Xbox 2

It appears that the preparation for the arrival of XBox 2 has started as Microsoft has released the Software Development Kit (SDK) for its upcoming console to developers.

According to the latest news, the SDK has been shipped on dual Apple Power Mac G5 systems running a specially made Windows NT Kernel. The choice of the Power Mac G5 is no great surprise as it uses two IBM 64-bit Power PC processors, units which are similar to the processor that the actual MS console will use when launched. The Mac is also a good choice as it also uses ATI for its graphics (RADEON 9800 Pro), XBox 2 will also use ATI, although the chip will differ since ATI will use a post-R420 chip. MS plans call for the graphics hardware on the Macs to be updated as the boards become available from ATI.

It is not yet clear if the Windows NT kernel used is a 64-bit version or a 32-bit one. It is very likely that the current version will only be 32-bit as ATI is not yet ready with its driver support for 64-bit.

This SDK is a work in progress and its specs are sure to change as time goes by but the good news for developers is that they can now truly begin the creative process for bringing their games to the upcoming platform.

Well I don't know about you, but I'm not getting one! Very interested in what the games will look like though, I was very disappointed with the Xbox and ps2 in terms of graphics.

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<TD id=HB_Focus_Element vAlign=top width="100%" background="" height=250 UNSELECTABLE="off">Omfg xbox 2 thats gay ... i mean wtf i can see playstation to playstation 2 becase playstation sucks now days the grafix were the sux but xbox... is just fine we dont need a xbox 2 they are in it just for the money and i would say that in thier face i could meet the creator i swear i would</TD></TR>
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Uuh, everyone is in it for the money. They don't feed their children and pet elephants with love.

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ooook?

lmao

dont you hate greedy bastards

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<TD style="FONT-SIZE: 11px; COLOR: gold">? posted by Death To lag?</TD></TR>
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ooook?

lmao

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<DIV id=hotbar_promo></DIV></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Y'know, those big long spaces at the end of your posts arent really necessary :razz: And you could spend a few extra seconds capitalising words where appropriate and so forth... :razz:

But it's entirely up to you :biggrin:

You don't even know what the X-Box 2 could have to offer - Sure X-Box is 'fine,' but is it going to hold up to the next Playstation or Nintendo console with graphics? Or will the X-Box 2 even blow the entire rest of the console market away with image quality? Whatever they make is going to be a hell of a lot better than what is on the market now, and that means that gamers win. :razz:

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<TD id=HB_Focus_Element vAlign=top width="100%" background="" height=250 UNSELECTABLE="off">i know its not my fault some reson when i post my box turns white and it spaces down and i cant delete it if i could or knew how i would anyone know... ill go back and edit it</TD></TR>
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Try clicking "click here to use a normal textarea form", that might sort it out. What browser do you use?

Turn off java posting, that'll fix it for good.

And KFS put into words exactly what I was too lazy to type. :biggrin:

Omfg xbox 2 thats gay ... i mean wtf i can see playstation to playstation 2 becase playstation sucks now days the grafix were the sux but xbox... is just fine we dont need a xbox 2 they are in it just for the money and i would say that in thier face i could meet the creator i swear i would

You are such an annoying n00b it hurts

You don't even know what the X-Box 2 could have to offer - Sure X-Box is 'fine,' but is it going to hold up to the next Playstation or Nintendo console with graphics? Or will the X-Box 2 even blow the entire rest of the console market away with image quality? Whatever they make is going to be a hell of a lot better than what is on the market now, and that means that gamers win. :razz:

However, all the X-Box had promised was pretty graphics. Which I'm sure all the X-Box2 will offer, they seem to be forgetting a little thing called gameplay. I personally can't think of one in house game that is currently out for X-Box. Everything, or most of which, is third party stuff. That's messed up, I mean your launch games should at least have ONE freakin' title which is your own. Most of the reason 1st party games get made is so they can show you what the console can really do, the problem with X-Box (and X-Box2) is that isn't not a console, it's a computer that looks like a giant green brick.

