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Posted on Sun, Feb. 01, 2004
Microsoft leaks details on Xbox Next
PLANS REFLECT HARD-FOUGHT BATTLE WITH SONY FOR GAMERS' DOLLARS
By Dean Takahashi
Mercury News
Microsoft has quietly circulated the specifications for its next-generation Xbox video-game console, indicating how the company plans to carry on its war against dominant player Sony.
The details suggest Microsoft is far more concerned about keeping the cost of its Xbox Next console low than it is with including dazzling technological features or driving its rivals out of the business, according to a variety of industry sources.
People familiar with Microsoft's strategy say the company apparently believes it can capture a much larger share of the market if it launches its machine before Sony fields its PlayStation 3 console in 2006.
A Microsoft spokeswoman declined to comment on strategy details.
The new Xbox reflects some tough lessons learned in the current console battle, in which Sony has outsold Microsoft 5 to 1. The Xbox has put Microsoft on the map with a generation of gamers. But it has also been a money loser, albeit a relatively small one for a company with $53 billion in cash.
Microsoft launched its Xbox console 20 months after the PlayStation 2 debut. By the time Microsoft sold 1.5 million consoles, Sony had sold more than 20 million PlayStations. To date, Microsoft has sold 13.7 million Xboxes, while Sony has sold more than 70 million. In the United States alone, console sales amounted to $3 billion in sales last year.
For gamers, the new Xbox will be impressive, giving them the ability to play fast-action, realistic 3-D games on a high-definition TV set. Microsoft's emissaries have told industry developers and publishers that the next Xbox will be ready to launch in fall 2005 with the following specifications:
• Three IBM-designed 64-bit microprocessors. The combined power of these chips means the Xbox Next will have more computing power than most personal computers. The chips are used in Apple Computer's high-end G5 PowerMac machines now. G5's para todos, hay rumores de que no serán 3, si no 6 cores en 3 procesadores (como el P5 que debería aparecer a fin de año, o mediados del 2005 con doble core en un solo micro), si fuesen 6 cores, tendría poco que envidiar por CPU al famoso "cell". Seguira siendo dificil de masterizar la consola, pero no tanto como PS3 debido a la naturaleza de la ejecución del codigo en esta ultima
• A graphics chip designed by ATI Technologies with speeds much faster than its upcoming R400 chip for the personal computer. This chip will help the next Xbox to display games with the resolution of high-definition TV. yo: por lo dicho por Ati, se trata del R500 "custom", que me imagino, que será como el Geforce 3 "custom", o sea, una versión dopadisima DirectX 10
• Compatibility with the original Xbox, which is based on Intel and Nvidia chips, isn't guaranteed. Microsoft is concerned it would cost too much money in hardware or in licensing fees to enable the Xbox Next to play old Xbox games. This is risky in part because Sony's strategy has been to maintain compatibility with its old consoles.
``I can't imagine that Microsoft would be so insanely stupid as to make it incompatible,'' said Jon Peddie, an analyst at Jon Peddie Research in Tiburon.
Microsoft is leaving itself wiggle room to react to competitive moves by Sony and Nintendo. A few details are to be decided. In contrast with the current Xbox, the next one will have no hard disk drive -- unless Sony puts one in the PlayStation 3. Instead, the console will rely on flash memory to store saved games and permanent data, much like the current PlayStation 2.
The machine also will have about 256 megabytes of dynamic random access memory. But Microsoft will upgrade that to 512 gigabytes if Sony puts in more. The previous Xbox had 64 megabytes. And lastly, it isn't clear if Microsoft will include the current DVD video technology or Blu-Ray, its successor. Blu-Ray will hold much more data, but it's unclear when it will be ready for market.
The current Xbox has an eight-gigabyte hard disk drive. That drive is useful for online games and storing game art, but many developers chose not to make use of it. As a result, Microsoft seems to have decided that saving the $50 the hard drive costs outweighs its benefits.
