PlayStation 3 & Xbox 2 to debut on May 16th

[Apoptosis]

The waiting will be over on 16 May. On that day, at 3PM PST, Sony will take the wraps off PlayStation 3. Three hours later, Microsoft will unveil Xbox 2. Well, that's the hope. Certainly, Sony has scheduled a press event at its Culver City, Los Angeles Sony Pictures facility on that date and time. Microsoft, meanwhile, has booked a venue in downtown LA with a view to a 6PM opening time.

Sony spokesfolks have hinted in the past that PS3 - or whatever it will be called - will be launched ahead of E3. Past product roadmaps have pointed to an early to mid-2005 launch. The company gave the PowerPC-derived 'Cell' processor on which the new console will be based its first public outing in February.

I will personally be in LA for these launches and it should be a great time. E3 is going to be awesome this year!

Article Source: The Register

[deadly-app]

They sound amazing, I only wish I could go down to LA to check it out

[fortytwo]

The waiting will be over on 16 May. On that day, at 3PM PST, Sony will take the wraps off PlayStation 3. Three hours later, Microsoft will unveil Xbox 2.

There is more to it than that, however. According to this slashdot article (which in turn points to a VE3D article) Microsoft will give their first peek on MTV on May 12th. Now, this isn't a release to the press, but to everyone. The press may not have access to the new XBox until the 16th.

[Apoptosis]

yup I saw that.. this still should be the first "public" showing of a system in front of the press.

[fortytwo]

Yeah. Its probably a very smart move on Microsoft's part. They are getting their console in front of the eyes of consumers before Sony (even if only by a few days), and more importantly consumers' first impressions are going to be exactly what Microsoft tells them it should be. If the press got first crack at it, they run a bigger risk of some of the first impressions being negative.

It'll be interesting to see what happens. Either way, I only hope for one thing - I hope that the console with better technology also happens to be the console with better and more numerous games. Or better yet - that there is no discernable difference between the platform and game aspects of either, thus creating a more competitive market.

Last time, the PS2 arguably had better games, and without a doubt was able to provide more games to the consumer. The Xbox however, arguably had a better system (although this is up for debate, my opinion is that the Xbox is capable of more), but was unable to deliver on the titles.

The gaming forums of the world will be all a twitter here in just one month.

[infinitevalence]

sony will counter, i was a the rave in NY when Sony first released the PS2 weeks before the official release. If they did it then then they will do it again.

[InFuZiOn]

I'm guessing that the results will still be the same. Sony's newest creation wont be able to hold a candle to Microsoft's new toy.

[fortytwo]

But its more than what kind of product they create. If Microsoft makes a better product, then they need to get the developers to utilize their features, and to come out with a bunch of high-demand platform-exclusive games. I think Microsoft may have learned a hard lesson, and that the platform quality vs game quality leaders will swap on these next-gen consoles, although the difference in these categories will be smaller.

But what about the next Nintendo platform? How crazy would it be if they came out of left field and built the better platform? I really, really doubt that would happen, because Nintendo has such a great exclusive games market. The metroid, mario, and zelda franchises are good enough to keep Nintendo in the game.

[LVCapo]

I'm guessing that the results will still be the same. Sony's newest creation wont be able to hold a candle to Microsoft's new toy.

but then Playstation 3 will actually have a variety of games, not just Halo 3 and a bunch of crap.
I had both, and thought the X-Box had great graphics and better gameplay....the problem was the assortment of games was incredibly weak after Halo.