Hard Light Productions Forums
Off-Topic Discussion => General Discussion => Topic started by: Gloriano on March 09, 2005, 07:13:49 am
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# CPU - Xenon's CPU has three 3.0 GHz PowerPC cores. Each core is capable of two instructions per cycle and has an L1 cache with 32 KB for data and 32 KB for instructions. The three cores share 1 MB of L2 cache. Alpha 2 developer kits currently have two cores instead of three.
# GPU - Xenon's GPU is a generation beyond the ATI X800. Its clock speed is 500 MHz and it supports Shader 3.0. Developers are currently working with an alpha 2 GPU. Beta GPU units are expected by May and the final GPU is slated for a summer release. The final GPU will be more powerful than anything on the market today; in game terms, it would handle a game like Half-Life 2 with ease.
# System Memory - Xenon will have 256 MB of system RAM. Keep in mind that this number should not be equated to typical PC RAM. The Xbox has 64 MB of system RAM and is a very capable machine.
# Optical Drive - As many have speculated, Xenon will not use Blu-Ray or HD-DVD. Games will come on dual-layer DVD-9 discs. While the media is the same as that of the current Xbox, the usable space on each disc is up to 7 GB. The drive is slated to run at 12X.
# Memory Units - Xenon will use 64 MB to 1,024 MB memory cards. 8 MB is reserved for system use, leaving a 56 MB to 1,016 MB for user data.
# Hard Drive - As many have speculated, Xenon's hard drive is optional. 2 GB of the drive will be used as game cache. The final drive size is still being determined.
# Camera - Xenon will have a USB 2.0 camera. It's capable of 1.2 megapixel still shots and VGA video. Photos can be used in-game and for gamer profiles. The camera can also be used for video chat. It's unknown if the Xenon camera will allow for EyeToy-like gameplay. Developers are currently using a simulated camera driver.
# Sound Chip - Xenon does not have an audio chip in the traditional sense. Decompression is handled by hardware, while the rest of the chores are handled by software. DirectSound3D has been dropped in favor of X3DAudio. The former was deemed too inflexible.
http://xbox.gamespy.com/xbox/microsoft-xbox/594331p1.html (part 1
http://xbox.gamespy.com/xbox/microsoft-xbox/594355p1.html?fromint=1 (part 2
Xbox 2 GPU is mix between R520 and R600 Ati radeon next gen some of those specs were already leaked
Expected release date is november 2005 in Usa and Europe
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Xenon's CPU has three 3.0 GHz PowerPC cores.
OK, I'm happy - Apple will be able to speed-bump the G5s with these chips...
Oh, yeah, X-Box 2 looks like it will kick serious bottom :D
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Originally posted by Clave
OK, I'm happy - Apple will be able to speed-bump the G5s with these chips...
Oh, yeah, X-Box 2 looks like it will kick serious bottom :D
They are idiots for realeasing it first, it won't even compare to the Revoltuion or the PS3, I hate to break it to ya.
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(WTF will someone delete this?)
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Originally posted by adwight
They are idiots for realeasing it first, it won't even compare to the Revoltuion or the PS3, I hate to break it to ya.
Yeah. Last time the PS2 was released first and it lacked the power of the XBox (although made it up with a much bigger game collection). I have a feeling it will be the other way around this time...
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Originally posted by adwight
They are idiots for realeasing it first, it won't even compare to the Revoltuion or the PS3, I hate to break it to ya.
Well they are going release Xbox2 in holiday season with some really good launch tittles like, and if they launch Xbox2 in Usa and europe same time
ES:Oblivion
Pefect Dark Zero
Un-named RPG
etc
and now that Hironobu sakaguchi is doing 2 rpgs for Xbox2 that helps too
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I shudder to think of the possibilties.
Keep in mind that since the XBox (or PS3 and Revolution) is a dedicated game platform, the specs can't compare to that of a PC, since you can get a lot more out of the same hardware. I fully expect Final Fantasy: Spirits Within quality graphics for all 3 consoles.