In telling the developers what will be in the box, Microsoft is helping them get started on games that will be ready when the console launches. But it is also soliciting feedback, and some developers are pushing Microsoft to make changes.
``I would really like to see a hard disk drive in the box,'' said Tim Sweeney, chief executive officer of Epic Games in Raleigh, N.C., who has made his opinions known to Microsoft. ``For a console to really have a useful online component, it has to have the hard drive to store downloaded maps and other data.''
Sweeney says it is dangerous for Microsoft to wait until Sony reveals the details of the PlayStation 3 or to pay too much attention to cost issues.
``Sony isn't as motivated to launch a new console because it is No. 1,'' he said. ``If Microsoft waits for them, it is in effect allowing Sony to design Microsoft's box.''
Regarding cost issues, a Microsoft spokeswoman would only say, ``Microsoft is in this for the long term.''
Developers like Sweeney say they are pleased it will be apparently easy to develop games for Microsoft's new box. That was one of the main advantages that Microsoft has had over its rivals. Current information about the PlayStation 3, sketchy as it is, indicates that it could be extremely difficult for developers to master.
The top executives of both Electronic Arts and Activision said this week that they have not received formal ``software development kits'' from Microsoft yet, but they did say they have begun creating next-generation games. Internally, Microsoft has begun developing game prototypes, and it is using G5 systems to do so.
The same developers who have seen the Microsoft specifications say Sony hasn't shared as much data with them. Sony appears to be willing to wait until 2006, in part so that it can milk the profits from the current generation PlayStation 2. In the meantime, Sony is launching an all-in-one PS 2/video recording box dubbed the PSX and the PlayStation Portable.
Microsoft's schedule may change -- it has a big meeting coming up for developers this month. But for now it appears it will release information about the new box at both the Game Developers Conference in San Jose in March and at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles in May.
Otras cosas interesantes... MS internamente ya tiene juegos en desarrollo... apuesto por Perfect Dark Zero en lanzamiento. EA y otros ya estan desarrollando para Xbox 2, aunque no tienen kits todavía... eso si, dicen que MS da datos... Sony ni eso.
Xbox 2 Specs Leaked
By: Cesar
Feb. 1st, 2004 01:27 pm
Mercury News has just published an article revealing the Xbox 2 specs. You can view the entire article here.
We had access to some speculative Xbox specs last month but we have held off on revealing them until more official word is given. Now that someone had the balls to do it, we'll bring you even more details based on the speculative information we have.
Please remember this info isn't official and based on info from various sources. As the Mercury News article says, the Xbox 2 will use 3 64-bit processors. But we'll give you even more details. They'll be PowerPC processors, based on the PowerPC 976, the first dual-core 97x chip based on the POWER5 architecture, which will also be the first PowerPC built on a 65nm manufaturing process. Check our previous story for further details.
Each core is capable of processing two threads, thus meaning the whole system can process six threads simultaneously. It is worth noting that, because of its RISC nature, the new architecture is a big endian, a term that describes the order in which a sequence of bytes are stored in computer memory. Traditional x86 architecture use the little-endian approach.
The Xbox 2 is a multiprocessor-enabled, 64-bit platform. It is a proven server architecture that, in the case of Xbox, won’t take advantage of the greater than 4-GB physical memory space benefit of 64-bit computing but will make use of its other benefit: wider data paths and registers, something extremely useful in the execution and process of both integer and floating-point calculations.
The Graphic Chip
The graphic chip will be based on the the R500. This graphic chip has been in design at ATI’s Marlborough, Mass. office. It'll be fully compatible with PS and VS 3.0 and the next version of DirectX 9: DX10, the same api that will be used in Longhorn.
What nobody is telling you and you'll know about this first, here on TeamXbox, is the revolutionary approach of the Xbox 2 to deal with today's biggest problem in graphics chips: memory bandwidth.
