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Can Indrema Beat Microsoft To the Punch?
Console gaming is a harshly competitive field, though, with Sony, Nintendo, and Sega (soon to be joined by Microsoft) clawing for reputation, marketshare and all-important game sales. Don't forget that three major players (Sega, Nintendo, Sony) can make a claim that neither Microsoft or Indrema can: their consoles exist, sell, and make people happy. A Playstation in the hand offers utility that "upcoming" devices can't match.
Still, it looks like the so-called X-Box from Microsoft is the machine Indrema's box would be running against, assuming that both of them actually reach the market. Similar specs and expansion capabilities mean that either could be enough computer for people interested primarily in games and getting online, who are looking for no more than a single no-hassle combination of these. That's why the Indrema machine isn't being sold as a gaming device, but rather as a Web Console, with copious references to "the future of TV."
The game-box as everything-box market has been promised for years, and keeps turning out to be either unsatisfying and limited (WebTV), or Yet Another Gaming Machine, despite promises to the contrary. Remember the ColecoVision ADAM? The real question seems to be whether a Linux-based console from an unknown company can survive in the gaming marketplace; after that we can worry about whether it will replace recipe books in the kitchen and the cable box in the living room. After all, that "everthing console" isn't technically impossible; it's just always fizzled as PCs have surpassed the jack-of-all-trades game machines in usefulness, if not in sizzle.
Now, for a minute, forget technical brilliance, forget flexibility, forget how cool it would be to run Linux on your bedside table. Think money, instead.
Microsoft's R&D budget is bigger than the GNP of many nations in the world. The Men In Redmond have enough marketing money to buy Superbowl advertising without batting an eye. You can bet when the X-Box launches, it will have been preceded by a canny stream of attention-building hype, that it will look sexy, and that it will sell at a carefully chosen price aimed at moving it as fast as they can be cranked out and still maximize profits. Likewise, Sega, Sony and Nintendo all have plenty of market savvy and established infrastructure, right down to magazines, distribution networks and strategically-released hints and easter eggs. Not only that, but they each have a hefty stable of games, including Hollywood-names and weird-but-true fandom games like Pokemon, as well legions of rabid fans to play them and design houses to keep 'em coming. It would take a hefty treasure chest (or a lot of faith) for a newcomer in the game market to get the kind of pop-culture deal that sells games based on Star Wars, The X-Files or even Barbie.
Now think money again, but in a different way. An open-source OS may save Indrema a few dollars per box in making the console, but since the guts of the machine they describe include 100Mb ethernet and loads of other ports, a 600MHz processor, and an optional hard drive, its price will probably be in line with that of the X-Box. That is to say, probably overlapping the price range and capabilities of low-end PCs, and without the same economies of scale that Microsoft will likely generate. Even so, since gaming consoles have traditionally been loss-leaders to sell high-margin games, will an open-OS machine be used to play primarily commercial, proprietary games?
If that's the case, then Indrema will have to scramble to provide enough hot-selling games to subsidize console sales. The Sony Playstation 2, already out in Japan and due in the US next fall, boasts more than 160 registered developers worldwide. And since it plays the first generation Playstation games as well, players can choose from more than 3,000 games. By contrast, the leap from NES to Nintendo 64 may have been too great for generational compatibility to have played much of a role, something that Sony has obviously learned from. Microsoft, meanwhile, may not have as large a signed-on group, but carries enough clout (and waves enough cash) in the PC gaming industry to ensure at least a handful of blockbuster games early on. Against that kind of competition, any new entrant is playing catch-up ball.
In fact, there's little indication of what games the Indrema system would play. The box is listed as including Quake 3 Arena / Unreal Tournament, but the Indrema site lists no other game possibilities. And since it touts a "special 'DV Linux' distribution," it's unclear which games will run out-of-box. The X-box is planned to run only games written specifically for it; avoiding that fate seems tricky, since games on every platform except those written for a particular console have a way of sneakily requiring more or different resources than you've got in the box. And if the Indrema machine should have complex enough of an interface to allow users to easily modify directories, install packages and otherwise tweak the contents of that optional hard drive, would it be able to retain the ease of use the console market thrives on?
On the other hand, perhaps packaged games aren't the point at all. Every major player in the console industry is selling their systems' networkability, whether by dialup modem or broadband. Microsoft's interest in WebTV -- and the pay-per-month online games now available -- may be a taste of where the console makers would really like their revenue to come from: a captive audience willing to pay not only for games or other applications, but for access to them. Repeat business and low margins have sold billions of hamburgers, after all. It's plausible that Indrema will offer servers featuring games exclusive to monthly subscribers, or on a per-game basis.
Indrema's nearly breathless Web site hints at a Winter 2000 release: "expected to ship in time for Christmas." That's well before the X-Box is slated to ship, according to this ActiveNetwork comparison of the Sony Playstation 2 and the X-box. I hope they're right, because it seems like a head start might be the only hope for survival against the big-name establishment.
Its a sad but true fact that this set top will get nowhere. They don't seem to comprehend quite a few things, all of which will lead this to be unusable (compared to the PS2) as a game console. That fact will also hurt its sales as a set-top, because people can just buy the PS2 to get set-top capabilities PLUS awesome gaming.
