 9800GTX (up) vs. Radeon HD4850 (down)

If you do not have enough budget to get the Radeon HD4850, use Geforce 9800GT or Radeon HD4830, which will cost around $150. If your budget is actually minimal, Geforce 9600GT 512MB could be selected, the price is only $120, price is equivalent to the old Playstation 2 slim console. Should not to use videocard under Geforce 9600GT class, if you do not want to regret and frustration after the purchase. Unless you are still playing in low resolution (1024x768) then videocard Radeon HD4670 for $100 could be selected. For $100 price class, the performance of Radeon HD4670 is a lot better rather than Geforce 9500GT.

For $100 segment, Radeon HD4670 is interesting because of the potential CrossFire that enables user in the future to add 1 more videocard to get the equivalent performance Radeon HD4850. Potential of CrossFire on low-end ATI videocard more interesting rather than potential of SLI on the low-end NVIDIA videocard, because the number of motherboards that support CrossFire more cheaper rather than the motherboard supports SLI.

Please also note that the videocard can be to overclock, so that when a game that appears later is too heavy, you can still improve performance of videocard with the way increasing the GPU clock and VGA memory.

Currently, the overall, Radeon HD4850 is a best seller videocard in the world. While for high-end segment, Radeon HD4870 is the best seller. Performance of Radeon HD4870 ($300) proven able to overcome the Geforce GTX260 which costs far more expensive ($400).

In the price segment $150, Geforce 8800GT/9800GT more interesting rather than Radeon HD4830. However, some Geforce 9800GT types the prices is too close to Radeon HD4850, so that better to get Radeon HD4850 who are performing clearly far more quickly rather than Geforce 9800GT.

Choosing a Videocard Depend on the Size of Monitor

Keep in mind how expensive videocard that you buy also depends on how high the size and resolution of your monitor. The higher-resolution monitor and size, the more expensive videocard that you must buy. Because of more expensive videocard (more powerful) will have extra power to handle the high resolution.

Even if you can turn-down monitor resolution, but keep in mind that the LCD monitor will have the view that more bad when not using its native resolution. Therefore, not too obsessed with the 19" LCD that able to offer higher resolution (1680x1050) if your videocard is still $200 class to down. Because the 1680x1050 resolution ideally raised by $300 class videocard like Radeon HD4870.

Unlike the LCD Monitor, 32" LCD TV in the public market does not need to require expensive videocard, because the resolution of LCD TV even much lower rather than the LCD monitor with a smaller size. Considering the game consoles are generally played using a LCD TV like this, so the powerful gaming PC ideally use a videocard range of $150-$200 that have been strong enough to lift the 32" LCD TV resolution.

The majority of gamers in Indonesia using the 17" LCD monitor that have 1280x1024 resolution. Therefore the videocard segments $150-$200 will be ideal for the majority of gamers. 32" LCD TV 720p is also the type of LCD TV's that most popular used in Indonesia. Therefore videocard segments $150-$200 will be ideal to be paired with a LCD TV that only have 1366x768 resolution (the number of pixel even still low compared to 17" monitor with 1280x1024 resolution ).

For the 19" or 22" monitor with 1680x1050 resolution, you should choose $300 videocard. Because the videocard for $200 is less ideal for pairing with the monitor's size.

Videocard $150 class was actually could be run games in 1680x1050 resolution, but only feasible for the light games category such as Call of Duty 4, Devil May Cry 4, Unreal Tournament 3, Bioshock, ET Quake Wars. While in the game a little weight, you need to start setting down the detail so that the graphics quality of videocard $150 class is able to provide a smooth framerate. However a bad graphics quality result from that, is still better rather than the graphics quality on the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.

Please note that the 32" LCD TV (720p HD ready) the number of pixel still less rather than the 17" LCD monitor. LCD TV is basically just the bigger size of course, but in terms of sharpness (resolution) of image is still less rather than LCD monitor.

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How to Build Powerful PC for Gaming, Gaming PC vs. Next-Gen Consoles (Part 1)

Translated from reviewland.com by Budzkay

Preface

During this time people assume that the game consoles such as XBox and Playstation is best means to play games, while the functions of the PC game is just additional functions only. Most gamers are still assume that the game consoles are able to provide a better picture rather than a PC. Presumption may be correct only if they use a PC that still use the onboard videocard or low-end VGA, a practical function not much different with the PC in the office whose function is only for typing and internet.

Currently, the technology for the PC videocard again and again was far above the technological sophistication latest game consoles. For example, the cheapest Geforce 8800 series like a Geforce 8800GTS 320MB that has technology & performance far above the Xbox 360 and Sony Playstation 3. Videocard prices are even cheaper than the price of Playstation 3 and Xbox 360.

Using a Gaming PC was based on Core2 Duo processor and the generation of Geforce 8800GTS videocard will cost nearly 2X price of Xbox 360, but the PC Gaming has function that 7X more than a game consoles. And keep in mind that the view of game in Gaming PC is far better than the consoles.