The whole reason why consoles are great for games is because you pop them in, and you play, that's it, there's no HD to load an OS like on a computer, not on an X-Box. They put a Hard Disk in there and it boots an OS . . . wtf. . .that ruins the runtime ability. If the thing has anything that can be called an OS on it, it should be written directly onto the board, that way the load time is far less.
I don't think having a HardDisk is a bad thing all together, it's just when you MUST boot from it, why the hell wont you just get a DVD drive (30 bucks) get the games (rent, buy, whatever), and play them on an Emulator of some sort, which wouldn't be hard to find taking that an X-Box is basically a dying computer.
They tried to sell nothing but showy graphics, and they even failed at that. I think my signature will speak for me at this moment in time........

mmm thanks lep ill take that as a complament

Omfg xbox 2 thats gay ... i mean wtf i can see playstation to playstation 2 becase playstation sucks now days the grafix were the sux but xbox... is just fine we dont need a xbox 2 they are in it just for the money and i would say that in thier face i could meet the creator i swear i would

(My apologies for the crappy image hosting, my website is down)

Should have Bill saying "I'm doing it for the children"

No, it'd be better if he said "We made a console??"

Why is Death lunking around a giant medievil armor piece?

Crono said:
Why is Death lunking around a giant medievil armor piece?

The avatar silly, also it represents chivalry and valour.

//EDIT: Hello page 2

It also makes the person inside look like a morron. Why the f**k would you lug around armor? I mean, I understand the overwhelming amount of shootouts at Microsoft conventions, but still.

You know I really do think your missing the point...

Crono said:
It also makes the person inside look like a morron. Why the f**k would you lug around armor? I mean, I understand the overwhelming amount of shootouts at Microsoft conventions, but still.

lol

In any case I have to agree with lagg (except for the gay part, i don't like using those "terms") x-box just came out, well 7 years ago (dont know the actual time), My only hope is Halo 2 wont have to be on it, or ill have to wait another 4 years for it to come out on pc. AGGGGGHHHH. But (I know ill raise hell for saying this) PS3 will blow it out of the water. Only difference is b/t PS3 and X-box 2 is PS2 has been aroud for a long time, its time for a change.

Crono, I think the armour making him look like a moron just adds to the image. :smile:

:biggrin:

Yeah, Omega, I know what you're saying.

The X-Box is exactly what a console ISN'T (That's what I was trying to say, anyway)....also I'd comment on Death's comments, but I couldn't decipher the Noob code.

I just think that Microsoft shouldn't have a console in the market, especially if they're just going to make it a computer.
I mean . . . they already have domestic computers in check, they're just not offering the same games on them.

I still like to refer to X-Box's original design flaw, you know the one that grinded the edges of the cd :smile: (which they finally admitted to, like two years ago after they released a new version which didn't have the "defect") They shouldn't have released the product, they knew it was there and the did it anyway (Much like their other products). They just have bad buisness ethics.

Oh, and Dan, I'm not missing the point, I just don't care.
And A_S Good 'ol Bill does it fine on his own....I like the blue lines around the cropped picture by the way.....

That is the best picture ever. The suit of armour is just perfect :biggrin:

mmm thanks lep ill take that as a complament

You might want to re-think that comeback :smile:

call me ignorant, but whats this grinding the edges of the cd? Ive never had a prob with it (yes I have an x-box, I won it from a news station contest).

And what is an x-box? a computer with obsolete parts (today at least), the only reason why anyone would get it is to play Halo, but forget that its on the comp. now. So what other games are there? None worth playing as much as halo.

GAMECUBE

Omega, yeah, it did in it's first few releases. Microsoft said "it doesn't damage the cd's though" because it grinded the non-information parts off. Anyway, GameCube is awesome, I love mine like no other.

And no, that armor looks non-sterotypically gay.

I have to admit, I wasn't too sure about game cube, but then when I played it I was impressed with what nintendo did with the new technology: SSBM (super smash brothers), and zelda was nice, only I personaly dont care for cell shading, unless its in XIII cause then it makes it look even more like a comic. I've always liked nintendo, their products last a long time, thats why I still like/have my N64 and NES (here we go again with the classics).

