What might be inside the next Xbox - a realist’s view
It’s almost that time already - The Xbox 360 is barely settled in and already gamers everywhere are eagerly awaiting news of Microsoft’s next console. As is now the norm, the internet is buzzing with chatter of the next Xbox, years before it will even hit the shelves. The truth is, no-one outside of Microsoft has even the faintest idea of what to expect, not even Xbox news luvvie Dean Takahashi. Some websites choose to speculate, which is fine - although some of the suggestions so far have been quite frankly preposterous. This particular article will instead look at historical data and trends in an attempt to predict what we can expect to see in the next Microsoft console.
What shall we look at first? Let’s start from the outside and work in…
Form Factor
The design of the original Xbox was that of a love/hate relationship - mostly hate. It was big, heavy and not exactly pleasing to look at, though the design was born more out of requirement over aesthetics. Microsoft’s fist foray in to the console market could be looked at as ‘playing it safe’. Xbox consisted mostly of off the shelf components originally designed more for the PC market over that of the smaller home consoles. The Intel Pentium processor and GPU as well as hard drive and power supply (both internal) meant the Xbox was a bulky old beast.
Xbox 360 changed all of that. With the internal power supply and hard disk gone, Microsoft asked various design companies to come up with, dare I say it, a sexy machine. Aimed squarely at the iPod generation, Xbox 360 though roughly the same size as the original, is far more pleasing to look at with it’s curvy lines and almost delicate finish. The silver DVD bezel and HDD trim only serve to add a little ‘bling’.
So what’s next? The current trend seems to be slim and shiny, or in the case of the PS3…just shiny. Laptops, TVs and Mobiles are all getting thinner, thin sells - obviously. Shiny stuff is all around us right now too, though for me that’s not so welcome. PS3, iPods, iPhones and other Mobiles all look the part but are an absolute magnet for greasy finger prints….there’s nothing more shabby in the world of consumer electronics right now than a PSP with mucky prints all over it. No, Microsoft pretty much hit the nail on the head with the 360’s design (externally anyway!) so expect more of an evolution rather than a revolution. If Microsoft want to go for a powerhouse of a console, then something the size of Nintendo’s Wii is out of the question at any rate. The original console favourite, ‘black’ seems to be making a comeback of late with the PS3 and the Elite so that’s where I’d put my money. Expect something roughly the same size as the current 360 design, vertical positioning though nice to look at, isn’t exactly practical for most of us so that may well be out for the next machine. At least it would stop folks moving the console whilst the disk is spinning - unless of course we get a decent media drive this time around, slot loading anyone? I would take a stab at an artists impression, but then I’m no artist - I’ll leave that to them.
Media
Blu-ray - that’s what you all expect me to say isn’t it? If I were asked today, which media format I’d choose for the next Xbox I’d have to stick with the current DVD format - it’s cheap to mass produce and delivers some pretty speedy data streaming. Keep in mind though that we might not see the next console for a few years yet, and the movie marketplace could well have changed beyond all recognition by then. Will Blu-ray really have the market to itself? It’s seen off the superior HD-DVD format already, but DVD will be around for many many years yet. Recent Sony formats have a history of failure and even with updates to the Blu-ray libraries its data performance is still seen as pretty shocking where as it’s movie playing capabilities are still improving.
We could of course see Blu-ray in the next console should the movie market be ‘in the bag’ as it were - market share would need to be considerable in order for Microsoft to make such a move.
Downloading of media and software is expanding rapidly. Microsoft already has a fantastic content delivery system up and running in the shape of Xbox Live!. With a little added capacity and an upgraded shell it would be more than capable of providing full game downloads in the same way Steam has been doing with success (for the most part!) for a number of years. Storage needs would increase, and with this in mind I suspect Microsoft will return to having a HDD in every console it sells - but in which form?
It’s no secret that the current 120Gb option is a complete and utter rip off when bought at retail - a result of packaging costs, profit margins and shipping to retail, or so says this story here. Microsoft if it decides to include a HDD in every machine can afford to buy in huge bulk numbers, bringing the cost down. The profit margin for retail and packagers would be eliminated making the cost to the end consumer lower, whilst Microsoft can make a profit for itself on the move with the cost being passed on to the console RRP itself. I certainly wouldn’t mind paying a bit extra knowing there was decent storage out of the box - did anyone buy the HDD-less 360 ‘Arcades’ anyway?
