Bron: ign Fact: An IBM-developed CPU will be the main processor for the Xbox's successor. What this means: A number of things, actually. First off, this means any ties will Intel related to the Xbox have been severed. Doesn't sound like a big deal, but it is. Why? Because that means that x86 is out the door. That in turn means that standard backwards compatibility is out of the question. Additionally, Microsoft's gaming API will have to adapt to a new type of architecture. More specifically, a PowerPC architecture. Yes, sources within Microsoft have confirmed that the main CPU for the Xbox 2 will be a PowerPC variant. While we shouldn't expect along the lines of 64-bit computing, it's likely that the CPU will be a variant of the PowerPC 970, the chip used in Apple's G5. We mentioned yesterday that the Xbox 2 would not have backwards compatibility. This isn't entirely true, though the use of non-x86 chip would imply it. See, a while back, Microsoft acquired a little company known as Connectix. The company was known for its Virtual PC software which allowed users to use PC software on their Macs. But that's only part of the story. Connectix also developed the Connectix Virtual Game Station, a PSone emulator for the Mac. See where this is going? It's likely that Microsoft will use Connectix's technology to emulate Xbox games on the new consoles. Great, right? Sure, but emulating this current generation of games is sure to take its toll on the hardware. This could lead to games that don't run as well as others (if the Xbox 2 hardware isn't up to speed). Additionally, it's hard to say if Live-enabled games will function online through emulation. It would be a terrible move on Microsoft's part to not include some sort of backwards compatibility, especially since the PS2 already does, and the PS3 is confirmed to. We know not everyone plays PSone games on their PS2s, but the audience is still larger than you'd think. Why do you think PSone games are still in production? Why would Microsoft switch from an Intel chip to a PowerPC chip? Not that the performance seen in the latest G5s hurts, but we're gonna guess that hacking has a lot to do with it. The Xbox is a hacker's dream console. Because it uses off-the-shelf PC parts, with only a few proprietary connectors, it was no problem for a few clever individuals to figure out how to make their Xbox a glorified Linux box/PC. By using a PowerPC chip, it will become much more difficult for users to do such a thing. Security is Microsoft's Achilles heel in both the PC and console market. It looks like it's doing everything in its power to change that. Fact: The Xbox 2 will use an ATI graphics chip. What this means: Again, a lot. As most of you may or may not know, Nvidia is the supplier for the current Xbox graphics chip. And at the time of the deal, Nvidia was the market leader for PC graphics cards. Along with the use of an Intel chip, the Xbox seemed to be a console made in heaven, utilizing parts from all of the top hardware companies. But over time, things change. First there was the falling out between Nvidia and Microsoft. See, the console market is very sensitive to price fluctuations as we've no doubt seen in the last several months. The Xbox, which originally retailed for $299, later dropped to $199, which then dropped again to the current $179 price point. Of course, dropping the price of the console means that either Microsoft will lose more money per console. That is unless Microsoft can pay cheaper prices for the parts. Inevitably, Microsoft wanted to pay less for the Nvidia chips than the two companies had agreed on. Nvidia wasn't hearing it. Eventually the situation got a little messier than it should have. Did this have anything to do with ATI's contract win? It seems likely, though Microsoft insists that ATI's "technical vision fits perfectly with the future direction of Xbox." But there are definitely other reasons ATI won the contract. For example, right now, ATI is the current market leader for PC graphics cards. Its cards are fast and reliable, and if you paid any attention to the Half-Life 2 benchmark fiasco, you'll know that Nvidia cards require a little extra work on the programming side. The specific reasons are beyond the scope of this article, but just think of it this way: If Nvidia cards can either do things really well, or really not well, than ATI is in the middle. While this is a very, very generalized analogy, it should give you a basic idea. Because ATI is on top of its game right now - and with good reason - it's no surprise that it won the contract. Sure, Nvidia cards and ATI cards render graphics a little differently, but it's nothing to cry over. The fact that a high-profile game like Half-Life 2 runs substantially better on ATI hardware can't hurt. (Though in Nvidia's favor, games running on the Quake engine - and perhaps the Doom 3 engine - typically run better on Nvidia cards.) Also, if you keep up with PC hardware, you'll know that the top-of-the-line Nvidia cards are huge in size and run extremely hot - not a good thing for a console. Whether this has anything to with ATI's win, we don't know. We just thought we'd throw it out there. Fact: Well-known chipset maker SiS (Silicon Integrated Systems) will be supplying the Xbox 2's I/O technology, and its chipset. What this means: The fact SiS won the contract doesn't mean a whole lot. What we can expect from this deal is possibly a highly integrated I/O controller. SiS could offer the Xbox 2 many integrated features such as 7.1 sound, SATA, and USB 2.0. While other chipset makers could offer similar things, SiS has a small reputation of producing good performance at good prices. Whee. Fact: Xbox 