The Government has offered Australia's three mobile operators, and vividwireless, renewal of their existing spectrum allocated on 15 year licences in the late 90s and early 2000s at set prices, while the Government expects to rake in $3 billion.
At the eGames Expo today in Melbourne, Australia, Sony’s local Playstation Chief, Michael Ephraim, went to great lengths in his keynote speech to emphasise the PS3’s amazing ability to deliver games with true realism in rendering graphics, with everything on screen able to follow the laws of physics as humans expect to see it in real life.
He also emphasised the enormous power the PS3’s new ‘Cell’ chip can deliver and the potential for new games to really push the boundaries of gaming as we know it. Demonstrations of a game called MotorCross almost looked like live television, while their ‘Resistance: Fall of Man’ first person shooter title was also jaw-droppingly good.
That said, the Xbox 360 is no slouch either, with their upcoming ‘Gears of War’ game featuring amazing graphics as well, with programmers for all three consoles working hard at delivering even better graphics in their new releases for 2007 and beyond.
In the war of graphics, it’s really the Xbox 360 vs the PS3, and neither side will give an inch to the other easily. And while the Wii’s graphics were not high-def, nor as advanced, the graphics displayed at their keynote speech were nonetheless more than impressive and visually appropriate for the games on offer, from tennis to the Legend of Zelda.
All three consoles can use wireless controllers, and all three can either easily be upgraded to Wi-Fi compatibility, or in the case of all Nintendo Wii’s, already have it. And whether you use the wireless capabilities or plug your console in to Ethernet cable, their broadband compatibility and big range of online features makes them all digital citizens of the first order.
The Wii has its almost unique wireless motion sensing controller. We say almost, because the PS3 offers motion sensitivity too, but the Wii’s is more advanced that the PS3 as it was designed from the ground up to use this feature, while reports over the last many months have suggested that Sony added it in much later in the development process.
Nevertheless, Sony’s motion sensing technology works well, and will give them the ability to counter some of Nintendo’s marketing, although once you’ve tried the way the Wii works, you’ll certainly be tempted to get one even if you already own or plan to own a different console.
One of the biggest things in the Xbox 360’s favour, as implied by the title of the MSNBC article’s final paragraph called ‘the empty shelf syndrome’, is the fact that it might be the only next-gen console that will be available without any shortages this Christmas season.
Given that parents will be under pressure to buy something digital for their children for Christmas, the PS3 and Wii shortages may well mean a massive increase in sales of the Xbox 360 over the holiday season.
Microsoft must be very glad their competitors are going through the very same shortage cycle Microsoft endured this time last year, although all games consoles will be fighting to gain the attention of consumers also interested in purchasing mp3 players, digital cameras, laptop computers and other digital devices.
And in the final analysis, whether you’re a serious gamer or not, there’s no question these new consoles are the most advanced devices most people will have ever hooked up to their televisions, and are all able to deliver incredible non-gaming experiences whether you ever purchase a game or not.
Chances are, you’ll want all three consoles, and may even end up purchasing them all over time, especially when more stocks become available and prices fall as they always do.
I just hope you have enough TV sets to hook them all up to, or are prepared to do a lot of cable swapping in the meantime!
David Bass
| ComOps, a leading Australian provider of business software products and services, has won a competitive tender to deploy its Salvus safety, r…
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