1) Power, power power. The proc in this machine sounds something like an Athlon or PIII 600. That is ridiculously low powered compared to the 300 MHz emotion engine. You hear all those mac heads preaching MHz!=power. Well this is a case in point. The fp power of the Emotion Engine (herefoth refered to as the EE in amiga tradition) is much higher than a PIII. It is designed to do one thing well, 3D graphics calculations. It can be very parallel, and have a ton of hardware dedicated to just that task. There is no way anything below a 1.5 - 2GHz PIII will outperform it. Take a look at the special SH3 powering the Dreamcast. Remember the Top500 super computer list? Number 2 and 3 were measly 64 way SH based chips. Sure they might not be as hot as a 256 chip origin for general computing, but for their very specific task, they whoop. Thats they same family of chip thats in the dreamcast, and EE promises to be even better. Then take the GPU. Looks to be something like a GeForce. Might be nice, but remember, even in terms of clock speed the PS2 GPU outperforms it. (120MHz vs. 150 MHz) There are also a lot of optimizations in the architecture that the PS2 can make that the more general purpose PC arch can't. Then there is the 4 meg of EMBEDDED VRAM with a 150MHz bus and a ridiculous bus width (DDR eat your heart out.) I don't think I have to elaborate.
2) Selvteness. When will people learn that using the right tool for the right job is best. Why the hell did they decide to use Linux? Sure it is a great server or workstation OS, but is seriously too big for a gamestation. You can cut it down, but it even then it is still too big, and by the looks of the spec sheet, they seem to be using full blown Linux/X. This poses many problems.
A) Linux is too fat for a console. A console has no need of many things that are in the kernel that can't be taken out. There is no need for all the security and multi-userness inherent in UNIX, no need for console support, no need for any process management (or memory protection for that matter) no need for a VM, no need swap management, etc. Again, these could probably be coded out, but that would be an assload of work, and most Linux progs wouldn't work afterwords. The PS/2 OS will be simple. Some libraries for setting of graphics, OpenGL, etc, talking to the hardware, taking to devices, and a TCP/IP stack. Most of all, it gets our of your way real fast. Don't be surprised if many game developers forgo OpenGL or whatever and access hardware directly. They've been doing it for years and on a platform that stays as constant as a console, they can tweek to give a massive speed boost. The best example is this. One the same hardware, current N64 games whoop what was available at its introduction. What PCs can do that?
B) They're using X. (They say they use Mesa and DRI.) What kind of ridiculous interface is that? Am I to assume they'll write their own WM. Then who will re-write the apps to take advantage of it? Shoehorning a big UI into the wrong place has been seen before. Its called WindowsCE. And why the hell use DRI? What else is using the graphics hardware?
C) Wheres the RAM? Sure it has 64 meg, but after Linux/X plus the WM, only like 16 or less will be left. You're telling me the console is going to hit the SWAP?
3) They're way out of their league in terms of customer slickness. First, Linux isn't that slick to begin with. I'll give them the benifit of the doubt and assume they can make Linux/X as easy to use as the playstation. (No boot sequence, no logging in, no actually even starting the app. Want to play a CD? Stick it in the drive and re-boot. The CD player app comes up.) Are people actually going to SHUTDOWN their console? Linux is way too unstable and buggy for consoles. Sure 100 days without a crash may seem stable to PC users, but console users would be up in arms if their console crashed three times a year! More like once every three years is about right. (My N64 has crashed once in 5 years, and my PC hasn't crashed in the 3 years I've owned it.) Second, I can't see people accepting the fact that their kernel needs to be updated. No, sorry, no dice. And the hardrive. The guy who decided to put in a harddrive ought to be shot. I say this because console software is released as good as it will ever get. It has to be, it can never be patched. People aren't going to accept, "please wait... Downloading latest patches for Mario 64."
These people need to get a clue. This is a machine that everyone from age 6 to age 60 will be using. It can't be difficult, it can't be unstable (reletivly), it can't take energy to maintain. It has to be transparent to use, and be easy to use as your toaster. Literraly. Its nice to get Linux on yet another devices, but ask yourself people, how stupid of an idea is it?
A deep unwavering belief is a sure sign you're missing something...
I disagree - I was a console gamer before I became an Apple evangelist...before I fell in love with Linux (BeOS is next), and I can guarantee that the console gaming market is as fanatical about their different brands of consoles (for example the Nintento64) as most ./ers are about Linux. I don't think they are as visible about it because most of them don't run PCs and so are not connected to the net.
Most consolers are not going to go for this "all in one system with web access on tv". They're only really interested in games. This is what drives most consolers.
And contrary to what most people think, I think there is a general distrust of anything M$ in the console gamer eye as well as the semi-computer-literate public eye as well. Most people who have used M$ products know why they are notorious for problems...no-one is going to go out and buy a microsoft console box when there is something so much better and more established from Sega, Nintendo, or Sony. Nintendo users in particular are notorious for being fanatical about their systems.
Think about how prejudiced you are against M$ - then apply that to the console market. Most Nintendo users hate Sega and Sony just as much as we hate M$.....M$ releasing a box is not going to make any difference.
Digital Philosopher. Looking for work.
Nowhere does Indrema even refer to its machine as a games console; gaming is just one of many jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none "features". It's mentioned that it can play Quake and Unreal Tournament, but so can a PC. Neither of those games are exclusive, either, and exclusive games are what really determines a console's success (why would I want to buy Indrema Quake when I just play it on my Linux box?). Given that it's not even being pushed as a game console, the chances of this console getting support from any important third-party console developer (Konami, Capcom, Square, etc.) is just about nil.
Sorry to rain on the parade, but this isn't a game console, let alone a commercially viable one. An actual Linux-based console would be very interesting to see, but we're going to have to wait a while longer before it actually appears.
Green Monkey