The graphic chip will contain not only a graphics rendering core but up embedded DRAM acting as a frame buffer that is big enough to handle an image that is 480i and can be 4 times over sampled and double buffered. The technology also supports up to 512 MB of external memory on a 256-bit bus. However, current specs plan to use 256 MB RAM, big enough for next-generation visuals which are all about computational power rather than large storage.
We'll have more on the Xbox 2 specs soon. Stay tuned. We'll update throughout the day.
Eso si, si viene con el hueco y podemos meter cualquier HD SATA o PATA (Ultra ATA para los amigos, el IDE de toda la vida, vaya) casi lo prefiero, puedes meter uno chiquitin, o uno gigantesco, al gusto del usaurio...
Escrito originalmente por shadow land
jaja, acerte lo de los cores y la gráfica
mala bestia, creo que esto se puede comer al CELL si Ati hace bien su trabajo en el tema de los shaders 3.0 (el echo de tener que ir a 24 o 32bits de proceso, puede crear muchos problemas, solo hay que ver a nVIDIA con las FX y con los 32bits de preicision).
eDRAM con espacio para 480p con FSAA 4x y doble buffer? a que profundidad de color?
640*480*32*4*2=78643200bytes/8=9830400k/1024=9600MB de eDRAM... no es mucho, pero suficiente...
y puede ser una buena apuesta el 480p con FSAA 4x a saco, el mercado PAL no puede absorver antes del 2010 o más tarde las HDTv de alta resolución ni a la de 3, el mercado USA es muy desequilibrado, el HDTv es "barato", pero no todo el mundo es "rico" precisamente... japolandia es caso aparte.
En fins... solo falta saber el tema de HD y el ancho de banda... apuesto por GDD-R 2 a algo más de 56GB/seg para abaratar costes, o GDD-R 3 a saco con casi 100GB/s...
en fin... estos de teamxbox... apuntan a generación dinamica de texturas... juju... podría ser... pero todavía no lo veo claro el tema...
Salu2
Escrito originalmente por shadow land
[...]
640*480*32*4*2=78643200bytes/8=9830400k/1024=9600MB de eDRAM... no es mucho, pero suficiente...
[...]
Eso si, si viene con el hueco y podemos meter cualquier HD SATA o PATA (Ultra ATA para los amigos, el IDE de toda la vida, vaya) casi lo prefiero, puedes meter uno chiquitin, o uno gigantesco, al gusto del usaurio...
no no, me refiero a que TU pongas el HD que te de la real gana y lo fomatee la consola, no ha que ellos te hagan comprar el HD que digan, por que dependiendo del precio al que lo vendiesen, se iban a comer un mojon muy grande...
Escrito originalmente por GXY
pd. no se vuelvan locos, con 1 solo G5 custom y 256mb ya va sobrada, meter 3 G5's para que el 92% de los juegos no las aprovechen me parece una temeridad.
pd. no se vuelvan locos, con 1 solo G5 custom y 256mb ya va sobrada, meter 3 G5's para que el 92% de los juegos no las aprovechen me parece una temeridad.
Escrito originalmente por arturonline
Creis que llegara el dia en que tecnologicamente las consolas superen a los ordenadores personales? Llegara el dia que gente como J. Carmak saque sus juegos para consola por considerarlas mas potentes que la mayoria de ordenadores personales?...
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/conten...me=dev&aid=2897
Xbox 2 set to go multiprocessor; hard drive may not be built-in
Rob Fahey 09:47 02/02/2004
Microsoft's plans for next-generation machine include some major surprises
A senior source at Microsoft has revealed that its next-generation console is set to use multiple PowerPC processors in parallel - while the hard drive may not be shipped as standard, being supplied as an optional extra instead.
This information confirms reports received from developers over the past weeks, with the first solid facts about the Xbox 2 slipping out after Microsoft briefed a number of its key development partners on the current state of the system.
Our sources indicate that the console will use "four or more" of the IBM PowerPC processors, an architecture which will force game developers to significantly rethink the way that games are programmed in order to take full advantage of it.