Even the words seem to fit Lagg: "moneys" & "yuo" from the picture......lol

Also the actual consoles we're co-designed with Sega (which rules, forever!) and they're built by IBM :biggrin:

I really, really hope the rumors aren't true and they decide to keep the HD. I <3 my Xbox.

Argh! What is with you Xbox naysayers? If you don't like them for their range of games thats fine, but it is NOT a PC in a box in any greater sense than the PS2 or Gamecube!

Seriously now, what are your arguments toward these claims? That it has a HDD? Its sole purposes are to hold music for use IN GAMES, hold you GAME saves, and hold extra GAME CONTENT. Perhaps its because it has online support? Well you can't use it to access anything other than MULTIPLAYER GAMES. The sole use of this significantly sized box is to play bloody games, and if that doesn't make it a games console, I don't know what bloody does.

As for "people only buy it for Halo", that is a load of s**te. I can agree that it is the most popular game on the system and a major console shifter, but it is not the only good game on the console. PS2 people would shout and shout about Timesplitters 2 being a great FPS, well the Xbox has that too. Or perhaps how amazing GT3 is - take a gander at Project Gotham Racing then. Perhaps the xbox WAS lacking quality RPGs, but with KOTOR, Fable, Jade Empire, Sudeki and more either out or coming out this year, its hard to put it down on that front any more. The xbox has great games of all genres (with the exception of strategy games perhaps - something NORMALLY found on PCs...hmmm I note ANOTHER seperating comparison there), and anyone who fails to see a good game regardless of its platform is nothing but a lame fanboy.

I really like the Gamecube my flatmate has, I love my PS2, I'm on my second Dreamcast which still gets played, but reigning supreme is definately my Xbox.

Oh and SC, I can't see MS removing the HDD from the Xbox 2, but if they do I'll be sorely let down. Its one of the consoles crowning features and lacking it would be a big chink in its armour.

......not if it boots from that hard drive. And technically any console is a computer.

My beef with it is they didn't make it as fast as they could have, or as small as they could have.
I know it has a few good games on it, but that's the problem there's only a few (in my opinion, anyway). I'm not getting on your guyses back for buying one, or even owning one, I'm just stating my opinion of the machine, and it shouldn't matter to you if it's not a favorable one.

If the HD in the machine is actually holding those things, that's a sloppy design. They should have used a seperate set of exteran memory, that way it would take 1/2 the time to save and load. Secondy, yes it is a computer, it has the specs of one. You can probably overwrite the bios they have installed on the board and install an OS if you were so inclined.
I'm just saying, that just because it's made to be a console doesn't mean it is, but neither is the PS2, since they are releasing HD support and game development (you can buy a version of PS2 Linux, made by IBM, a mouse and keyboard, so that you can develop games for the PS2.)
But, at least the PS2 isn't Reliant on the HD, X-Box is. I mean that's cool that you can cache your stuff, but if you ever worked in any programming or hardware environment writting to the hard drive is a bad thing, you want to avoid it as much as possible. I mean people consider writting to memory to be hellworthy tresspass on occasions, simply because it kills run time stuff (and the Hard disk takes ten times as long simply because it has moving parts).

That's my beef with the machine.

I love my Dreamcast too :smile:
and my Saturn.

yeah its like a small computer... somewhat like the fragbox that looks like a toaster... lol but it got flattend i bet if you unskrewd a fiew skrews on it and took the cover off it would have some stuff that looks like it would go into a computer...

Anything that has a microprocessor and memory and can be programmed is a computer really.

That what I said Dan.....

