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Leaked X-Box 2 Specs Include PPC CPU
Jutebox150 writes "According to the MercuryNews.com, the specifications for Microsoft's successor to the Xbox were revealed. The specs for the next Xbox, at least according to this report, are as follows: Three IBM-designed 64-bit microprocessors, the same chips now used in Apple Computer's high-end G5 PowerMac. This will give the new Xbox 'more computing power than most personal computers.' A graphics chip designed by ATI Technologies that will clock in with speeds faster than the upcoming R400. But what I found most surprising is there are no talks about an internal hard drive, rather suggesting that the next Xbox will instead rely on flash memory, and, depending on hardware cost, backwards compatibility could be out of the question."
I'm thrilled over the potential processing power of the new Xbox. I love my Xbox and more Xbox goodness is headed our way.
I have mixed feelings about backwards compatibility. While being able to play current games on the next Xbox would be nice; too often, hardware/software is seriously crippled because of backwards compatibility. I would dare say that a lot of the long overdue innovation in Microsoft's Windows line was due to being handcuffed with compatibility issues. It may be that someone or Microsoft will release an emulator for the old games as well after the next Xbox is released. That is a possibility.
I totally don't understand not putting a hard drive in the system. That is a monster step backwards. What are they thinking? I enjoy being able to download and play new levels for current games, that would probably not be possible without a hard drive.
The one thing I'm most concerned about and I don't hear anything about yet, is, are they going to allow a keyboard and a mouse on the next Xbox? That needs to get done. Sony allows it on the PS2. The Xbox is never going to be strong in the MMO arena without allowing a keyboard and a mouse. First-person-shooters would be much more enjoyable with a keyboard and a mouse too.
which is the better financial model?
every day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
Microsoft doesn't belong in the gaming market, they need to get thier OS woes in order befre they try to pummel another market. This division is bleeding cash and no other company would have been able to stomp in like they have. I personally want xbox2 to fail. If gaming comes down to SONY and M$ as my only choices, I'm out.
Support Nintendo, or pay for it later with generic fps and miltiary strat out the arse.
Ubuntu- Linux for human beings.
I wonder if M$ will port an embedded Virtual PC to the new system to ensure backwards compatibilty. Three "G5's" should be able to achieve similar if not better performance than the current xbox 800 mHz? x86.
Rumor has it Virtual PC 7 might have Direct 3D capabilities with Quake3 being playable on the 2Ghz G5 via the emulator.
are going to be named "Agnes", "Denise" and "Paula". Really! It's true!
And "XBox Next"?
Wonder if the Apple legal eagles are licking their chops over that choice in name.
---anactofgod---
---anactofgod---
"Equal opportunity swindling - *that* is the true test of a sustainable democracy."
Can somebody say Gamecube?
Or MS is getting ready to take over the PPC-based OS market as well. Once a version of XP Embedded is written for the PPC, how hard would it be to port a full version over? This may be good for IBM, but it's yet to be seen whether Apple will find anything to celebrate over.
Then again, Mac fanatics are crazier then most Mujahideen soldiers. Just look at the response to someone ripping out the guts of a dual G5 and replacing it with an AMD. MS would have to step very carefully in this arena...
MMORPG without a keyboard is a dreadful experience. A keyboard for X-Box2 (Y-Box?) could bring the MMORPG experience into the living room.
Information wants to be anthropomorphized.
Does this mean that Macophiles can no longer bemoan the vileness of "Wintel" if M$ is using the same processor in one of their flagship products that Apple does.
Will this also make it easier to port XBox titles to the Mac? Will this make the Mac a more viable gaming platform?
LK
"Hi. This is my friend, Jack Shit, and you don't know him." - Lord Kano
As much as everyone is griping about backwards compatability, do you really need it? I thought it was a cool feature when buying the ps2 over 3 years ago but I never used it. I didn't have any urge to play ps1 games after playing a few ps2 titles and if I wanted to play ps1 games, I could always hook up my ps1. Its not like your going to the sell the system on eBay and make any money. Same goes for the xbox by the time the xbox 2 comes out. I would prefer MS make something new rather than be limited by a backwards compatability requirement. Look what backwards compatability did for windows :)
I believe that they want to remove HDs from peoples homes, and have everyone store their data on MS servers.
You'll pay a monthly fee to use your account and get terminal access to the approved software suite and library of games. Migrating to another platform will become well-nigh impossible.
And if you're a small-time developer? There's always telemarketing....
-1 Uncomfortable Truth
That's a stab in the back as far as I'm concerned. Yes, I have an X-box, and I can play the Xbox games on it.
But, as a part-time salesdroid, one of the larger selling points of the PS2, at least as far as "Parents buying for Kids" is concerned, is that they can just plug in the PS2 where the PS1 is, the OLD games still play on it, and the new games will as well.
To me, that was one of the wisest decisions of Sony, as well as keeping the -same- form factor of their interconnects. Nintendo was close, but had the N64 been able to play the NES/SNES games out of the box? There would have been no contest in that segment of the console wars.
No HD? Fine, I can deal with that. I'll get a mem card. I have one for my OTHER consoles, I can do that with the Xbox2. But -please- don't make me have to purchase an additional kit just to play DVD's... my PS2 doesn't need it, why should the Xbox?
Also, ditch the "Xbox Only" games. FINE, so your competitors can get a shot at them. If your hardware is -superior- are you really worried? These days, since I now own pretty much all of the 'current' consoles, if I'm getting a game, I go for the one that looks, and 'feels' the best. I'm not a platform zealot.
And take a lesson from the Nintendo Book Of Things To Not Do. (That they seem to be good at writing, but never reading from.) Don't make your controller look like a Klingon Hand-to-Hand weapon. Don't add more buttons Just Because You Can.
