E3 Summary: Wii vs PS3 vs Xbox 360

In the aftermath of E3, its time to search through the debris and see how the Nintendo Wii has emerged compared to both the Sony Playstation 3 and Microsoft’s Xbox 360.

The Wii secrets are out

Nintendo finally revealed the remaining secret about the Wii remote controller (Wii-mote for short) at E3. The innovative new controller has taken another step in evolution with a built-in speaker.

Wii-mote now with built-in speaker

How will it work? An example in relation to “The Legend of Zelda”, one of the Wii’s launch titles, is when the hero fires his bow-and-arrow at his latest nemesis. The sound made upon the arrow’s release will emit from the Wii-mote’s speaker while the impact sound it creates will come from the screen!

Pretty nifty, if I do say so myself. No doubt, the built-in speaker will add a new level of immersion and enhance what is already a unique gaming experience.

The Wii-mote speaker announcement comes on top of the recent revelation that the nunchuk expansion will also be equipped with an accelerometer. This motion sensing technology will be able to sense when the unit is tilted up, down, left, right and in a number of other directions.

At E3, Nintendo announced the launch of Wii Connect 24, a service that connects the Wii permanently to the internet and allows it to download game updates and other information even when it is on standby.

Nintendo also revealed that the Wii will join the DS in supporting the Opera web browser. The browser will let gamers navigate the internet using the Wii’s unique controllers.

Unfortunately Nintendo failed to mention when the Wii will be released and for what price, only saying it was scheduled for the fourth quarter. Fingers crossed it’s not to far around the corner!

Sony packs a punch with PS3 price

Sony choose E3 as the place to announce the Playstation 3 launch date and drop a PS3 price bombshell. The PS3 will sell in two configurations, one with a 60 GB hard disk drive for a whooping USD $599 - a record high price for a gaming system - and the other a 20 GB HDD for $499.

The PS3 will go on sale in North America, Europe and Australasia on November 17 and on November 11 in Japan.

The 20 GB PS3 package appears to be inferior in more ways than just having a lower storage capacity, with the exclusion of a HDMI port, a memory card slot and no WiFi connectivity compared to the 60 GB version. The omission of the HDMI port is the most surprising given that one of Sony’s major selling points was the ability of the PS3 to output dual 1080p video. That would not be possible using the cheaper Playstation 3 model as a HDMI port is a necessary requirement to perform at that level.

The DualShock controller design is back for the Playstation 3 after Sony decided to permanently ditch the ‘boomerang’ shaped controller it unveiled at last years E3. In a new addition, the refined version of the DualShock will come equipped with its own motion sensing technology. Gee, I wonder how Sony came up with that idea?

Xbox 360 steady

Nothing revolutionary or unexpected came from the Microsoft camp during E3. The biggest news came in the form of confirmation that Halo 3 was in production and will be available in 2007. The Halo 3 teaser was disappointingly short and showed nothing to indicate what the actual game will be like.

A host of new Xbox 360 accessories were revealed by Microsoft with an external HD DVD drive headlining the bunch. Others included a wireless steering wheel, a wireless headset, and Xbox Vision, a camera peripheral expected to have a similar function to the PS2’s Eye Toy.

Microsoft announced a new feature to Xbox Live called “Live Anywhere”. Live Anywhere is a system meant to allow for cross platform gaming between Xbox 360 and Microsoft’s new Windows Vista platform, and possibly even mobile phones.

Summary

Nintendo has revealed all there is to know about the Wii-mote and the Wii console system. Now all that’s left to do is ponder how much it will cost and exactly when it will be released. Wii can only hope that an announcement is not to far away.

The Playstation 3 is building up to its launch in November by revealing its exact launch plans, which I must add are eerily similar to the Xbox 360’s with two separate packages and a worldwide simulatenous release date. Coincidence I’m sure. As is the new motion sensing technology for the PS3’s DualShock? controller…

Microsoft continues to build on its market share for the Xbox 360 by announcing a new wave of games, accessories and Xbox Live features.

At E3, Miyamoto, Iwata, Fils-Aimes and a lucky member of the audience engaged in a game of tennis, played by swinging the Wii-mote like a tennis racket. It looked awesome and promises real life intuitive game play - just as Nintendo has always promised. With the Wii, the revolution in video gaming has finally arrived.

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