CPU
As mentioned up top, the original Xbox console used off the shelf components. Intel provided the CPU, a revision of it’s common Intel Celeron processor running at 733MHz - it was so ‘off the shelf’ that many enthusiasts simply removed the CPU from the mainboard and replaced it with a faster 1000MHz chip. Not something anyone has yet attempted with the 360’s custom CPU, Xenon. Xenon was developed in conjunction with IBM and based on the PowerPC set made popular by the Apple Macs where most of these chips ended up. The Xenon CPU has three separate cores all capable of working independently of one another. Each core then has two hardware threads available to it - meaning up to six threads can be available to games. CPU sizes are dropping too, the original Xbox CPU was fabricated using a 180nm process, whilst various revisions of the Xenon have dropped from the original 90nm, down through 65nm today and 45nm rumored for later in 2008. Smaller CPU’s are cheaper and mean less heat is generated - which in turn means less power and cooling are required - ultimately resulting in a smaller console. The transition between PS2 and PSTwo is a good example of what can be done to advance design, even after the console hit’s the shelves.
The next CPU is more than likely to stay in the IBM camp - there have been no complaints from developers on the CPU front. It’s easy to program, it’s reliable and most importantly, it’s a stellar performer. Again, don’t expect many surprises here - Probably kicking off with 65nm chips, perhaps some additional cores but nothing too fancy. Sony’s CELL was widely blamed for lackluster games early in PS3’s life - perhaps that’s the downside of doing the ‘ooooh fancy’ with the CPU.
GPU
NVIDIA created the first Xbox’s GPU - the NV2A chip, an evolution of the common GeForce 3000 series found in desktop PC’s. Built on a 150nm chip with 64Mb of shared memory, it was quite capable for its day. Early titles such as Halo, PGR, Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive really shone through as fine examples of what could be achieved on the machine. The US version of the console even supported HD output at 720p or 1080i - something perhaps a little early to the show for us European’s though, with this being stripped from the console that shipped over here.
GPU design moved to ATI for the 360’s chip, the Xenos. Packing a massive 337 million transistors in total, Xenos was designed on a 90nm process from the ground up for the next generation of consoles. Piggy backing on the GPU lies a 3rd party NEC chip specifically designed to handle 4x AA and colour processing at very little performance cost, something demonstrated in the recent release of GTA for both consoles, where the 360 version has a higher native resolution than that of it’s PS3 release.
I’d put my money on yet another ATI chip. The shared memory architecture of the Xenos has been widely applauded by developers so expect this to stay as a key feature. The next (next?) generation of software will of course want to throw around yet more polygons draped in graphical effects so more memory is a must. Some PC based cards are now packing in 1024mb DDR3 as standard - don’t expect this for the next revision though, 512Mb being a more realistic proposal.
Controllers
360 controllers are almost perfect, aside from the rather awkward D-pad implementation. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could use your wireless 360 controllers with the next console? I know I would if I could! You listening Microsoft? Being a realist though, it’s highly unlikely to happen. Microsoft makes most of it’s 360 profits from the sale of additional controllers and other accessories and that will be a revenue stream they wont give up easily. Really though, aside from the D-pad there is nothing major required in the design stakes here.
Newton anyone? Yes, it’s the Wii-mote alike that’s rumored for a 360 release later in 2008. Perhaps a dummy run for the full implementation in the next generation. It’s an interesting concept and one that the Wii has picked up and run with, much to it’s success. However, Microsoft also attempted to cash in on the console camera stakes, with it’s version of Sony’s EyeToy - sales figures for the 360’s Vision Camera are hard to come by, though with the lack of support so far it’s hard to see it as anything else other than a failure. Motion sensing whilst interesting to play with, isn’t particularly essential when it comes to gaming. The existing 360 controller with motion sensing capabilities may be a safer option in the long run.
Round Up & Date
Well there you go, nothing of any detail and nothing you won’t have read or speculated about elsewhere. But that’s just how it is right now - information on the next console is non-existent. Speculating on the technical detail of the next machine whilst fun to do, breaks with the idea of this being a realists view. Sure, we can all dream about what it’ll be capable of but that can only lead to disappointment from the hopeful ‘techies’ amongst us when all is finally revealed.