Anything that can be 'programmed' and can store information is a computer. (by the way, the first set of memory ever made was strung up in a room with metal washers and paper towels! .... kind of like the first battery)

Blame microsoft for the x-box, lets just say that the x-box is pointless if you have a computer, CAUSE THATS WHAT IT IS!!!!!!!!! A low-end computer with an opeating system that limits you to do nothing. I mean comon folks, buy a comp. instead of a x-box, you get better control, graphics, gameplay, the same games practically, except for DOA beach volleyball, I have to admit there is an advantage that the x-box has, but thats all it does have.

Yeah, but if you got an Emulator on your computer and the actual games, with a DVD drive of course . . . . you have something that can blow away the X-Box, not to mention you could use the greatest controller ever, your PSX or PS2 controller :smile:

Where can I get a emulator for the x-box? I didn't think there was one.

There's many, just google it and search for hours on end, or check Kazaa. And remember emulators aren't illegal, roms are :smile: so you'll need to actual games once you've got the emulator. You can find it on some torrent sites as well.

I'm not going to give you a direct link though, because torrent sites also hold some questionably not so legal material.

Perhaps the xbox WAS lacking quality RPGs, but with KOTOR, Fable, Jade Empire, Sudeki and more either out or coming out this year, its hard to put it down on that front any more.

HAHAHAHAHAHHA

You said Fable would come out this year.

There's a couple of ps2 emulators in development too, but I don't think they're anywhere near completed yet. :sad:

omegaslayer4777 said:
lets just say that the x-box is pointless if you have a computer, CAUSE THATS WHAT IT IS!!!!!!!!! A low-end computer with an opeating system that limits you to do nothing.

You just described every games console ever made, including gameboys, most mobile phones and calculators, digital TVs and radios.... I could go on.

sigh . . . . we've covered this, I think.

The only thing I was trying to say is that, in having a Hard drive in an X-Box it SLOWS the game time down, maybe not while running so much, but it will definatly slow down load times, which is not cool for a console. Consoles are suppose to be quick and reliable. By actually using out of house computer parts to build a system is, well, nothing short of lazyness. (and yes the entire X-Box is built from out of house hardware, as is CERTAIN parts, such as video units in other consoles, but not the entire freakin' thing).

Anyway, it is all opinion on whether you like the X-Box or not, However, you shouldn't get on someones back because they think it's like a computer, because it is. It is the one console that IS a computer. The others at least don't RELY on hard disk support (Which again makes it slower). That's all I was trying to say.

The only thing I was trying to say is that, in having a Hard drive in an X-Box it SLOWS the game time down, maybe not while running so much, but it will definatly slow down load times, which is not cool for a console.

HD is faster than DVD read. Thus, caching files to the HD from the DVD speeds up game speed. Therefore, using an HD actually SPEEDS the game up and reduces load times. Plus, the HD eliminates the need for annoyingly small memory cards, allows for more downloadable content, and can hold large software updates in case bugs are later discovered that need some fixin'.

By actually using out of house computer parts to build a system is, well, nothing short of lazyness. (and yes the entire X-Box is built from out of house hardware, as is CERTAIN parts, such as video units in other consoles, but not the entire freakin' thing).

The XBox used a custom NVidia chip that you couldn't buy at the time it came out, and you're telling me it's off the shelf? Besides, why is it lazy? Using existing hardware makes the console cheaper for construction, ergo the console is cheaper for the end user. That way you sell more boxes, for less price. Everybody wins, unless you're a rampant Microsoft hater and don't want to see anyone buy this thing.

Anyway, it is all opinion on whether you like the X-Box or not,

No s**t. That's the way all consoles are, as well as any other kind of "like".

However, you shouldn't get on someones back because they think it's like a computer, because it is. It is the one console that IS a computer. The others at least don't RELY on hard disk support (Which again makes it slower). That's all I was trying to say.

All I'm trying to say is, don't post ever again.

PS - The Dreamcast, Gamecube and PS2 can run Linux. Does that make them computers as well, since they can run a PC operating system that gives you as much control as a PC? Let's not forget that the PS2 has a hard drive, and all of them have network cards, and all of them have a storage device (memory cards), keyboards and other input devices, etc. Your point is meaningless - they are ALL computers in various shapes.

lol ladies, please...

