The Sony Playstation 3 (PS3) has been unveiled not long ago.

_(A picture of the PS3.)_

A picture speaks a thousand words (and bytes). It looks really cool. Metallic interface. Gorgeous. The designer probably get inspiration from office folders. Nevertheless, this is one of the coolest gadgets I have seen so far. I think it would be a nice addition to the living room, especially a tech-enthusiast’s living room. If your living room is more of the cosy and country-like ones, perhaps a black one that Sony offers would be a better choice.[Image source]

_(PS3 controller seems to be paying tribute to Queen Amidala of Star Wars.)_

I am sorry to say that I am not too impress with the PS3 controller, it reminds me of Queen Amidala’s hair.

And, receiving more hype is the Xbox 360 console. Microsoft has decided not to call it Xbox 2 or Xenon or Xbox Next; they probably think they just don’t sound as cool. Many people suspect that Xbox 360 gotten it’s name because Playstation has the number 3 and Microsoft needs a number ’3′ too in order to sound just as good as Playstation 3. It’s all a game of numbers.

_(Microsoft’s upcoming offering – Xbox 360.)_

I would say that the Xbox 360 looks more inviting in terms of design and would probably appeal to a larger crowd (in terms of design) too. Design doesn’t play a very important part in gamer’s choice of console. It would be the games that ultimately determine the winner in the console war. [Image source]

The lack of Final Fantasy series in the Microsoft Xbox console is often seen as a hurdle to success in the Japanese market. In Singapore, there are many Final Fantasy fans too (my girlfriend is one of them).

In the E3 event, Microsoft brought along Yoichi Wada (President of Square Enix) to the stage and announced partnership. It has been a really long wait – Final Fantasy XI has been announced for the Xbox 360 console and will support Xbox Live of course. [Information source]

_(Nintendo joins in the upcoming console war. Unconfirmed console picture.)_

Not to be left behind – although already place at the last by me – is Nintendo Revolution. Not much information is available in the internet at the moment. There is only one picture available and it is not the official image. It kinda reminds me of the Apple MiniMac. Clean interface and perhaps a little too clean to attract hardcore gamers in terms of design. It looks rather compact but it sure won’t fit the car stereo slot. [Image source]

_(Promotion logos for Playstation 3, Xbox 360 and Revolution from left to right.)_

I would say this time round, it’s serious competition. Consumers are the winners. More choices, more competition. I’ll just sit and watch how it all plays out. I don’t own a game console and probably never intend to. But I am very interested in the developments of the game console ever since Microsoft joins. I like watching how to world reacts and how Sony seemed rather complacent.

In Singapore, the Playstation gamers hated Microsoft. A couple of my friends are probably cursing Microsoft and hoping that Playstation would emerge as the preferred gaming platform. Their thinking is that Playstation would have lesser games if Microsoft joins in. My thinking is that everything gets cheaper so – yay!

I would presume all machines are able to churn out great graphics. Sony has the all new Cell processor, Microsoft has 3 PowerPC processors that Apple already uses in G5. By the way, the development platform used for Xbox 360 is a highly-modified Apple G5, you can integrate your Apple iPod and Playstation Portable (PSP) into Xbox 360 – Xbox 360 appears to be embracing the company’s enemies. [Xbox 360 and Bill Gates got Timed]

I am getting excited. Microsoft’s Xbox 360 is slated for release this year. Sony hints on a possibility to follow suit after Microsoft’s announcement. Everything seems to happen too fast these days. By the way, did you notice that Sony’s PS3 has a convex casing and Microsoft’s Xbox 360 has a concave one? Speaking of originality.

Welcome to Round 2 of the console wars…

[NOTE: That is not a true picture of Revolution, Revolution looks boring still. Perhaps Nintendo needs more work.]