RSSGamers Get Taste of Xbox 360 Specs
By David Worthington | Published May 10, 2005, 5:51 PM
Less than 48 hours before its public unveiling on MTV, details on Microsoft's Xbox 360 console -- perhaps the worst kept secret in the gaming industry -- have made their way onto the Web.
The Xbox will stand vertically on end and feature a white chassis with some limited options for personalization. Each unit will be equipped with a wireless controller and a multi-function remote control with advanced multimedia capabilities.
It is also known that the user interface will resemble Windows Media Center and specialize in managing pictures and digital media.
Microsoft will formally announce the Xbox 360 in an MTV special on May 12 that will be broadcasted worldwide. In the build up to the event, screenshots of the console began to appear on enthusiast sites after a pre-launch event where guests snapped pictures with cell phone cameras.
In so far as digital media goes, the Xbox 360 is engineered with high definition playback (HD) in mind. Microsoft has developed customized video technologies in partnership with ATI, as well as a multi-core processor designed by IBM. Multi-core processors can make more of the Xbox's resources available at any given time, allowing for simultaneous game play and digital media playback.
Another standard feature of the Xbox 360 will be multi-channel, positional audio fidelity to deliver true surround sound.
Microsoft will be first to market in the next round of the gaming wars with rivals Sony and Nintendo. This was known after Chairman Bill Gates inadvertently let Microsoft's projected pre-holiday ship date slip during an interview with the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. The specific date that the Xbox will be released to the market and its pricing details is still unknown, however.
Customers who purchase the new console will encounter a revamped Xbox guide where they create their own profiles for Xbox Live online gaming, have in-game music playlists for custom game tracks, as well as a "marketplace" to purchase custom add-ons for games. Software and services will be coupled with more than a teraflop of computing power for gaming and entertainment purposes.
In recent years Microsoft has made a concentrated push into the living room with Windows Media Center and a cadre of related devices such as Windows Media Extender to stream audio and video wirelessly through the home.
"First out with a new game console is important, but not necessarily devise. Remember that Xbox shipped after PS2 and Gamecube, yet sold quite well. Right now, winning the market will be as much about game development as releasing the coolest console. Xbox has had a couple recent big game hits and Microsoft is courting developers with XNA," Jupiter Research senior analyst Joe Wilcox told BetaNews.
I am a hardcore PC gamer and i didnt buy the xbox or the playstation 2. I did buy the gamecube, mostly for the price at the time. I played GTA3 on the playstation at a friend house once. Looked good but i totally hated the way it played. PLayed it 2 years later on the pc and it rocked. I guess i like keyboards alot better. The new xbox if it it more of a media hub then just a game machine, then it might interest me. Not sure if i wanna drop 300 bucks on a system when i could use that 300 torwards a new video card. Yeah i know it's insane to spend 500 on one piece of a system when a console costs almost half. Oh well, I didnt make the rules.
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|Its not all that insane when you consider you spend more time playing your PC then other things. I am the same way, I like my PC games, and I have a fairly high end Video Card. I won't spend $500.00, but I may spend $250.00, but then again, I upgrade my motherboard, video card, and monitor every 6 months too, because I am never satisfied
I have an XBox and a PS2, and I hate to admit it, but the PS2 gets more playing time than the XP, even though the XBox is faster. I just like my PS2 better, plus I just bought a PSP. I may not buy the new Xbox this go round...
The PC is an investment, becuase you can uprade it and make it useful for other things, but the XBox is a "media center".. You can't do much else with it. So $300 for something that is for games and music.. My PC does that and more.
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|Anyone care to predict how long it'll take before someone has Linux running on this thing?
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|less than a month, no worries.
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|The physicalities of the box don't really look very good do they? They definitely haven't got the same quality of designers as they have at Apple and Sony.
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|I find it quite humourous, in a sadistic way, that companies are going out of their way to keep something "secret" and then to hype up the customers the product is somehow "made public". This could be because they don't want their prototype released but past statistics on games that have been leaked proved to result in higher sales. Eg: HL2.
It is good to see Microsoft develop what will be regarded in a few years as "junk" onto the console market though. If they waited any longer the credibility of the Gaming Console would be diminished by the fact that PCs are becoming more and more powerful and cheaper. The only problem I see with consoles is the inability to easily upgrade them without breaking warranties or your wallet.
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|Much could be said about PC's too. Have you looked at the price of the gaming PC's of today and tomorrow(obviously, I think you have if you are a PC Gamer). $800 for a chip; $600 for a graphic card. If you try to buy these to put into your machine now, you will find that you will need a new machine. PC's become out dated too quickly now.
IMO...Games on a PC are pushing the way in which you use the PC more and more. Chip manufacturers, software, and hardware companies are turning out new products at an increasingly fast rate. These technologies are the driving force behind the PC industry. Often setting their own limits based on that technology.
Whereas, games will be desinged for the game consoles. No additional memory or hard drives will be required. Sony tried this with the PS2 1st version, and they found that the customer base was not interested in all the extra proprietary hardware.
