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XGameStation Creator Quizzed on DIY Console

Posted by simoniker on from the andre-the-giant-of-hackable-consoles dept.

Jakob writes: "Boomtown.net has posted an interview with Andre LaMothe, the creator of the forthcoming XGameStation DIY-styled console. We discuss subjects like the number of consoles he expects to sell, why he created the console, his thoughts about hardware add-ons, and much more." We mentioned the intriguing-looking XGameStation a few days back.

5 of 13 comments (clear)

  1. Hmmm... That name... by QueenNina · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...it reminds me of something.... Now I remember! Heh. And off we go.

  2. Pretty weird interview... by Malor · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Strange interview. Usually, the idea is to ask leading questions and let your subject expound. This one, um, isn't liek that. The author expounds at length about something he's interested in, and the developer of the game station says something along the line of "I agree", and then the 'interviewer' is off and running again. It's really an editorial in disguise.

    Still interesting. I may buy one of these.

    1. Re:Pretty weird interview... by Kris_J · · Score: 2, Funny

      That's known as the Morning Show Interview Technique. If you want to come back you agree with the host. If you want security to escort you to your car, you disagree with the host.

  3. targeting the proto-geek market? by digitalmuse · · Score: 3, Insightful

    hmm, sounds like an interesting challenge; marketing a high-end homebrew platform for the geek gamer market...
    From the marketing's slant, they're looking to build a lot of support for older console architectures (6250), they also mention the pheasability of emulators, and linux as well! (::insert 8-bit audio of penguins clapping::)
    With the BASIC and C support, I can imagine a lot of people who are interested in programing for console hardware will want to sink their teeth into it.
    Maybe the demo-scene will adore it and shower it with neat eye-candy.
    Maybe the coders will make us a whole slew of new games.
    Maybe the coders will make us a whole slew of FF-clones.
    Maybe the lawyers will feast on the corpses.
    Maybe I'll actually plunk down my own ~$99 and see if it would be a fun toy. It might even be better than watching pr0n! (j/k)

    --
    "If I wanted your input on my pet project, I'd stick my hand up your ass and use you like a sock-puppet." - Muse
  4. Re: about as powerful as an snes by digitalmuse · · Score: 2, Informative
    hmm, I'd have to argue with you there... in the FAQ, they present it as:
    Q: What can the XGameStation hardware do? How powerful is it?
    A: The processing power of the XGameStation is approximately 10x that of the Super Nintendo (SNES), and it's graphical capabilities are approximately 50-200% more advanced than the SNES. Moreover, the graphics subsystem was specifically designed to draw upon the best parts of the Atari 800, Apple II, Super Nintendo, and Commodore 64, the systems that drove the computer and video game revolutions. Check out the full specs here.

    So I think it's safe to say that the XGameStation will at least be on level ground with the venerable SNES [tech specs here], and will most likely surpass it. However I don't know if it will be able to match the SNES games that actually used secondary processors (SuperFX, SA1, C4, audio DSPs...) in the game carts themselves (Starfox and several Capcom titles to name a few.
    But yeah... I still want one.
    --
    "If I wanted your input on my pet project, I'd stick my hand up your ass and use you like a sock-puppet." - Muse