by Jordan Davis-Bernier

PS3 vs. Xbox 360: The final battle

Now, before you can say that I am biased towards one console I just want to point something out. I have BOTH consoles. I will obviously include my opinion where necessary. The way this will be working is that I will be using a scoring system out of 10 on each category as follows:

  • Controller
  • Game quality
  • Online play
  • Online features
  • Durability
  • Costs
  • Size/power comsumption
  • Units sold
  • Technical problems


Controller

To be honest, you can’t really say which controller is better, as you can easily get used to either one. For example, I had a PlayStation for about 10 years before I got an Xbox, and, within about 2 weeks, I was easily able to pick up the Xbox controller and use it and vice versa. After using the Xbox for 2 years, I went and got a PS3 and I was easily able to switch between the two.

Xbox 8/10
PS3 8/10

Game quality

Without boring you with all the techy stuff (sorry), the Xbox and the PS3 have virtually the same graphics card. The processor on the PS3 is better, but it is extremely hard to make a good game for it (from what I’ve heard) while the Xbox has a slightly worse processor, but it is much easier to program for (again, from what I’ve heard). That would explain the higher game count on Xbox.

Xbox 9/10
PS3 7/10

Online play

Let’s start on a bad point for both consoles. Xbox has this stupidly annoying feature called region lock, which is literally what it says. You can’t play some games hosted in other countries. I have come across countless hackers on the PS3 as in, one in every 20 games will be hacked or modded in some way. Now this thing with the PS3 might just be me getting unlucky, but I truly doubt it. Now on to the good stuff. PSN/SEN is FREE! I love it. I can make countless accounts, go and use the first gun and go and pwn some of what I consider the ‘easier’ opponents or ‘n00bz’. On the Xbox, however, you have to pay, but it is a measly £39.99 per year. For actual connectivity I would say that it is the PS3, but for security I would say that without a doubt the Xbox.

Xbox 7/10
PS3 8/10

Online features

I’m going to make this clear. By online features I actually mean chat and the online store ie. the Xbox Marketplace and the PlayStation Store. Regarding chat, Xbox is definitely the winner. With cross game and single player chat it is superior. When you do get to finally talk to people on PS3, I don’t think it is of as good a quality. That is my own opinion, but don’t say anything unless you have actually experienced both consoles. Now onto the Xbox Marketplace and the PlayStation Store. I find that downloading from Xbox is significantly quicker than PS3. However, trying to find things on the Xbox is a nightmare. Do you want the DLC? No. The demo? No. How about the trailer? NO! Then you will – eventually – find the game. On the PS3, I think that the Store has a significantly better layout, but poorer download speeds.

Xbox 7/10
PS3 7/10

Durability

I know this may sound like a stupid category, but I think it is important. I am not going to give this one a rating however, because the two consoles were designed for a different audience. The Xbox, with its tougher design, means that it is more suited to a family environment. The PS3, with its sleek design, is more designed for the careful gamer. Sounds stupid, but it’s true. I have dropped both my Xbox and PS3 (like a boss) and the Xbox definitely fared better. Anyways, enough of this stupid topic on to the next.

Costs

I’m going to do this in a HDD capacity to Amazon cost ratio. I will take the highest capacity of each that is currently available, and not include the prices of motion controllers ie. Move and Kinect.

Xbox = £160 ÷ 250GB = 64p per GB
PS3 = £229 ÷ 320GB = 71p per GB

As you can see, the PS3 is marginally more expensive per gigabyte, which is probably due to the Blu-ray, but what can you do about it?

Xbox 8/10
PS3 7/10

Size/power Usage.

The PS3 is definitely the bigger model and this is because of the massive power brick that sits outside the Xbox is actually inside the PS3 which essentially makes it sort of portable. Microsoft decided that the Xbox’s power brick outside. This makes the model smaller than its counterpart. All of this said, you may be surprised to hear that the PS3 uses 30W less energy than the Xbox.

Xbox 7/10
PS3 9/10

Units sold

Simply put, the Xbox has sold 65.8 million units and the PS3 has sold 62 million. This may be down to games, or availability.

Xbox 9/10
PS3 8/10

Technical problems

Many people say that the Xbox has the red ring of death, but what they don’t know is that the PS3 has the yellow light of death, which means exactly the same thing on both consoles. They’re screwed. It does have to be said, however, that the PS3 has significantly less reported incidents of the YLOD than the Xbox’s RROD.

Xbox 7/10
PS3 8/10

Conclusion

To conclude, I will count up the points of each console and total them below.

Xbox 62/80
PS3 62/80

Please note: I did not go back and change any of the results, I left them how I thought they should be.

