As with some other
recent reports concerning the
trio of new consoles, we're not asserting that this decibel test is entirely accurate, as the methodology was far from scientific, but the results were interesting -- and a bit unexpected -- to say the least. While users have long since
complained that the
Xbox 360 kicked out an
unusual amount of fan noise courtesy of the
overheating problems it's been
plagued with, one lucky owner of all three consoles found that Microsoft's unit actually wasn't the biggest racket-maker in the bunch, all things considered. By utilizing a standard handheld decibel meter, he measured the ambient sound output of the Wii, PS3, and Xbox 360 just after start-up, playing games sans an optical disc, and during disc playback to judge which console is noisiest overall. While results were noticeably mixed, it was concluded that the Xbox 360, on average, was actually the quietest of the bunch, and while the
PS3 remained fairly calm initially, an extended period of play threw its fans (and consequently, the noise factor) into overdrive. Interestingly, Nintendo's
Wii kept nearly silent during bootup, but after playing a few rounds of Wii Sports, it actually became the loudest of the three, clocking in at 70dB, or nearly 8dB higher than the nearest competitor. Granted, most folks won't notice the background whir when the 5.1s are thumpin' and folks are getting rowdy on the last lap of Excite Truck, but c'mon, this is the stuff we geeks are made to scrutinize, so be sure and hit the read link to make of it all what you will.
Engadget
It's no secret that Microsoft wants to enter the Chinese market -- they publicly stated as much in 2005 and launched the Xbox 360 in semi-autonomous Hong Kong in early 2006. Getting into China would greatly expand the Xbox 360's quickly growing worldwide footprint, which already includes 36 countries, some of which had never seen a console launch before. Launching in China would also mean dealing with the country's rampant software piracy, a problem that has dogged Chinese releases of the PS2 and PSP. Still, a booming market of over 1.3 billion potential customers is too juicy for Microsoft to pass up.
