Sooooo, the X-Box 360 is a computer that hooks up to the TV?

[Flip]

"Meet the three pillars of the Xbox 360: always high definition; always connected; always personalized."

The HD thing is cool, i figured the next-gens would all do that.

"Allard outlines a future where 50 percent of Xbox 360 owners are online -- and not just to play games. Voice and video communication, content downloads, an online marketplace, and features to let users control and develop their own content."

http://gamesdomain.yahoo.com/feature/115575

Interesting article, but nothing that interesting to read. I just want kickass games from a console, i have a computer thanks.


<img src="http://us.games2.yimg.com/download.game ... -curve.jpg">

[Zeus]

Microsoft separated themselves with the Xbox Live and it might be that which helps them in the next generation.

I'm curious about how the power of their system is going to be compared with the PS3 and Revolution considering it's coming out 6 months to 1 year earlier

[the Gray]

Yeah, some interesting technical specs. Some neat interactivity announcements but no games as yet.

I've liked just about everything I've read about it so far however. Wireless controllers standard, POWERED by the 360 no less if I read it right. The sheer amount you can do with LIVE. USB connections, literally can plug any controller device i want into it. Or my MP3 player, etc etc.

Support for 1080i, true HDTV with Component connectors included in the box. Holy crap that's awesome. I put down close to $100 for my Component Monster cables for both my Xbox and PS2. Not retail of course.

What else? Oh yeah, 802.11 G built in. Got a wireless router? Sweet.

I must say that Microsoft has put up an impressive machine. As one who was skeptical of the Xbox, still am actually, this is shaping up to be a must have come November release. Or whenever it arrives.

[the Gray]

Microsoft separated themselves with the Xbox Live and it might be that which helps them in the next generation.

I'm curious about how the power of their system is going to be compared with the PS3 and Revolution considering it's coming out 6 months to 1 year earlier

You are kidding right? It will have 3, THREE PowerPC CPU's running at 3.2 ghz and 2 hardware threads PER core. Holy Fuck even I know that's some insane processing power there.

http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=NzY4

Coupled with the Custom ATI GPU this thing is going to be a monster.

[Flip]

"Xbox 360's heart is a triple-core IBM processor clocked at 3.2GHz"

I think this is different than 3 CPU's.

[the Gray]

Read the article Flip, each core is part of the overall CPU, but each is independant. So, one can be programmed to be dedicated to ingame Physics etc while the other 2 cores handle the processing. It's basically 3 cpu's in one.

[Kupek]

Read the article Flip, each core is part of the overall CPU, but each is independant. So, one can be programmed to be dedicated to ingame Physics etc while the other 2 cores handle the processing. It's basically 3 cpu's in one.

Sort of, but not completely. I do research with processors like these - Chip Multiprocessors (CMP) and Symmetric Multihreading (SMT). Intel's HyperThreading is an SMT; a single chip with one core that supports two simultaneous execution contexts. A CMP is a single chip with multiple cores; each core has its own functional units and L1 cache. (A CMP core can also be an SMT, which the Power5 supports, I think.) But CMP cores are not entirely independent; they share an L2 cache. Sometimes that's good, sometimes that's bad.

It's accurate to say that it's a single chip that supports parallel processing, but don't buy the marketing hype that it's just like having that number of CPUs. In some cases it's indistinguishable from having that many physical processors, but not always.

[Kupek]

Oh, and as someone who has spent the past year writing, debugging and optimizing multithreaded code, let me assure that writing software that exploits these architectures is not trivial. Writing multithreaded (and parallel in general) programs introduces a complexity not present in sequential programs. The learning curve for these new consoles is going to be steeper than the older ones. (This was true for the Saturn.)

[the Gray]

Interesting.

I wonder how some developers are reacting, as the Devkits Microsoft gave them had a spec of a CPU with 2 cores, not 3. I wonder if it will even be utilized fully for some time to come.

[Zeus]

Yeah, some interesting technical specs. Some neat interactivity announcements but no games as yet.