As you can probably see, there really is no clear winner. So you can go and have your petty comment wars, but as Rowan Dinwoodie says:

I don’t give a fuck

by Xavier Voigt-Hill

April Fools: The new Sony Vaio Q is the world’s smallest Ultrabook

Sony has today unveiled the Vaio Q, the world’s smallest Ultrabook with a 0.75″ x 1.25″ 1080p display at 1511ppi, the highest density display ever seen on a Windows PC. Equipped with a 3.66GHz quad-core Intel Core i9 processor, 8GB RAM and 256GB of solid state storage, the Vaio Q promises to provide a balance of power and portability with no compromise. To find out more, visit the Sony Store and watch the announcement video below.

by Xavier Voigt-Hill

April Fools: Conan O’Brien becomes Mashable CEO, steals Apple iTV and makes paper-based Twitter

Comedian and talk-show host Conan O’Brien has replaced Pete Cashmore as CEO of Mashable, having bought the site for $3500. O’Brien went on to steal a prototype of the Apple iTV and propose a paper-based Twitter. Watch the videos below.

by Xavier Voigt-Hill

April Fools: Toshiba unveils new tablets that inspire individuality

Not content with the wide range of Android tablets on the market today? Toshiba may be able to answer your prayers, with the announcement of tablets in three new form factors. The Oblong, Amore and Rhombus slates will hit the market soon, and the unveil video can be seen below.

by Xavier Voigt-Hill

April Fools: Virgin Volcanic will take Richard Branson to the centre of the earth

Richard Branson has been known to take the Virgin brand to the extreme, and his latest venture is no exception. The Virgin Volcanic project promises to take people through active volcanoes to the centre of the earth by 2015. Initial earthports will be built in 5 locations:

  • Etna – Sicily, Italy
  • Stromboli – Aeolian Islands
  • Yasur – Republic of Vanuatu
  • Ambrym – Republic of Vanuatu
  • Tinakula – Solomon Islands

In a press release about the project, eccentric billionaire Branson said:

I have a long held a fascination with volcanoes having read Jules Verne’s Journey to the Centre of the Earth as a young boy. I decided that one day I would go there too. Alongside our adventures with Virgin Galactic and Virgin Oceanic, volcanoes are the next great unexplored terrain. What can I say, I lava challenge!

On the first journey, Branson will be joined by actors Tom Hanks and Seth Green, filmmaker Barbara Kopple and ‘musician‘ will.i.am, who is set to make the world’s first soundtrack recorded in an active volcano during the voyage. To find out more about the project, and how you could get involved, visit the website.

by Xavier Voigt-Hill

April Fools: Mojang confirms new game Mars Effect

Mojang, the Swedish studio best known for Minecraft, has today unveiled its new game, entitled Mars Effect. In a post on the game’s website, Notch explains how the company came up with the name:

After several weeks of trying to come up with a good name for the game, we finally decided not to learn from previous experiences and pick a name that’s already kind of in use by a huge existing franchise. After playing around with names like “Elight”, “Wind Commander”, and “Steve Online”, we finally settled on the very catchy name “Mars Effect”.

While not much is currently known about the game, Mojang has released a list of features:

  • Hard science fiction
  • Lots of engineering
  • Fully working computer system
  • Space battles against the AI or other players
  • A game ending that makes sense
  • Abandoned ships full of loot
  • Waist high walls
  • Seamlessly landing on planets
  • Advanced economy system
  • Mining, trading, and looting

More information about the game can be found on its website, and with the hashtag #marseffect on Twitter.

by Xavier Voigt-Hill

April Fools: The YouTube Collection gives complete offline access to YouTube

The YouTube Collection, announced online this morning, lets YouTube fans own the entirety of YouTube on DVD or even Betamax. Due to the heavy demand, however, some viewers, such as myself, may be forced to wait 43 years for delivery. Watch the video below.

by Xavier Voigt-Hill

April Fools: Google unveils 8-bit Maps for NES

In a video posted on YouTube, Google has unveiled an 8-bit version of its popular Maps service. In addition to a ‘Quest’ view on the web page, NES users will soon be able to purchase a cartridge with built-in dial-up internet support to access the service. Watch the video below.

by James Trickey

Things That Should Exist: Multi-bottle-bottles

Have you ever felt that you need a drink when you’re out and about? I have and that’s a fact. But have you ever had the feeling that after having a drink of coke or lemonade, that you want another different tasting drink, but you don’t want to pack more than one bottle as it will weigh too much?

Well fear no more you drink-whores! Presenting the Multi-bottle-bottle!

The Multi-bottle-bottle is a new type of bottle that is going to blow your mind with its four separate containers that can swivel around a fixed tube running up the spine. Each container has a separate straw/lid and allows you to finally have a range of different drinks all in one container. Each one can be personalised with labels and stickers and whatever the fish you want!

Here is a crappy little diagram of what it is supposed to do and the general idea but you can imagine what it would actually look like. You can say all you want but I am am proud of myself to have achieved something like this on Paint.

This is an idea I had not too long ago but, when I hatched it, I realised that this would be fantastic. Imagine having 4 different drinks in one bottle so that you can mix and match at your desire. Have you ever thought seriously about how boring it is to just one bottle with the same boring drink in it? Of course you haven’t, but you should. Only then can you finally realise how essential this product is to maintain something fresh to your taste buds and to keep you satisfied with the solution you are putting into your body.

You don’t even have to have four different drinks in it. If you wanted, you could use it solely for water, although that sort of defeats the point of the Multi-bottle-bottle and you could instead have a regular bottle. However, I will not say that this is a completely pointless idea, because it is so simple, yet so brilliant and you should all travel out to wherever your local shop is and demand a new Multi-bottle-bottle. Also, feel free to talk about how amazing this would be in public.