Yahoo Games has published a “state of the battle” between the Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3. Overall, the article is a decent summary of the strengths and weaknesses of the two platforms, covering: system hardware, exclusive games, high definition gaming, and movie formats.

The hardware rundown is mostly accurate, but there are a couple of statements that stand out. Stating this: “Unlike the two Xbox 360 versions, it’s impossible to later upgrade the basic version of the PlayStation 3. If you want to snag the advanced features, you must pick up the more expensive system at the outset” is not exactly accurate. Of all the differences between the two SKUs, the only functionality that can’t be achieved by the lower cost unit is the HDMI port. This may come into play later, but all the other functionality can be had, according to Sony. The hard drive is a user upgradeable SKU, with off the shelf hardware. Those users wanting wireless networking will be able to get a USB wireless dongle, and similarly, memory stick functionality can be achieved through the USB ports as well.

The Xbox 360 rundown is decent, if a little light on details. That can be excused, however, since as a released system, most of the information about the console is known at this point. Yahoo gives a slight edge to the Playstation 3 in rendering power, but with no retail games released for Sony’s gaming hardware, it really is hard to tell at this point. Certainly from the games shown at E3, the processing power seems similar. The edge, as mentioned in the article, will be the Blu-ray media. Supporting up to 50 gigabytes of information, game content can expand to huge dimensions. Given how long it took for more games to be released on DVD format rather than CD for the Playstation 2, however, this edge may not come into play immediately.

For exclusive content, the situation is certain to divide gamers. Sony has a huge line-up of known properties, sequels to existing games. Microsoft, on the other hand, has (largely) new titles, from high-profile US developers. This area may well come down to taste; for the hard core gamer, both consoles will be a must have. But those gamers forced to choose only one console will have a hard time; either choice means forgoing A-list titles from the other side.

Next generation movie formats are also an interesting story. The Xbox 360 will support HD DVD, and the Playstation 3 supports Blu-ray, of course. Neither format has a lock on succeeding at this point. Sony certainly hopes the including Blu-ray in the PS3 will drive adoption of the movie format, but Sony’s track record in getting new formats adopted is not that great. Sony’s Betamax lost to VHS, Minidisc would eventually die out, and UMD doesn’t seem to be the portable media format that everyone was looking for. The console guaranteed at this point to support locked high definition content would be the $599 PS3 configuration, with an HDMI port, but if Blu-ray dies out and fails to get movie studio support, then this is a wash.

Yahoo doesn’t really come down with a strong recommendation either way. Of course, the only choice gamers have right now is the Xbox 360, but those looking for next generation video content will be looking at the PS3, and Yahoo also gives a back-handed complement to Nintendo’s Wii console.

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