CONSOLE NEWS: XBOX 360 News
Microsoft to launch Xbox 360 in Japan, Europe in '05
Microsoft today announced it would launch its new Xbox 360 game console in Japan and Europe in time for the year-end holiday shopping season.
Xbox 360 news from Japanese Xbox Summit
Microsoft Japan hosted this morning (5.30 am in the UK, 1.30 pm in Japan) in Tokyo the eagerly awaited Xbox Summit 2005. The event was used to announce a number of new Xbox 360 titles, most of which are in development by Japanese development studios:
- The big news is the announcement of Ridge Racer 6 for the Xbox 360. Namco also announced Love Football, due in time for next years football world cup, and showed a new trailer for the previously announced Frame City Killer
- Team Ninja announced that they have five games in development: Dead or Alive 4, Dead or Alive Extreme Beach Volleyball 2, Code Cronus, Project Progressive, and a secret game.
- The other big news that will please European gamers is the announcement that Winning Eleven (Pro Evolution Soccer) will appear on the Xbox 360 in autumn 2006.
Xbox 360: Enter The Beta Kits
The chaps over at IGN has posted an extensive article detailing the Xbox 360's Beta Development Kit. With the exception of the audio chips (this chipset isn't complete), the Beta Kits contain about 90% of the console's chip set. They comprise the specialized three-CPU core processors and the graphics GPU.
We asked the teams how much more powerful the Beta Kits are then the P5s they're been working on, and what the significance of that additional power is. We learned that they're still exploring the Beta Kits' power and limitations, and that while there is nearly twice as much graphic power, the way in which coding passes from the triple core processors through the systems, it's got to be cleaner than on single processing machines. One North American developer had this outlook. "On our side, we've been working very hard to tap into the full power of the Betas. On a technical side, while the GPU is nearly twice as powerful as the Alpha kits, the CPU architecture requires very clean logic coding in order to take advantage of its full potential." (We'll get to the clean logic bit later on in the story.)
Another developer explained the differences this way: "The major difference is in the video chipset, which is pretty different from anything you can find on the PC (or alpha hardware). It does some slick bits of load balancing between pixel performance and vertex performance, which helps us make sure that we're maxing out the video hardware no matter what we're doing. HDTV looks spectacular on this thing.
Microsoft still losing money on Xbox
DESPITE posting a 22% increase in revenue for its Home & Entertainment division Microsoft continues to make an operating loss on the arm amounting to $179 million, bringing the yearly loss to $391 million. This is down from a loss of $1.2 billion last year, so not too bad, but the Xbox remains a big money loser for Microsoft.
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Xbox 360 Hard Drive Content Revealed
Microsoft has submitted the media content of the Xbox 360 hard drive to the British Board of Film Classification for the organization to classify the age-rating.
Microsoft mulling HD-DVD in future Xbox 360 revisions
"The initial shipments of Xbox 360 will be based on today's DVD format," Gates confirmed at the time, speaking at a conference co-hosted with HD-DVD creator Toshiba in Tokyo. "We are looking at whether future versions of Xbox 360 will incorporate an additional capacity of an HD-DVD player or something else," he continued.
Xbox High-Definition Videos
The minimum requirements for viewing high-definition (720p) videos are: Microsoft Windows XP, Windows Media Player 9 Series, a 2.4 GHz processor or equivalent, 384 MB of RAM, a 64 MB video card, 1024x768 screen resolution, and a 16-bit sound card with attached speakers.
Download: Xbox High-Definition Videos
Microsoft hires third co. to build Xbox 360
Microsoft Corp., which has used two companies to build its Xbox game console, said on Tuesday it is expanding that roster to three for its next-generation Xbox 360 due out later this year. The software giant said Toronto-based Celestica Inc. will join Xbox manufacturers Flextronics International Ltd. and Wistron Inc..
Microsoft said Xbox 360 remains on track for a launch this holiday season in North America, Europe and Japan. It is widely believed Microsoft will release the product in November.
"With three contract manufacturers on board, we're poised to have the flexibility and efficiencies we need to keep up with the consumer demand," said Todd Holmdahl, corporate vice president of the Xbox Product Group. Plants for each of the three companies building Microsoft's newest game console are located in the Pearl River Delta region in southern China.
News source: Reuters
New Tech Specs Details Surface
- This new picture also reveals, for the first time, the transistor count for each part of the two-die design. The parent die has a total of 232 million transistors while the daughter die has 100 million, making the whole package a 330+ million transistor design.
In comparison, an AMD Athlon 64 processor has approximately 205 M transistors while the PlayStation 3 Cell processor has ~234M and the RSX GPU designed by nVIDIA has some 300M.
