http://xbox.gamespy.com/xbox/microsoft-xbox/594331p1.html We Got Next - Part One (Xbox) GameSpy reveals details on the next Xbox console. By Raymond M. Padilla | March 8, 2005 For several GameSpy editors, Game Developers Conference (GDC) is one of the best and most enjoyable events held each year. One of the primary reasons for GameSpy's GDC love is that the editors get to interact with some of the best talents in the business. Recently, some of GameSpy's friends in the development community shared a ton of details on Microsoft's next console system. Keep in mind that all of this information is based off of alpha development kits and current projections for the final hardware. Everything is subject to change. In the first part of our Xbox expose, I'll cover the console's hardware components and software goals. Since the final name of the next Xbox hasn't been revealed yet, I'll refer to the system by its codename, Xenon. The Guts of the Next Box # CPU - Xenon's CPU has three 3.0 GHz PowerPC cores. Each core is capable of two instructions per cycle and has an L1 cache with 32 KB for data and 32 KB for instructions. The three cores share 1 MB of L2 cache. Alpha 2 developer kits currently have two cores instead of three. # GPU - Xenon's GPU is a generation beyond the ATI X800. Its clock speed is 500 MHz and it supports Shader 3.0. Developers are currently working with an alpha 2 GPU. Beta GPU units are expected by May and the final GPU is slated for a summer release. The final GPU will be more powerful than anything on the market today; in game terms, it would handle a game like Half-Life 2 with ease. # System Memory - Xenon will have 256 MB of system RAM. Keep in mind that this number should not be equated to typical PC RAM. The Xbox has 64 MB of system RAM and is a very capable machine. # Optical Drive - As many have speculated, Xenon will not use Blu-Ray or HD-DVD. Games will come on dual-layer DVD-9 discs. While the media is the same as that of the current Xbox, the usable space on each disc is up to 7 GB. The drive is slated to run at 12X. # Memory Units - Xenon will use 64 MB to 1,024 MB memory cards. 8 MB is reserved for system use, leaving a 56 MB to 1,016 MB for user data. # Hard Drive - As many have speculated, Xenon's hard drive is optional. 2 GB of the drive will be used as game cache. The final drive size is still being determined. # Camera - Xenon will have a USB 2.0 camera. It's capable of 1.2 megapixel still shots and VGA video. Photos can be used in-game and for gamer profiles. The camera can also be used for video chat. It's unknown if the Xenon camera will allow for EyeToy-like gameplay. Developers are currently using a simulated camera driver. # Sound Chip - Xenon does not have an audio chip in the traditional sense. Decompression is handled by hardware, while the rest of the chores are handled by software. DirectSound3D has been dropped in favor of X3DAudio. The former was deemed too inflexible. Raymond's Reaction - The Xenon is an extremely impressive piece of hardware. It will allow gamers to see things like complex lighting in gameplay, amazing details through high-level shading (impeccable clouds, fur, grass, cloth, water, marble, ground, etc.), incredible textures, and new post effects (increased motion blur, heat distortion, depth of field, light blooms, etc.). While people have already been correctly speculating about the removable hard drive and the standard DVD media, I was surprised at the inclusion of the camera. I haven't heard a single rumbling about a Xenon camera prior to GDC. The optional hard drive is a bit understandable; the only gamers that care about it will buy it anyway, while casual gamers won't care about the performance and convenience gains a drive offers. The standard DVD isn't too surprising considering that HD-DVD drives will be too expensive for inclusion in a console system in 2005. The Software Microsoft is requiring developers to make all Xenon titles Live enabled. One of the key reasons for this will be revealed in the second part of this story. Developers are being instructed to plan their games for high-definition. The baseline is 720p at 1280x720 for gameplay and video clips, 16:9 aspect ratio, 5.1 Surround Sound, and anti-aliasing. These features are the current minimum requirement. All Xenon games can be played using custom soundtracks. Owners can also play their own music directly. Supported formats are MP3 and WMA. Files can be encoded up to 320Kbps CBR or VBR stereo. The system is branded a Music Player Service. For gameplay movies, Xenon uses Xenon Motion Video (XMV). XMV is based on Windows Media 9 and uses the mandatory codec for HD-DVD. The goal for video is 720p running at 30 frames per second with 5.1 Surround Sound. Raymond's Reaction - Mandatory Live "awareness" isn't a big surprise. Online is one area where Microsoft is trouncing the competition. Microsoft's progression with online console gaming has progressed wonderfully (see Halo 2) and the future plans are even more interesting. (Again, see part two of this feature tomorrow for more information.) It's nice to see that Microsoft is being aggressive with HD performance. Having all games run at 720p (potentially) makes for an incredibly engrossing experience -- particularly owners of HDTV sets. Users with standard televisions needn't worry; 16:9 content will be letterboxed to fit within a 4:3 aspect ratio by default. Developers are being instructed to make sure that any critical text will fit into and look good in 4:3. Stay Tuned! That's a wrap for part one of our Xenon feature. Be sure to come back tomorrow to learn more about Microsoft's exciting plans for Xbox Live. While the hardware specs and HD plans for Xenon are definitely cool, the new Xbox Live features might impact your gaming experience even more!
