03-10-2004 00:31									#1
	Xbox 2 news Avatar Enlargement: We've got the solution

First, it seems it will be backwards compatible after all. According to Gamespot:

quote: The Xbox 2 will use Virtual PC 7 for backward compatibility for original Xbox games. According to Geek.com's Apple Insider subsection, the reason for the delay of the latest version of Virtual PC 7 is that "Microsoft has given this project exclusively to the Xbox team." Why would they do such a thing? "Because the next Xbox will include an IBM PowerPC 970, and current Xbox game developers are shipped G5 PowerMacs," says Geek.com. While not confirmed by Microsoft, it sounds like a much more plausible scenario than last week's Xbox 2-backward-compatiblity rumor, which had a Silicon Valley startup providing universal emulator middleware for the next-gen console.

Second, according to Gamespot, the Xbox 2 GPU will be ready for Q1 2005:

quote: Citing market sources, IT news Web site DigiTimes reports that ATI is prepared to "roll out" its Xbox 2 GPU, code-named the R500, in the first quarter of next year. According to the report, the R500 will be based on ATI's next-generation R520 desktop graphics processor, and semiconductor foundry TSMC will produce the chip using a 90nm manufacturing process.

Now lets hope IBM will be able to roll out enough CPU's at that time.

	03-10-2004 01:25									#2
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What is meant by the first quarter of next year?

	03-10-2004 01:51									#3
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I assume it means sometime between january and april 2005.

	03-10-2004 05:09									#4
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Backwards compatibility YES!

Hopefully it will work better than the current PS2 backwards compatibilty. Sure games run, but you can't play more than 2 players because the multi-taps aren't compatible. I was really dissappointed when I couldn't go 4 player Crash Team Racing on the PS2.

	03-10-2004 06:01									#5
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quote: Originally posted by Verto What is meant by the first quarter of next year?

Take a guess

	03-10-2004 06:30									#6
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quote: Originally posted by BustaMike Backwards compatibility YES!

I *MIGHT* get Morrowind finished then!

	03-10-2004 13:04									#7
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Wooo.. backwards compatibility .

	03-10-2004 19:10									#8
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Very positive news. Makes me actually contemplate getting an x-box2

	03-10-2004 20:36									#9
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Getting another computer? No thanks, I have enough already.

	04-10-2004 06:14									#10
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Super!

	05-10-2004 03:29									#11
	Re: Xbox 2 news Lose 30 kilos (of popups)

quote: Originally posted by nostromo Now lets hope IBM will be able to roll out enough CPU's at that time.

I've been telling people this for months (or if not a year+), that the reason MS bought the VirtualPC software was obvious. Within a month they announced the purchase of Virtual PC (x86 emulation on PowerPC), and then announced Xbox2 would use PowerPC...wasn't rocket science.

Also, I would be surprised if the CPUs weren't done already. If it's just dual-core PowerPC 970s, that's rather trivial (seeing as dual-core PowerPC 970s minus altivec with a whole shitload of cache is called the "Power4" )

	05-10-2004 04:42									#12
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Now the important question: HD-DVD or Blu-Ray?

Sony is pushing Blu-Ray and said it will be used by PS2, which means 60 million people will have Blu Ray players in their homes. They also purchased MGM, which alone owned IIRC ~4,000 titles. 20th Century Fox has just recently announced they will also be pushing Blu-Ray as the successor to DVD.

	05-10-2004 05:18									#13
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quote: Also, I would be surprised if the CPUs weren't done already. If it's just dual-core PowerPC 970s, that's rather trivial (seeing as dual-core PowerPC 970s minus altivec with a whole shitload of cache is called the "Power4" )

Doesn't IBM have important yield problems for G5s?

	05-10-2004 06:54									#14
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quote: Now the important question: HD-DVD or Blu-Ray?

Neither one, I think. Plain vanilla DVD.

	05-10-2004 07:02									#15
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quote: Originally posted by nostromo Neither one, I think. Plain vanilla DVD.

There would be little point in coming out when an Xbox2, then, since PS3, using Blu-ray, would boast games that could run circles around anything Microsoft had.

Blu-ray discs could have anywhere from 2x-10x as much storage space as current DVDs; Sony is also working on a lens that would be backwards compatible and read DVDs.

	05-10-2004 07:26									#16
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If you ask me, current DVDs have plenty of storage space as it is. Anyway, aren't hd-dvd and blu-ray players über expensive?

	05-10-2004 07:38									#17
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They are right now, but so were DVD players when that was the new thing.

