When Microsoft launched its Xbox 360 in November last year, it signalled the transition to the next generation of consoles. With its custom triple core central processor unit (CPU) and 500 MHz graphics processor (GPU), the Xbox 360 represents the next step in Microsoft’s attempt to develop a living room entertainment hub. The console includes integrated Media Centre Extender capability to connect it to a Media Centre PC, allowing the user to play video, pictures and music resident on the PC through the entertainment cluster in the living room.
Sony and Nintendo have yet to launch their next generation machines, but they are due later in 2006. Sony has announced an ambitious console, the PlayStation 3 (PS3), to be centred on the Cell processor, developed with IBM and Toshiba. The specs of the machine are impressive, including a 550 MHz GPU that supports 1080p high definition video. The PS3 will also include Blu-Ray DVD playback, a high-definition format that is central to Sony’s corporate strategy, according to In-Stat, a market research firm. Nintendo has announced some details on its next generation console, the Revolution.
Central to Nintendo’s console is a new type of controller that allows the user’s arm movement to affect the movement of game characters. Nintendo is pursuing innovative ideas in next-generation gaming rather than trying to battle it out technologically with its much larger rivals.
"In the current generation of consoles, Sony expanded its domination in 2005. In an unprecedented occurrence, Sony shipped its second largest volume of PlayStation 2 (PS2) consoles in 2005. In the back-end of the product cycle, when shipments typically decline year-over-year, Sony shipped 19.98 million consoles worldwide, over 8 million more than its 2004 total. And we expect that Sony will continue to ship the console through 2010, which would match the 11-year product cycle of the recently discontinued PlayStation, or PSOne," In-Stat says.
Online music The past year was a breakthrough year for digital music. The Internet is now a key distribution channel for legitimate digital music sales; and the mobile phone is also evolving into an important channel for digital music. As a result, in 2005, online sales of digital music represented almost 6 per cent of the total worldwide music market. This figure is up from virtually zero per cent in 2003, another In-Stat study says.According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, paid-for digital single downloads reached 420 million in 2005.
Sony and Nintendo have yet to launch their next generation machines, but they are due later in 2006. Sony has announced an ambitious console, the PlayStation 3 (PS3), to be centred on the Cell processor, developed with IBM and Toshiba. The specs of the machine are impressive, including a 550 MHz GPU that supports 1080p high definition video. The PS3 will also include Blu-Ray DVD playback, a high-definition format that is central to Sony’s corporate strategy, according to In-Stat, a market research firm. Nintendo has announced some details on its next generation console, the Revolution.
Central to Nintendo’s console is a new type of controller that allows the user’s arm movement to affect the movement of game characters. Nintendo is pursuing innovative ideas in next-generation gaming rather than trying to battle it out technologically with its much larger rivals.
"In the current generation of consoles, Sony expanded its domination in 2005. In an unprecedented occurrence, Sony shipped its second largest volume of PlayStation 2 (PS2) consoles in 2005. In the back-end of the product cycle, when shipments typically decline year-over-year, Sony shipped 19.98 million consoles worldwide, over 8 million more than its 2004 total. And we expect that Sony will continue to ship the console through 2010, which would match the 11-year product cycle of the recently discontinued PlayStation, or PSOne," In-Stat says.
Online music The past year was a breakthrough year for digital music. The Internet is now a key distribution channel for legitimate digital music sales; and the mobile phone is also evolving into an important channel for digital music. As a result, in 2005, online sales of digital music represented almost 6 per cent of the total worldwide music market. This figure is up from virtually zero per cent in 2003, another In-Stat study says.According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, paid-for digital single downloads reached 420 million in 2005.