And the magic date? I’ll put a stamp on 9th November 2009
There are of course other things to consider, such as the evolution of Xbox Live! - but that’s for another day.
Posted by Bleem - May 7th, 2008 -
May 7th, 2008 at 8:53 pm
It’ll still be junk.
May 7th, 2008 at 8:59 pm
That has to be the most boring prediction of what Microsoft might do with their next console, assuming that they even continue their venture into the games industry.
May 7th, 2008 at 9:27 pm
The most interesting thing in my opinion is will they rush to the market again.
The fact that they beat their competitors to the market by quite a margin is probably the biggest single factor in their survival and some would say success.
With the red ring of death still leaving a sour taste in the industry’s mouth, is this not the question of the hour? I am not really a fanboy, I do own a 360, and I like it. I think there is no question that they released the 360 before it was ready, but I put my two cents towards them doing everything that they can to beat Sony and Nintendo to the market again.
I really think that is the biggest reason that they are still around and I like having such a huge game library to choose from as a result of this choice.
May 7th, 2008 at 10:17 pm
Stick with DVD eh? Even after the Houser’s have said they’ll need something bigger for the next GTA?!
May 7th, 2008 at 11:48 pm
Hard copies for software will no longer be used……….Screw Blue, and screw you
May 8th, 2008 at 12:54 am
You revealed yourself as just another Microsoft propogandist (paid or not) the moment you said “superior HD-DVD format”.
Data carrying media have to have two things in their favor to be considered superior:
1) Capacity
2) Bit-rate
Blu-ray is superior in both.
As for preferring DVD over Blu-Ray, thats just silly.
May 8th, 2008 at 4:28 am
FUCK XBOX BURN IT DONT LET MICROSOFT TAKE UR MONEY WITH DLC AND XBOX LIVE
May 8th, 2008 at 4:48 am
Dude stfu fuckin sony fan! Halo 3 owns all your shitty games and XBOX Live owns sony’s online! SO go fuck yourself and play your shitty haze!
May 8th, 2008 at 4:54 am
I believe MS will stick with it’s current partners. I don’t believe they will go with developing any real new chips, just some modifications. I think they will continue to shrink the current chips down to 32nm. I think they will develop the rumored “Valhalla” chip. The one with both the GPU and CPU together. I believe they will have two of those chips in the console. Maybe follow what Sony did with the hard drive and make it user replaceable and there will be 1 in every console. Double the RAM. But in a surprise, I think they will resurrect HD DVD. In two years, after doubling(maybe 4x) the drive speed, it will be as fast enough and a lot quieter. They could also probably get it as cheap as DVD is now. MS could also use Hybrid HD DVDs: Limited edition copies could be on 1 disc. Microsoft never wanted HD DVD to succeed, but it didn’t want it to loose either. They wanted to use it down the road when it was cheaper because they know they will need the space in the next generation. By doing these things MS could offer a new Xbox in 2-3 years. With some modifications make 2 or 3 times more powerful than the 360 and start out the next cycle making a profit at $399. I don’t feel there is much futher to go with realism. This generation is getting close. Double or triple that power and you would really have something. If we’ve learned anything from Sony’s over step, it’s that you have to make smaller moves.
May 8th, 2008 at 5:00 am
damn ihatesonyfanboy, too bad you make yourself sound like an xbox fanboy yourself……cod4 has dominated halo on xbox live, shows which shows how great your halo is hhuh
May 8th, 2008 at 6:33 am
“Halo 3 owns all your shitty games ” Anything is better than that Disney generic kiddy fps.