EBGames Online Xbox 360 Preorder
New Xbox Live Pricing Revealed
- The packages start at US$7.99 for a basic 1 month subscription, and go all the way up to US$69.99 for a full 12 months. This last package, the "12 Month Premium Gold Pack", is also the best value, with a headset, $20 game discount voucher, free Xbox Live arcade game, and 200 XBL marketplace points all being thrown in as extras. Once you take away the price of the headset ($19.99) and the games voucher ($20), it is really only costing you US$30 for the entire year including the arcade game and marketplace points.
Xbox 360 - World's First Unrestricted Hardware Access @ Spong.com
Spong
Gamasutra has a very interesting article about the new features of the 360 and how developers should include them in their games
Eurogamer has posted the results of their interview with Chris Satchell, general manager of Microsoft's Game Developer Group, regarding the details of the Xbox 360.
Microsoft Outlines Xbox Live Changes
With the forthcoming launch of the Xbox 360, Microsoft's online gaming service Xbox Live is taking center stage. The next-gen console will come with a free basic, or Silver, subscription to Microsoft's online community, but the company has also announced offerings for those who want multiplayer features.
Silver Xbox Live users can create their own gamertag and personalized profile, along with sending text and voice messages to other players. In addition, Silver members receive access to the Marketplace where they can purchase game add-ons such as weapons, new levels, and additional characters.
Full story: BetaNews
Xbox Live 360 - EU Launch Date & Pricing
Microsoft today announced that the next generation of online multiplayer gaming service Xbox Live will be available in Europe on the Xbox 360 starting this Christmas season. In addition to the Xbox Live Silver membership available to every Xbox 360 owner out of the box, for only £39.99 gamers can amplify their gaming experience with a 12-month Xbox Live Gold membership.
Microsoft also today announced that credit cards will no longer be required to create an account on Xbox Live for Xbox 360, removing one of the biggest barriers to entry. Gamers can purchase 12-month Xbox Live subscription cards via cash or other payment methods at any participating retail store. Subscriptions will also be available for purchase by credit card in one-month, three-month and 12-month increments through the Xbox Live Dashboard. Xbox Live Silver membership
This allows members to connect to the online community and create their own digital identity with an Xbox Live gamertag and personalised Gamer Profile. Xbox Live Silver members will be able to send and receive text and voice messages and join their friends on Xbox Live. Xbox Live Marketplace is the one-stop download centre for additional game-related content like free trailers and demos as well as content that adds more to games, such as new levels, characters and weapons. Gamers can also purchase and download fun, casual and highly addictive Xbox Live Arcade games directly to their Xbox 360 system (additional fees may apply; hard drive or memory unit required for downloads). * Included with all purchases of an Xbox 360 console *
Xbox Live Gold membership
This includes all Xbox Live Silver-level features and access to premium multiplayer experiences exclusive to Xbox Live Gold members. This includes online multiplayer gaming, enhanced matchmaking and feedback tools, along with exclusive privileges and rewards on Xbox Live Marketplace.
Subscription
1 Month - Price: £4.99
3 Month - Price: £14.99
12 Month - Price: £39.99
Subscription cards at retail & available through Xbox Live Dashboard (via credit card)
MS reveals Xbox 360 release dates
Microsoft will release its next-generation Xbox 360 games console on Tuesday, 22 November, the software giant announced last night. Consumers in Europe will be able to get their mitts on the machine on Friday, 2 December - though we note Amazon.co.uk still has 28 November down as the release date, a timeframe more consistent with Microsoft's earlier prognostications - while Japanese buyers can expect to see the system on Saturday, 10 December.
The new Xbox will ship in Australia, Colombia, Hong Kong, Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, Singapore and Taiwan sometime in "2006", Microsoft added. Microsoft has already revealed US, UK and European pricing, and yesterday it announced what Japanese buyers will pay: ¥37,900 ($344) for the full package, including the console's removable 20GB hard disk, wireless controller, remote control, headset, and Ethernet and AV cables.
Full story: The Register
XBox 360 dashboard in action
New Microsoft XBox 360 console unveiled
- Microsoft on Wednesday gave British journalists their first chance to play with its forthcoming games console, the Xbox 360, which will be launched all across Europe on December 2. The new machine will ship in two versions. The base model will retail at #209.99, while #279.99 buys a model with a built-in 20GB hard drive, wireless game controllers and - for a limited time - a free remote to control the console's DVD playback capability. Also a few lucky journalists in New York City who got a rare chance to play a collection of new games on the eagerly awaited Microsoft Xbox 360 gaming console.
