Friday, November 25th 2011

Microsoft Working On Not One, But Two New Xbox Product Lines

Finally, next generation gaming consoles are around the corner. It will have an uplifting effect on the entire gaming industry as it will raise the bar for visual and technical detail in games. Many of today's games are designed keeping consoles in mind, and so their PC platform versions don't look much more than what has come to be known as "console-ports". There are a few exceptions to this, but it would be refreshing to see most game developers move on to creating games that take advantage of today's insanely powerful PC platform, because the console platform will have caught up technologically.

Rumors have it, that Microsoft will be developing not one, but two product lines that succeed the Xbox 360, and we're not talking about product variants here, but two distinct lines. The first of the two will be an entry-level console designed more like a set-top box, designed around the Kinect controller (perhaps something to compete against Nintendo Wii U). The second product line will be the one that will be supercharged with the latest technologies that will raise the bar in graphics. It will compete with whatever succeeds the Playstation 3. There is talk that it will pack a 6 core processor, an AMD-made GPU, and 2 GB of fast DDR3 memory. This console could be unveiled to the world (although not launched), at the CES event held in January. Meanwhile, Microsoft is allowing TSMC some time to refine its 28 nm bulk process.
Source: TechSpot
Add your own comment

81 Comments on Microsoft Working On Not One, But Two New Xbox Product Lines

#76
Fx
btarunrSo do you. Games can be shipped in multiple discs, and consoles can cache games on to local storage to overcome disc changes.

Like I said, discs or physical media in general won't be the future, but digital downloads coupled with moderately spacious local storage. For those few games that will ship in physical media, they can ship in multiple discs.
yep, digital downloads is clearly the way of the future. below is a list of most of the major contenders. look at the number of distribution sources as well as who has launched them. the models are constantly being refined as well as acquired by others. those are the current owners as well as the year launched

-Steam(Valve, 2002)
-Direct2Drive(GameFly, 2004)
-Gamersgate(2006)
-Origin(EA, 2007)
-Impulse(GameStop, 2008)


physical media is slowly becoming obsolete...
Posted on Reply
#77
cheesy999
Fxphysical media is slowly becoming obsolete...
They key word there is Slowly

i don't think they're going to go obsolete until at least 2020, by the time enough people have fast enough broadband to make downloaded games a primary option for the consoles the games will have gotten bigger anyway and you'll need faster internet

look at it this way, you can already buy 50GB Blu-ray disks on the market at the moment

400GB Blu-rays have already been proven possible to do with just a firmware update to existing Blu-rays drives needed to be done in order to play them, they're set for release before 2013

Think about how long it would take to transfer that amount of storage space over the internet.

Overall, Digital Distribution will likely be the same as it is on current consoles, yes, you can buy it online, but i don't think it's even going to be close to disks in terms of market share
Posted on Reply
#78
LAN_deRf_HA
I remember what 512 MBs of ram was compared to what you could get for a reasonable price on a pc at the time the 360 came out. This seems worse. You can get $32 gbs of ram for $120 bucks right now, and it's only going to be worse when this thing comes out. And it isn't just enthusiasts buying shit in excess. PC makers love to throw in ass loads of ram as a selling point, it will be wide spread. 4 GBs would be vastly more appropriate.
Posted on Reply
#79
El_Mayo
I just ordered a PS3 the other day :(
These best not come out 'til like 2015
Posted on Reply
#80
Recus
btarunrSo Blu-ray doesn't even feature in the list of things the next Xbox needs. Because, you can distribute in multiple DVD9s for people to cache on the consoles and play without interruptions, or...
One DVD for single player, second one for multiplayer. L.A. Noire 3 DVDs. If you call this "without interruptions" so be it.
btarunr...consumers have the bandwidth for digital downloads. i56.tinypic.com/2e1sp3m.gif
According to my bandwidth? 1Kurgan1 said that not everyone have fast internet.
btarunrYes, you're the one making song and dance about Blu-ray as a game distribution medium, when BD-R cost 6 times a DVD9 to publishers. Game publishers would rather ship their game in 2 DVD9s than 1 BD-R.
lalala. All PS3 games ships in Blu-ray and costs the same price as Xbox360. "Mass Effect 3 N7 Collector’s Edition Mass Effect 3 N7 Collector’s Edition". I think even exclusives cost the same, though it's hard to find new AA/AAA PS3 exclusives.
btarunrNah, this is unbelievable logic:


...that you bring movie distribution to a discussion about game distribution.

Oh, and :nutkick:
Stop acting like a goat. I had quoted to things:
1) game distribution,
2) console gamers are casuals.

You only know Blu-ray for games. So, I explained where I'm using Blu-ray.
Posted on Reply
#81
Captain.Abrecan
I think console ram is special, and super fast anyways. Whole gigs of data fly in one end of the stick and out the other to render each second, so the console can get away with LESS ram as long as it is FASTER. The quality push from the new machine will be awesome no matter what.
Posted on Reply
Add your own comment
Apr 26th, 2024 17:13 EDT change timezone

New Forum Posts

Popular Reviews

Controversial News Posts