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More on the MS "X-Box"
The Hulkster pointed us at an article at sharkyextreme that talks about microsoft's rumored X Box, their x86/WinCE gaming box designed to compete with the Playstation/Dreamcast home gaming console market. The most interesting tidbits are the rumors that will use a
.18 micron K6-2+ and possibly a GeForce 256. Its all speculation, but its still interesting.
I've been saying this for a while: Most actions of Microsoft can be analyzed under a "Chains For Freedom" Philosophy: Microsoft wants to make the general public as free as possible, as long as they're the ones to deliver the freedom.
That in mind, consider the values of the X-Box. Whereas most console makers tightly restrict development on their machines, game developers will likely be free to release whatever they like for the X-Box.
Expect, of course, an extremely quickloading and game-customized version of Windows to have a per unit cost on each Game DVD. Also expect this to be significantly cheaper than Sony or Sega mandates per unit.
Don't expect non-standard media. Microsoft, for all the embracing and extending it's accused of(justifiably), has an excellent hardware department. I've never, ever been more embarassed of Slashdotters as when I watched them rip apart the touch-mouse--this was an impressive technology that would have been worshipped had it come from Logitech and shipped with Linux drivers. Anyway, expect their department to build in an industry standard DVD-ROM, likely one that can play DVD-RAM disks so as to facilitate ease of use for system developers.
Developers become "free" from propietary startup hardware costs, and "shackled" by having to code to Microsoft standards. It's pretty interesting to watch.
Linux is the wildcard. While Sony is releasing Linux development code for PS2, Linux should actually *run* on this K6(!!!) based system. This, above all else, should excite the heck out of us. Here we have a cheap system that will very likely be in millions and millions of homes, have 10/100 Ethernet built in(oops, Sega!), significant processing power($20 says they put the SB Live audio chipset in it, btw), and will run Linux.
Beyond the fact that we will see developers using Linux as their game OS rather than the one-off Windows from MS, here's a console that one can actually pawn computational work on. It's a console free of almost any legal demands and enforcements of its creator.
It's an open platform, from Microsoft.
Recognizing that this is a cool thing gives us more credibility when we accuse MS of the kind of junk described in the Halloween papers.
Yours Truly,
Dan Kaminsky
DoxPara Research
http://www.doxpara.com
There are two ways this box could go... it could be a stanard Microsoft pre-announce that doesn't show for several years OR it could be a good box.
Either way I'm not sure if this is an area that MS want to get into - for a start its locked up tight by Sega and Sony, and for once MS will be up against companies that play the same sort of hardball they do, in a market that Sega and Sony understand intimately, and Microsoft are VERY late comeing into this - they could have still done something two or three years ago.
It's a near impossible market to break into. There aren't even any good killer features that I can think of that MS can use to get leverage into the market, they have already all been used in Sony and Sega machines. Sony have the PSX II acting as games machine/home entertainment box, and Sony have the dreamcast doing wonderful net things.
MS can't sell it as a PC games machine - most people that would want this already have a PC that can play games.
They can't sell it as a pure games machine unless the graphics and speed exceed the dedicated hardware of the Playstation II and the Dreamcast. A PC based box won't do this - lets face it - if you had the ability to do this on a PC you would.
I think this project will be steamrolled into market, but I can't see a good reason for it selling.
All MS will be able to do is to copy features (and oddly - they are very good at this) but in the games market gamers are very loyal to thier platform. The Japanese market which is the big one to get, hasn't been very good to MS, and I can't see the trend changing.
MS need to provide a killer game and a few killer features on thier box. The killer game is easy to do, the features are harder to achieve.
In all I don't think this will succeed, and may not even make it onto shelves.
Whatta load of horseshit. I mean, someone may leak out that MS (think of them as a big, hungry plant. Don't worry, I'll explain later) is thinking of developing a... let's see... Toaster. Yeah, it's a toaster that... well, they haven't decided yet. And it's capable of... well, since it doesn't exist, the possibilities are endless.
/. post stories on it, thereby qualfying it as "news."
So, the press immediately labels it "X-Toaster," giving it identity. Then MSNBC, Wired and
Then speculation happens. It'll run with a new Motorola chip that actually turns out toast the color you set it for. It may come in blue, it may come in green, it may come is orange, but be called "Tangerine." (every tirade should have a pleasant rhyme scheme in at least one sentence.)
Now, every news site has to have at least one story on it per week. Yup. Someone posts a story (Sharky? Tom's Hardware Guide?) speculating on it with info from "Sources That We've Trusted Before."
Now MS has got press on all of the major news sites, constantly, and before the freaking thing is even a viable idea in the parent company, it's got identity, mindshare and loads of free press.
Feed me, Seymour, feed me.