Xbox 360 controller to work with PCs too
Microsoft on Wednesday released a new controller for its upcoming Xbox 360 device which also works with PCs. The Xbox 360 Controller for Windows will work with the upcoming Xbox 360 console, as well as with computers that have the Windows XP operating system.
"Gamers can simply unplug their controller from their Xbox 360 system and plug it into their Windows XP-based PC," Chris Donahue, director of Windows gaming at Microsoft, said in a statement. "This is a great breakthrough for the gaming industry as we make it easier for developers to create multiplatform titles."
Full story: ZDNet News
XBox 360 Detailed Tech Specs
Xbox360News.com have posted a summary of technical info about the Xbox 360 that was presented at the recent CEDEC convention in Japan: - Among 3 cores in Xbox 360 CPU (codenamed "PX"), Core 0 is primary and Core 1/2 are secondary. Core 0 is fully usable by a game program. Core 1 and Core 2 are shared by a game program and the Xbox 360 system. Network stacks, services, drivers such as a USB driver run on those secondary cores. 5% computation usage of both core 1 and core 2 are reserved by the system.
- The XMA (modified WMAPro) decoder in the southbridge chip can decode 256 XMA channels at the same time. Though the compression rate is variable, 1/8 is just enough for typical usage. After decoding, all software sound processing (multi-channel mixing, 3D surround sound, Dolby Pro Logic II/Dolby Digital 5.1 encoding) are done on CPU Core 2. When it processes 256 channels at the same time it costs 25% load of Core 2.
- A hardware-assisted tile-rendering method called 'Predicated Tiling' is supplied as a library for Xbox 360 for the case when 10MB eDRAM is not sufficient, for example 64bit (FP16 * RGBA) HDR rendering + Z buffer + MRT in 720p. While it affects geometry processing with 1.2 - 1.3 times load, it doesn't affect pixel processing as there's no overlapping unlike geometry. As the result, it doesn't affect the total performance as pixel processing load is inherently larger than that of geometry.
- The hardware tesselator in Xenos supports both adaptive and sequential, and adaptive tesselation requires 2-pass. If the tesselator is used the vertex output from it is limited to 1 vertex per clock though the performance impact can be mitigated as output vertices from the tesselator have higher locality for better caching.
- In a double-layer DVD for Xbox 360, 7GB is usable by a game. The transfer rate of the DVD drive is 15MB/sec max, 10-12MB/sec average. The seek time is 115ms, switching layers takes 75ms. Loading 512MB data takes 34 seconds.
- 2GB in the HDD is used for a temporary cache area for games. Its average transfer rate is 17MB/sec and the average seek time is 13ms.
- Game data is managed per user account and saved in HDD, but 64MB Memory Unit is also usable for checkout/backup. The Memory Unit slot is 2.5MB/sec write, 8MB/sec read. In its 512MB RAM, 32MB is allocated for the system. The RAM is GDDR3 SDRAM @ 700MHz (22.4GB/sec).
Xbox 360 Backwards Compatibility List
Microsoft has finally announced that 213 Xbox software titles will be backwards compatible with the Xbox 360 Premium system as of November 22nd. As previously announced, backwards compatibility requires having the 360's optional hard drive. The compatibility code for each game must acquired independently, and currently there are three delivery mechanisms in place: players can download the code (~ 5MB) from Xbox Live, burn it onto a writable CD from Xbox.com, or have a CD shipped by mail through Xbox.com. There are some striking absences there, but the list will be expanded over time, eventually comprising the entire Xbox library according to Xbox VP Todd Holmdahl.
In related news, here's an interview with Todd Holmdahl:
Xbox.com: Do I need a hard drive for backward compatibility?
Todd: Yes. Xbox 360 comes standard with a 20GB hard drive accessory which will enable gamers to play original Xbox games. Those who choose to buy an Xbox 360 Core System will want to purchase a hard drive if backward compatibility is something they want at a later date.
Xbox.com: How will you deliver the emulators for backward compatibility?
Todd: There are several different ways that you can get them:
For Xbox Live members (either Gold or Silver members), just connect your Xbox 360 console to Xbox Live and insert an original Xbox game. The system will automatically check if you have the latest emulation software, download it to your Xbox 360 console as part of a system update if you don't, reboot, and start loading your original Xbox game.
Those who are not part of our Xbox Live network will be able to download the emulators from Xbox.com, and burn them onto a CD to insert into your Xbox 360 where it will auto-install the emulator. Or you can go to Xbox.com and simply sign up for a CD to be sent to your home for a nominal shipping and handling fee.
