Xbox 2 Details Announced

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Xbox 2 Details Announced

Post by trog @ 10:33am 10/03/05 | 50 Comments

Microsoft have formally announced some details about the Xbox 2:

The next-generation Xbox hardware design principles include the following:

* A well-balanced system that will deliver more than a teraflop of targeted computing performance
* A multicore processor architecture co-developed with IBM Corp. that provides developer �headroom� and flexibility for the HD Era
* A custom-designed graphics processor co-developed with ATI Technologies Inc. designed for HD Era games and entertainment applications

GameSpy also have gleaned some technical specs from GDC.

xbox 360

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Dan
Posted 11:37am 10/3/05

Im really glad they are focussing on the high definition and 5.1 aspect, hdtv and home theatre really needs more stuff like this to kickstart it.

Proportionately it certainly seems more powerful when compared to current market PCs than the original xbox did at its launch too.

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eXemplar
Posted 12:59pm 10/3/05

quite a beast, but looks like it's going to be quite expensive.

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Khel
Posted 01:09pm 10/3/05

Hopefully their multicore processors are easier to program for than Sony's Cell processor. From what I have read, the Cell sounds like an absolute pain in the ass to program for (or at least, if you want to program stuff for it that takes full advantage of it).

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fpot
Posted 01:39pm 10/3/05

I'll be buying it as soon as it comes out.

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natslovR
Posted 01:49pm 10/3/05

I'll be buying it as soon as they port XBMC.

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giririsss
Posted 02:02pm 10/3/05

i'll be buying it once a modchip with all the features of a xecture 3 comes out.

cause god knows it'll be great to play hd tv stuff on it.

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Haklin
Posted 06:23pm 10/3/05

i'll buy it if u can't mod it.

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trog
Posted 06:27pm 10/3/05

I'll be buying it as soon as they port XBMC.

Amen!

It'll be interesting to see if that happens - it doesn't really sound like PC architecture so I suspect getting stuff running on it as easily might be more of a chore.

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ravn0s
Posted 06:54pm 10/3/05

ill buy it when pigs fly.

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Dan
Posted 06:54pm 10/3/05

One thing that im kind of optimistic about is the whole modding thing, since there's still going to be a hdd it sounds like it wont take all that long to crack for modding.

Im sure MS will be implementing a whole bunch of copy protection, but I cant help but think its just a token effort. And that they know it's in their best interested to let the modders go to town if it helps get their consoles into more living rooms than their competitors.
I mean if they really wanted to stamp piracy, theyd just use propriety disc media and scrap the hdd right? How many people do you know that pirate gamecube games?

A good modding platform will be an instant sale for me and the earlier it happens, the closer to launch price ill be buying one for.

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exo
Posted 07:53pm 10/3/05

It'll be interesting to see if that happens - it doesn't really sound like PC architecture so I suspect getting stuff running on it as easily might be more of a chore.

It's based on the PowerPC chips used in G5 Macs.

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Spook
Posted 08:10pm 10/3/05

I'll be buying it as soon as they port XBMC.

i concur!

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Reverend Evil�
Posted 08:32pm 10/3/05

I'll buy one as soon as it's released with a keyboard and a burner.

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Khel
Posted 08:41pm 10/3/05

I remember reading a while ago that they're bringing out multiple versions of the XBox 2, one of them which is basically a gaming computer with mouse and keyboard and all that.

Dunno why you'd want a burner in it though, thats what PCs are for.

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natslovR
Posted 10:31pm 10/3/05

How many people do you know that pirate gamecube games?

It's no longer the networking trick it once was, since modchips have now been released.

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Mantorok
Posted 10:38pm 10/3/05

It's no longer the networking trick it once was, since modchips have now been released.

You can copy a bootloader on a memory card, load it through Action Replay and then play burnt mini DVD-Rs.

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Cam
Posted 12:51am 11/3/05

yes, but how many ngc owners do you know that actually do it?
especially compared to the number of people with modded x-boxes.

not trying to turn this into ngc vs xbox, just my thoughts on the matter.

