MTV XBOX 2 special long on hype

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Tie Guy
MTV XBOX 2 special long on hype

So the XBOX special proved dissapointing. It was mostly hype, no doubt to drive the weak minded teens into a buying frenzy. No really juicy info was leaked on the system.

Here's what we do know:

It's uses three symmetrical IBC PowerPC cores, each at 3.2GHz! (Holy moly that's some serious horsepower!)

It has 512MB GDDR3 RAM

Custom ATI graphics core at 500MHz, 48 Pixel Pipelines! (To put that in perspective, the latest stuff for PCs have 16 pipelines.)

Swoopy-silvery chassis. (Is it just me, or does the new XBOX look... over designed. I like the old style better.)

That's about it. They haven't spilled anymore that that. What's still unknown is whether or not they will use a next-gen optical drive over DVD, and if the new XBOX will play the older XBOX games.

What did you think of the MTV special and/or what you've seen on the new XBOX thus far.

Ron Repking (not verified)
so, tell me tie guy, in

so, tell me tie guy, in english, and since I'm not a gamer, should I care about this device?

Tie Guy
If you're not a gamer, then

If you're not a gamer, then why would you care about a gaming console? However, I'll point out some things I read that could be of interest to you, since it points out evolutionary changes in the market.

All XBOX 2 games are supposed to be produced in High Definition. They'll still work with analog TVs, but the true glory will be on a high def TV. More high-def games means more attention to high def in general, which means more high-def shows on TV.

If you're into computers, this also shows that the immediate future of computers will reside in dual-core and multi-core processors. This things got three, and it will have more computing power than any consumer PC in the market for the next year.

So that's why you should at least have some interest. This console marks the future of electronics. It's the first glimpse of tomorrow's world, today.

Meri
Did they say anthing about

Did they say anthing about online support? Right now I like the Playstation, because interactive gaming does not cost anything. Of course... Microsoft isn't big at offering anything for free.

Ross Johnson
What's interesting about the

What's interesting about the multi-core processors is that currently NO games are written in a way to take advantage of this. Game developers, for the most part, don't even know HOW to write multithreaded games to make use of this phenomenal hardware. I will be watching closely to see how long it takes for them to really push the hardware, or if it's even possible.

Tie Guy
There's not any games made

There's not any games made for multi core now, but given that the future is in multiple processors, games that use them should be available in the not so distant future.

I feel sorry for game developers. They have to relearn the art of making games with each new generation of hardware. First, no game developer knew how to make a game in 3D. Then there were limitations to the 3D world, now they have so much power in the console they have to learn how to program for three main processors and a video core. But, if there's anything we've learned from history; game developers adapt, learn, and create new wonders for us gamers.

I can't wait to see what's in store for gamers just 2 years away, which is probably how long it will take for game makers to figure out how to take advantage of multiple processors.

GlenJohnson
Why not just take your old

Why not just take your old xbox and run linux on it? Google "x-changer" for info. A freind of mine sent me this.
[MS just released the technical specifications of the new Xbox 360. They can be found at:
http://www.xbox.com/en-US/xbox360/factsheet.htm
Big perfomance increase over the present one. Three PowerPC CPU's at 3.2 GHz!
There exist several hacks for the Xbox allowing to run a version of Linux on it, so one could have a high perfomance Multimedia pc for somewhere around $200-$250 (after the holidays, my guess) once this new box has been cracked. Anyone thinking about doing something like that? One of the big changes in the new box is that it supports HDTV at 16:9 aspect ratio, so you could use your fancy new TV as video display.]

 

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