UTAH TECH UNIVERSITY'S STUDENT NEWS SOURCE | March 29, 2024

Tech Sassy: Which new game console will perform best?

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It’s a feud as old as time.

Well, maybe not that old, but as old as my time. I’m talking about Sony PlayStation vs. Microsoft Xbox.

Both companies have been pretty well on par with each other, each releasing a system between 2000 and 2001 (PlayStation 2 and original Xbox) as well as 2005 and 2006 (PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360). Now both companies are slated to release their newest systems, PlayStation 4 and Xbox 720 (rumored to be called Xbox Infinity.)

There will always be Xbox people against PlayStation people, but I will always go with the system that is the best overall, regardless of the company. I’ve been researching the two new systems as I decide which one I want to preorder on release day, and I’ve got to say, the Xbox is stealing my heart.

The first thing to consider is the smart play by Microsoft to wait until after Sony announced the PlayStation 4. It has given itself a chance to better it’s product to make it even more competitive. Microsoft is rumored to announce the official design for the Xbox in April 2013.

I have to give it to Xbox for release dates as well because, even though nothing is official, Xbox has bumped the release date to summer of this year because Sony announced the PlayStation will be released around the holidays. The release date gives Microsoft the leg up in my book because who wants to buy a game console and then buy one rumored to be less effective just six months later?

Xbox 720, as I’ll refer to it, may not have any official mock-ups or design specifications yet, but what it does have is tech specs, and that’s what really matters, right?

According to an article on aegindia.org from Feb. 25, the console boasts a 1.6 Gigahertz 8 core central processing unit. What that means is that this new Xbox is supposed to be twice as fast as the new PlayStation console, making the graphics capabilities that much better.

Of course, some game creators are partial to one console group over another. Looking at the games exclusive to PlayStation 4 so far, I haven’t seen any titles that I’m overly excited for, and typically you cannot play games from past Sony systems on the new ones.

Xbox, on the other hand, will typically release backward compatibility disks that make it so you can play older games on newer systems. I am a big proponent of backward compatibility because it means games last longer and those old classic games can still be played on newer systems.

My biggest concern with this new Xbox is that I am still going to have to have a separate system for Blu-ray discs, since PlayStation has had the monopoly on that market when it comes to console games. Looking at these new systems, though, it looks like even the Xbox 720 is coming out with Blu-ray capability, making it the perfect option for all gaming and video playback needs.

I can’t say for certain until both systems are finalized and released, but as it stands right now, the Xbox 720 seems to be the more promising of the two major console releases this year.