OH yeah forgot to add that people are saying the "HARDDRIVE" can act like a Ipod when not in the system...
Looks like Microsoft will lose money on the console again and hope to catch Sony in gaming licences. No blue Ray or HD-DVD is a little odd.
I like this part I don't think all games will be online multiplayers but the idea of 'Live Aware' is intriguing so whenever your playing a single player game a friend could contact you and ask if you want to play Madden or something over Live The high definition part is also great, the difference between a standard game and game that has 720p support is amazing and anti-alias should always be the norm from now on (NO MORE JAGGIES!!) I think Sony will follow the same plan
It seemed to be a pretty safe bet that they would be losing money on the console itself, at least for a while, considering that Microsoft is not a hardware company like Sony is. Plus, Sony will probably sell their console at a loss (maybe even a big one), just like they and almost every other console have done. There's no way Microsoft could come close to what the PS3 could do by designing a console that didn't sell at a loss (around the ~$300 price tag anyways). That said, they seemed to have minimized losses as much as possible, with the choice of DVD, RAM, no hard drive, and maybe more, so this shouldn't be as bad as the Xbox in that case. As for the no BR or HD-DVD, it isn't really that odd. The leak from last year had them putting in a DVD drive, and nothing since then has really suggested anything different. There was hope that they would at least adopt HD-DVD, and the HD-DVD people did want them to put it in, but of course Microsoft didn't want to pay too much for it. Of course, that pretty much ended talks there. I do think that sticking with DVD could be a major problem for Microsoft. IIRC, Sony either has or should be able to support 1080p, so they also have high definition in mind. Not too surprising considering they are also pushing a high definition media format as well. The specs aren't too much different than what was currently known or guessed at. Only the camera was the big surprise. The 12X instead of 16X is a bit of a disappointment, but there are some logical reasons for going with 12X. Like any console, they should have more RAM, but they can still change that depending on what Sony does (along with the clock speed of the CPU and GPU for that matter). I'm pretty interested in hearing more tomorrow. IIRC, Microsoft is supposed to talk a little bit about XNA and about next-gen gaming, as well as their "vision." That, plus whatever more Gamespy may have (may just repeat what Microsoft says tomorrow) should be an interesting read. BTW, I've read that we need to be getting used to calling it the Xbox 360 from who seems like a reputable source. I hate that name more than Xbox Next though, and would have preferred them calling the console Xenon, like the development term, or just simply Xbox2. They better have some clever reason why they are calling it that because it sounds pretty stupid right now, IMO.
They just put up Part 2 (so much for tomorrow I guess ): This info certainly is new, at least to me. While I've had an idea of their hardware, I didn't really know what they would do in this aspect of gaming. My initial reactions are that these are some interesting and great ideas for next-gen gaming, especially for the casual gamer. Microsoft seems to want to make things much easier. That said, I'm not sure how much of this would really be an impact, especially if Sony and Nintendo do something similar. I would assume it wouldn't be too hard to do so, and in fact developers may wish for that to happen anyways so that they won't have to come up with stuff like Gamer Cred for just the Xbox 360 (ugh) version of the game. Still wish I had some more hardware info, especially on the GPU and how it works with the CPU.