Actually, tons of games annouced: Perfect Dark Zero, Kameo, Call of Duty 2, Quake 4, Project Gotham 3 (YES!), and MANY more

I've liked just about everything I've read about it so far however. Wireless controllers standard, POWERED by the 360 no less if I read it right. The sheer amount you can do with LIVE. USB connections, literally can plug any controller device i want into it. Or my MP3 player, etc etc.

The controllers will have rechargable batteries in them...likely as an option. But they'll recharge by the USB port that plugs them to the system. And, if the battery runs low, you can plug it in and continue playing and charge at the same time.

Coolest feature: there's a button on the controller that actually turns the system on. This should be standard

What else? Oh yeah, 802.11 G built in. Got a wireless router? Sweet.

That'll likely be the standard from now on. The PSP and DS have it and likely the Revolution will as well.

I must say that Microsoft has put up an impressive machine. As one who was skeptical of the Xbox, still am actually, this is shaping up to be a must have come November release. Or whenever it arrives.

It looks good so far and there are some nice games for launch. I'll still likely get it later on as I do with all my systems.

Check out Gamespot for a little more comprehensive coverage

www.gamespot.com/news/index.html

[Nev]

"Meet the three pillars of the Xbox 360: always high definition; always connected; always personalized."

The HD thing is cool, i figured the next-gens would all do that.

"Allard outlines a future where 50 percent of Xbox 360 owners are online -- and not just to play games. Voice and video communication, content downloads, an online marketplace, and features to let users control and develop their own content."

http://gamesdomain.yahoo.com/feature/115575

Interesting article, but nothing that interesting to read. I just want kickass games from a console, i have a computer thanks.

On the subject of online stuff, I actually think that right now, the console developer who is first to the online market is going to have an incredible advantage in the nextgen wars. Personally (and unfortunately for my Gateshate) if I had to bet, I'd already be betting on Microsoft to be the most successful in the next generation.

However, I don't think betting on companies' success is a great thing to do in general, so I try to avoid it whenever possible.

[Julius Seeker]

http://www.gamesarefun.com/news.php?newsid=4880


Hmmmmm, judging by the screenshots, it looks like the Xbox 360 isn't going to be a major graphical leap over the current generation.




Compared to Soul Calibur 2

[Kupek]

I think Tycho of Penny Arcade makes a good point on that topic.

Screenshots have really lost their ability to communicate today's games - it's already true for this generation of 3D acceleration on PCs, and every time I see a game actually <i>moving</i> on a next generation console it really drives the point home. So many visual gains now arise from the behavior of simulated light and the surface contours revealed thereby. Screens just don't evoke it.

[Julius Seeker]

Actually, I think for the most part it rather works in reverse. Screens of Soul Calibur 2 look much better than the screens of the first Soul Calibur, but when they are being played, the effects in the original Soul Calibur bring it up to par with Soul Calibur 2; it is difficult to tell which game is being played for a few seconds. I guess it would really depend on the developer.

Either way, if they bring the graphics to par with the detail in the FMV's that have been seen in FF8, 9, and 10, then it'll be worth it. The quality of the FMV's in those three games are still the best seen in a game. In fact, I think it might be possible to get fairly close using this generations technology; looking at games like the new Zelda, Resident Evil 4, and Metroid Prime 2 have shown what this generation of hardware is capable of, it's just that developers didn't press it to (and seemingly beyond) the limits this time around like every generation beforehand.

[Zeus]

http://www.gamesarefun.com/news.php?newsid=4880


Hmmmmm, judging by the screenshots, it looks like the Xbox 360 isn't going to be a major graphical leap over the current generation.




Compared to Soul Calibur 2

That's the one thing I agree with Iwata one, graphics are not going to be the differentiator anymore. You're not going to have the Xenon or Revolution paste the PS3 in graphics. It's all about the experience, which is where the "Revolution" and Xbox Live come in. I don't know what Sony's doing yet, but it should be interesting