Greetings, and welcome to another edition of Rumor Roundup for March 2005.
This edition almost broke the Dark Watcher’s "bull",
"crap", and "nonsense" filters. However, we sifted through
the dirt just to find you those gold nuggets of information for those up and
coming next generation consoles.
Microsoft Xbox 2 (Code Name Xenon)
Xbox 2, Xbox Next, code name Xenon…Whatever the heck they decide to call
it (Definitely not Xbox 360!) the console is still set to debut late this
year. Microsoft hopes to capitalize on becoming the first out of the
"next generation" gate. The head start includes already deployed
Xenon development kits to 3rd Party game developers with nifty
development tools powered by Microsoft’s XNA software ecosystem. Tools to
make better games faster! Well…according to them anyways, but the strategy
does allow game developers to get quite familiar with Xbox 2’s capabilities
early in the competition.
As we had mentioned in previous Rumor Roundups, Microsoft has approached
ATI and IBM to create the processing muscle under the hood of their new
console. However, do not expect off the shelf PC chips like those put in Xbox.
All three parties are collaborating to create customized chips specific to
Xbox 2. The previously reported use of 3 PowerPC processor chips has also
changed to be simply a multi-core processor based on PowerPC technology.
Microsoft is also planning to make the new console smaller and sleeker (unlike
its predecessor).
There are other major rumors such as an iPod like attachable device to use
in lieu of a hardrive, and wireless controllers. However, we will not give
them consideration since they are more speculation then anything else. We
wouldn’t be too concerned though since the new console’s debut will be a
short few months away. Then we can tell what is fact or fiction.
Nintendo Revolution
Looks like Nintendo has created a new codename for it’s new console
(previously called N5). That really is not too surprising because lord knows
how many codenames they gave the Nintendo 64.
As usual Nintendo is very tight lipped about what their new machine can do.
What we do know is that IBM and ATI are again supporting in hardware
development. NEC (who also assisted with Gamecube) is also aboard (Perhaps to
lend their multicore-based
system LSI expertise?). The main processor created with IBM is currently code-named "Broadway," and
the graphics chip set from ATI code-named "Hollywood". The capabilities
of both chips is said to produce graphic capabilities that will be on par with
their competitors. However, Nintendo seems to be moving away from the "need more graphics muscle"
motto, and instead claim they will change the way games are played.
Perhaps the change they are referring to has something to do with their
interest in gyroscopic motion-sensors. A deal made with Gyration Inc seems to
point to something along those lines. Gyroscopic controllers perhaps? There is
also a gaming camera device that sounds like Sony’s Eye Toy (See HERE
for Patent).
Nintendo is pretty much silent about anything specific (They always are),
but they did confirm that Revolution will be backwards compatible with
Gamecube. Technically it is not surprising since the chip makers are the same,
but this is historically surprising since all previous consoles were never
made with the capability (only the Gameboy handheld line). Nintendo usually
makes profit by regurgitating packaged classics from previous systems on
current systems. This news does seem to also point to the fact that Nintendo
will still be working with Panasonic's game media format.
Nintendo president Satoru Iwata also announced that the new console will have built-in Wi-Fi features. The Wi-Fi capability may be factored in with a new service that Nintendo will debut for Nintendo DS portable owners.
He also stated that the
new machine will support televisions and computer monitors, but other then
that things are pretty silent.
Maybe old Nintendo will reveal something at the Electronic
Entertainment Expo (E3 Expo) in May. Nintendo plans to debut their new console
in 2006, but definitely before Sony releases their machine.
Sony Playstation 3
Although their new console is said to debut in 2006, there seems to be a
lot of information surfacing. The most notable is the amazing specs behind the
Cell Processor.
This chip designed by the triple team (Toshiba, Sony, and IBM) that will
power the Playstation 3 (as well as other devices) will feature 8 Synergistic
Processing Units (SPU) with a Power-based core. The chip is said to top clock
speeds exceeding 4 GHz, and will be Operating System Neutral. It is reported
that Cell can run multiple OS’s simultaneously.
Obviously, that raw power is going to need memory and bandwidth. Cell will
use the Rambus created FlexIO (formerly known as Redwood at 6.4GHz), and XDR
(formerly known as Yellowstone at 3.2GHz). Cell will be powerful indeed.
Sony also confirmed their choice to use Blue Ray technology for their new
console. As previously reported, BD-ROM has a 27GB capacity.
The bigger surprise came from an announcement that Sony had been working
with Nvidia to create a customized Graphics Processing Unit (GPU). Previously,
Sony had used their own in house GPU’s, and Nvidia had furnished the GPU
found in Xbox. Sony and Nvidia are also said to be
working on Middleware tools to aid in software development (similar to
Microsoft’s XNA tools).
It looks like the May will be an interesting month since all three parties
are said t debut their new consoles at the E3 Expo. Till then…
Fun Fakes / Concepts
Xbox
2
|
Playstation
3
|
Nintendo
Revolution |
|
