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Microsoft Confirms Work Begun on Next Xbox
Via 1up, an interview with Chris Lewis, head of Xbox Development in Europe. Along with some interesting discussion of X06 and aiming games at European markets, Lewis confirms what most people could reasonably expect: Microsoft is already hard at work on the next Xbox system. From the 1up article: "'You can't sit back on your laurels in this business - the consumer won't let you, the developers certainly won't let us. So that's happening right now,' ... In order to remain competitive, hardware manufacturers have to start thinking about the next cycle the moment work finishes on the current one. Ideas for the following generation were likely generated during the development of Xbox 360, and you can surely bet the same situations cropped up in the R&D rooms of Sony and Nintendo while working on PlayStation 3 and Wii."
The XBox 360 is ALREADY outdated? :P
I mean really, I don't want to buy a console that I know is just going to be replaced so soon.
C'mon now, the new console is 4 to 6 years off at least. Technology gets better and cheaper all the time. Uncross your eyes and get some perspective.
Fear is the mind killer.
Not to mention, it's going to take Microsoft a good long time to finish designing their next XBox. Look at how down-to-the-wire things got with the 360, and look at how much Sony are struggling to get the PS3 out in a timely manner. They certainly wouldn't want to end up in that mess twice.
That'll show the people who said MS was only getting into the console business to milk people on the hardware treadmill!
This guy's the limit!
No no no, it was only the "360" so that they could have that crucial number "3" to compete with PlayStation's.
Next generation gaming, welcome the "XBox 420" no next-gen console will be more fully-loaded. They've got real high hopes.
Even better news: In reponse to the backlash on DRM, the XBox 420 will support ripping.
"By the time they had diminished from 50 to 8, the other dwarves began to suspect 'Hungry.'" -Gary Larson
The problem is that it isn't so obvious. I saw a blurb earlier today (not sure if it was dig or dot) that said some PS3 devs have already hit the current 25GB limit of bluray discs. 25GB is a lot to be downloading today, and tomorrow's games will be even heavier. In smaller countries, roll-out of newer networking technologies can happen quickly, but that's not so in the US, the major target market. 25GB will still be a painful download for most of the target market in 4-6 years and you can safely assume that the size of games will not be 25GB by then. Optical will still be here unless they can come up with another removable storage that can compete with it in terms of price.
When I tell an object to delete this, am I killing it or telling it to kill me?
Hardware HDR. Just give us a really broad palette to work with, and handle the HDR on-chip.
Profile login on a Sim card in the controller. The Xbox 1 had the right idea, but they milked the memory card price too much. Register your controller on the network by popping in a tiny / cheap sim card.
Network Storage. My web host offers 400 GB of storage and a ridiculous amount of bandwidth for not much more than a Live Gold account. Drop the hassle of memory cards, jump to Sim cards, and store the basic game info remotely.
Pad-based controller recharging.
Game Modding and user-created content. I don't know how this would happen, but it needs to happen.
Physics co-processor. There is enough particles bouncing these days that we should have some special purpose iron to help with the load.
The ______ Agenda
Sega must have done the same when they were finishing the Dreamcast. I wonder at what stage the abandoned the plan and what they were planning to release?
"all through my house i set up traps, it seems like the rats have a map, so now i feed the rats crack" - Donald D
They are working with SUN to develop a portable XBOX to compete with PSP. If you look a few stories earlier you can find the prototype, codenamed "Blackbox".
"Don't you know you're going to shock the monkey?"- Peter Gabriel
according to TFA the 360 wont be replaced until sometime after 2010, so NO not 3 years. more like 5 or 6
I think the thing people don't realize is that the Xbox 360 didn't come early... the Xbox 1 came late.. the 360 was pretty much right on time. The Dreamcast kicked off the last gen in 1999 and The Xbox wasn't released until more then 3 years later, Sony had planned to release the following spring but was delayed, Nintendo almost always launches late (so they can have competitive tech at a lower price). The fact that Sony is launching the same time as Nintendo shows that they're late in this genreation. The fact that MS launched the same time as Nintendo last time showed that they were late to the last generation.
Collector's Edition
Of course they're working on a new system. Inevitably during any project you have to draw a line and say "This is as far as we go." Anything beyond that goes into the next iteration. Video game systems are part of a cycle. If you want to stay in the game you always have to be looking at least 5 years down the road.
-- Flaw