Nintendo Wii Specs

generation of Nintendo consoles comes the Wii. An altogether improved package crammed full of interesting features, all in a diminutive and stylish case.

Wii could be seen as a somewhat rediculous name, but it does have many things going for it. As explained by Nintendo, the Wii, pronounced as "we", denotes that the console is for everyone. As well as the fact that it is universally recognised and remembered, and has a distinctive "ii" to indicate the unique controllers that exist for the Wii. Not only that, how ever much you criticise the name, you will surely always remember it (if that's all they're after then they've done a good job!).

The Wii, is small and discrete (size of three DVD cases stacked on top of each other), ideal for the home rather than the bulky and overwhelming solution by the main competitors, the PS3 and the Xbox 360.

The standout feature of the Nintendo Wii is its unusual controller. Known as the "Wiimote", it has motion sensors that enable the user to input directly with the wave of the controller (e.g. used in tennis, golf or fishing). The Wiimote also plays sound and includes force feedback, allowing the user to experience rumbles, to mimic feelings experienced during the game. If required, the Wiimote can be hooked up with to an analog stick, making the "Nunchuck controller".

The Wii will have a free online gaming feature, but it is not in place at the moment and will only be compatible with certain games. The first game to use this multiplayer online feature will be Pokemon Battle Revolution when it's released on 25th June.

An additional feature to the Wii is its “virtual console” software, which enables the user to use a download service to play retro console games from such consoles as the NES, SNES, N64, Sega Mega Drive (Genesis) and the NEC TurboGrafx-16. These can be stored on flash memory cards (512 MB) which is ample for a collection of games (also a hard drive can be plugged in via USB if more storage is necessary). Furthermore, the Wii has backwards compatibility with GameCube games allowing GameCube discs to be placed directly in to the console. To facilitate backwards compatibility, the console also comes with a retro-styled gamepad. As well as all this, the Wii comes with ports to connect original GameCube controllers (one of the most ergonomic standard controllers around).

One downside to the Nintendo Wii is its maximum resolution of only 480p, which is lower than the high definition resolution of the PS3 (1080p) and to a lesser extent the Xbox 360 (1080i). Also the speed of the CPU is lower than its rivals. If high detailed graphics is a major issue with you, to keep up with technology, then maybe this console should be avoided.

What appears to be different about the Nintendo Wii is in its design, is its focus on providing the most important factor necessary for gaming, fun. While the PS3 and Xbox 360 rally around trying to find best chips and components, the Wii has looked at their audience and thought about what they really want, a gaming experience that everyone can enjoy.

Wii Specs
Specification Description

CPU

• Custom-built IBM, "Broadway"
  

GPU

• Custom-built ATI, "Hollywood"
  

SRAM

• MoSys-developed 1T-SRAM
  

Input/Output

• 2 USB 2.0 ports 4 GameCube controller ports
  2 512 MB Flash Memory slots (SD Card compatible)

Max

• Resolution 480p
  

Game Format

• 12 cm Wii Disc, 8 cm GameCube disc
  
• 4.7 GB (or 8.5 GB Dual Layer)
  

Controllers Supports

• at least 4 wireless controllers
  
• Wireless Connectivity Wi-Fi IEEE 802.11 b/g
  
• Bluetooth 2.0 (EDR)
  
• Other Features "Virtual console" for retro games
  
• One proprietary component/digital out located on the rear of the system

Ninja Gaiden® 2

makes its long-awaited debut on Xbox 360™ as the blockbuster action-packed sequel to Ninja Gaiden®. Ninja Gaiden 2 features a new and improved game engine, developed from the ground up exclusively for Microsoft and Xbox 360 by Team Ninja and legendary game developer Tomonobu Itagaki, creator of the famed Dead or Alive franchise.

Guide Ryu Hayabusa on a mission to avenge his clan and prevent the destruction of the human race. Armed with an assortment of ninja weaponry, help Ryu to skillfully maneuver through a world fraught with peril and danger. Ninja Gaiden 2 features an all-new gameplay engine, new auto-health regeneration system, levels, adventures, enemies, and thrilling combat with an extensive assortment of ninja weaponry, representing a true evolution of the highly popular franchise.