Xbox.com: Are there any emulators already pre-loaded on the hard drive?
Todd: An early version of the emulator that supports Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 2 offline is included on Xbox 360 Hard Drives right out of the box as a special bonus to devoted fans of the franchise. However, to play Halo 2 online, or to play any other titles on the launch list, the full emulator update is required.
Xbox.com: What about saved games as well as free and purchased downloadable content? Will that be transferable to Xbox 360?
Todd: Content will not be transferable from Xbox to Xbox 360, including saved data and downloadable content. However, all free downloadable content for original Xbox games plus premium content for Halo 2 will be available on Xbox Live Marketplace for free. Xbox 360 owners will be able to get this free with an Xbox Live Silver or Gold membership.
Xbox.com: So do people have to buy their downloadable content again?
Todd: On the current-generation Xbox, downloadable content can't be transferred from console to console. For example, if you have two original Xbox consoles and want to have a specific content download on each one, you need to download it twice, and that means paying for it twice if its premium content. This also holds true from Xbox to Xbox 360.
Microsoft plans 300,000 Xbox 360s at Europe launch
Microsoft will have around 300,000 of its new Xbox 360 games console available for its European launch on December 2, a Microsoft executive said in an interview published on Sunday. Industry analysts' estimates of 300,000 Xbox 360s available at launch "were not far removed from reality", said Chris Lewis, the Microsoft executive responsible for the Xbox in Europe, in German weekly financial newspaper Euro am Sonntag.
Xbox 360s sold out in many U.S. stores after the launch there on November 22 and are still in short supply, with the console selling at a premium to its $400 retail price on Internet auction sites. Lewis said it was possible the console would sell out at its European launch too.
Full story: Reuters
Microsoft issues official statement: No Blu-ray for Xbox 360
- According to the statement, Microsoft believes the HD DVD format is the best choice for its consumer and thus is the reason behind planning to launch an external HD DVD drive for the Xbox 360 later this year. It also mentions that Microsoft has absolutely no plans to take on support for any other optical format on its Xbox 360, however they do mention that the console is a future proof system in that they can adopt its functionality to suit its customer's needs.
Streaming DivX through the Xbox 360
- This is not a mod solution or an Xbox 360 hack. This works purely using the extensibility points of Media Center and freely available tools from MS. i.e. no warranties will be voided and, when Vista MCE comes out, we'll be able to radically improve this. Aren't APIs wonderful?
Xbox 360 to get DirecTV integration
Joystiq reports that DirecTV will be integrated into the Xbox 360 dashboard, allowing users to download high definition movies and TV episodes, and stream standard definition content. A scan of the March 2006 issue of Official Xbox Magazine reveals "that a DirecTV blade might be added to your Xbox 360 Dashboard to accompany the Xbox Live, Games, Media, and System blades. In that blade, you could download TV episodes in high definition, HD movies on demand, and standard-definition streaming DVR (i.e., TiVo) functions."
Microsoft Set for Free Xbox Live Gold Event
Computer software giant teams with Verizon to offer Xbox 360owners a free weekend of Xbox Live Gold level access. Microsoft today announced that their first ever free weekend of Xbox Live Gold level access would be made available to Xbox 360 owners courtesy of Verizon. The Free Xbox Live Gold Weekend is set to happen March 31 through April 2.
During Free Xbox Live Gold Weekend, said Microsoft, Xbox 360 owners will be able to take part in online events like a 72-hour multiplayer schedule of some of the platform’s “most exciting” titles, Xbox Live Arcade leaderboard tournaments, Xbox Live Play and Win contests and Xbox Live veterans hosting new games. Additionally, a one million Microsoft Points giveaway will be happening to offer gamers the chances to win online credits redeemable for Xbox Live Marketplace digital downloadable content.
News source: DesignTechnica
Microsoft ramps up Xbox 360 shipments
Microsoft has ramped up shipments of its Xbox 360 console to widen its head start on video game rival Sony's PlayStation 3, the software giant's chief financial officer said on Thursday. The world's largest software maker raised the bottom line of its Xbox 360 sales target range for the year ending June 30 to 5 million to 5.5 million units from an earlier range of 4.5 million to 5.5 million.
Increased Xbox 360 production eased some of its supply constraints, but it also lifted manufacturing costs and hurt Microsoft's profit margins, Chief Financial Officer Chris Liddell said in an interview.
"We made a conscious decision to be very aggressive on selling Xbox 360 consoles to get as much into the installed base as we possibly could ahead of Sony's launch," Liddell said. "We're very happy with the market momentum, but from an earnings point of view, it's hurting us."
Full story: ZDNet News