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Dan
Posted 05:25am 11/3/05

Yeah, my point is that the measures taken by Nintendo were very successful at curbing piracy and imo MS could have very easily done something similar with their new product.
Yet it looks like it will still be wide open.

I guess it could factor that regular dvd production is cheaper than a proprietry format etc, but id rather beleive its just smart marketting.

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Kimbo
Posted 08:13am 11/3/05

Modchips are good...

But Im wondering how hot it will get?

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fpot
Posted 10:48am 11/3/05

Why? Somehow I don't think they are going to spend hundreds of millions on development and then 'oh shit it gets too hot' when they finally finish the design.

last edited by fpot at 10:48:18 11/Mar/05

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Khel
Posted 07:38pm 11/3/05

Nah, thats more like what Sony do. Spend hundreds of millions on development and then go "Oh shit, one of the buttons on the PSP doesn't quite work properly because we had to put the sensor in a weird spot. Meh, who cares, people can live with it".

I also heard of a video where a guy apparently presses one of the buttons, at the same time as twisting the psp a little, and the cartridge just flies out. Nice!

Also, is there any news on the hard drive itself? Is it still going to be a hard drive in the traditional sense of the word? There was all those rumours flying around a while ago about how the storage in the XBox 2 was going to be some kind of flash memory and not a traditional hard drive, but I haven't heard any update on that front...

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fraxyl
Posted 01:32pm 13/3/05

Sounds to me like they are saying "LOOK HOW MIGHTY AND POWERFUL OUR PENIS EXTENSION IS!"
I don't care how powerful it is, as long as it has interesting and fun to play games on it.

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Naked_Gamer
Posted 02:32pm 13/3/05

if your looking for something interesting, your porbably better of going for the revolution. Think about it, thats why nintendo is going off in another director to develop more interesting and different games instead of the same shit we get today.

Next gen will be the same as this gen with different stories , better graphics, better processing power and yet overall it will be the same game.

Then again, nintendo could be going in the wrong direction. I still don't believe the whole 3 xbox2 boxs is a good thing. I reckon people are just gonna get confused.

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Midda
Posted 02:44pm 13/3/05

Seriously, how many fucking times are Microsoft going to say "HD era"? Every statement of theirs that I've read says it in every damn sentence...

I still haven't made up my mind about this thing yet. The best thing about the Xbox is that it's practically a PC, so you could do heaps of stuff sith it, but it's successor seems as though things may be a bit more difficult...

At the moment, I think I'll get the Revolution before I get either the Xbox2 or PS3.

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Dan
Posted 03:44pm 13/3/05

Personally im not buying into all the revolution is going to be new, different and great marketing hype.
Mostly because I dont have a problem playing "The same shit we get today", there's plenty of current games I enjoy and find it hard to beleive that anything Nintendo has cooking is anything more than another marketing gimmick.

Ill get excited when they make decent use of it. In the meantime, ill back the horse that provided me with a game console that doubled as a complete media solution for the HD ERA!!

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Midda
Posted 03:48pm 13/3/05

Well, I have some faith that the Revolution will offer something cool, because the DS certainly did.

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Tim Tibbetts
Posted 05:12pm 13/3/05

I think the DS will start to offer up some decent games within the next 9-12 months when they get the whole wi-fi thing stored out...if it doesn't get setup in Australia I'm going to kick someone in the nuts.

As far as the revolution goes, well, I don't think anyone can really say anything about it because Nintendo has bascially said nothing it. Except, it will have wi-fi, and be backwards compatible with the GCN. I can't imagine that I won't like it, because I just like Nintendo games, but meh, that's me.

As far as Xbox 2 goes..I don't think there's much to talk about, as the Xbox 2 is going to just be an Xbox but prettier. Nintendo, with the Revolution, is saying that it's going to do something different, whether or not it does, and whether or not it works is another matter.

last edited by Tim Tibbetts at 17:12:47 13/Mar/05

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N-Dude
Posted 05:21pm 13/3/05

Im sure MS will be implementing a whole bunch of copy protection, but I cant help but think its just a token effort. And that they know it's in their best interested to let the modders go to town if it helps get their consoles into more living rooms than their competitors.