Exhilarating ninja action: Assume the role of a ninja warrior and experience an all-new combat system that requires skill and mastery of your full arsenal of weapons, including Obliteration Techniques allowing you to quickly and stylishly finish off an opponent. In addition to a variety of brutal new primary weapons and enhanced versions of previous favorites, Ninja Gaiden 2 features unique acrobatic combat and attacks used not only by Ryu Hayabusa but also by his formidable enemies.
Easy to play, hard to master: Ninja Gaiden 2’s new auto-healing system featuring semi-permanent damage restored at save points is the natural evolution of the franchise’s distinctive gameplay, and introduces a new twist to managing health. Featuring a newly implemented auto-healing functionality and save point system, as well as an extensive story mode and multiple difficulty levels available from the start of the game, the gameplay is accessible to more casual players and challenging to even the most demanding gamers.


Massive content and engrossing story: The themes of revenge and friendship in Ninja Gaiden 2 give rise to a series of dramatic events to create a truly compelling story. From Tokyo to New York and to the Netherworld, the story leads you through a lengthy, action-packed story mode as you skillfully maneuver Ryu Hayabusa through a demonized world fraught with peril and danger. In addition to the single-player campaign, upload Karma scores to Xbox LIVE® leaderboards and participate in an all-new Master Ninja Tournament.


Realistic graphics in next-generation gaming: Built from the ground-up from Team Ninja’s in-house gaming engine for Xbox 360, Ninja Gaiden 2 represents the best in amazing visuals, responsive control, and thrilling combat with an extensive assortment of ninja weaponry.

ps3 System Specifications

About Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.

Recognized as the global leader and company responsible for the progression of consumer-based computer entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI) manufacturers, distributes and markets the PlayStation game console, the PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system and the PlayStation Portable (PSP) handheld entertainment system. PlayStation has revolutionized home entertainment by introducing advanced 3D graphic processing, and PlayStation 2 further enhances the PlayStation legacy as the core of home networked entertainment. PSP is a new portable entertainment system that allows users to enjoy 3D games, with high-quality full-motion video, and high-fidelity stereo audio. SCEI, along with its subsidiary divisions Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc., Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Ltd., and Sony Computer Entertainment Korea Inc. develops, publishes, markets and distributes software, and manages the third party licensing programs for these platforms in the respective markets worldwide. Headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. is an independent business unit of the Sony Group.

Central Processing Unit : Cell Processor PowerPC-base Core @3.2GHz

• 1 VMX vector unit per core
  
• 512KB L2 cache
  
• 7 x SPE @3.2GHz
  
• 7 x 128b 128 SIMD GPRs
  
• 7 x 256KB SRAM for SPE
  
• 1 of 8 SPEs reserved for redundancy total floating point performance: 218 GFLOPS
  

GPU: RSX @550MHz

• 1.8 TFLOPS floating point performance
  
• Full HD (up to 1080p) x 2 channels
  
• Multi-way programmable parallel floating point shader pipelines
  

Sound:

• Dolby 5.1ch, DTS, LPCM, etc. (Cell-base processing)
  

Memory:

• 256MB XDR Main RAM @3.2GHz
  
• 256MB GDDR3 VRAM @700MHz
  

System Bandwidth:

• Main RAM: 25.6GB/s
  
• VRAM: 22.4GB/s
  
• RSX: 20GB/s (write) + 15GB/s (read)
  
• SB: 2.5GB/s (write) + 2.5GB/s (read)
  

System Floating Point Performance:

• 2 TFLOPS
  

Storage:

• HDD
  
• Detachable 2.5” HDD slot x 1
  

I/O:

• USB: Front x 4, Rear x 2 (USB2.0)
  
• Memory Stick: standard/Duo, PRO x 1
  
• SD: standard/mini x 1
  
• CompactFlash: (Type I, II) x 1
  

Communication:

• Ethernet (10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX, 1000BASE-T) x3 (input x 1 + output x 2)
  

Wi-Fi:

• IEEE 802.11 b/g
  

Bluetooth:

• Bluetooth 2.0 (EDR)
  

Controller:

• Bluetooth (up to 7)
  
• USB2.0 (wired)
  
• Wi-Fi (PSP®)
  
• Network (over IP)
  

AV Output:

• Screen size: 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p
  
• HDMI: HDMI out x 2
  
• Analog: AV MULTI OUT x 1
  
• Digital audio: DIGITAL OUT (OPTICAL) x 1
  

CD Disc media (read only):

• PlayStation CD-ROM
  
• PlayStation 2 CD-ROM
  
• CD-DA (ROM), CD-R, CD-RW
  
• SACD Hybrid (CD layer), SACD HD
  
• DualDisc (audio side), DualDisc (DVD side)
  

DVD Disc media (read only):

• PlayStation 2 DVD-ROM
  
• PLAYSTATION 3 DVD-ROM
  
• DVD-Video: DVD-ROM, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW
  

Blu-ray Disc media (read only):

• PLAYSTATION 3 BD-ROM
  
• BD-Video: BD-ROM, BD-R, BD-RE

Storage media (HDD, “Memory Stick”, SD memory card, and CompactFlash) are sold separately.
“Dolby” is a trademark of Dolby Laboratories.
“DTS” is a trademark of Digital Theater Systems, Inc.
“CompactFlash” is a trademark of SanDisk Corporation.
“HDMI” is a trademark of HDMI Licensing LLC.
“Blu-ray Disc” is a trademark.
“Bluetooth” is a trademark of Bluetooth SIG, Inc.
“Memory Stick” and “Memory Stick PRO” are trademarks of Sony Corporation.
“PlayStation", the PlayStation logo and “PSP” are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.
All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Xbox 360 System Specifications

For this next-generation Xbox, Microsoft is not just building a great gaming system, but also a great entertainment platform.

One of the things that excites me the most about the Xbox 360 is its advanced hardware specs. Yes, yes, I know, Microsoft says that “in the HD Era the platform is bigger than the processor” and I agree with that, but I can’t help thinking about the things that this hardware will be able to pull off.

The Xbox 360 represents a technological breakthrough only possible because of the hard work of hundreds of masterminds around the world who converged to create the ultimate gaming machine. Unreal Engine 3-powered games running at 1280x720 with full screen anti-aliasing? Not a problem for the Xbox 360.




Хboх 360 System Performance

Custom IBM PowerPC-based CPU :

• 3 symmetrical cores running at 3.2 GHz each
  
• 2 hardware threads per core; 6 hardware threads total
  
• 1 VMX-128 vector unit per core; 3 total
  
• 128 VMX-128 registers per hardware thread
  
• 1 MB L2 cache
  

CPU Game Math Performance

• 9 billion dot product operations per second

Custom ATI Graphics Processor

• 500 MHz
  
• 10 MB embedded DRAM
  
• 48-way parallel floating-point dynamically-scheduled shader pipelines
  
• Unified shader architecture
  

Polygon Performance

• 500 million triangles per second

Pixel Fill Rate

• 16 gigasamples per second fillrate using 4X MSAA

Shader Performance

• 48 billion shader operations per second

Memory

• 512 MB GDDR3 RAM
  
• 700 MHz DDR
  
• Unified memory architecture
  

Memory Bandwidth

• 22.4 GB/s memory interface bus bandwidth
  
• 256 GB/s memory bandwidth to EDRAM
  
• 21.6 GB/s front-side bus

Overall System Floating-Point Performance

• 1 TFLOP

Storage

• Detachable and upgradeable 20 GB hard drive
  
• 12X dual-layer DVD-ROM
  
• Memory unit support starting at 64 MB

I/O

• Support for up to 4 wireless game controllers
  
• 3 USB 2.0 ports
  
• 2 memory unit slots

Optimized for Online

• Instant, out-of-the-box access to Xbox Live features, including Xbox Live Marketplace for downloadable content, Gamer Profile for digital identity and voice chat to talk to friends while playing games, watching movies or listening to music
  
