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"X-Box 2: 2005. Revolution: 2006 and Playstation 3: 2007"

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Thu 17/06/04 at 10:51
Regular
Posts: 18,185
It looks like Microsoft are to get the jump ahead of everyone, and in particular Nintendo, in the next generation console war.

Developers have been primed by Microsoft to have software ready for the "X-Box 2" (name set to change as Microsoft don't want to seem inferior to the PS3) by Christmas 2005. It has been reported that several developers would be miffed if the system was not ready by then. The X-box 2 is set to have no hard drive and no backwards compatability and this is believed to avoid a loss on the system like last time. Traditionally the first console out is the weakest and it looks like this can be the case, with Sony once again developing new architecture, Microsoft have left it to ATI and IBM to provide the guts of the system.

These are the exact companies that are creating the guts for Nintendo's upcoming "Revolution" console, and these companies are given an extra year to develop more powerful technology for Nintendo's machine. Despite Nintendo claiming to have "Revolution" ready by the release of the rival system it is looking unlikely they will match the PS3. Zelda is set to try and counteract the "X-Box 2" as that will almost certainly have a Christmas 2005 release as the Gamecube's swan song. A mid to late 2006 launch seems likely and the console is touted by Nintendo head "Iwata" as a "revolution" in the way we play games. He declared the system may incorperate ideas from the highly original DS system showcased at this years E3 that included wireless online modes, touch screen, duel screens and new forms of game storage. Nintendo have declared that Revolution will be backwards compatible with the Gamecube.

With Microsoft preparing a weak console it is up to Sony to provide the strong one. Sony in partnership with IBM is developing the uber-powerful follow up to the PS2's "emotion Engine", CELL. Although it may have similar development issues and what CELL can do is widely exageratted it does seem like a monster is in the works. But the PS2 for a change maybe set to launch its system last. DVD's destroyed the DivX system because the millions of game players could use the PS2 to play their DVD's. Now Sony have developed a high-definiton DVD system, Blu-Ray. But this has a formidable hurdle to overcome, the Toshiba and NEC backed "HD-DVD". How to defeat it? Include Blu-Ray into the ever increasing in power PS3.

For the first time ever Sony maybe last to the table, but with the most powerful system to offer. Nintendo are unsure on how powerful "revolution" maybe. Sony is going for power, Microsoft for early release and Nintendo is doing what the hell it wants to do. And that scares them more than anything.

Dringo.
Mon 21/06/04 at 11:26
Regular
Posts: 18,185
I've heard it is so unbelievable it can't be real or something.
Mon 21/06/04 at 11:19
Regular
"tokyo police club"
Posts: 12,540
I think 2.5 GHz is a likely figure, surely?
Mon 21/06/04 at 11:13
Regular
Posts: 18,185
It's okay mate we're all friends here.... we can help :D
Sun 20/06/04 at 23:42
"I love yo... lamp."
Posts: 19,577
It will NEVER be 250 GHz.

Even 25 GHz would be a ludicrous figure. We just can't manage things like that yet.

And yes I've realised that I can't count to five properly as well. Thanks for pointing that one out to like EVERYBODY Dringo.
Sun 20/06/04 at 23:01
Regular
Posts: 9,848
The thing about the Cell chip, it it's meant to be made out of a new material rather than silicon.

I think 250Ghz was the the expected clock speed.



I remember reading something about IBM managing to make a prototype at 120Ghz in the New Scientist.
And then about 3-6 months later, the Cell chip was announced.

So the PS3 will be mighty powerful.
But what will be done with the power?
THAT'S what counts.
Sun 20/06/04 at 14:39
Regular
Posts: 18,185
I've commented on Nintendo maybe being more powerful of the X-box maybe not.

But Microsoft's second run is sooner than you think.

Oh and NB the X-box was released in 2002 meaning it's life span if we are to get a 2006 release was a mere 4 years.
Fri 18/06/04 at 19:50
"I love yo... lamp."
Posts: 19,577
You can have infinite amounts of things in parallel.

I don't know how they'll set it up exactly, but I imagine that they'll use one as a main CPU and have the other two on a subsystem, one for AI, one for physics. Don't know yet obviously.
Fri 18/06/04 at 13:42
Regular
"Smooth Operator"
Posts: 180
Notorious Biggles wrote:
> I don't see the Xbox 2 being the weakest of the systems. In fact, with
> triple G5 parallel processors and a graphics chip based on the Radeon
> X800 (the new latest and greatest on the PC market) successor, it
> will have bags of power.

Err - triple parallel processors? As in 6 processors, or as in 3? I don't think you can have three, as they are addressed in increments of 1, 2, 4.

Sounds bizarre to have that many processors. That mother is going to run hot and loud, even though they are powerpc processors.
Fri 18/06/04 at 12:12
"I love yo... lamp."
Posts: 19,577
I don't see the Xbox 2 being the weakest of the systems. In fact, with triple G5 parallel processors and a graphics chip based on the Radeon X800 (the new latest and greatest on the PC market) successor, it will have bags of power. For the other manufacturers to beat that they will need to have multiple processors as well. Just higher clock speeds wouldn't work as well as the multiple processors though as you couldn't have as many threads running at once.

As for the continuing issue over the hard drive, no, there will not be a hard drive. Instead we know that there will be a high speed, high capacity flash RAM drive. Most signs point to this being built in. The evidence for this is that MS signed a deal with a flash RAM company called M-Systems. An MS employee has been rumoured to have confirmed it. Thirdly, to do away with internal storage like that would go against the grain as it would prevent content downloads, which is an ever increasing market for the Xbox. Also having so much power in comparison to the Xbox means that software emulation for backwards compatibility is a genuine possibility.

As for the Revolution, just saying that it will have chips from ATI and IBM in it means nothing. Could the extra year of development time make it more powerful? Possibly, though they have to be careful not to change things too much. Any major change in the internal architecture could force big re-writes of code. That would really nark developers, even before release.

As for the Cell processor, it will never live up to the hype. Sony have been working on it for a couple of years already with Toshiba I think, and it will simply never fulfill its remit. Remember before the PS2 was released? Remember they hype that the emotion engine got? We were promised realistic water and physics blah blah blah. Did we get those things? No. Sibs mentioned the modularity, well it won't work for the PS3 but the idea was that the cell processor could be used in many things, including computers and TVs etc. This goes to show that the chip is not a dedicated games console processor, but rather a multi-purpose chip. This has a variety of downsides.

I think that MS will make Christmas 2005 in the States, probably Easter 2006 over here. A 5 year life span isn't so bad. Nintendo... well you can never tell with them. I'm guessing 2006 in Japan, 2009 over here, just so they can laugh at us.

But as Snuggly said, Sony will likely get their finger out and stop being so arrogant. If there are two consoles already out before they get to the market, both having over a year head start, then the PS3 would lose a lot of market share.
Fri 18/06/04 at 11:21
Regular
Posts: 47
Personally, so long as Nintendo keep making consoles, I'll be happy. It's not so much the graphics or the power of the consoles that attracts me. It's the games.

After the SNES had been released, I still wanted a NES to play some of the older classics. When the N64 was released, I convinced my brother to get a SNES for Super Mario Allstars and Super Mario Kart. A couple years later, the N64 having just played Goldeneye 007, and just after launch, I got myself a GameCube for the likes of Luigi's Mansion and Pikmin.

Sure, Sony may be releasing a powerful machine - I've no doubt about that. But to be honest, I couldn't care less.

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