May 8th, 2008 at 6:56 am
Microsoft moves too fast for the competitors and always offers the customer far more then the competition, this sells… Look at xbox 1, microsoft was new to the console industry and being last out only need to come slightly over the power of the game cube (which was more powerful then the ps2) to compete technically, but instead offered 733megaherts processor, superior graphics chip, a hard drive, no use for memory card, xbox live, etc etc etc… Microsoft is always trying to give us more tech, so being last out last gen didn’t stop them from being first out this gen, and even though they were a year ahead of any competitor in sight, they still gave us technology that produces better graphics (check out every graphics comparison video and you will see the 360 wins everytime for games of the same title released at the same time) then any of the competitors that came out after them… The superior technology (for gaming) shows in the 360 because of the 360’s 512 unified ram as opposed to its closest competitor for tech, the ps3 which is 256ram and 256 video ram… as well as the 360 massively superior GPU and bandwidth… What does it all boil down to? well take a look at whats out now… Microsoft is a company that doesn’t wait for the competition to get off their arse to advance gaming, they are in a race with themselves… They will not sit on a console for 10 years because sony wants too… like sony has always wanted to, to squeeze every last peeny from its consumers before making a new console.. sony was content with their 32bit sony when nintendo had a 64bit, then only made a new console when sega forced them too with their 128bit disc using machine that could pump out better titles as quick… then this gen sony only decided to make a new console once they got caught with their pants down a second time, only this time by microsoft… I’ll bank on this, Microsoft will have a console out again long before sony or nintendo, but this time they have the developers backing them, and then customers, so their is no need to reach so far ahead in tech to compete this time that it will cause reliability issues, there next console will be as reliable as their first next time around, they have the market now, and expect leeps and bounds in tech over the competition on and offline, as they are financially confident with their industry and developers now. Hopefully (but not likely) they will get off their built in Japan aswell tabloid kick to sell themselves in japan, and bring it back to american enginered, maybe then it will be a more reliable system like the first, instead of getting defect issues like all the past sony consoles were plagued with… Thats the problem with having it built overseas, hopefully they learned their lesson… I can tell you this, the next console will become so far ahead, nobody will look at the competition, especially if sony is telling the truth about sticking with the ps3 for 10 years… (my god-what are they on? technololgy advances way too fast to sit on a console that long, if they do, there out of the industry) Nintendo will make a powerful console next gen gauranteed… but will they have developers next time around? And will they be catoring for Nintendos unique advancements? I predict this, Microsoft extremely far ahead in tech innovations, xbox live and game developer relations, releasing about the same time as Nintendo and maybe sony… But by the way the company trends have been historically, and the way they do business, and the speed they bring us into the future of gaming, and taking inititive as a company to do this and innovate…. Microsoft will lead the gaming industry unquestionable, compare the xbox 1 experience to the 360 experience, and you can see how that will exponetially increase for next gen as it has this gen… do the same for the competiton and you will have a clearer picture… Later…
May 8th, 2008 at 8:50 am
i will buy the next “new xbox” from M$, every company is greedy, however, M$ is a big one, and i trust their products, since they have so much juice to squeeze out for us to lick.
hey, if Apple were to release a console, hell i will buy it too. “iconsole” oh shit. “igame” oh shit.
as for this current gen, i did not buy the 360, or ps3, i bought a wii for it’s innovation and something my entire family can enjoy, not being selfish this time.
hell, i spend $250 and see my grandparents play video games, its priceless.
simply my pc can handle everything i demand for, its got halo, gears of war, hl, cs, bf, prey, unreal, doom, devil may cry, gta, nfs series, mmo like wow, etc…. and i even have a blu-ray burner which the ps3 can only read but not write.
you know shit that i actually play and dudes, its all on the pc, GTAIV eventually its gonna be on the pc for sure, and its gonna be better, more nudities, more guns, fuck yea. means 360 & ps3 are no use for me, just me, this current gen.
May 8th, 2008 at 11:04 am
hahahahahah.i wish xbox never made any console…….dont worry RROD will never leave the xbox360 legacy……….they cant beat sony if they test there hardwear thoroughly cuz it will take ages from them to get their consol out by 2020…lolzzzzzzzz..
3 xbox 360 later i bought a PS3 and i can bet my 1200 dollers wich i spent on that shitty xbox360 piece of crap that ps3 is far better fro gaming……..nough said…cya bleem
May 8th, 2008 at 11:07 am
why not have this discussion in 5 years, when the next generation might be coming out? all this talk of Microsoft pushing out another console in a couple of years’ time is nonsense.
May 8th, 2008 at 11:34 am
@ xtream
There = Their
Hardwear = Hardware
Cuz = Because
Consol = Console
Dollers = Dollars
Wich = Which
Fro = For
Please learn to spell correctly
May 8th, 2008 at 11:34 am
Why are there so many haters?
We are always going to have to need a minimum of 2 consoles.
Thanks to M$, Fony has had to get there act together.
Thanks to Nintendo, there has been a real innovation.
Thanks to Fony, for the bluray….
STOP being a kid and begin to enjoy like a man!