And it's not just storage capacity that is fueling the change from DVD.

DVDs right now lack the ability to show true High Definition - in other words, the DVDs are limiting the quality, not televisions or consoles. You can get better quality watching HD satellite, than DVDs.

	05-10-2004 08:25									#18
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Next gen consoles are due out next year, or so they say. And hd-dvd and blu-ray will not become mainstream anytime soon. (Maybe five years from now, if they ever become mainstream.) So their prices will not come down anytime soon, not soon enough for the next gen consoles. I don't know how Sony will pull this off.

quote: DVDs right now lack the ability to show true High Definition - in other words, the DVDs are limiting the quality, not televisions or consoles. You can get better quality watching HD satellite, than DVDs.

Yes, movies are limited at 480p. But not games. You can play some current Xbox games at 480p, 720p or even at 1080i (Dragon's Lair) if you want. Xbox 2 will fully support high-def games. You just won't be able to watch hd-dvd's with it.

	05-10-2004 09:36									#19
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quote: Originally posted by nostromo Doesn't IBM have important yield problems for G5s?

At 2.5GHz @ 90nm, yes.

The plan is to have the chips @ 65nm, IIRC. They're also adding stuff like strained silicon @ 65nm, which helps.

The problem isn't so much with the yields, but with Apple promising to have 3GHz G5s by summer, and the chips not wanting to scale very well -- forcing IBM to overclock them to 2.5GHz, which not many chips can do.

	05-10-2004 09:37									#20
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quote: Originally posted by Verto There would be little point in coming out when an Xbox2, then, since PS3, using Blu-ray, would boast games that could run circles around anything Microsoft had. Blu-ray discs could have anywhere from 2x-10x as much storage space as current DVDs; Sony is also working on a lens that would be backwards compatible and read DVDs.

I'd be surprised if Sony carries through with putting blu-ray on their consoles. The cost would be prohibitive.

	06-10-2004 02:21									#21
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quote: Originally posted by Asher I'd be surprised if Sony carries through with putting blu-ray on their consoles. The cost would be prohibitive.

I'd be surprised if they didn't.

	06-10-2004 10:28									#22
	Avatar Enlargement: We've got the solution

well, well, well... it seems the HD-DVD association wants Xbox2 on board

quote: NEC and Toshiba are trying to persuade Microsoft to use their next-gen media format for the next-gen games console. TOKYO--The HD-DVD association is attempting to persuade Microsoft to adopt its media format for use in the next Xbox console, Bloomberg Japan reported today. The news was revealed today during the Combined Exhibition of Advanced Technologies Conference by Ryoichi Hayatsu, chief of Storage Division 1 at NEC. "Microsoft is competing around first or second place in the North American [game] market," Hayatsu said. If the format were to be adopted for the next Xbox console, the association could "expect mass production [of HD-DVD reading units], which will lead [the format] to have a stable price from an early stage." The HD-DVD association is competing to take the lead on the next-generation media standard against the Blu-ray Disc Founders association, which has made some major strides in recent weeks. Sony, a member of the Blu-ray Disc Founders association, announced last month that it will adopt the Blu-ray format on its next-generation game console succeeding the PlayStation 2.

	07-10-2004 03:06									#23
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Boooo!

Microsoft, go Blu-ray!

	07-10-2004 03:30									#24
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I'm kinda happy with my xbox.

Not only does it have a couple of decent titles, but it also gives me comfort that i can brain any would-be burgler/house breaker with it.

I wont be buying an xbox2 even if it had super-greenRay of death
Heck my VHS player still shows a good enough movie.

Now if the xbox2 had a load of killer games that promised more than 12 hrs of gameplay(for example) - then i might reconsider

	07-10-2004 07:09									#25
	Full PM-box? Change here!

quote: Heck my VHS player still shows a good enough movie.

I use my Xbox for watching DVD's. It's pretty good. Its a lot better than VHS. You should try it! That said, I also don't care about high definition DVDs: like most people, I can't afford a high definition tv set.

	07-10-2004 21:18									#26
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Yep, with the price of an XBox being what it is, you could *almost* buy one as a DVD player and regard the games console as a freebie.

	08-10-2004 05:12									#27
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quote: Originally posted by reds4ever Yep, with the price of an XBox being what it is, you could *almost* buy one as a DVD player and regard the games console as a freebie.

except you can get a decent dvd player for 50 bucks. Granted, won't have the frills. And you can get a crappy one for 30

	08-10-2004 09:24									#28
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ergo *almost*