• Built in Ethernet Port
  
• Wi-Fi Ready: 802.11 A, B and G
  
• Video Camera Ready

Digital Media Support

• Support for DVD-Video, DVD-ROM, DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW, CD-DA, CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, WMA CD, MP3 CD, JPEG Photo CD
  
• Stream media from portable music devices, digital cameras, Windows XP PCs
  
• Rip music to Xbox 360 hard drive
  
• Custom playlists in every game
  
• Windows Media Center Extender built in
  
• Interactive, full screen 3D visualizers

HD Game Support

• All games supported at 16:9, 720p and 1080i, anti-aliasing
  
• Standard definition and high definition video output supported

Audio

• Multichannel surround sound output
  
• Supports 48 KHz 16-bit audio
  
• 320 independent decompression channels
  
• 32-bit audio processing
  
• Over 256 audio channels

System Orientation

• Stands vertically or horizontally

Customizable Face Plates

• Interchangeable to personalize the console

Key Highlights

Hardware, software, and services: Unveiled to the world on MTV on Thursday, May 12, 2005, Xbox 360 represents a dramatic leap forward in high-definition gaming and entertainment experiences. Fusing powerful hardware, software, and services, Xbox 360 fully engages you in a gaming experience that is more expansive, dramatic, and lifelike, where the possibilities are limitless and your imagination knows no boundaries. The next generation is here.

Industrial design: A merger of form and function, Xbox 360 wraps powerful technology in a sophisticated exterior. Two of the most innovative design firms in the world—San Francisco-based Astro Studios and Osaka, Japan-based Hers Experimental Design Laboratory Inc.—came together to craft a sleek, stylish system that conveys the very essence of Xbox 360.

Xbox Gamer Guide: The Xbox Gamer Guide is an entertainment gateway that instantly connects you to your games, friends, music, movies, and downloadable content. Available at a touch of the Xbox Guide Button, the Xbox Gamer Guide gives you instant access to the experiences and content you want, from the gamer card of the player that just invited you to play online to new downloadable content for the game currently running.

Personalized interface: Xbox 360 lets you create your own unique system and experience. With interchangeable Xbox 360 Faces, it's easy and fun to change the appearance of your console. Switch on your system and customize the look and feel of the Xbox Gamer Guide and Xbox System Guide with unique "skins." From sleek and sophisticated to fun and funky, pick the Faces and skins that show your personality.

Ring of Light and Xbox Guide Button: Divided into four quadrants, the glowing Ring of Light and Xbox Guide Button visually connect you to your games, digital media, and the world of Xbox Live, the first global, unified online console games service. Featured on both the wireless and wired controllers, the Xbox Guide Button puts you in control of your experience. In addition to bringing up the Xbox Gamer Guide and the Xbox System Guide, the Xbox Guide Button lets you turn the system on and off without ever leaving the couch.

Xbox Live: Xbox Live is where games and entertainment come alive, the only unified place where you can play with anyone, anytime, anywhere. And the best just got better. Connect your Xbox 360 to your broadband connection and get instant access to Xbox Live Silver. Express your digital identity through your Gamertag and gamer card, talk with others using voice chat, and access Xbox Live Marketplace—all right out of the box, at no extra cost. Upgrade to Xbox Live Gold and enter the exciting world of multiplayer online gaming. With intelligent matchmaking, access to all your achievements and statistics, video chat and video messaging, and an enormous selection of games, Xbox Live Gold delivers your competition, on your terms.

Xbox Live Marketplace: Keep your favorite games fresh with instant access to new content. Xbox Live Marketplace is a one-stop shop to download new game trailers, demos, and episodic content, plus new game levels, maps, weapons, vehicles, skins, and more. Accessible to everyone who establishes a broadband connection with their Xbox 360, Xbox Live Marketplace lets you personalize and extend your experience, on demand.

