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Michael Abrash On The Xbox
Jacek Fedorynski writes: "There's an interview with Michael Abrash on Daily Radar. Michael is an ex-id Software programmer now at Microsoft working on the Xbox, which is the subject of the interview." Covers a lot of stuff including NVidia, HDTV, Lens Flares, and how the X-Box might run quake.
I was going to mod you up as interesting, but I thought I'd reply instead :) sorry
A big difference between an XBox and a PC in a game console style molded plastic shell is the software. When writing a game for the XBox you only have to write for one computer, and more importantly, optimize for one computer. XBox games can count on the XBox having a specific chipset, they can undercut DX8 and talk to it direct if they want (actually I don't know if it's worth/possible to undercut DX8, but it might be). Even if everthing must be done through DX8 on an XBox it'll still smoke a PC game running on the same hardware because DX8 will have 101 features bolted onto it to take advantage of the XBox hardware - features that you just can't count on a bog standard PC having, and hense features you can't make integral to your PC game engine.
I think that's the difference, developing games on a PC is a nightmare. The X-Box will give all the benifits of the PC platform while releaving some of the nightmare.
I for one am glad to hear that Microsoft has taken my advice in only releasing wholesome Christian games for the "x" box. I will be buying an x box for Bob IV this Christmas, along with the hit games "Bible Blaster" "The Road to Jericho" "Spot the Homosexual" and "Chapter and Verse". Finally there is an electronic game console that we can be proud to accept into our family. Thank you, Microsoft.
Sincerely,
Bob Jones III