Some of the functions of a Gaming PC:
- Gaming, off course
- Video Editing
- Movie/Music Encoding
- Desktop Publishing
- Graphic Design
- Office productivity
- Multimedia
- DVD/CD duplicator
- Home entertainment
- Internet browsing
- Scientific calculation
- Server
- Chatting
- Blogging
- Instant messaging
- Web Design
- Data Storage
- And many more ....

There are 2 main reasons why the Gaming PC can be a more attractive option than buying a game console such as Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 :

1. Graphics quality in PC games better than the next-gen gaming consoles. Because the technology in the PC videocard always more advanced than the graphics chip used in the consoles. For example is the Lost Planet game and Gears of War which looks better on a PC rather than on the Xbox 360. Mass Effect was became hits in Xbox 360, also appear in the PC version with better graphical display. And recently Grand Theft Auto 4 has also been present in PC version that is capable of resolution with 3X higher than the version of Xbox 360 & PS 3.

2. For the people who life and work that can not be separated from the computer, then build a Gaming PC that costs would be far cheaper than buying a game console such as Xbox 360 or Playstation 3. Buy a next-gen game console can become the cheaper solution to play games, only if you do not need a PC in your life and work. So, most students of primary school or Junior High School will tend to select the game consoles because they have not really need a PC intensively. However, when someone began to adults, where he began to work and the work requires a PC intensively, then build the gaming PC will be cheaper than buying a next-gen console.


Spesification of Standard PC to Work

At this time the PC to use for working with comfortable need the specification does require dual-core processor and 1GB memory. PC with low spesification will cause inconvenience in the work and reduce the productivity of you. A computer with only 512MB memory is not even used to be comfortable with internet activity when you open multiple web pages or multiple applications simultaneously. Now, a computer will feel responsive and comfortable to work with at least 1 GB memory. A graphic designer and people who work in the field of video editing even need a PC with at least 2GB memory.

For harddrive, 80GB capacity at this time is also not enough for most people who are very diligent to download the movies and pictures from the Internet, especially for people who work in the field of multimedia. With the difference price between 80GB and 160GB harddrive that is not up to $10, it's very foolish if you persevere to buy 80GB harddrive.
Thus, a standard PC is feasible to use for working will have specs at least dual-core processor and 1GB memory. The price will be around $200, with specs details as follows:
- Dual-core Pentium E2160 (1.8Ghz)
- Motherboard nForce 7100 chipset (nForce 630 with the onboard graphics Geforce 7100)
- DDR2 Memory 667 1GB
- Harddisk 160GB SATA
- DVDR-W drive 20x multi
- Casing + standard PSU

By adding an Wide LCD monitor 15" at $130, the total price of the desktop PC become $330 only. In comparison, a notebook that has the same specs as the price is about $650. Therefore, who was said that notebook was cheap? Notebook price still 2x more expensive than desktop PC with the same specs.

Remember that computer with high performance (eg Gaming PC) is cheaper, but the computer that used for style (eg Notebook) is expensive.
A real example in our life reality show that the prestige is more expensive than performance: Having beautiful girlfriend more expensive costs rather than have a girlfriend who worked diligently (but not beautiful). Same as a sexy secretary has higher salaries rather than stiff who work for 24 hours.

A desktop PC with a standard specs as above will not be able to jack up your prestige as well as the notebook with same specs. However, desktop PC is foundation a Gaming PC. And the Gaming PC is an object that has a prestige value....


Spesification a Gaming PC

If you want to make standard PC specs above to be a Gaming PC, add enough memory to 2GB and buying a videocard Geforce 9800GT 512MB or Radeon HD 4830 512MB that can bring the graphics quality that far better than the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. The cost of adding memory from 1GB to 2GB only $14 and videocard Geforce 9800GT 512MB or Radeon HD 4830 512MB just around $150. This means that the cost of a standard PC into a gaming PC is not up to $200 means a much cheaper price than the Xbox 360, Playstation 3 or Nintendo Wii.

The Cost to change the "Standard PC" to "gaming PC" is just $ 160, which means the price is equivalent to the ancient game console Playstation 2.

Videocard technology of Geforce 9800GT & Radeon HD4830 are surpassing greatest game console at this time. Karena itu the graphics quality in the Gaming PC is certainly will be better than any game console ever created by human.

If you want to make the Gaming PC more economical, you can use a videocard Geforce 9600GT 512MB that the performance 10% more slowly than Geforce 9800GT, but it costs only $100 which means that even cheaper prices rather than the Playstation 2 Slim notabene ancient console technology.

Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 that have been said as the next-gen game consoles, actually uses ancient technology graphics chip that has been used on the PC videocard a few years ago.

For details, see the comparison table of graphics chip technology Console vs. PC videocard.