2 games will be shown at this year's E3. What this means: Developers may not have official development kits, but they no doubt have specs with which to work around. And it's no secret that a number of developers have already begun work on next generation titles. With game development times being roughly a year or more, and the release of the Xbox 2 scheduled for sometime next year, developers need to start working now to get product ready for the release. As for the games that will be shown at E3, there's a catch: the games won't be labeled as Xbox 2 games for legal reasons. Instead, the games will probably be shown but no platform will be given. This is to appease Microsoft. But rest assured, the games will be shown. Fact: The Xbox 2 will feature upgrades all around. What this means: Yeah, this is obvious. We know. But we put it in here so we can make some predictions about what kind of hardware upgrades we'll be seeing. The first thing we're just about guaranteed to see is a larger hard drive. We're going to guess the Xbox 2 will feature a 40GB - 60GB hard drive, many times larger than the current one. While many of us still have 50,000+ blocks available, the larger drive will come in handy when larger downloads come along. Add to that the probability that the Xbox 2 will be host to new multimedia features, and that space could fill up much quicker than it does now. Plus, prices will be cheaper by then so there's no reason we shouldn't see a hard drive upgrade. As for RAM, we expect at least 256MB. While 128MB would be double what the Xbox has now, RAM prices fall every day so quadrupling the RAM shouldn't be too expensive. Plus, the Xbox 2 will be the console that carries us into the year 2008-2010. By that time, anything less than 256MB of RAM just won't cut the mustard. So yeah, expect at least 256MB, maybe more. We said we wanted it yesterday, and it'll probably happen: wireless networking. Microsoft knows wireless is the future, and its acceptance is growing on an exponential level. By the time the Xbox 2 comes out, it should be the norm. Of course, the Xbox 2 will more than likely also have a wired port (Gigabit Ethernet?) also, so those of you without wireless should not worry. As for a processor, we're probably looking at CPUs around the 2GHz range, though it could be lower because the Xbox 2 will have a PowerPC chip (clock speed doesn't reflect performance speed the way it used to). Either way, expect a CPU that performs about one to steps lower than the top of the line PC CPU does. Allemaal spannend niet waar.
jammer alleen dat het allemaal nog zo lang duurt... heb nou al het idee dat de xbox over een jaar zijn beste tijd wel gehad heeft en dan moeten we nog 1,5 tot 2 jaar. Hopelijk komt nintendo van de zomer met iets leuks...
yeah, sure, klinkt wel tof al die dingen, meer dan 50,000 blocks!! heb ze nu nog niet vol Graphics word dus ook Rammen, gaan we HALO 4 spele met 4 keer zulke goede graphics als nummer 1!!
Op zich interessante materie, maar ik denk dat met name het GPU stukje te veel overdreven wordt. Zoals iedereen weet draait de Xbox op een DirectX variant. DirectX is niet meer dan een doorgeefluik van de code die de ontwikkelaar schrijft naar de chips. Het zorgt ervoor dat de ontwikkelaar niet voor elk type chip een andere manier van aanspreken e.d. hoeft te gebruiken, dit regelt (o.a.) DirectX. Dus of er nu een ATi of Nvidia chip in zit, dat zal voor de ontwikkelaar niet veel uitmaken, hooguit dat bepaalde features wel of niet ondersteund worden.
sorry, hoeveel dagen nog tot de E3? ergens in mei toch? in 2003 stond iedereen al versteld van de Halo2 demo. wat dus al mogelijk is op de xbox.....ik wil naar Los Angeles
Lache artikel. Wie van Xbw gaat naar de E3? Hierbij bied ik mezelf aan om koffers te dragen en koffie te halen.
Dus of er nu een ATi of Nvidia chip in zit, dat zal voor de ontwikkelaar niet veel uitmaken, hooguit dat bepaalde features wel of niet ondersteund worden. [/B][/QUOTE] Ik denk dat de keuze voor ATI wel uitmaakt voor microsoft en de beeldkwaliteit van de xbox next. Want als je de vergelijkende test bekijkt van ATI kaarten ten opzichte van Nvidia dan kan je merken dat beide merken goed presteren, MAAR als je de prestaties vergelijkt met anisotropische filtering en anti-aliasing ingeschakeld dan komt ATI als beste te voorschijn. En we weten dat anti-aliasing zeer belangrijk is in consoles daar de resolutie van een tv veel lager is dan dat van een computerbeeldscherm. Dus ATI is een goede en weldoordachte keuze.
Bron: gamespot Het zijn drukke tijden bij XBox, gisteren nog kondigde Bill Gates de Xbox Media Center Extender Kit aan, en wist één van zijn onderdanen te zeggen dat Halo 2 vertragingen ondervindt en dat de verkoopcijfers van de XBox hoger lagen dan die van de Gamecube. Vandaag is het aan de Japanse collega Maruyama om het grote nieuws van de dag te brengen voor de console van Microsoft, deze wist de pers namelijk te melden dat de opvolger, de zogenaamde XBox Next, niet voor 2006 in de winkels zal liggen. Maar hij had ook goed nieuws te vertellen, zo zou de nieuwe console aanzienlijk kleiner moeten worden, omdat ze veel klachten zouden hebben gekregen omwille van de grootte van de eerste versie. "In terms of hardware, we get a lot of requests asking us to reduce the console's size. Actually, I was thinking so myself before coming to Microsoft. We promise that we'll make the new console smaller," Maruyama said.
jmmr dat we nog 2 jaar moeten wachten. wat de grootte betreft verbaasd me dat niets. Ik vrees alleen voor wat ze met de controller gaan doen.
ik hoop dat ze die zo houden want dan kun je zo inplugen en hoop ook dat de spellen speelbaar zijn op XBOX: XENON van 2006!!
