Another edition of Rumor Roundup for February of 2004! The place where Dark
Watcher filters through tons of rumor, bull, crap, and nonsense. This sacrifice
we make all in an effort to deliver juicy information on yet to be released
consoles.
Sony Playstation 3
It looks like the heart of Playstation 3, the processors called
"Cell", may not be ready till late 2005. This will push the new
console’s release to 2006. It’s not like Sony minds since they are still
milking the profits off of their Playstation 2, and its
steroid multimedia counterpart PSX.
The new memory technology previously code named "Yellowstone" has
a new name. It is now known as Extreme Data Rate Dynamic RAM (XDR DRAM), and
was developed through a joint effort by Elpida, Toshiba, and Rambus. XDR DRAM
offers a bandwidth of at least 3.2 GHz (which is eight times that of today’s
best-in-class PC memory). It can also be expanded up to 6.4GHz, so it is
unclear as to which bandwidth Sony will choose in the Playstation 3.
Sony is really pushing for Blu-Ray technology implementation in consumer
products, which may include use in the PS3. Using this technology, the
Playstation 3 game media can hold up to 5 times the information compared to
regular DVDs. That’s a whole lot of gaming on a single disk!
Sony may be saying goodbye to it’s use of memory cards. The use of memory
sticks have already been designed into the upcoming portable gaming unit,
PlayStation Portable (PSP) . The memory sticks allow for data to be
transferred from a wide variety of electronic devices. By using memory sticks
instead of memory cards, the PlayStation 3 will be able to share data with
computers, digital cameras, and any other devices which use memory sticks.
This is also a benefit to retailers since memory sticks are already in the
market, and come in various memory sizes. It also allows easy storage and
swapping of game saves using a regular computer.
Sony is apparently also exploring the possibility of using motion-sensing
technology in the PS3. This technology, which would be very similar to Sony’s
accessory called EyeToy, could be the start of a new way for playing video
games.
Now we found this interesting. The website called PS3 Insider has been
closely following developments of Sony’s new console. They have posted a
rough "guestimate" of what the PS3 specs will look like based on
patent leaks, and recent news postings. Take a look HERE.
Microsoft Xbox 2
Microsoft steps in with a change of heart and strategy for it’s Xbox Next
console. Rather then doing "in-house" development as previously
reported. Their deep pockets felt the sting of losses from the original Xbox
console, so Microsoft is looking into the new console’s design more
economically.
Microsoft leaked specs on the Xbox Next, and it looks like Intel is out.
IBM is taking charge of the new consoles main processor. Actually processor is
not a good term since the console will include three 64-bit processors based
on the G5 PowerMac Apple computer. Nvidia who? More like a graphic chip
designed by competitor ATI. This new chip will reportedly be more powerful
then their up and coming PC chip R400. Apparently ATI will charge Microsoft
royalties per unit sold rather then Nvidia’s per chip approach.
With the new IBM and ATI chips, you can pretty much conclude that backward
compatibility is out the door. Even emulation will not be possible without
permission of the previous companies. So better enjoy your Xbox.
So what else do they have under the hood? 256 megabytes of dynamic random
access memory (DRAM), but can be upgraded depending on Sony’s new console
specs. Actually much of Microsoft’s approach will depend on Sony’s final
PS3 specs. For example, Microsoft has no plans of including a hard drive with
Xbox Next. They believe that developers did not take more advantage of it, and
so have opted to save on the cost to include it. However, if Sony adds one,
they will too. Xbox Next at this point will use flash memory cards.
Microsoft will continue their goal releasing their next generation console
first. They reportedly have already begun game development using G5
workstations.
Nintendo Gamecube 2?
That’s right. Nintendo’s new next generation console will be code named N5
(as in 5th console). As usual the Big "N" is tight lipped
about it’s details. They still plan on releasing the N5 in 2006 (basically
before PS3).
Satoru Iwata, President of Nintendo, has reported that the N5 will most
likely be backward compatible with the GameCube. With both ATI and IBM making
a return appearance to N5’s chip design, it most likely will be. Mr.
Iwata-san goes on to remark on how enhancing graphics is only of minor
concern. They are focusing on new and interesting ways to play games.
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