It seems likely now that all three next generation consoles will utilise multiple powerful processors - with Sony's PS3 expected to use up to eight of its new Cell microprocessors, the Xbox 2 now known to be a multi-processor architecture, and Nintendo's "N5" (about which, admittedly, little is known) also likely to follow down the multiple PowerPC route, as Nintendo also has a deal with IBM and will almost certainly end up using very similar chips to Microsoft.
The real surprise in this leaked information, however, is that rumours which circulated last week claiming that the Xbox 2 was not guaranteed to have a hard drive installed as standard are, in fact, completely true.
Although all aspects of the specification are subject to change at this early stage (bear in mind that at this point in the lifespan of the original Xbox, almost none of the specifications as announced made it into the final product unchanged), our source confirmed that developers have been told "not to bank on" having a hard drive as a standard component of the system.
Although a final decision on whether to cull the hard drive from the specification is thought to be still under discussion, Microsoft is known to be toying with the idea of supplying the hard drive as an add-on peripheral (not as part of an "Xbox 2 Live" kit, as some sites reported last week, since such a thing won't exist - the console will be sold fully online-enabled), while using extremely high capacity flash memory cards for data storage.
If the company does go ahead with a basic specification that doesn't include a hard drive, it's likely to be seen as a backwards step by developers and consumers alike - especially since it's widely assumed that the PlayStation 3 will include an internal hard drive, and may even incorporate digital video recording functionality similar to the recently released PSX.
Crucially, the removal of the hard drive will also make the provision of backwards compatibility with Xbox games even harder - already a major difficulty for the system, since the architecture is so radically different to its older sibling. Many games use the Xbox hard drive as a kind of "scratch disc" to improve load times and overall performance, which means that it may not be possible to play a significant number of Xbox titles on Xbox 2 without first investing in the hard drive peripheral - if at all.
The decision to remove the hard disc is thought to be based at least partially on the cost of the component, which has added significantly to the overall cost of manufacturing the Xbox - a console which has made major losses on each unit sold since its original launch. It's also unlikely that it has escaped Microsoft's notice that both Nintendo and Sony make significant profits from the sale of memory cards for their consoles.
In terms of other specifications, much is still up in the air. It's thought that a firm decision has not yet been reached regarding the amount of RAM the system will have, while the graphics chipset, which is being supplied by ATI, is expected to be "nothing revolutionary" according to our source, but a significant leap in power over existing PC graphics cards.
Although it's already briefed key development partners on the new architecture, Microsoft is waiting until the Game Developers Conference in San Jose at the end of March to raise the curtains on Xbox 2 in front of the development community as a whole. A special Microsoft conference event is thought to be pencilled in alongside the GDC event itself.
However, comments from other sources close to Microsoft in the last few days have suggested that what the company actually reveals at GDC will depend largely on Sony, with the giant software company thought to be prepared to change the Xbox 2 specification in order to avoid losing ground to the PlayStation 3. It's likely, then, that if Sony does not reveal more of its next-generation hand before GDC (and the company has played its cards remarkably close to its chest so far, with only broad details of the Cell processor being mentioned to date), Microsoft may choose to reveal only broad outlines of Xbox 2 in San Jose - leaving final decisions on matters such as the hard drive and the RAM capacity of the system until after Sony has announced equivalent details of the PS3.
Escrito originalmente por lherre
yo sí apuesto a que esta vez sony va a meter hd en ps3
Escrito originalmente por shadow land
Eso si, esperar a lo que muestre sony, es un error... pro que quizas, como en PS2, Sony no diga nada serio hasta meses antes del lanzamiento, lo cual, puede dejar mal parada las specs de MS...
Escrito originalmente por Tails
1ª ) Van a quitarnos la posibilidad de jugar con nuestras propias bandas sonoras, sabiendo que casi 14 millones de personas que tenemos Xbox ya consideramos esta, una de las funciones fundamentales en una consola? LO DUDO.
