The Playstation 2 vs. Playstation 3: Which is Better?

The PlayStation 2, the successor to original PlayStation created by Sony, was released in the later part of the year of 2000. To date, it is the best-selling gaming console on the market, having reached over 130 million units sold. It’s equipped with the following hardware:

• A 64-bit CPU clocked at 294 MHz, or 299 MHz on the newer versions of the console
• 32MB of Direct Rambus, better known as RDRAM
• A memory bus bandwidth of 3.2GB/s
• GPU clocked at 147MHz
• Video Output: 256×224 to 1280×1024 pixels
• 4MB of dedicated video DRAM
• Multi-pass rendering ability
• 2 PlayStation Controller Ports
• 2 Memory Card Ports
• FireWire Port
• 2 USB 1.1 Ports
• An Ethernet Hardwire Port

The Disc Drive, supporting CD-ROM, Compact Disc Audio, PlayStation Format DVD-ROM, some games on the DVD 8.5BG discs, DVD Video(4.7GB), DVD-9 (8.5GB Double Layer), and the later models are compatible with the DVD+RW and DVD-RW formats

And many more items, including the FPU, Vector Units, and Floating Point Performance, an Image decoder, I/O Processor and Cache memory (16KB)

The amount of games there are is variable, but it was expected to reach a volume of more than 1,900. The PlayStation 2 has been the major gaming console for many homes in America,  and the rest of the world. A while after the original PS2’s were released, Sony released a Slimline version of the PlayStation 2. Currently, this model is in stores for only $99.00 USD, quite cheap when compared the the PlayStation 3’s $399.00USD(for the 80GB, $499.00USD for the 160GB) http://www.walmart.com/search/search-ng.do?search_constraint=0&ic=48_0&search_query=Playstation&Find.x=0&Find.y=0&Find=Find

But the PlayStation 3 has some specs that will rival the PS2:

• Slot-loading Blu-ray Disc drive
• The hard drive size varies per model, but they are all user-upgradable 2.5” SATA hard drives, so in theory, you could have any size that you wanted
• It uses a Cell microprocessor as its CPU, which is clocked at 3.2GHz
• A NVIDIA RSX graphics processor, capable of 1080p output
• 256MB of XDR main memory
• 256 MB of GDDR3 memory for the RSX card
• Bluetooth 2.0
• Ethernet Port
• USB 2.0
• HDMI 1.3a
• Wi-Fi is available on the 40, 60, and 80GB models

The system supports up to 7 controllers that are connected through the Bluetooth technology

Some like that the games for the PlayStation 3 are installed directly onto the console’s hard drive, possibly eliminating the need for discs. Others… not so much, but it really just depends on preference.

Those specs seem much better then the PlayStation 2’s specs, but are they really worth that price? Some ask that question, and find themselves torn between the beauty of the PlayStation 3’s power and its price. And then some answer that with the purchase of the PlayStation 2. 

Its a decision that sometimes comes right down to what’s in your wallet, unfortunately. Many people still purchase the PlayStation 2 because it is so cheap, and it fulfills their gaming needs, and others splurge and buy the PS3. If the PlayStation 3’s prices were to drop, there might be a greater amount of them sold, but until then, it appears that it really comes down to what’s in your wallet.

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