	Current price	Released	Graphic chip technology
Playstation 2	$150	1999	Graphics Synthesizer
XBox 360	$400	2005	ATI Xenos (R500) Used in PC at videocard ATI Radeon X1800XT in 2005
Playstation 3	$400	2006	NVIDIA RSX (G70) Used in PC at videocard NVIDIA Geforce 7800GTX in 2005
Nintendo Wii	$400	2006	ATI Hollywood Equivalent with videocard ATI Radeon 8500 was released for PC in 2000
Radeon HD 4850	$200	2008	RV770
Geforce 9800GT	$160	2008	G92
Radeon HD 4830	$150	2008	RV770LE (cheap version RV770)
Geforce 9600GT	$120	2008	G94 (cheap version G92)

Game consoles are goods that can not be upgraded like gaming PC. So the game consoles user can only receive and trapped in to the old technology. As comparison, look at the pictures below.

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Play station 3 vs. XBox 360

This review from hardcoreware.net by Carl Nelson

Being a video game developer (I develop for both, Playstation 3 and XBOX 360) people ask me almost daily which platform I think is better. These are my personal feelings, in no way does this reflect my employer.

Short answer: XBOX 360.

Long answer: Price, performance, visual quality, game selection and online support. I think the XBOX 360 wins in every category.

Price: This is obvious; the XBOX 360 core is only $299. The PS3 is around $499 for the 20GB version. It comes with a hard drive, but you don’t need a hard drive to enjoy a lot of great games on the 360 so I think it’s fair to compare both core systems.

Performance: On paper, the PS3 is more powerful. In reality, it’s quite inferior to the 360. Without getting into too many details, the three general-purpose CPU’s the xbox360 has are currently FAR easier to take advantage of than the SPU’s on the PS3. I suspect a few years down the road some high budget, first party PS3 exclusive titles will come out that really take advantage of the SPU’s and do things the XBOX 360 can’t, but I don’t think the console is worth buying based on this speculation (for some it will be though, we'll have to wait and see how these games turn out).

Graphics: The XBOX 360 is a clear winner. The GPU is more powerful. It has more powerful fillrate, and far more pixel and vertex processing horsepower. Part of the reason is their choice of memory, and architecture of pixel and vertex procesing. I can’t get into details but the same vertex shader will run much slower on the PS3 than the XBOX 360. The 360 also has a clever new way rendering high definition anti aliased back buffers. To accomplish the same effect on PS3 is prohibitively expensive. For this reason I think many games will have no choice but to run in non-HD resolutions on the PS3 version, use a lower quality anti aliasing technique, or do back buffer upscaling. The end result in all cases is going to be noticeably worse image quality.

Game Selection: The XBOX 360 has a huge head start here. 1 year is an eternity in gaming. Almost all multi-platform developers have made the XBOX 360 their primary platform due to timing of release-to-market, this means the games will look and perform better on the 360. The PS3 versions will be ports of the 360 versions. (The opposite was true for XBOX 1 vs. PS2). The XBOX 360 is also far faster to develop for due to better development tools (massively popular Visual Studio .NET vs. proprietary, buggy PS3 compiler and debugger), better documentation, and easier architecture (3 general purpose CPU’s vs. 8 specialized processors that require DMA). Timing has also caused all next-gen middleware developers to make XBOX 360 their primary platform, and they will ‘add ps3 support’ as needed. This support will probably be inferior to the XBOX 360’s due to manpower and more importantly, demand. It’s this catch-22 now that will continue to drive the 360 forward and hold PS3 back.

The other obvious point here is that right now the Xbox360 already has a very impressive line-up of titles on store shelves; the ps3 just launched, and has virtually nothing of interest. Also, many 360 games are already discounted. PS3 games are all full price since it just launched.

Live: Microsoft’s online support with XBOX1 was phenomenal. They built in-house experience, user base, facilities, $$ commitment from executive level (since it proved successful), and most importantly, feedback from 100,000s of XBOX Live subscribers. Playstation 2’s online support sucked. They are now playing catch-up, trying to emulate Xbox’s model. But they had their hands tied just trying to make the PS3 work, it was incredibly ambitious (blu-ray etc.). I haven’t seen it yet, but I seriously doubt the quality will be anywhere to the level of XBOX 360.

HD Content: The PS3 comes with one built in (blu-ray). The XBOX 360 offers HD-DVD as an add-on for $200. You probably don’t care about HD-DVD right now. But you will soon (The quality between DVD and HD is comparable to VHS vs DVD, if you have the right TV) so I suggest paying attention to the war that’s begun. There are two formats: HD-DVD and BLU-RAY. Basically if you rent a BLU-RAY DVD from Bockbuster, it won’t play in your XBOX 360 HD-DVD, and vice versa with the PS3. The implications of this format war would require another article on its own. But as far as the consoles are concerned, the XBOX 360 wins because the DVD player is a separate unit. Playing movies is very taxing on the DVD reader, and let’s face it. In 3 years when your PS3 DVD drive goes out due to playing lots of movies (PS2 was notoriously bad about this) you will have to go buy another PS3. With the 360, you’ll just chuck your HD-DVD player, and go buy another one at the store. In 3 years standalone units wlil probably only cost about $99-150. Another point for the XBOX 360, is that I don’t know who will win the format-war, so I would rather wait with purchase of a HD player. The PS3 doesn’t give you this option.

PS3 controversy: Shootings, Wallmart fights, $15,000 Ebay sales etc. My advice is ignore it. It will pass soon.

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