xbox 360

I think it is ironic that they call that the new xbox has been titlted 360. 360 usualy means, back to where you started. I am a video game player, and I have been following the release of the the 360, the revolution (the new nintendo release) and the ps3.

I have owend every system except the first xbox. I was a poor college student and went for the ps2 since I already had ps1 games and it could play them. Side by side hardware wise the xbox is more powerful then the ps2. The main problem was that Sony (makers of the ps2) was way more experianced and talented about licensing the emulators (the machines/programs used to create/test video games) to software developers then Micorsoft (the makers of xbox). The result of this was a far better game bas and better playability (no to mention the xbox controler was shaped like a UFO and very hard to use.) Not to forget the gamecube, this small and very inexpensive system comes from the Godfathers of modern home video games: nintendo. While not as powerful as the xbox or ps2 in processor, it did bost a THX (lucas arts) certified sound card and a ATI rage HD video card. So it kept pace fine with the xbox and ps2, but suffored the delima of having a "family" freindly system and very few M rated games.

For the next generation I decided to be fair and choose simply the best system, even though I am fully employed, the systems are running at $400 plus for this generation. The ps3, whil has no proce yet may run $800. Here are the links to the hardware specifications:

http://www.us.playstation.com/PressReleases.aspx?id=279

http://www.xbox365.com/news.cgi?id=GGGNiPddLL05100701

The Revolutions specs have not been released yet, it will be able to play any nintendo game ever made. Wich is reason for me to buy it.

If you open both and view them side by side the differnce is remarkable. Here are the notable differnces:

Processor, the most important part of any computer. While bot the xbox 360 and the ps3 have 3.2ghz processores, the 360 has 3 while the ps3 has SEVEN. Why is seven better then 3, the ps3 can rpocesses 14 things at one time while the 360 can only do 6. Three processors are nothing to snease at, (most PC's have one), but like most things, more is better.

My personl favorite to have in good systems, the sound cards. This is a place wher micorsoft really dropped the ball. Wich makes sence since sony is perhaps the best sound company in the world now. ps3 has full dolby 5.1 with cell based processing. (cell, as in living tissues, as in REALISTIC SOUNDS) the 360 has only 16bit sounnd and 32 bit processing. Thats not even cd quality. The supernintendo had 16bit sound.

Memory band with (aka. how fast the data moves form place to place in the system). Here 360 wins one. While the frontside bus (I/O with the processor) is basicly tied (ps3 22.4 gbs and the 360 at 21.6gbs) (Yes that meand GIGABITES a second, these are fast machines. The RAM feed for the ps3 is 25.6 while the 360 is 256, unless i read a typo that is a 256 gigabites a second it can feed into the only 512mb ram. It can load and unload the ram 50 times in a second. All I can say is "Why Micorsoft?" no game is that big, what are you thinking, but hey it does seem kinda cool.

Both systems are set up for HD tvs. 1080i or 1080p resolutions. But the ps3 has 2 channels, so 2 Tv's at once.

Memory, both systems have 512 mb. The 360 has a 700mhz pxi port (so the data gets there ungodly fast, and then hangs out and waits for the memory to work on it) The ps3 has 256mb at 700mhs and 256mb running at 3.2ghz, so half of the ps3 memory is 5 times faster, for an overall 2.5 times faster ram processes. The xbox gets it there fast, but the ps3 can actualy chug it out faster. This extreame differnce is speed is a cause of other probles of the 360 with I will mention later.

Controllers, with the ps2 sony perfetced the controller. It fits seemsly in your hands and is super easy to use. The xbox was clunky, because the had the memoty slot on the controller. For the next generation both systems are having wireless controles (ps3 standard and 360 with the nicer package) the differnce is 360 is using rf (radio frequency) and the ps3 is using Bluetooth, wich is faster, not only that, but you can have up to seven (sound familiar) wireless working on the same maching at once, the downside is you would need a 195inch tv to see all 7 players. Why not come over I have one.

