Official Xbox2 Specs Revealed

10 Mar, 2005 at 12:03am ET Article published in Tech

Today at the annual Game Developers Conference (GDC), Microsoft Corp. announced the first details of its next-generation Xbox® video game system platform, highlighting how hardware, software and services are being fused to power enhanced game and entertainment experiences.

Microsoft Corporate Vice President and Chief XNA (TM) Architect J Allard further outlined the company’s vision for the future of entertainment, citing the emergence of an “HD Era” in video games that is fueled by consumer demand for experiences that are always connected, always personalized and always in high-definition.

“In the HD Era the platform is bigger than the processor,” Allard said. “New technology and emerging consumer forces will come together to enable the rock stars of game development to shake up the old establishment and redefine entertainment as we know it.”

Building on 10 years of innovation with the DirectX® API, the Microsoft® Windows® and Xbox platforms will enable ground-breaking game experiences in the HD Era. Illustrating what that means for gamers, Allard shared the first details about the next-generation Xbox guide. Persistent across all games and media experiences, the guide is an entertainment gateway that instantly connects players to their games, their friends and their digital media.

Source: Microsoft

Comments

10 Mar 2005 ~ 2:11am Rewired

Breaking down barriers of small-ticket online commerce, micro-transactions will allow developers and the gaming community to charge as little as they like for content they create and publish on Marketplace. Imagine players slapping down $.99 to buy a one-of-a-kind, fully tricked-out racing car to be the envy of their buddies.

It seems to me like begining to charge video gamers for in-game extras such as "tricked-out" veichles, could get ridiculously out of hand.
10 Mar 2005 ~ 2:23am Thrax I agree, to the point of competition being pointless unless you're giving money beyond the price of the game.
10 Mar 2005 ~ 2:25am primesuspect Yeah, only people who can afford it will win.

Hey, just like real sports!
10 Mar 2005 ~ 6:10pm FormFactor And this is what happens to the Video Game industry when Microsoft gets their greedy meat hooks in it.

Surely this has been the plan from the second they decided to include a NIC in the Xbox. We thought "sweet, it comes with a free network card so I wont need to buy one to play online." It was never intended for freely available online gaming.

Are we suprised?

Hell no.
11 Mar 2005 ~ 4:54am PirateNinja nintendo all the way
11 Mar 2005 ~ 11:01am Brilt Come on people we all know that the day Microsoft makes a product that doesn't suck is the day they make a vacuum.
11 Mar 2005 ~ 12:06pm TheBaron read: HD == modable
hawt
11 Mar 2005 ~ 12:24pm Medlock I seem to have missed the specs...
11 Mar 2005 ~ 1:34pm Thrax You got all the marchitecture, though!
11 Mar 2005 ~ 6:37pm Nomad Here are the specs from ZDNet, it will cost about $400.

Microsoft--Unlike the current Xbox, which uses a standard Pentium PC processor from Intel, the software giant has hired IBM to design a custom Xbox 2 processor based on Big Blue's Power architecture. Microsoft says the chip will be capable of processing more than a trillion calculations per second (1 teraflop), putting it on a par with high-end servers.

Microsoft--After a somewhat difficult experience with Nvidia on the current Xbox, Microsoft is going with rival ATI Technologies to create the graphics chip for Xbox 2.

The storage picture for Xbox 2 is less clear. Flash memory partner M-Systems has indicated that the 8GB hard drive in the current Xbox will be replaced with high-capacity removable storage, but more recent signs point to the possibility of two Xbox models, one with a hard drive and one without. A recent Microsoft survey also suggests that the Xbox 2 may come with built-in support for wireless networking.
11 Mar 2005 ~ 7:56pm RWB

Nomad wrote:

Here are the specs from ZDNet, it will cost about $400.

Built in wireless would rock!!! Also, how much power is 1 teraflop? Let's say compaired to my Athlon 3000+ (2GHz)? I know it's one trillions instructions a second, but I dunno what my PC is capable of
11 Mar 2005 ~ 9:22pm entropy Omg! Another Xbox! I can't wait for this. Imagine all the fun I can have! I should probably get started on making ARM SUPPORTS FOR THE CONTROLLER.

[/Nintendo fanboy]

Woop-de-farkin'-doo. Unless that thing can cook my breakfast, I don't want one. Good Xbox games are few and far between... I can only imagine what Xbox2 will be like...
12 Mar 2005 ~ 8:23am Private_Snoball Is hating MS the cool new trend now? Like in the 80s it was sex, drugs, and rock n' roll, now it's hate MS. I doubt many of you even hate MS, you are just making fun of them for really no reason.

I am a huge fan of MS, granted I run FreeBSD most of the time (for programming), they have never let me down. If a post comes out about MS all you nay sayers who have nothing constructive to say about anything should really stay away instead of saying, oh well MS sucks. You claim to hate it yet you spend every chance you get talking about how bad they are...
14 Mar 2005 ~ 10:20am entropy's_mirror_image It's is true that because microsoft has mastered marketing, that they can release a 'few' bad apples; but who cares? Windows XP works great and I can make cool presentations with MS Office after selling my left nut. And about the comment from entropy, if you are a gamer, why would you not love the xbox2? It's the next big step in gaming with enough power to melt your face (not literaly). And no... it won't cook your breakfast, but neither does your Nintendo POS.
14 Mar 2005 ~ 10:51am primesuspect *Cue console fanboys