This idea is a weird one to me. Strictly it is accurate; the mod-ability of the console put it into many many more homes. But the impression I had was that the manufacturers of the consoles, after the launch price of the console plummets, generally make very little profit from each unit sold. I read that they occassionally make losses on each unit, just to get them into homes.

The point of that? To get more people to purchase games. These hundred dollar titles send a large bulk of commission/publishing rights back to Microsoft/Sony/Nintendo. This is where they make their huge profits. But Microsoft, with the relative ease of subterfuging this system, have lost vast amounts of potential money.

Should I jump to these conclusions?

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Midda
Posted 05:23pm 13/3/05

if it doesn't get setup in Australia I'm going to kick someone in the nuts.

They recently said that the internet play will work at an internet-enabled wifi hotspot, and the first game to make use of it will be Animal Crossing. It'll be MMO :)

as the Xbox 2 is going to just be an Xbox but prettier

For the moment, that's true, but with it's superior power, we may end up seeing even more mods for it than we did for the Xbox. Of course, the fact that it runs on a IBM G5 could slow modders down a bit...

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Dan
Posted 05:35pm 13/3/05

Should I jump to these conclusions?

I know exactly what you're talking about, but I think it's not too much of a stretch that MS are looking further toward the future.
Wanting to get their tech into more homes than their competitors in this round to dominate the market share which is ultimately going to sell more games for them in the long run.

Just my speculation.

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Tim Tibbetts
Posted 06:33pm 13/3/05

I'm sure I read something recently about computer game pirates recently, it was from Warren Spector, he basically said something like "I never minded piracy. Anyone who minds about piracy is full of shit. Anyone who pirates your game wasn�t going to buy it anyway!"

To an extent that's true, that's probably why Xbox has more people pirating it's games than anywhere else :P hehe, kidding.

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Mantorok
Posted 06:41pm 13/3/05

That was the IGDA session "Burning Down The House" at GDC.

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Naked_Gamer
Posted 07:34pm 13/3/05

Im still thinking about the cost of the PS3. It has to be over $800 unless they want to lose money on the hardware....its M$ all over again.

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G.Prime
Posted 10:03am 15/3/05

Quote: "Im still thinking about the cost of the PS3. It has to be over $800 unless they want to lose money on the hardware....its M$ all over again."-

Sony Will Most Likely take the Loss on the PS3 Hardware for 2 reasons:
1. Users are more likely to feel ok about circumnavigating Piracy if they feel that they were ripped off in the price of hardware.

2. Parents are going to pull the "Santa�s a little strapped for cash this year Billy, maybe when the price comes down a little" routine on one of sony's largest consumer groups

A high number of High Usage Customers in their market are aged in their teens (Users that buy more then 10 games a Year). I�m not saying that all PS2 Users are kids/teens but a high number of their Demographic Still rely on funding other than their own for their hobby/addiction.

I suspect that Sony will bring the unit price to around the 500 Dollar Price Range as Only Hardcore Users with an expendable Income will be able to afford it if its too pricey...

G.

last edited by G.Prime at 10:03:19 15/Mar/05

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Khel
Posted 11:41am 15/3/05

PS2 came out at $700, why would they bring the PS3 out cheaper? If mum and dad want to get little johnny a sony console for christmas, they've got the new, small, cheap PS2 to go for now.

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Bah
Posted 02:11pm 15/3/05

why would they bring the PS3 out cheaper

Because the amatuer market analysts cant afford to pay $700, hence they try to rationalise the console coming out at a lower price.

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Tim Tibbetts
Posted 02:28pm 15/3/05

The hardcore gamers and people with alot of money will buy the console for $700 then 6-9 months later they'll drop the price down to $500-$400..it's the same it's been with the last 2-3 console launches, so I dont' expect it to be any different this time.