Originally posted by adwight
They are idiots for realeasing it first, it won't even compare to the Revoltuion or the PS3, I hate to break it to ya.
Erm, the PS2 was by far the most profitable *because* of the fact that it was released first. And in any case, I don't think the extra few months will do much to give the PS3 or Revolution a serious advantage in hardware.
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Originally posted by Rictor
I shudder to think of the possibilties.
Keep in mind that since the XBox (or PS3 and Revolution) is a dedicated game platform, the specs can't compare to that of a PC, since you can get a lot more out of the same hardware. I fully expect Final Fantasy: Spirits Within quality graphics for all 3 consoles.
Erm, the PS2 was by far the most profitable *because* of the fact that it was released first. And in any case, I don't think the extra few months will do much to give the PS3 or Revolution a serious advantage in hardware.
Unless you could the Sega Dreamcast, which was IIRc released prior(?). In fact, i think the last 2 Sega consoles were out first, and yet failed. SNES was released after the Mega Drive/Genesis and outperformed it, I believe (at least in europe and Japan).
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Well, thats true, but circumstances were different 10, even 5 years ago. The Dreamcast was one full generation behind the Xbox and Gamecuba, and half a generation behind the PS2. My guess is that people were still playing their N64s and Playstations, so they couldn't justify shelling out the money. However, the PS2 represented the first contented in the new generation, so people decided to "take the leap". Not to mention that the DC had nowhere near the media hype of either the PS2 or Xbox/GC.
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Gamecuba
Is that an amusement park? Where on Cuba is it? :p
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Originally posted by Rictor
Well, thats true, but circumstances were different 10, even 5 years ago. The Dreamcast was one full generation behind the Xbox and Gamecuba, and half a generation behind the PS2. My guess is that people were still playing their N64s and Playstations, so they couldn't justify shelling out the money. However, the PS2 represented the first contented in the new generation, so people decided to "take the leap". Not to mention that the DC had nowhere near the media hype of either the PS2 or Xbox/GC.
Circumstances may change in the next year or so; point is that you can't just rely on being the first; apparently the Dreamcast had strong initial sales up to the release of the PS2... and IIRC many people regarded it as ahead of its time, particuarly with its introduction of modem net-play.
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Gamecuba, Revolution...you know, I'm starting to see a definite pattern here.
*goes off to search for significant events in 1964*
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January 30 - The junta ruling South Vietnam since the overthrow of President Ngo Dinh Diem is itself toppled from power in a bloodless coup led by Maj. Gen. Nguyen Khanh.
March 31 - The military overthrows Brazilian President João Goulart, starting 21 years of dictatorship in Brazil.
April 19 - The coalition government of Laos, headed by Prince Souvanna Phouma, is deposed by a right-wing military group led by Brig. Gen. Kouprasith Abhay.
June 3 - South Korean President Chung Hee Park declares martial law in Seoul after 10,000 student demonstrators overpower police.
July 6 - Malawi declares its independence from the United Kingdom.
August 16 - Vietnam War: In a coup, General Nguyen Khanh replaces Duong Van Minh as South Vietnam's chief of state and establishes a new constitution, which the U.S. Embassy helped draft.
October 14 - 15 - Nikita Khrushchev is deposed as leader of the Soviet Union; Leonid Brezhnev and Alexei Kosygin assume power.
October 24 - Northern Rhodesia, a former British protectorate, becomes the independent Republic of Zambia, ending 73 years of British rule.
November 3 - The Bolivian government of President Victor Paz Estenssoro is overthrown by a military rebellion led by General Alfredo Ovando Candía, commander-in-chief of the armed forces.
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:wtf:
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Originally posted by aldo_14
Unless you could the Sega Dreamcast, which was IIRc released prior(?). In fact, i think the last 2 Sega consoles were out first, and yet failed. SNES was released after the Mega Drive/Genesis and outperformed it, I believe (at least in europe and Japan).