Wow...MS is using CPQ's old Alphas as the processor??? When Compaq sold those to Intel, it brought intel deep into the 64 bit server market...I didn't think I'd see those end up in a game console. Those chips are usually in heavy duty workstations or high end servers.
Wait, where did you get that from? The only time I saw "Alpha" mentioned in the article were when they were referring to the hardware and how far along it was from the final copy. IBM is doing the CPU, and AFAIK, it is a "clean-sheet design." Rumors are that it is somewhat similar to the PU(s) in Cell, although IBM customized each one to fit their needs. Maybe I missed something though since I am a little unfamiliar with server processors, as well as more detailed info on the Xbox 360's CPU itself (at least, compared to what I try to know about Cell).
This is supposed to be what Microsoft said about the console during GDC: I don't really have the time to dissect some of the things mentioned right now though. I'll see if I can do that later on. Stupid school work.
That says it's only for top executives. Sounds like the official public revealing will still be at E3.
All the ideas sound interesting, but as the casualist of casual gamers (if I find a game I like I'll play regularly for a bit, but I haven't played any console for 1 month plus), to me it still will come down to graphics and game play. Which I guess means how will the developers be able to take advantage of these offerings. And I still don't see how this seperates Microsoft from Sony. I figured that sooner rather than later we would be seeing more obvious integrations in the Xbox that supported other Microsoft products and vice-versa, but doesn't seem like it that much. Also, doesn't it seem like these consoles are doing what stuff like video-phone and net meeting never did. I mean, with what Microsoft is doing, and with their suite of Microsoft Office products, if they do have good video-chat, I see no reason why this couldn't lead to a more utilized system to do work at home while chatting with a colleague and looking through a PowerPoint presentation, etc.
Nintendo's new rig has almost the same Processors and Graphics Processor. The reported name for the new Xbox is the Revolution. The reported name for the new nintendo box is the 360 (or did I get those backwards?). A 360 could be considered a Revolution. Chomp on that.
The thing is with LD is that it won't be around much longer, at least in-continent. VOiP is taking care of that. I can call anywhere in the US or Canada for free from my Vonage line.
I have been using software on my PC to talk to my family in Saudi Arabia for free for years. SKYPE is the software I am using right now, it is damn good.
You got this mixed up from what I can understand. Xbox 360 is what they may call Microsoft's new console, codenamed Xenon. AFAIK, Nintendo hasn't really given too many clues on their console except the codename "Revolution." And I definitly wouldn't say they had the same processor and graphics processor, especially if Nintendo does wish to bring on a Revolution. They both have contracts with IBM and ATI, but they both have different wants. I don't know too much about the Rev's CPU, other than it seems to be PowerPC bases IIRC, from IBM, and probably multicore. Their GPU is being developed by the team that I believe worked on the GC's GPU. Another group within ATI is working/worked on Microsoft's GPU. Of course, maybe those rumors about Microsoft and Nintendo merging are correct, in which case you could be right in a way.