Or you can probably get a woman and play her…or vice-versa ; )
May 8th, 2008 at 1:33 pm
funny
@StopHaters, ummm Nintendo didnt really innovate anything have you ever seen an arcade machine?
May 8th, 2008 at 1:52 pm
9th November 2009?! DVD drive?!! 512Mb memory?!!!
If any of those come true I’ll eat my 360 the day after this one comes out on the 10th November!
May 8th, 2008 at 2:30 pm
9th November is only a guess - it’s not gospel you realise?
512Mb memory - In saying that I’m talking dedicated GPU memory, not system RAM.
May 8th, 2008 at 3:52 pm
I stopped reading after you wrote “It’s seen off the superior HD-DVD format already”. I only read articles from authors who show some credibility. HD-DVD was inferior to Blu-Ray in almost every category.
May 8th, 2008 at 3:57 pm
Sounds reasonable but November 2009 is extremely unrealistic… I’d say nearly impossible. The original Xbox had a 4 years lifespan just because it was a first go for Microsoft, and experiment in the industry and because they didn’t want to compete head to head with they once almighty Playstation brand in 2006. This time around the Xbox 360 was first and there’s no way the competition will launch another console before 2010 so, financially, it would be extremely stupid to launch a new Xbox in 2009. That without mentioning that fact that 2008-2009 will be the years when developers finally tapout the hardware and you will not want to throw another machine at them when they’re starting to rock and roll with the current one.
Another fact to take in consideration is the fanbase. Nobody wants a 4 year console, especially when you don’t buy it at launch. Microsoft’s console has hit the masses this year and will continue gaining ground with IP TV in 2009. Making its competitive lifespan last just 1-2 years for those masses would be one very stupid move.
Said this, do NOT expect a new Xbox anywhere before 2010. For me, late 2010 - 2011 will be the sweet spot.
May 8th, 2008 at 6:17 pm
First of all, a few key things -
Paul - You’re wrong. Toshiba came out with a larger HD-DVD format shortly thereafter HD-DVD was launched - and it was MORE than Blu-Ray. Please get your facts straight. Secondly, even if size is no longer an option, the whole format war was ludicrous to begin with - why? Because the movie companies PUT THE SAME FILES on BOTH FORMATS. Microsoft’s VC-1 Codec. Again, please get your facts straight.
As for all the Microsoft hating going on in here, please kids - grow up. PS3 is a good machine and all, but so far the titles available that are quality are few and far between. Now Sony’s starting to get quality games in it’s line-up - but they’ve got a long way to catch up.
I can’t tell you how tired I am of this foolish “my console is better than yours” crap. Let’s be honest - this is an industry based on one thing - money. If the console makes money, it will succeed. Up until now, Sony’s had an overpriced console completely lacking in quality titles. Now they have a few - but the Xbox 360 was THE console to own last year - Orange Box, Halo 3, Mass Effect, Assassin’s Creed (without the PS3 freezing issue.)
I can keep going. Sufficed to say, I own all three consoles. I play my 360 far more - why? Because of Xbox Live. Sony’s got a way to go before they can trump that.
So come on - let’s put aside this 12 year old “waaaah. My box is better than yours!!!” crap and actually carry on a conversation.
May 8th, 2008 at 6:42 pm
Not bad but…
1. DVD won’t work. It’ll have to be Blu-Ray, some other medium, and/or downloads.
2. 2009 is too soon. Sometime in 2010 is a much better estimate. Unless of course, Microsoft is set on being the first out of the gate.
3. Even with the success of the Wii, I doubt Microsoft will make a radical console. I wouldn’t be surprise if they incorporated more movement/cameras/virtual reality etc. into their next console, but they’re not the type of company to REALLY shake things up. Especially since they didn’t win the last console race hands down (in terms of market share) and won’t for this time around as well…they’re going to play it conservative.
May 8th, 2008 at 7:48 pm
I think that MS won’t continue the trend of releasing a new console every four years. The only reason they did that for the Xbox is because it wasn’t profitable. I’m betting 2010.
512MB for the memory is a bit too conservative as well. Look at the RAM difference between the Xbox and the 360. Most of the paragraph on the CPU was fluff and then the author stating “I BET IBM WILL MAKE IT
” which..really doesn’t say anything. Every console in the 7th Gen uses IBM CPUs.