And while you're at it, sure, your games are targetted at "Mature Gamers"... from my experience as a salesdroid, that's where you're losing to all the other systems. Other than "Barbie rides a horse again" game for girls, and the occasional sports game or what have you, 90% of your titles, a parent isn't going to purchase, even for a teen, because its Questionable. I'm not saying, take the Nintendo Route Of Least Offensiveness And Family Entertainment. Just take some of your Huge Wad Of Cash, and make a few Games Parents Will Buy For Their Kids. You don't know how many copies of Mario Party / Mario Cart I've sold to parent's who bought it because "Well, its a Mario game..."
(Oh, like Microsoft will read my slashdot post and listen to me.)
Apples current G5 rocks something like 7-9 fans depending on your config. For some reason, I just don't see a console with 18 to 27 fans in Microsoft's future. Certainly, I do believe XBOX Next will be based on an IBM PPC, but I'd imagine something a little more power and cooling efficient.
As for the hard drive; it will definitelyi be there or at the least, be bundled with the Live pack. The HD is absolutely necessary for Xbox Live, which as far as console online gaming goes, has been very successfull.
As for requiring windows -- hey, I'm not saying this is how it ought to be. I'm saying that's how it's likely to be. You think MS gives a shit that you want to run OSX? They don't. They're willing to give up that whopping 5% marketshare -- probably significantly less, since XB owners are likely to be gamers, and gamers are less likely to own macs due to a lack of games and the expense (gamer demographics presumably skew younger).
Look, I like apple, I love linux, I love having a hard drive on my modded xbox. None of those things have anything to do with what makes strategic business sense for XBox2. Pull your head out of the sand.
Seeing as how MS wants to keep the cost down, the XBox2 certainly uses 3 IBM "Cell" cores, not G5 chips. G5 chips are affordable, Cell is downright cheap.
This is the same core that the PS3 uses, and it is going to use it for the same reasons. Low cost, high performance.
3 G5 cores would take up a lot of space die space, certainly a whole chip. 3 Cell cores would still leave space for plenty of other things on the same chip, perhaps even the graphics accelerator.
According to the Microsoft developer specs, you aren't allowed to talk about "Data," "CPUs," or anything else in your games that might suggest the XBox was a PC (except for games like Star Trek where it would be diagetic). We had a game bounce from Microsoft because we "saved data." Having a first party keyboard and mouse would run counter to that mantra.
It's difficult to justify buying a big box if you realize that it is actually a slightly smaller box than you already have.
The ______ Agenda
If the Xbox Next is not backwards compatible, it will be destroyed by the PS3.
First, on the day of release the PS3 will be able to play all PS2, PS1, and the new PS3 games. Thus, it will have several times more available games than the Xbox Next.
Second, people do not want to have multiple consoles in their living room, especially ones the size of the current Xbox. Sure, some people might have a PS2 and an Xbox, but when the Xbox Next and the PS3 are released, the choice will be easy. If you choose the PS3 you'll still only need two consoles. But if you choose the Xbox Next, you'll need three.
Third, people don't like being screwed. When people invest in games and hardware, they like knowing that they don't have to throw them away every few years. Sony respects that and allows gamers to keep their investments.
If someone says he and his monkey have nothing to hide, they almost certainly do.
Have you ever seen VirtualPC run on a Mac? I've seen instances where VPC is able to emulate code pretty close to the x86 equivalent speed. Now if we're talking about a multi-way PPC, (tri? dual?) 970 class processor, even if you penalize one of the 1GHz processors 50%, it should be able to handle the 700MHz P3 that's in the XBox.
It depends a lot on what's being done, but a very rough rule of thumb is that it requires about three PowerPC cycles for Virtual PC to emulate one x86 cycle. That would make a 1GHz 970 very roughly equal to a 300Mhz x86 chip. Keep in mind that this is not a process that can be parallelized easily, and that Microsoft is constrained to handle the worst-case scenerio, not just the average case, since games are (soft) real-time. Based on this, unless this PPC chip being shipped is notably faster than is being estimated, I strongly doubt that Microsoft will be capable of shipping an X-Box 1 x86 emulator for the XB2.
My guess as to why Microsoft wants to use a PPC chip has more to do with piracy prevention. Most potential pirates and emulator users are using an x86. It's impossible to emulate a PowerPC at any kind of a sane speed on an x86 processor. Thus, all those Windows-using folks have neatly been eliminated as potential pirates -- if they want an XB2 game, they have to buy it, not emulate the system.
May we never see th
So, MS nick Nintendo developers and now they're nicking hardware technologies aswell! GameCube has been using PowerPC processors and ATI graphics for ages!
Is there any way these reports could be confirmed ?
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I'm skeptical because
(1) A three-way machine is going to be extremely expensive to build. Not ideal for a mass-market console.
(2) Microsoft supported Windows NT4.0 on PPC, but I don't think they went beyond that. I remember them saying at the time that future OSs would be ported internally beyond x86, just to ensure the OS retained it's portability, but that such things would not be actively maintained
(3) The existing base of software and APIs already available for Windows/x86 would have to be ported to the new OS and the new architecture.
(4) I've never heard of three-way SMP. Two way or four way, yes. Three way is a bit odd.
I wonder what will be there first, a 64 bit Windows OS for the Opteron / Athlon 64 (and FX, for completeness sake), or a 64 bit Windows OS for the XBox deux? Seems to me that Microsoft is protecting Intels intrests with one -er- foot and kicking them in the parts with another.
Or are they just trying to presurise Intel with this? It would not be the first time that Microsoft would say "thank you but goodbye" to a company that was sure they were on the same side. IBM is a very dangerous company to ditch though.