Games: Xbox 360 redefines what games look like, sound like, feel like, and play like to engage you like never before. With Xbox 360, epic worlds are alive with detail, from thunderous skies rumbling over a mountain range to tiny blades of grass rustling together in the breeze. Vibrant characters display depth of emotion to evoke more dramatic responses, immersing you in the experience like never before. You’ll see all Xbox 360 titles at 720p and 1080i resolution in 16:9 widescreen, with anti-aliasing for smooth, movie-like graphics and multi-channel surround sound.

Digital entertainment: Amplify your music, photos, video, and TV. Watch progressive-scan DVD movies right out of the box. Rip music to the Xbox 360 hard drive and share your latest digital pictures with friends. Make the connection, and Xbox 360 instantly streams the digital media stored on your MP3 player, digital camera, Media Center PC, or any Microsoft Windows XP-based PC.

Need for Speed ProStreet

The Good

Nice online options Car damage looks nice and makes totaling your ride fun Solid, albeit unspectacular racing.

The Bad

Ads, sponsored achievements, and the ability to purchase cars using real cash Missing much of the stuff that made the last few games fun Races start to feel the same after a while Announcers will make your ears bleed.

It can’t be easy to be a game developer in charge of releasing a new game in a series every year. People don’t want the same game over and over, yet they’re unhappy if the game strays too far from the established formula. EA deserves credit for trying something different with Need for Speed ProStreet, but the new direction of the series fails to live up to the level of the previous games. There’s still a solid racing experience here, and the online component of the Xbox 360 is quite good; but the game’s premise is uninteresting and the in-game advertising is over the top. In the end, ProStreet is just another decent but uninspired racing game.Unlike the last two Need for Speed games, which told the story of an underground street racer through campy yet entertaining cutscenes, ProStreet follows the legal street racing career of Ryan Cooper. The game still uses cutscenes to try to instill some story into the proceedings–something about Ryan getting dissed by a big-time street racer–but it’s uninteresting thanks to terrible voice acting and unlikable characters. Ignoring the story, it’s your goal to head to different events, dominate them, challenge the best of the best, and then take on Ryo, the man who disrespected you after your first race.
Thanks to the sheer number of race days you’ll need to win, it will take a long time to get to Ryo. Each race day consists of a number of different events. Most of these will be familiar to anyone who’s played previous Need for Speed games. Grip races are standard races with eight cars on the track, and your goal is to finish first. Other events have you trying to get the fastest time or highest speed through checkpoints, or the best time out of your class of cars. Drift racing is back, but has been revamped and is actually fun this time around since you don’t lose all your points for going off the track. You’ll also be doing a lot of drag racing. It’s fun for a bit, but gets old quickly thanks in no small part to the preceding minigame in which you have to heat up your tires–it’s lame, and you have to do it before each of the three rounds. While there’s no shortage of events, there isn’t a whole lot of variety. Many of them feel the same–you just want to go fast. This makes the game grow old quickly, a problem when there are so many events to slog through before you reach the end.