This article was kinda crappy.
May 8th, 2008 at 7:49 pm
Does anybody REALLY think that Sony is going to stick with the big shiny PS3 until the year 2016? That thing has already had 4 different main PCB’s and it’s not even two years old, and MAJOR hardware changes effecting its performance already.
@ xtream dude,
You are so full of sh*t it isn’t even funny. IF you got a 360 the day it was introduced, and got a rrod, it would STILL be in warranty.(November 2005, three year warranty)
If you ARE as stupid as you are implying you are, and purchased three of them at full retail - Or shall I say, you are lying to us about, That would make you too stupid to breath on your own, so I think you can sit down now, you’ and your meaningless opinion are dismissed.
May 8th, 2008 at 8:59 pm
XBOX 360 and the PlayStation 3 are great consoles but there is one thing Microsoft has to do, they are going to have to pick a HD format to get their games developed on because lets face it 9GB compressed won’t be enough space for the future. DVD-DL is pretty much last Gen. Oh yeah one more thing, a bigger HDD will be wonderful, please give us a better D-pad before trying to develop a motion sensing controller. One more thing, paid Gold members should get some free movie content and some tv shows for free sometimes, just to say thanks for being a gold member. Give developers the space and technology to make games that we can only imagine because at the end of the day its all about the Games and the Media content thats delivered to the Gamers on any platform.
May 8th, 2008 at 9:25 pm
There is talk of a 360 with bluray and a 65nmchip to run cooler and quieter for this xmas… We’ll see if we actually get it.. But I think we will see a next gen console within 2 years, and the hardware will be familiar to the developers, simular to 360, but just more powerful, allowing an earlier release and maximum power for the developers……
May 8th, 2008 at 9:28 pm
Hey iv had ps1 and ps2. then i bought an xbox and then the 360.
To be honest i realy like them both. Id buy a ps3 if i had the money but the games i play the most like COD4 and GTA. racing games and such can be found on both.
But obviously graphgics and how the game feels when you play it is the most important.
But im sorry Microsoft as much as i love u. I think ps3 now has the upper hand.
Balls in your court.
May 9th, 2008 at 3:01 am
“You revealed yourself as just another Microsoft propogandist (paid or not) the moment you said “superior HD-DVD format”.
Totally, when I read that, I almost stopped reading the rest of the article, how guys like this can post on a column where the headline is “nothing but the truth” is an absolute joke, more like nothing but a lie.
“I stopped reading after you wrote “It’s seen off the superior HD-DVD format already”. I only read articles from authors who show some credibility. HD-DVD was inferior to Blu-Ray in almost every category.”
Yep, HD-DVD superior to blu-ray? Yeah, and you’re a real objective columnist who sticks with the facts.
Bias much?
May 9th, 2008 at 9:50 pm
Just to put my opinion aside, I believe that Xbox will have their next console 2011-2012 although Im guessing Sony will havr to release theirs before… why? Well they just don’t make as much money as Microsoft. I bet you that Sony has lost alot more profit than they were hoping for, all they need is a better online gaming expierience.
Xbox wont release any time before 2011 because there is so many people still buying the 360 everyday! I don’t have one yet, Im getting one soon and I don’t expect to buy one right now and see another console come out 2009 or 2010. Unfortunatly with me, I bought the PS2 way after its release date which meens it would have been too soon for me to buy a 360 just a year and a half from buying the PS2.
May 10th, 2008 at 4:25 pm
[…] w tym temacie nie napiszę. Jednak kilka dni temu w serwisie Xbox 360 Wire został opublikowany tekst, który (moim zdaniem) stanowi dość istotny głos w dyskusji o następnej generacji konsol. Nie […]
May 11th, 2008 at 12:17 am
@LordGideon, actually i think u should take your own advive and get your facts straight, yes HD-DVD did come out with a 51gb disk but Blu-Ray was already working on a 200Gb disk at the same time, HD-DVD has a thearetical maximum of only 75gb, and thats only capacity anyway, Blu-Ray has almost twice the bit rate of HD plus the fact that the 51gb HD was a triple layer disk as a pose to the 50gb Blu-Ray at only 2 layers which decreases its read speed even further.
