ATI Wins Bid For Next Xbox

TypoNAM writes "CNET News is reporting that graphics chip underdog ATI Technologies has signed a contract with Microsoft to produce components for future versions of the Xbox game console, beating out market leader Nvidia." According to the article, "The announcement ends months of speculation over whether Nvidia, the leading maker of graphics processors for PCs, would renew its troubled partnership with Microsoft on the Xbox."

Comments

Gotta love marketing jargon

[mao che minh]

From the article: "We selected ATI after reviewing the top graphics technologies in development and determining that ATI's technical vision fits perfectly with the future direction of Xbox," Robbie Bach, senior vice president of Microsoft's home and entertainment division, said in a statement..... "Nvidia has really given a lot of signals...that they're trying to distance themselves from Xbox2,"

This roughly equates to: "We choose ATI because they begged more and offerred to do it for less. I don't want to burn any bridges with Nvidia, so let's just say something about vision, or strategy, or something. Besides, Nvidia wanted more money. Right, well, time to crush some little entertainment company now, recycle their goods, and call it innovation!" in normal, human language.

Re:Gotta love marketing jargon

[sharkey]

I think the whole experience left Nvidia with a bad taste in their mouth.

And a burning sensation in the other end?

I mean, I like ATI...

[sweeney37]

I'm thinking Microsoft made a mistake, with NVidia they could of renamed the game executables to 3DMark03.exe and gotten just that much more power!

Mike

Re:No backwards compatibility?

[mao che minh]

Or it's possible that Billy and Steve-O would just walk over to Nvidia's CEO and beat him to death with their wallets while their flesh eating lawyers cleaned up any evidence.

What day of the week is it?

[IWantMoreSpamPlease]

I'm so confused...

SCO - Eternally bad
Microsoft - Very Bad
IBM - Good? Bad? They are the guys with the guns.
RedHat - Good
Nvidia - Bad, or good? I don't know this week.
ATI - Good or bad now they partner with MS?

Help!

This sucks

[blackmonday]

Now its gonna be a real pain in the ass to configure video drivers once I put Linux on my Xbox2.

New Name

[tds67]

ATI said it entered a technology agreement with Microsoft to develop "custom, leading-edge graphics technologies" for the console.

Microsoft also announced that this will be a Special Edition XBox, or SEXBox for short. So ATI will actually enter into and penetrate the SEXBox market.

Re:Troubled partnership

[Jippy_]

If you RTFA

But I like having monkies like you doing my bidding for me!

Now fetch me a drink, whelp! :P

Thanks.

Not necessarily

[phorm]

It depends on how closely the games tied to the GPU. My games work equally well on an ATI or NVidia card in windows, no reason the same shouldn't apply on a console. Now, it could be that they have to do a little modification to make it run right, or that not all old games will be quite exactly same as X-box #1, but ah well.

That being said, I wonder how many people here would go for an X-box anyhow? The current game linup isn't great anyhow, much better stuff on other consoles, though perhaps this will change for X-2.

Might be a good slashdot poll:

Preferred console:
a) Gamecube
b) Playstation 2
c) X-box
d) X-box (but I run linux)
e) Atari 2500 rules!

And this just in...

[Anita Coney]

Seattle WA: Microsoft, with the ink barely dry on its chip deal with ATI, turned around and sued ATI in an attempt to get ATI to lower its chip prices.

A Microsoft spokesperson was quoted as saying, "We're losing about 100 dollars on each Xbox we sell. We feel that ATI should bear the burden of at least some of these tremendous loses. At least until we steal their technology and get our own chip plant up to speed."

Re:hmm

[jokell82]

Unless, of course, the devil is Microsoft and you can get lots of money from said contract. :)

A chart to help you

[Lord_Slepnir]

Day of Week: M T W T F S Su
SCO E E E E E E E
Microsoft E E G E E E E
IBM G G E G G E G
RedHat G G G G G G G
NVidia G E G E G E G
ATI E G E G E G E

Re:A chart to help you

[guacamolefoo]

Shouldn't it be more like a win/loss chart for relative evil/good?(1) (I'm sure that my chart is internally inconsistent somewhere, so bugger off). Read the company name at the left to see whether it is more or less evil than the companies at the top.

---------Opposing company
Company: MSFT RHAT NVID IBM ATI SCO
----MSFT--X----E----E----E----E----G
----RHA T--G----X----G----G----G----G
----NVID--G----E--- -X----E----G----G
----IBM---G----E----G----X----G ----G
----ATI---G----E----E----E----X----G
----S CO---E----E----E----E----E----EE

Legend:
X = competing vs. self
G = "Good"
E = "Evil"
EE = "Evil^2"

Alternatively, a BINGO-style chart might be good for /. Bingo:

A random set of items could be generated on the user page containing a matrix of company names and "good" or "evil" acts (decided based on reported stories and a "good" or "evil" mod point system).

Example card:

MS-G NV-E NV-G RH-E SC-E
CS-E AT-G DB-G NV-G IB-G
IB-E MB-G LT-E RM-E SC-G
RM-G RH-G CS-G AT-B LT-G
NV-G BG-G RM-G vi-E SC-G

MS = Microsoft
NV = nVidia
AT = ATI
IB = IBM
CS = Cisco
RH = Red Hat
DB = Debian
RM = RMS
LT = Linus Torvalds
BG = Bill Gates
MB = Steve Ballmer (2)
vi = vi


First person to get five in a row shouts "BINGO!" and wins something.

GF.
(1) Admittedly, this is highly derivative of your most excellent and funny post, but here goes...
(2) MB = Monkey Boy

K. Y. Ho - Coolest Name Ever

[syntap]

"This agreement cements ATI's position as the prime graphics supplier for the future of the games industry," ATI CEO K. Y. Ho said in a statement.

I like this new graphics chip already.

X BOX 2 = ?

[Razor Blades are Not]

Surely the sequal to the XBOX is the "Y-Box?" .

Huh?

[zanderredux]

There will be an Xbox2?

Re:Size?

[Anonymous Coward]

If you had anything HUGE you'd know how fun it is to lug that massive stature.