However, depending on what Microsoft does with it's Xbox2, well that could change the price of the PS3.

last edited by Tim Tibbetts at 14:28:23 15/Mar/05

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eXemplar
Posted 09:34pm 15/3/05

I'd rather buy a new video card and wait for the pc ports of games if the price is going to exceed 500 dollars.

Because when it comes down to it, the only real difference between an xbox and a computer is the controller, and I can do a lot more with a computer than with a modded xbox.

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Khel
Posted 09:44pm 15/3/05

PCs are good for some games, consoles are good for others. PCs aren't good for everything, consoles aren't good for everything.

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TaintedSoul
Posted 10:00pm 15/3/05

Might not be long before PC stands for Personal Console...

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Tollaz0r!
Posted 10:01pm 15/3/05

I think what he means khel is that the x-box so closly resembles a PC that he isnt missing out on much by not getting one, that is if your post was directed to that post. This thread is all over the place.

I have a ps2 and PC. I've got what I need. Might go with a Nintendo type thingo nexet time, as the misses likes the 'kiddy' games more. Thinking of getting her a DS and wario as she loves little easy to play puzzle games.

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G.Prime
Posted 10:54am 17/3/05

I think that the market has changed just a little since the last console launch...
Remember that at the time of PS2 Launch, Sony basically had the whole market (DreamCast RiP) they could charge you a limb any you would gladly sit there thinking "well, walking is for chumps without PS2's anyway". As Soon as the X-Box in all Its X'y Goodness hit the streets both companies were racing to hit the mid 300 Dollar mark...

My Point: PS2 preceded the X-Box by a long shot, Now that MS have got themselves relatively nestled in the market I think that you will find the price war between the two will happen almost immediately from release date.

G.

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Fn
Posted 12:49pm 17/3/05

I agree with the new guy ^

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Tim Tibbetts
Posted 01:19pm 17/3/05

Or you could look at it another way.

Microsoft was willing to lose so much money on it's Xbox console because it was entering the console market. So it dropped it's price quite rapidly to be competitive. Remember the Xbox Division has only seen a profit for 1 quarter (I think) since it was released.

This time Microsoft and Sony are known to console gamers, so there isn't an obvious need to drop the price down as quickly as before. So perhaps both of the companies will want to keep their console around the $500 mark for as long as possible to mark as much money as possible from the console hardware sales...just a thought, guess we'll see what happens in a year or so.

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Khel
Posted 01:48pm 17/3/05

I think what he means khel is that the x-box so closly resembles a PC that he isnt missing out on much by not getting one

Thats still an equally dumb thing to say though, why does it matter what the internal architecture is like? Its all about the games in the end. Besides, part of the reason I love my XBox so much is because it DOES closely resemble a PC internally, which is what helps to make it so awesomely moddable.

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Greazy
Posted 03:52pm 17/3/05

The answers you have all been looking for are only a click away!

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Greazy
Posted 04:10pm 17/3/05

part of the reason I love my XBox so much is because it DOES closely resemble a PC internally, which is what helps to make it so awesomely moddable.

... and no longer a console.

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Khel
Posted 04:30pm 17/3/05

Why is it no longer a console? It doesn't require stuffing around installing operating systems, installing drivers, tweaking drivers, installing games, tweaking game settings, installing virus checkers, reinstalling operating systems because you didn't have a virus checker installed and got owned, etc, etc.

I just sit it underneath my tv, plug in a few cables, pop in a game disc and away I go. That to me is what a console is all about, no fuss, no effort, just gaming. I mean, obviously the trade-off in complexity means it can't do a lot of the things a PC can do, but it isn't meant to :)

last edited by Khel at 16:30:48 17/Mar/05

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Tim Tibbetts
Posted 04:40pm 17/3/05

I'm sorry to say but I agree with Khel. Who gives a flying fuck that the Xbox is like a PC (even though I don't agree that it is)...The "oooh the Xbox is a PC" argument is just as fucking lame as the "ooh the GCN is for kids, lol doodz ahuck".

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DrFrag
Posted 07:21am 19/3/05

If you mod an X-Box to be more like a PC, basically you end up with a gaming PC with no legacy or HAL crap to worry about. Good stuff, IMO.