I'd say you should count the dreamcast among the ps1/n64 generation. it is/was more powerful than the ps1, but unfortunately didn't have the same amount of game industry support for it.
also. the next-gen console specs are silly. well well, I guess I'll have to start saving for hdtv. and e3 this year will probably rock claves pants.
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anyone here heard of M$' "XNA" ?
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Originally posted by Roanoke
anyone here heard of M$' "XNA" ?
it's dev tool for Xbox2 and and it does help PC dev's too. because it support both platforms
So Xbox2 games can be converted to PC very easily or PC games to Xbox2
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What I don't get is how are they gonna keep the price down on something with that much hardware, same way with the PS3 that I herd will have a 4 Ghz processor. Unless their about to release a mega powered one for the Pc that would lower the price of the Hi-P4s or Athlons.
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Originally posted by Holy Imperial Gloriano
it's dev tool for Xbox2 and and it does help PC dev's too. because it support both platforms
So Xbox2 games can be converted to PC very easily or PC games to Xbox2
That may be the offical line, but more likely it's M$ attempt to corner the market via developers. In theory, it could be used for PS2 and GC, though wether Ken Kutargi (sp?) and that dude who runs Nintendo fancied jumping into bed with our mate Bill is unlikely, to say the least.
edit: check out HIG and his psychic powers.
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Wow... *worships the prophet*
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Porting an xbox game to PC would still require effort. Otherwise the market will be flooded with HaloPC clones.
-Only works on machines that par with the Xbox.
They need to take in backwards compatability.
Albeit Xbox 2 'Xenon' looks pretty promising overall. :)
Start saving your pocket money now.... :p
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Originally posted by WeatherOp
What I don't get is how are they gonna keep the price down on something with that much hardware, same way with the PS3 that I herd will have a 4 Ghz processor. Unless their about to release a mega powered one for the Pc that would lower the price of the Hi-P4s or Athlons.
Simple; they don't. They'll consoles at a loss initially, and over time refine the fabrication, etc, in order to begin making them at a profit. I think MS still loses a lot of money on each X-box game they sell; it's the games where the profit is.
Albeit I wouldn't put too much faith in PC chips being affected by the new consoles; both the XBox2 and PS3 are shaping up to use some form of parallelised multi-processor architecture (and the Revolution uses an IBM chip which I think is a PowerPC derivative like the GC did)....
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I think they just broke even a few months ago. Which begs the question: if they just broke even with the Xbox 3 years after launch, what will happen with the Xbox 2, which will presumably be costlier and require and even larger intial investment? Cause the lifecycle for consoles seems pretty much to be 4-5 years.
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Originally posted by Rictor
I think they just broke even a few months ago. Which begs the question: if they just broke even with the Xbox 3 years after launch, what will happen with the Xbox 2, which will presumably be costlier and require and even larger intial investment? Cause the lifecycle for consoles seems pretty much to be 4-5 years.
That might be why they made the Hd optional... possibly the use of multiple existing-tech-level processors is aimed towards cutting cost, too.
I don't think breaking even on the hardware counts, though; it's all about selling games, and the money they get from licensing the right to make them. I'd imagine XNA could be an important part of that strategy.
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Games and XBLive is where they make the most dough.
With every game being live aware as a minimum, you can see where they are going.
MS is pushing for the everythings connected to the internet theme. Just look at the new media center OS's etc.
If they start charging more for live though, it will be irritating.
If they charge you to d/l updates / expansion packs though, it will be very annoying.
But going by those specs... damn. Near photo realistic graphics + larger games = longer dev cycle. But publishers dislike long dev cycles. So it will be a balance between the games that are rushed or under made because of Developers, and Duke Nukem Forever clones...
A licensed Xb ready to go engine would be handy though. And making it easier to port from PC to Xbox might increase the flow...
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Long dev cycle for first games + plenty of EA style shoddy yearly sequels, I'd reckon.
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I don't think I'll buy another console, unless one of them really catches my eye. I'll just get a better pc.
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then emulate :nod:
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Originally posted by Carl
then emulate :nod:
lol.
Still, for most emulaters you need more like a super computer than a PC to run them and a game...