Xbox 2 - No compatibility for Xbox 1 games. *** EDIT: Detailed specs now inside ***

[Regs]

Originally posted by: Eug
I don't think I know anyone who cares about playing their old PS1 games on their PS2s.

I do. I gladly enjoy the convenience to play Resident Evil 2 on my PS2. One System, still one gaming library. Perfect.

The XBox2 specs look impressive. But I would imagine a price tag of 400-500+ with a 3.5 Ghz 3'core CPU, 256MB of shared RAM, and a 500 Mhz modded 9600.

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: Eug

Originally posted by: Eug
I also think there will be no hard drive, but that's less certain.

If a hard disk is not included in every console, it will certainly be available as an integrated add-on component.

with no hard disk they'll have a hard time doing backwards compatibility.

i'm guessing the CPU will be pretty cut down to achieve those speeds in late 2005, and meet price targets.

a lot of this is just to spread FUD amongst gamers. remember how great the emotion engine looked on paper?

 

[nimo]

Speaking as some one who plays only on the PC
B/C is a big deal for me
I like to pop games like CivI, Orion conspiracy, Vikings etc? every once in a while
And keeping a separate partition isn?t making me any happier

 

[Eug]

Originally posted by: ElFenix
with no hard disk they'll have a hard time doing backwards compatibility.

Yup. My thoughts exactly.

 

[Arsynic]

Backwards compatibility is a must for the PC market because there aren't any architectural changes from year to year. However, with each console generation the architectures are radically different than the past and so backwards compatibility wasn't feasible. Xenon changes nothing. Sony put b/c in the PS2 because it was convenient. It won't be so convenient with the PS3.

 

[Regs]

a lot of this is just to spread FUD amongst gamers. remember how great the emotion engine looked on paper?

Yes but this time around the hardware that they'll use will be a direct derivative from Personal Computer hardware.

What I don't get is the CPU. How do they go from a P3 128 Cache to a tripple core 3.5 GHz processor ? That doesn't make much sense. Im guessing a huge leap in game development in the year 2005?

 

[Darien]

Sounds like a load of BS. Triple 3.5GHz..!? a 1 processor 3.0ghz xbox2 would've been somewhat more believable. video and ram don't look so off.

 

[MrCodeDude]

Today Microsoft didn't necessarily deny the rumors, but said they were "pulp fiction."

 

[dudeman007]

Text

 

[Eug]

Hmmm... There is speculation out there that if the specs for Xenon are anything close to being right, then it has nothing to do with the G5. It would be closer to an uber-souped up version of the CPU for BlueGene, with Altivec added.

Two of the top 10 supercomputers are based off this CPU, but they only use 500-700 MHz CPUs.

If indeed Xenon is based on a modified design of this CPU (or something similar), then it would be much slower than a triple-core G5, but it would also be much smaller, much cooler, and much cheaper as well. That would be perfect for a console.

 

[Wahsapa]

i seriously doubt its going to be 3 cores with each one running at 3.5ghz, i think more a long the lines of 3 cores each running at 1 ghz would be more acceptable and believable, even two cores running at that speed would be more then enough for an 'xbox2'. this could also could be the tie in of M$ giving developer xbox2 dev kits with dual g5's. either way 3.5ghz the xbox2 is not.

i remember ibm doing exceptional work with the g3's so much so that they had them running at speeds motorola could never get them at with far less power required. i would love it if ibm made the xbox2 run on dual(or triple) core g3's with 'VMX'(altivec), that would be hilarious.

 

[txxxx]

By the time this console comes out, Xbox v1 will be dirt cheap, so should anyone wanna retro game, they could just purchase one?

 

[ArmchairAthlete]

The games are what matters, not the specs.

 

[Sid59]

woo X-Box 2 ... i hardly play my X-Box now .. i could care less if X-Box 2 was backwards compatible.

 

[Eug]

The specs agree with the schematics published way back.

 

[Eug]

'Leaked' Xbox 2 spec no hoax, claim developers (according to the Reg and gamesindustry.biz)

Each core is said to be able to issue two instructions per clock, which is fewer than the PowerPC 970/G5's five. The document also mentions "128 vector (VMX) registers", when the G5, for example, has a single register file containing space for 32 architected registers and 48 renameable registers 128-bit vector instructions.

"I've not actually seen this specific document coming from Microsoft," one developer said, "but there's certainly nothing in there which doesn't fit with what they've been telling us.

"If this is a hoax, which I doubt, it's a hoax so close to the truth that it hardly makes any odds."

 

[mikelish]

I do not have an Xbox, but I am seriously considering getting one. Mainly because I want to try to mod it to turn it into a media center. If this is my only intent, when would be the best time to buy an Xbox (when will prices hit rock bottom, $100 I guess is what I want to pay)?