I still don't see the Xbox Live stuff as all that great. I thought maybe I was just being a little bias (which I probably was/am), but it seems as though others thought this news was pretty boring and not really great. As JayZ750, that stuff is all good, but there is a whole lot of other stuff that matters more when it comes to what makes a console great. Kevin Pereira from G4 was there, along with a few others on the Internet, and they all mentioned that the news was pretty boring, with the best part being the free HDTV part. So far, I don't like the idea of the mini-transaction, or at least how they seem to be putting forth the idea. There was a similar method of this process that I thought could have made things interesting, but the way Microsoft seems to be pushing this makes it sound like a good way for developers to earn an easy buck. I could see Halo 3 coming out pretty early, while looking and playing great. But it costs $60, and has only 3 maps or so, along with only 3 different weapons. You'd have to spend an additional $10-$15 just to get what Halo 3 should have been. BTW, this was just an example. Bungie seems like good developers and probably wouldn't do that, but others could possibly do that. Another funny thing in that speech was the comment about "a well-balanced system that will deliver more than a teraflop of targeted computing performance." I know Microsoft is good at marketing, but I really want to see how the got this number. The CPU performance has already been more or less determined, maxing out around maybe 90 gigaflops. That would seem to indicate that the GPU would have to put up more than 900 gigaflops, which is WAY more than anything can do today. The only other possibility would be the addition of a physics processor, which seems to be a big topic at GDC. Either way, it seems as though the teraflop comment was just for marketing or something, because it certainly doesn't seem possible. The PS3, which should have a massive amount of flops, would be doing good to get to half a teraflop in total power. So if there was any way that Xbox 360 has 1 teraflop, then I would imagine the PS3 would have like 2 teraflops, minimum. BTW, if you want to hear the speech that Microsoft gave, here's a link to download the audio: (I haven't had a chance to listen to it all yet, just seen summaries of it). http://www.major-nelson.com/blogcast/GDCKeynotemp3.mp3 Here's some pic of the Xbox UI that they keep talking about: You can download higher resolution versions of these pics here: http://www.xbox.com/media/system/gdc05/downloads/gdc05-highres.zip Since this seems to be including a lot of info mentioned at GDC, I'll probably go ahead and treat this as a GDC thread as well. One thing mentioned in the audio above was a little jab at Sony from Microsoft. Allard basically says that some people may take the route of just hardware. These people try to design custom hardware in order to win "science fairs" and "woo electrical engineers," possibly even giving a fancy name for this hardware. So what if it was difficult to program for, it's cool. The problem would be that this wasn't designed with devs in mind and that it would take at least a year before anything worth playing comes out, and "that's a crime. That's a crime." Of course, we all know who he is talking about. Ironically, it seems as though Sony made an effort to mention how hard they worked to make Cell not as hard on developers as some may think. Here's a link to an article about it: http://news.com.com/PlayStation+3+to+be+easy+on+developers,+Sony+vows/2100-1043_3-5606515.html Basically, Sony is doing everything they can to make it easier on devs. A variation of OpenGL will be used, instead of some proprietary Sony API. CG, a language by Nvidia, will also be used by Cell. For programmers, they can take advantage of the processors by using C or C++ tools, instead of some assembly level programming used currently in the PS2. They also are working with COLLADA, which is composed of members from Sony, Nvidia, and a other major leaders in development tools. So while Cell is complex, Sony seems to be doing a lot to combat Microsoft's XNA. It sure does help to have Nvidia on board. Also worth mentioning from that article was the mentioning of 8 synergistic processing elements. For those that don't know, Cell is very scalable, able to power something like a TV or mobile device, to being able to work on complex calculations in heavy-duty workstations. This can be done by adding or subtracting these processors. When Cell was unveiled a little while back, the Cell they showed off had 8 SPE's (with a PPC core to make 9 total, making up a 1:8 configuration for PPC core to SPE's). While the specs of this type of Cell were known, the specs of the Cell within the PS3 wasn't. Rumors have put the configuration of the PS3 having as small as a 1:4 configuration, to a 1:8 configuration seen in the Cell conference, to a 4:32 configuration as hinted at in some old patents, to even a crazy 9:72 configuration mentioned in some article. Obviously, this article seems to hint at a 1:8 configuration, which should give us an idea of approximately how powerful the PS3 Cell should be (maybe around 256-300 GFLOPS depending on clockspeed). It sure is fun to speculate. Finally, the last thing that I will mention as of tonight is that Microsoft announced that they will be using the Unreal Engine 3.0 in their games. Whether this means their developers will use it, or can use it isn't quite know since it was a little unclear. I'm not sure how willing Bungie and Rare would be to go with some engine they didn't develop, not to mention how well the engine will work in a game like Forza. Link Boy, I'm tired, and we still got the rest of the week to go, not to mention I still left out some things.
