Technical specs are flying and rumors abound as gamers worldwide gear up for the next generation of console wars.

Within the next year, three gaming giants will release new consoles: the Sony Playstation 3, Microsoft XBox 360 and Nintendo Revolution. The XBox 360 is scheduled for release this holiday season, while the other two will hit stores next spring. All three systems are capable of using broadband Internet connections.

According to a press release, Sony’s Playstation 2 had the highest sales figures of the three current systems. Over 90 million units have been sold worldwide as of June 2.

Nate Wieck, junior in philosophy and president of the student gaming organization ub3r-l33t, says he would not be surprised if the Playstation 3 outsold the XBox 360. He thinks Microsoft’s new system will stand a better chance than its predecessor, however.

“Many people were ignorant of the hardware superiority of XBox over Playstation, and, additionally, Playstation has a lot more hot software titles to offer,” Wieck says. “However, the Playstation 2 has many more titles maybe because it has existed longer than the XBox.”

“Just because PS2 outsold XBox does not mean that it will happen again. New systems, different time, different circumstances.”

Eric Rubeck, junior in computer science and employee of local console store Gamers, 302 Lincoln Way, says the 360’s early release date gives Microsoft a strategic advantage.

“They are able to plan releases,” Rubeck says. “They’ve planned the Halo 3 release for the day the Playstation 3 comes out.”

The main advantage of the Playstation 3 is Sony’s decision to use the new BD-ROM (Blu-ray Disc ROM) technology. With a maximum storage capacity of 54 gigabytes, these discs can hold about six times as much information as DVDs.

“It’s a good idea. It will let them do a whole lot of things they weren’t capable of doing before, because of the extra space,” Rubeck says.

According to recently released specifications, the Playstation 3 will also be the most powerful and expensive of the three new systems. On paper, it is two times as powerful as the XBox 360 and 35 times as powerful as the Playstation 2.

The Nintendo Revolution will rely on innovation and nostalgic appeal, rather than raw processing power. Nintendo generated considerable hype within the gaming community when they announced that the Revolution would be able to download games for the Nintendo, Super Nintendo and Nintendo 64 from the Internet.