HD is faster than DVD read. Thus, caching files to the HD from the DVD speeds up game speed. Therefore, using an HD actually SPEEDS the game up and reduces load times.

Right, right, because memory is slower then a hard disk..... (other consoles load that information into memory instead of reading directly off the DVD)

The XBox used a custom NVidia chip that you couldn't buy at the time it came out, and you're telling me it's off the shelf? Besides, why is it lazy? Using existing hardware makes the console cheaper for construction, ergo the console is cheaper for the end user. That way you sell more boxes, for less price. Everybody wins, unless you're a rampant Microsoft hater and don't want to see anyone buy this thing.

The hardware used was only 'new' for a small period of time, meaning most people who've bought an X-Box bought it after they could have goten that hardware seperatly.

No s**t. That's the way all consoles are, as well as any other kind of "like".

Usually people mistake things I say for facts, I was just clairfying.....

All I'm trying to say is, don't post ever again.

f**k you.

PS - The Dreamcast, Gamecube and PS2 can run Linux. Does that make them computers as well

YES, I already said that twice.
But my point was in the mannor they use them.

However, the X-Box is the only 'console' which is also of the X86 architecture...

X-Box 2 specs......

3 IBM g5-class 64 bit cpus
an ATI graphics chip-256 meg
Its rumoured to be based on the forthcoming Windows longhorn OS and will be direct x-10 compatable :biggrin:

dont get too excited, its not due for a while :sad:

DAN200 said:

omegaslayer4777 said:
lets just say that the x-box is pointless if you have a computer, CAUSE THATS WHAT IT IS!!!!!!!!! A low-end computer with an opeating system that limits you to do nothing.

You just described every games console ever made, including gameboys, most mobile phones and calculators, digital TVs and radios.... I could go on.

True, but what made the x-box even more useless is its games were already on the comp, except for a few exceptiolns (DOA)

loth, where did you get those specs? Everything, even from MS, says they're building in house hardware this time around. (And inadvertantly trying to take over your entertainment center)

$loth said:
X-Box 2 specs......

3 IBM g5-class 64 bit cpus
an ATI graphics chip-256 meg
Its rumoured to be based on the forthcoming Windows longhorn OS and will be direct x-10 compatable :biggrin:

dont get too excited, its not due for a while :sad:

I think these specs are correct, I wouldn't be surprised that their using a G5 for it, those things are beasts, They render so fast, but in anycase my comp that im on now is much better than that.....well if I overclock my 9800 pro a bit, just a tad bit.

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HD is faster...

Right, right, because memory is slower then a hard disk..... (other consoles load that information into memory instead of reading directly off the DVD)[/color][/size]

Sorry, that's not how it works. Let's look at a game that uses HD caching, such as Dead or Alive 3. The first time you choose your level and characters, all the code necessary to play the actual game is loaded off the DVD. So, the first load is at DVD read speed. But, when it's getting information into RAM it also makes a copy to the hard drive. Loading is finished, you play the game, you return to the title screen. Suppose you want to play again. Now, instead of loading off the DVD, you load the data off the HD, effectively making faster load times.
Other games can use the HD by copying data off the DVD while you do things like sit at the title or menu screens - then, when you make a selection, it can do some or all of the streaming off the HD which is faster.

[size=13][color=white]The XBox used...

The hardware used was only 'new' for a small period of time, meaning most people who've bought an X-Box bought it after they could have goten that hardware seperatly.[/color][/size]

That's true for all consoles though - every bit of hardware on it is outdated in a few months, just like a computer.
Really, you haven't said anything about why it's bad for the XBox to use existing hardware. I've stated that it's cheaper for the company and for the end user. Why are you so opposed to that? I say, since Microsoft already loses money each time they make and sell an xbox, where's the incentive to make it "just a little bit better"?

[size=13][color=white]PS - The Dreamcast...

YES, I already said that twice.
But my point was in the mannor they use them.

However, the X-Box is the only 'console' which is also of the X86 architecture...
[/color][/size]

and?