Graphic: Gamespot
There has been some debate (litotes) about the relative merits of Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's forthcoming PlayStation 3 games console, and recently that has turned to drive speeds -- and the thought that the PS3's Blu-ray drive may be slower than the Xbox 360's DVD.
There is no answer, because we don't know what sort of Blu-ray drive Sony will fit. Originally it was assumed it would be a standard 1x drive, but when Pioneer starts shipping players this summer, it will start with a 2x drive, and a 4x drive is conceivable.
Skektek at Gamespot has produced a useful analysis, which shows that a 1x or 2x Blu-ray drive will be slower than the Xbox 360's 12x DVD. You have to go to 4x for the Blu-ray drive to beat a 12x DVD (see graphic). After that, of course, Blu-ray races ahead, and can go up to 12x....
But given the horrendous cost of Blu-ray drives (Pioneer's BDP-HD1 player is priced at $1,800), Sony may not want to give away high-end drives in the PS3. And if Sony does do that, it probably kills the standalone player market for partners such as Pioneer....
