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Finally, theyre all here. The Xbox 360 has had the next generation gaming market to itself for a year. Now its two competitors, the Playstation 3 and nintendo Wii, are here. No more speculating about speed. No more guessing about memory. Now we can take a look and see exactly how they stack up compared to each other.

Let the console wars begin again.

Price

The ps3 has two configurations much like the Xbox 360. The ps3 comes in a $499 version that comes with a 20 GB hard drive and a $599 version that comes with a 60 GB hard drive; Wi-Fi; and memory stick, SD, and Compact flash slots.

The Xbox 360 has two configurations. It comes in a $299 core version and a $399 version that comes with a 20GB hard drive.

The nintendo Wii is the cheapest of the bunch with just one configuration that costs $250.

Processing Power

The Playstation 3 comes with its cell processor. Its a PowerPC based core that runs at 3.2 GHz that also have seven DSPs that run at 3.2 GHz. This configuration can do about 2 Teraflops.

The Xbox 360 has a custom IBM PowerPC processor. This processor also runs at 3.2 GHz. However, Xbox went with a true 3 core processor compared to the one general processor of the cell and seven additional DSPs. This configuration can do about 1 Teraflop.

The nintendo Wii includes its Broadway processor, a PowerPC based processor running at 729 MHz.

Disc Media

Part of the reason the ps3 is so much more expensive than the Xbox 360 is because the Sony decided to include a Blu-ray drive on the system. The drive can play both Blu-ray movies and regular DVDs. The Xbox 360 comes with a DVD player and an HD-DVD add-on is planned. The nintendo Wii uses a DVD drive; however, the system will not work for playback of movies, just nintendo games.

Backwards Compatibility

The Playstation 3 is just like the PS2 was. Youll be able to play both PS2 and PSone games on the ps3. nintendo is taking things a bit further. Their system will be compatible with the gamecube games and also the gamecube controllers since the two systems use very different controllers. Not only that, but the Wii will also have the ability to download games from the original nintendo (NES), Super nintendo (SNES), and the nintendo 64.

Sweet Features

If you want high definition gaming, then the ps3 is the way to go. It comes with a Blu-ray drive built in and can output in 1080p. Although the ps3 controller may look familiar, its had some updates. The controller is now motion sensing so in some games youll be able to move your character or fly a plane just by moving the controller.

The Xbox 360 was built to work with Windows XP media center. If you have a computer that already has media center on it, youll be able to view pictures, videos, and even recorded TV by using your Xbox. You wont need to put your PC in your living room to take advantage of having a Media Center PC.

The nintendo Wii decided to completely change the way gaming controllers are built. In the past, one controller was always held with both hands. The Wiis controller looks more like a TV remote control than a game controller. It has a built in motion sensor so, for example, to swing a sword, you simply move you hand just like you were really swinging a sword.

Hopefully this review has helped you compare the three next generation gaming systems. Each has its pluses and minuses, and feature that are unique to it. Ultimately, your decision will likely come down to which system has the games that most appeal to you. And that is a decision that only you can make when deciding on a system to buy.

Gary Ruplinger is the editor of http://www.ps3asap.com, a resource for getting the in demand ps3 system. He also is a writer for http://www.gamesystemreviews.com where you can learn about all of the next generation systems.

The land of the Rainbow Nation, Nelson Mandela and the Big Five. Breathtaking Bio Diversity , a rich cultural heritage and a friendly professional hospitality industry make south africa an enjoyable and unique holiday destination.

The country is divided into 9 Provinces that cover the southern tip of africa from the atlantic ocean in the West to the Indian ocean on the East coast. The diversity in climates and ecologies provide for plenty of variety, with some areas enjoying summer sunshine, others gentle drizzle and light mists, or year round rainfall, or to the extreme complete drought. The natural vegetation, marine,animal and abundant bird life are varied enough to draw fascinated visitors back time and again.

What to Do

south africa has many cities which lend themselves to many activities, such as nightclubing, theatres, shopping malls, gambling, fine dining and watching sport.

For the nature lover and adventure enthusiast there are activities such as hiking, mountain climbing, surfing, canoing, sailing, abseiling, scuba diving, fishing, snorkeling, white water rafting and even snow skiing. For the golf enthusiast there are also a number championship golf courses. For the less adventurous there is a wide selection of spas and wellness centres.

For photographers and nature lovers their is ample opportunity to photograph and view the wonders of our diverse wildlife and take an off-road excursion in 4x4 vehicles. One cannot forget our national pastime boerewors, camping and braaivleis (Barbeque) with friends.