@RECON, Wow that was the biggest fan boy rant iv ever seen, First off the gamecube was not superior to the ps2 (i recommend u take the time to research what your about to post in the future instead of cut and pasting what other people tell u) The only advantages the GC had ove the ps2 was its higher memory bandwith and its cpu frequency, the ps2 had (more) ram plus its Gpu had a max poly count of 75m when the GC only had a max of 20m (thats almost 4x the graphical capabilities.
As for the 360’s ram configuration being “superior” u failed in realizing that although the ps3 has 256 GDDR3 and 256 XDR ram as a pose to the 360’s 512 Unified GDDR3, it is not seperated for the Cpu and Gpu, The Cell processor is able to work together with the Gpu to render graphics and is able to freely access all 512mb of the ram in doing so, also if u havnt already figured it out from what i just said, that also disproves your thoery of the 360 having a superior Gpu as the Cell and Rsx work together to render graphics (not the Gpu alone like in the 360).
May 11th, 2008 at 8:48 pm
I agree that 2009 is way too early, the usual console cycle is about 5 years or so, and the generation changeover this time around was a shambles, the original xbox dissappearing almost overnight and Sony fans left in limbo waiting for the PS3, which still hasn’t hit it’s stride yet. A 360 with Blu-Ray will only be used for movie playback, not games because that would alienate far too many 360 owners. I’m not sure that it will even happen. I think digital distribution will play a far bigger role this time around, and I can’t believe no-one’s thought of using USB sticks or SD cards for game storage, although they may not be as cheap as some disc formats, capacity is going up. Disc based media is dying, maybe they’ll choose something totally different.
May 12th, 2008 at 12:08 am
512 gpu memory would be a nice touch - I hope we all put into perspective the timeframes involved here though, IMO the development community cant support a next gen till 2011 - with development costs rising the way they are I don’t think we’ll see a hardware upgrade till then
May 12th, 2008 at 1:22 am
@Mike, you know crap! If you believe the tech is so much better for games, explain why NONE (F’er!) NONE! of the ps3 games rate higher in GRAPHICS!!!!!! DUMBASS!!!!
May 12th, 2008 at 1:24 am
@ Mike!
Read IDIOT! (From Wikipedia) ,Argue with that sh!thead!
“The console features 512 MB of GDDR3 RAM clocked at 700 megahertz with an effective transmission rate of 1.4 GHz on a 128-bit bus. The memory is shared by the CPU and the GPU via the unified memory architecture. This memory is produced by either Samsung or Qimonda.
The Xbox 360 has an extensive amount of bandwidth in comparison to its competition;[4] however this statistic includes the eDRAM logic to memory bandwidth, and not internal CPU bandwidths. The eDRAM internal logic to its internal memory bandwidth is 256 GB/s. The high bandwidth is used primarily for z-buffering, alpha blending, and antialiasing; it saves time and space on the GPU die. Between the eDRAM die and the GPU, data is transferred at 32 GB/s.[5] The memory interface bus has a bandwidth of 22.40 GB/s and the southbridge a bandwidth of 500 MB/s.”
May 12th, 2008 at 1:26 am
@Mike! Did you catch this part?!?!
“The Xbox 360 has an extensive amount of bandwidth in comparison to its competition;”
May 12th, 2008 at 1:28 am
@Mike!
F A N B O Y! DEAL WITH IT!
May 12th, 2008 at 1:44 am
@ Mike! Oh… sooo. superior… you’ll believe anything fony tells you won’t you! Why don’t you use your own eyes and look at who won the market! It’s always “JUST WAIT until” bullshit with fony!
Here, enjoy!
http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=188658
May 14th, 2008 at 2:56 pm
Quote “Bleem Says:
9th November is only a guess - it’s not gospel you realise?
512Mb memory - In saying that I’m talking dedicated GPU memory, not system RAM.”
Sure, none of it is gospel - the title kinda gave it away… ‘what might be in the next xbox’
Fair enough on the other point about GPU memory.
June 23rd, 2008 at 8:40 pm
Three words. GEARS OF WAR!!! Sorry Sony fans, I don’t care which is more powerful, until PS3 comes out with another game that’s not on 360 other than Metal Gear, I’m not spending the $500.00 bucks. Maybe when they have the refurbished $216.00 price tag at gamestop. Hopefully microsoft will make an external blu-ray player that plays games for the future. Who knows? I’m not worried about the “next xbox” when my 360 is awesome!