Xbox 2 specs unveiled

[Nostromo]

Impressive! Where did you get this information anyway?

[Asher]

Around the web. Beyond3D.net is a good site.

[Grumbold]

Originally posted by Asher
The game ran like crap on my then-state-of-the-art P3 600 w/ TNT2 Ultra 32MB.

Was too annoying to play.

What, SMACX?

DX ran like silk on my PC.

Sadly thats the biggest failing of PCs and therefore PC games. A good spec machine can still choke on a game because one of a thousand little technical widgets isn't quite configured the way they expected.

[Nostromo]

The diagram is a fake or an out of date internal document.

However, a number of sources who are familiar with Microsoft's console development say that the diagram is not an accurate reflection of the information they've received from the company about Xbox 2 - and could easily have been put together by someone with basic hardware knowledge from publicly available information about the forthcoming system.

"It's not impossible that it's a Microsoft document," one expert told us this afternoon. "But some of the figures seem very suspect, and the information included on the diagram looks to me like it reflects the available information about Xbox 2 rather than being a sensible set of information to put on a document for developers."

He voiced particular concerns over the fact that while the document notes "256+ Mb" of main RAM, it doesn't state what kind of RAM will be used - a vital technical point - and also noted that the CPU diagram doesn't mention that the CPUs used will be dual-core (effectively making Xbox 2 into a six processor unit), another important factor.

"There's a lot of detail here about stuff you could just guess or which we already know from public announcements, like some performance information about ATI's graphics chips. And then there's some really surprising missing detail, like the twin-core architecture and a few other really crucial things which Microsoft has already talked to developers about but are missing from this diagram. I'd have to guess it was a fake," he concluded.

Other developers familiar with the Xbox 2 architecture also voiced misgivings about the diagrams, with one pointing in particular at the information about the processor cache on the document as being inaccurate. "We've seen stuff about the cache on those CPUs from Microsoft, and this isn't it," he said. "If this isn't a fake, the only thing I can think of is that it's an old internal document that was a work-in-progress and never meant to be seen outside Microsoft."

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?section_name=dev&aid=3364

[loinburger]

Ultimately, it all comes down to game selection. PS2 beat the pants off of XBox1 in that department, so it just remains to be seen if XBox2 makes a better showing. (It doesn't matter how well the XBox2 runs Halo2 -- if Halo2 is the only worthwhile XBox2 game, then I'll be getting a PS3.)

[Nostromo]

Originally posted by loinburger
Ultimately, it all comes down to game selection. PS2 beat the pants off of XBox1 in that department, so it just remains to be seen if XBox2 makes a better showing. (It doesn't matter how well the XBox2 runs Halo2 -- if Halo2 is the only worthwhile XBox2 game, then I'll be getting a PS3.)

Yes, it's all about the games... you actually want to play. And I bought a Xbox for that reason. All the PS2 games I would like to play are available on the Xbox anyway. And, often, they are better on the Xbox. Moreover, I can play Morrowind or KOTOR on the Xbox.

[Asher]

"256+ Mb" of main RAM, it doesn't state what kind of RAM will be used - a vital technical point - and also noted that the CPU diagram doesn't mention that the CPUs used will be dual-core (effectively making Xbox 2 into a six processor unit), another important factor.

The guy is a moron -- the type of RAM doesn't matter. Its bandwidth is given -- 22GB/s, which is what developers need to know. The brand doesn't matter...

Also, the Xbox 2 is NOT dualcore, it's obviously a single tri-core, not 6 effective cores...did this moron look at the diagram, or does he just not understand how block diagrams work?

[Felch]

Originally posted by loinburger
Ultimately, it all comes down to game selection. PS2 beat the pants off of XBox1 in that department, so it just remains to be seen if XBox2 makes a better showing. (It doesn't matter how well the XBox2 runs Halo2 -- if Halo2 is the only worthwhile XBox2 game, then I'll be getting a PS3.)

nostromo is right. It's not the broadness of the selection, but the depth. X-box has a great selection of incredible games: KOTOR, Halo, Morrowind, Ninja Gaiden, Splinter Cell, and even the highly ambitious Steel Battalion. While PS2 had GTA and some other decent games to itself, the X-box is certainly not any slouch.

[Asher]

GTA is even available on Xbox now, as is Metal Gear Solid.

[Felch]

Yeah but those took a while to port. Most people I know had already had a chance to play them on other people's PS2s. The real virtue of the XBox, I think, is that it has excellent exclusive titles, and better ports usually of cross platform games.

[loinburger]

Originally posted by Felch
It's not the broadness of the selection, but the depth.

I agree to some extent. F'rinstance, the N64 released one amazing game every six months, and the Dreamcast had some of the most original games ever.

While PS2 had GTA and some other decent games to itself, the X-box is certainly not any slouch.

It's true that the PS2 had GTA to itself, but the X-box had DOA3, DOA Beach Volleyball, and Oddworld all to itself. So in the "exclusive games" department, I agree that the X-box is no slouch.

[Nubclear]

Originally posted by loinburger

I agree to some extent. F'rinstance, the N64 released one amazing game every six months, and the Dreamcast had some of the most original games ever.


It's true that the PS2 had GTA to itself, but the X-box had DOA3, DOA Beach Volleyball, and Oddworld all to itself. So in the "exclusive games" department, I agree that the X-box is no slouch.