Finlay here is the big sell for ps3. Blue ray DVD. Imagiune the color spectrum, if you dont know it it is, red orange yellow green indigo blue indigo viloet. Notice red on the very far left and blue 2 from the right. Red is a larger wavelength (bigger) its easier to see, that is why red is used for warning. But since blue is smaller, more data can be fit on the same size disk. Let me give you an ecsample. The best red laser DVD is 8gb (dual layer), a dual layer BlueRay would be 40gb, 5 times more data. Why is this good? Each pixel on a game uses one bit of data, the more space availblle, the more pixels, (better resloution) and more "stuff" in a game you can have. Also BlueRay is about to take over the market replacing our RedRay DVD's, the 360 will not be able to play these new DVD's.




The 360 release, rememebr that problem i mention before with the extreame speed differnce. Well the problem is comming back to byte them. This morning i read an article about the 360's overheating. The system has been out for ten dats and already the system is crashing. The whole point of a video game system, and what make it better then a cimputer, is that it does not crash, it plays for hours no problem. Microsoft, in an effort to push the relase dat e to make the holiday system, did not completly test the system. I wont mention ALL of the problems, but you can find them on the following links: (the first two are the most credable, and you will see the first one is from a micorsoft website.)

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10185201/from/RSS/
http://news.cnet.co.uk/gamesgear/0,39029682,39194471,00.htm
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/business/20051123-1353-media-xbox-crashes.html
http://appsrv-3.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3145847


Finally the human issue. Like in most releases, Micorsoft underproduced the systems. So now there ar epeople robbing each othe for the 360, (Here you go son, I held a man at gunpoint for it). People are getting killed for it. On E-bay the systems are selling for $3,000, because they are so rare. Now we can blame Microsoft for underproducing, but that still does not excuse stupidity.

In responce I will pre-order 7 ps3's and sell them on ebay for $10,000 (if the xbox is getting $3000...) make $70,000 and take a year off.

Sports Heros

Often in sports you hear of athletes who poorly remark on their [program, team, coach, players, fans], or players who use drugs, or players who chooke their coach (remember that in the NBA), or punch fans, or molest females on a private yacht, (like those girls had no clue what was going to happen).

Fans want to villify the Demi-Gods they themselves have created. We hear moans of how "so and so" makes $3.2million a year, but the fans are paying $100 a ticket in a sold out arena to watch that guy move faster/better then most humans do normaly. Fans complain about the coach/management keeping the player when he has done somthing so terrible. We must relise that this a an elite business. It is sad to say, but at my job I am easily replaceable, there are dozens of qualified math theachers who would love my job. For atheletes, it is different. A person who is capable of such amasing things is a rare find. There is (and only will be) 1 jordan, 1 grestsky, 1 woods, 1 aggassi and if thousands of people will pay hundres of dollars a peice to watch him, then the company can pay him millions.

Why, I think the Green Goblin in Spider-Man #1 said it best, "People love to see a hero fall." These athletes are our modern day mythos, our oddysius, our jason, our samson. No good story was ever told that the hero did not suffer. Deep inside we want Peton and the Colts to loose a game (I know about 40, 40 year old, dolphins players who would love it to happen {or are they in their 50's yet}). Why do we want to hear about Owens saying farve is better then Mcnabb (which is ironinc, given how every sportscaster has given Farve the eviseral BJ even though he is 2-7)? We want to belive that the Demi-Gods we have created can also be fragile and weak like the rest of us, that if maby this guy is a fool like me, I could have been a pro-athlete too.

This is my humble opinion (and I think Farve is way past retirement), that of a Middle school math teacher.

Bucs and Erections

It was a tight fight last week. Losing (in my fanatsy league) by less then 15 points is always heartbreaking. Especialy when your QB score 20 less then he is supposed to. But on the other side I had a RB score 20 more then expected. It just goes to show,m you can never really know what happens.

In case you missed it The Bucs came of a two game losing streak to with by a 2 point converstion thanks to Mike Alstott (27yds 2td and the 2pc).

Chris Sims finally matured (or so it seems) and threw for nearly 300 yards 3 TD's and no interceptions. Lets hope he can repeat the rest of the year.

True to thier history, when the Offensice is really cooking the Defensce had a less then expected performance. yes we scored 36 points, but they scored 35. The number one ranked defensce can not allow 35 points. The score should have been 35-13.

But hey a win is a win, weither by 15 points or 1.