General Information

Time Zone
GMT +2

climate
south africa has large variations in climate.While cape Town and the surrounding Western cape have a Mediterranean climate, the Garden Route has year round rainfall, The inland Karoo is largely arid while the East coast is hot and humid. The Northern Escarpment attracts summer thunderstorms.

Summer : Oct - March
Winter : May - Aug (possible snow fall in Mountainous regions)

clothing
clothing should be cool and light in summer and warm in winter. it is preferable to dress in layers, so that warm clothes can be shed as the temperature can change rapidly in certain regions.

Languages
There are 11 official languages in south africa, although English and Afrikaans are the most widely spoken. Twenty - Three percent speak Zulu and 17% Xhosa.

Population
south africa has a population of 44 819 778 of which 32% are under 14.

Health
Anti Malaria precautions should be taken when travelling to Northern and Eastern parts. Tick bite fever in areas where there is long grass. Other than a certificate of inoculation for travelling from a yellow fever area, no other inoculations are compulsory.

Transport
Air travel internally and internationally is good and fairly frequent. The main international airport is Johannesburg international. The main seaports are cape town Durban and Port Elizabeth. The Countries roads are also generally good.

Communications
There are over 5 million telephone lines and 7 million mobile users in the country. internet connections and cafes are also widely available. There are also numerous radio and television stations.

Electricity
The Electricity supply is 220/240 Volts AC, 50 Hz.

Water
Tap water is safe across the country and bottled water is also obtainable at most supermarket and general stores.

Currency
The national currency is the south african Rand which is divided into 100 cents. All Major credit cards are accepted at most establishments. ATM are also widely available. Travellers cheques can be exchanged at airports and most banking institutions.

Public Holidays
January 1 - New Years Day
March 21 - Human Rights Day
Good Friday (variable)
Easter Monday (variable)
April 27 - Freedom Day
May 1 - Workers Day
June 16 - Youth Day
August 9 - national Womens Day
September 24 - Heritage Day
December 16 - Day of Reconciliation
December 25 - Christmas Day
December 26 - Day of Goodwill

If the public holiday falls on a Sunday the Monday following is a public holiday.

Entry Regulations
All Visitors need a valid passport and proof of return booking. It is advisable to check with South african embassies for Visa requirements.Transit and multi-entry visas are advised for visitors intending to visit neighbouring countries.

For information on travel, tours and safaris in South africa got to http://www.roamingafrica.com

Generally speaking, an emulator is a program (either in software or firmware form) whose main purpose is to mimic the functionalities of a particular system in another system. Once installed, the host system will be able to almost faithfully run programs designed for another system. There are two types of emulators. First is the software emulator that is installed in PCs to enable it to work on a different software program from the one which was originally installed. This allows the PC to accept the game software and play it. The second type of emulator is the hardware emulator which comes in the form of a hardware device or component that contains firmware that instructs the PC on what to do when particular game software are loaded.

Both game console and game software developers "unofficially" encourage the development of emulators because, for the game console developer, it allows the quick introduction of a new console because it can accept games developed for other systems or versions. On the other hand, for game software developers, it expands the utility of their software, thereby increasing their addressable market size. By doing so, their sales potential increases by a magnitude, which translates to significant profitability.

For the PSP, there are emulators that are currently available which allows the playing of popular n64 games. The reviews of these emulators are not too favorable primarily because of the speed concern (which is probably due to fundamental design differences that cannot currently be efficiently emulated). Nevertheless, these emulators give one the opportunity to play his favorite games on n64 on his PSP even just for the memories.

installing an N64 emulator to your PSP is really dependent on the emulator you are able to get. Most of these are free and downloadable from the Internet. One emulator has the following installation instructions, which is similar to most emulator instructions:

* download the emulator from a prescribed website into your PC's hard disk.

* Create the appropriate folder in the root directory of your PSP's memory stick to store the emulator.

* connect your PSP to your PC via usb.

* Transfer or copy the emulator files from your PC's hard disk into the folder created in your PSP memory stick's root directory.

* Run the program every time you want to play an N64 game.

While many say that emulators make sense, there is still a major issue regarding it. This has to do with the disclosure of specifications of the game console being emulated to the company doing the emulation. These are obviously data that game console manufacturers will be very, very, reluctant to give. It would be like committing commercial suicide for them to just give away the secrets of their products.