I would rather look to a game console for gaming, due to the only fact that I would not have to look at the requirements before buying. Often finding out that I do not have the specific hardware or software.
The gaming consoles are going to be here for a while. There will be that niche for the hardcore PC gamer, but it will be the consoles that will win.
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|I just hope it comes with a remote this time and I don't have to buy it to watch DVD's. That and so long as it uses normal CD's and not those mini-disks like the Gamecube did (Nintendo is so confused, I bet they go back to cartridges next.)
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|PC gaming will always be good at what it's good at.. and concole gaming should always be good at what it's good at... 2 totally seperate segments that i hope always stay seperate... computer caming is tons more expensive. When a console is purchased, big N. big M and sony are loosing money on the product the first 2 years... they make their money on software... I really don't see how people keep comparing the 2 gaming sectors. IMO xbox is pushing its luck with releasing this so soon, but they almost have to take the gamble to beat sony to the market place.. Just pray their push for HDTV won't back fire by the lack of HDTV's people actually own. would be an intersting stat.. how many gamers out there own hdtv's? 50%? 75%? 25%? with so many great games coming out this fall for the ps2? seems like there was a lot more juice to squeece out of the xbox, but only time will tell.. I just know how Big M cripples os's .. let's pray they are maximizing the 360's hardware for gaming... something xp can never really understand without spending mucho mula on a crazy machine..
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|I bet you within 3 months or less someone will have a distro of linux running on it. I just hope if its gonna cost $300 it comes with a few games that are compatible. Anyone else think it looks like a slimmed Dell Optiplex?? LOL
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|Good comments, but with the cost difference between the two, consumers will opt to purchase the smaller consoles, rather than the expensive counter part(PC). The consoles of today are backwards compatible and therefore is a major draw, where as if you play a game of(let's say)3 or 4 years ago on a PC, it plays differently on a machine of today.(due to emormouse gains in PC technology, and as soon as you can affored one, it will be out of date)
The cost alone of a PC(2500) to that of a game console(250-300) it is easy to see why they are gaining in popularity. No need to upgrade when the newest games come out. That is not to say about new consoles and what they pose. MS made the release date of the XBox so it will be ready for Xmas and to beat Sony's PS3. I will probably own both. Might even see similar features in Sony.
In addition, I see many homes that have 1 PC and several game consoles. (PS1 and 2, XBox, and Nintendo) IMO...PC's are for the single person game user. Many play games over the internet and such, but the console is more for more than one player. Even the single player games are passed between many players, taking turns between watching and playing. It is harder to do with a PC. Now, even becoming more like mini PC's(playing movies, music, pictures, and access to the internet, etc)
Your point with HDTV's is correct, but that is changing and the mandated conversion to HDTV is drawing nearer.
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|to be honest, it looks very large.. i thought they learnt from the mistake of the 1st gen xbox.. japan likes them small. Japan will be the deciding factor for MS. If it sells there, it'll gain big market share, if not, MS may just be right back in the red in console industry.
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|"$800 for a chip; $600 for a graphic card"
Yeah if your stupid youll pay that much or be smart and get an AMD chip on 939 socket and like radeon X800 XL for around $300 and you can get a kick a** gamin PC for about $1000 that will last 3yrs before you may want to consider an upgrade at which point if you made your system right youll just upgrade memory or processor.
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|"The cost alone of a PC(2500) to that of a game console(250-300)"
You can get a very good PC for like 1000 but most ppl dont why? b/c they buy it already made an dont make it custom. If you build a custom PC from scratch youll be amazed at how much better and cheaper it is then buyin one already made.
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|You obviously are only referring to yourself. I am talking about the millions of consumers that do not buy like you do, or have an inside track to products. The price of a gaming computer is much higher than what you will buy it for, and that is what I am referring to.
And consumers are tired of paying that kind of cash for a computer to play a few games. Hardcore Gamers are a different breed. Spending money on computer hardware, games, and searching free porn are what they do.
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|Consumers can't buy this way, because they don't understand the technology or how to configure it. Your arguments are not relevant to the consumer, but to only other techies out there. We all know how to buy a pc these days, but consumers do not, and if they are to buy a custom PC, jack the price even higher.
I hear your points, but mine is from the view of the consumer and why the game console is more attractive to the them rather than the PC. I think you are missing that point.
I was using current prices for the most attractive gamming chip and graphics card on the market:
http://www.newegg.com/Pr...sp?Item=N82E16819103496
http://www.newegg.com/Pr...sp?Item=N82E16814127161 x2 if SLI
only as an example.
I understand these are high end items.
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|"to be honest, it looks very large..."
Yeah, it does at that. But, i really didn't mind the size of the original xbox... Those tiny psII's just make me wanna through em.
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|You may have missed jwspiker's point. What happens in the Japanese market may be more significant than that of the US market, in terms of overall success (market acceptance) and profitability. In Japan, size matters... small size, that is.
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