Escrito originalmente por Tails
2ª ) ¿Van a quitar la posibilidad de que los usuarios de XboxLive se bajen nuevos niveles, coches, ciudades, trajes y mil y una cosas más para sus distintos juegos? LO DUDO.
Escrito originalmente por Tails
3º ) Se pegan horas dando conferencias de las ventajas que supone un HD en una consola, nos lavan el cerebro con lo de que Fable es posible gracias al HD de la consola, y nos dicen que gracias al HD las cargas son mucho más rápidas en los juegos que utilizan su caché. ¿Y ahora nos lo van a quitar?. LO DUDO.
Escrito originalmente por megateto
Si, está claro que a MS no le interesa el dd (desaprovechado pero me reitero en que fue lo que hizo a la Xbox destacar). Está una cuestión que no hemos mencionado todavía: piratería (Xbox es la consola más fácil de piratear de esta generación.. y ya se que es algo secundario, q esto es España .. pero me entendeis...).
Pero bueno, no debemos preocuparnos pq por beyond3d ya se ha "confirmado" que es un bulo. Qroach, que creo que colaboró en FFX, y si no fue en Square fue en otra compañía, pero vamos, un desarrollador, tiene amigos que están desarrollando soft para Xbox2 y de lo de la falta del dd no saben nada.
Eso es tan sucio, guarro y rastrero que solo por hacer eso se mereceria fracasar la consola.es tan facil como obligar a los developers a salvar en una tarjeta de memoria, en vez de en la consola (y para no putear a la gente, yo haría una opción de "almacen" de esos datos en el HD de la propia consola, pero no poder usarlas desde el, si, es retorcido, pero plausible).
Pero es que la gente que usa el Live sigue siendo una minoria muy pequeña, asi que:el no incluir en la siguiente generación un HD con una consola "Live enabled" desde 0, es 100% estupido
Bonito ejemplo... Supongo que para ti es tan importante un videojuego como la vida de una persona...Además... en el momento que unos pocos juegos usan una característica determinada, ya se hace esta obligatoria. O acaso, las enfermedades "raras" (menos de un 3 de cada 10000 habitantes si no me equivoco) no merecen atención sanitaria?
Escrito originalmente por maesebit
Eso es tan sucio, guarro y rastrero que solo por hacer eso se mereceria fracasar la consola.
Eso si que es un TIMO, con todas las letras. Yo por lo menos me negaria a comprar una consola que, teniendo disco duro, te obligue a comprar memory card.
Escrito originalmente por maesebit
Pero es que la gente que usa el Live sigue siendo una minoria muy pequeña, asi que:
a) Cobras el HDD a TODOS, vayan a usarlo o no (lo que afectaria seriamente a las ventas.
b) Regalas el HDD y por consiguiente pierdes dinero.
Y por mucho que firmen un acuerdo por X cantidad para que les salga mas barato, los HDD siguen sin ser gratis, y suponen un incremento bastante sustancial en el precio final de la consola.
Escrito originalmente por maesebit
Bonito ejemplo... Supongo que para ti es tan importante un videojuego como la vida de una persona...
Escrito originalmente por maesebit
[...]
Pero es que la gente que usa el Live sigue siendo una minoria muy pequeña, asi que:
a) Cobras el HDD a TODOS, vayan a usarlo o no (lo que afectaria seriamente a las ventas.
b) Regalas el HDD y por consiguiente pierdes dinero.
Y por mucho que firmen un acuerdo por X cantidad para que les salga mas barato, los HDD siguen sin ser gratis, y suponen un incremento bastante sustancial en el precio final de la consola.
Escrito originalmente por maesebit
Eso es tan sucio, guarro y rastrero que solo por hacer eso se mereceria fracasar la consola.
Eso si que es un TIMO, con todas las letras. Yo por lo menos me negaria a comprar una consola que, teniendo disco duro, te obligue a comprar memory card.
