Difference in memory between PS3 and Xbox 360

I decided to put a new post regarding the difference memory between PS3 and Xbox 360 in terms of developing a game and why is it easier to develop on Xbox 360. Recent topics from Turbine's Craig Alexander that describe difference in memory architecture (256 ish MB vs 512ish MB), is not that PS3 has only 256 MB memory (hence the "ish").

Memory is used for a lot different purpose during gameplay especially for AI, task and graphics processing. Xbox 360 has 512 MB available memory to be used for that matters. But PS3 has two times 256 MB memory available, and each of this memory has a different purpose set by the hardware. In other words, PS3 has allocated certain memory to do certain things. Where in Xbox 360, its fully customizable.
Therefore, in PS3 you cannot simply decide "OK, I'm going to use 60% of memory capacity for AI.", while Xbox 360 developer has a lot of freedom to assign memory capacity.

So, is PS3 significantly lower performance than Xbox 360? Not necessarily. The offset to that is the PS3 cell processor. According to an article from N4G, cell processor can process a lot of maths. If your game has a lot fo physics object, you can do a lot more because it's very math intensive, not memory intensive. However, finding the "sweet spot" can sometimes tough.
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Turbine: Console is the future platform for MMO

Turbine's Craig Alexander, at GDC Austin, talked that future MMORPG will be on console. Saying that, "we really finally have the hardware and the storage capacity to develop what we consider more traditional MMOs with lots of content,"
He also mention that developing on Xbox 360 is easier and cheaper than PS3. Some of the reasons are, PS3 memory is 256ish MB while Xbox 360 is 512ish MB, and Xbox 360 has more tools for development. But then, porting from Xbox 360 to PS3 will be harder than the other way around. So developer has to choose carefully which console to use for first development.
About Nintendo, Craig described Nintendo more resemble previous generation, and its just not there yet.

Source: Joystiq
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