The game also grows tiresome because the action on the track just isn’t that exciting. Some of the later cars you unlock, like the Lamborghini and Zonda, are superfast, but for the first 50 races you’ll be racing some rather pedestrian vehicles. Since you’re on a track there are no shortcuts, so many of the courses end up feeling the same, especially since a “new” course is just an old one with a few different turns. Most importantly, there are no cops. Getting chased by the five-0 was easily the best part of the last few games, so its omission here is huge. Damage plays a more pronounced role this time around; you’ll have to repair damaged cars, but you always have enough damage-repair markers to take care of things. You won’t even need these markers on the Wii and PlayStation 2–you really have to slam into something incredibly hard to register even a slight amount of damage. This is understandable on the Wii because the default controls aren’t very good. Holding the Wii Remote flat in your hands and tilting it up and down to steer works OK most of the time, but sometimes, particularly on tight turns, the game doesn’t recognize your movement, so your car will straighten out and usually end up in a wall.
While you always want to win a race day, that’s not your only goal. You’ll need to dominate as many race days as possible to unlock new events. After each race you’re awarded points based on where you placed, how fast you finished, and how much damage you took. If your combined score for all the events breaks the old record, you’ve dominated the race day and you’re awarded with a prize like cash or parts for your ride. You don’t always have to race perfectly, but you’ll have to win most of the events to dominate. This is made difficult because you can bring only a few cars into each race day–one for each event–so if your car can’t hang with the other rides, you’re in trouble. All is not lost, though. Like in other NFS games, you can purchase new cars or upgrade your ride to improve performance. And like in the last game, you can sculpt certain aspects of your cars’ bodies to make them more aerodynamic. This time you even get to use a wind tunnel. It looks cool, but it’s not that useful. Nor are all the visual customization options, because it seems that you can’t use your rides online. The tool for putting on decals and vinyls is similar to what is found in Forza 2, but not quite as deep.PlayStation 2 and Wii owners are missing out on ProStreet’s best feature: its online component. On the Xbox 360 you can create your own race day by picking a location, race types, and even what cars can participate. You can then play these race days online in ranked and unranked matches. There was some lag and the racing was a bit choppy, but it was still fun–you can really build up some good rivalries by racing the same people in multiple events during an online race day.Though not everyone gets in on the online fun, all four consoles get a piece of the avalanche of advertising that permeates the game. Sure, races in real life are heavily sponsored, but ProStreet takes it too far–there’s nary a stretch of track where there’s not some sort of advertisement for motor oil or car insurance. It doesn’t seem possible, but 360 owners get to enjoy even more advertising thanks to dynamic ads that will be downloaded when you start the game up for the first time. Even better, some of the achievements are sponsored by a car insurance company. It’s too bad that the cost of the game and the ridiculous amount of advertising isn’t making EA enough money–on the Xbox 360 you can use real cash to unlock cars and upgrades. It costs $25 to unlock every car and upgrade. Every single time you go to buy a car, you’re asked if you want to use in-game cash or Microsoft points. You don’t even need to have unlocked a car to be able to purchase it with Microsoft points, which is really unfair since you can use that unlocked car to zoom right to the top of the leaderboards on the early courses.It shouldn’t be surprising that PlayStation 2 and Wii owners also come up on the short end of the stick with regards to the visuals; it isn’t a good-looking game on either system, though the Wii does support progressive scan. The cars look OK, but there’s a lot of aliasing, particularly on the tracks, which are so jaggy that it’s tough to see where you’re going when you’re driving at high speeds. The PS3 and 360 versions look very nice–particularly their cars, which look fantastic. They look great when they’re shiny and new, but they look even better when they’re all smashed up. It hurts your wallet when you total a car, but it sure is entertaining to watch the windshield shatter, the bumper fall to the ground, and the hood peel away like a sardine can lid. As mentioned earlier, the game doesn’t give off a tremendous sense of speed most of the time. This is partially because you’ll spend a lot of time driving slower cars, but also because the frame rate isn’t very fast and is frequently choppy. Everyone gets in on the terrible career menu, which is ugly and difficult to navigate.

ProStreet’s audio isn’t very good. This is mostly the fault of the game’s announcers, who are poorly voiced, have a terrible script, yell into the microphone, insist on calling you by your full name every time they refer to you (which is hundreds of times over the course of the game), and basically do everything they can to get on your nerves. The cars sound OK, but there’s not a whole lot of variety to the engine noise. The music isn’t anything exciting, either, and you’ll hear the same songs dozens and dozens of times over the course of the fairly lengthy career.What it all boils down to is that without the story, cop chases, and open world of the last two Need for Speed games, ProStreet is just another racing game. Other than a nice online mode on the 360 and PS3, its only truly distinguishing feature is its amount of advertising, which makes an already uninspired game feel even more soulless.