Escrito originalmente por maesebit
Pero es que la gente que usa el Live sigue siendo una minoria muy pequeña, asi que:
a) Cobras el HDD a TODOS, vayan a usarlo o no (lo que afectaria seriamente a las ventas.
b) Regalas el HDD y por consiguiente pierdes dinero.
Escrito originalmente por maesebit
Y por mucho que firmen un acuerdo por X cantidad para que les salga mas barato, los HDD siguen sin ser gratis, y suponen un incremento bastante sustancial en el precio final de la consola.
Escrito originalmente por maesebit
Bonito ejemplo... Supongo que para ti es tan importante un videojuego como la vida de una persona...
No es igual de timo, ni mucho menos. Una cosa es que te lo vendan siendo la unica opcion disponible, te guste mas o menos, y otra muy diferente es que te obliguen a usarlo sin que haya necesidad alguna de ello.no he dicho que no lo sea, pero es igual de timo que las tarjetas de nintendo o Sony. Caras, lentas y malas.
Depende de que chip. En cualquier caso, lo que importa no es el precio de fabrica, lo que importa es como repercute ese sobreprecio en el precio de venta final del articulo. Y te aseguro que, si el HDD cuesta 15€ de fabrica, eso supone por lo menos 40€ mas en el precio final del articulo una vez esta en la estanteria. ¿poco? Pues yo no lo veo asi.pero tu cuanto crees que cuesta un HD? un HD en fabrica puede costar lo mismo que un solo chip en fabrica...
Ya, pero no creo que MS este por la labor de seguir perdiendo dinero por los siglos de los siglos. Supongo que intentaran probar otra estrategia de marketing mas inteligente, porque las empresas estan para generar beneficios, no perdidas.La cuestión es que Ms necesita atraer clientes, con Xbox ha conseguido entrar en el mercado, pero necesita seguir atrayendo gente.
Pues si, la gente es asi, pero la memory card tambien tiene sus ventajas respecto al HDD.El problema es que la gente prefiere ahorrarse 20€ en la consola y luego gastarse 40€ en una tarjeta de memoria que no ofrece ni la milésima parte de capacidad, de velocidad y de posibilidades.
Supongo que para eso estan las cabezas pensantes del departamento de marketing, para hacer que el producto triunfe y genere beneficios. No para hacer que triunfe reportando perdidas durante mas de 5 años, porque si no, ya me contaras cuando piensan amortizar la inversion, ¿en el 2047?Y lo que tengo claro, es que si Xbox Next, Xbox 2, Xenon o como la quieran llamar, no vuelve a ofrecer mayores atractivos que la consola de Sony (leanse en cuestiones gráficas, sonido o disco duro de serie), y se limita a ofrecer lo mismo, la ostia puede ser bastante gorda.
Pues no, ni remotamente es lo mismo que entre todos se pague algo que sirve para salvar unas pocas vidas, que el que todos tengamos que pagar por algo que sirve a unos pocos para jugar a un estupido videojuego. Me parece un ejemplo absurdo.es lo mismo, salvando las distancias. En el momento que una funcionalidad empeiza a ser usada por una minoria, esta ha de tenerse en cuenta de la misma forma que la que usa todo el mundo.
Escrito originalmente por maesebit
Pues si, la gente es asi, pero la memory card tambien tiene sus ventajas respecto al HDD.
Si bueno, pero estamos en las mismas.Por cierto, el precio de una consola no se calcula respecto al precio de los demás componentes informáticos, es un mercado distinto
- Es mas pequeña (lo que repercute en el tamaño de la consola)puedes decirme una que no sea "me la puedo llevar a casa del colega"?
Escrito originalmente por maesebit
- Es mas pequeña (lo que repercute en el tamaño de la consola)
- Menos pesada (lo que repercute en el peso de la consola)
- Es portable (ya, podrian hacer que el HDD fuera extraible xDD)
- Es menos fragil que un HDD
- Si se te rompe no te quedas sin consola.
- No hace ruido
- Y ademas la puedes comparar de colorines y ediciones especiales xDDD