The X-Box 360

[KenM]

My guess on the price is $299.99. Thats what the PS, PS2, Xbox was on first launch.

 

[trancejeremy]

Other notes - 512 MB of RAM is more than enough for a console, and is almost certainly more than PS3 and Revolution will have next year. When you have almost no operating system overhead (because only one configuration has to be supported, and you're never running more than one app at a time), you can get by with far less RAM. The current Xbox has 64 MB; the GameCube ~40 MB; and the PS2 only 16 MB.

The PS2 has 32, the Dreamcast had 16.

And the Xbox had more ram (and better specs) mostly because it was the last of that generation to launched, by a year.

In this case, the Xbox will be the first of the generation. Just like the Dreamcast was. (Even actually looks like the Dreamcast. Same color and basic shape, though a bit more melted looking)

I would guess it will be $299, plus another $100 or so for the hard drive.

 

[Angel Tarragon]

If Nintendo decides to buck trends and go with a single or dual-core CPU, expect the Revolution to have better games for the first year or two.

Pardon me but I have not been able to watch Tech TV since it has been relocated to a different tier with my cable company. Is the Revoultion Nintendos next console platform?

 

[trancejeremy]

I do suspect that the hype about Cell is pretty much the same as the "Emotion Engine", but it's doubtful that Sony would ship a console a year later that is less powerful.

 

[DonTadow]

My guess on the price is $299.99. Thats what the PS, PS2, Xbox was on first launch.

Oh I severely doubt that. The PSP was 300 dollars and that is without all thegadgets. As the videogame generation matures so does the hardware and these next ones are going to be able to do more stuff than ever. Look for 500 dollar machines, maybe 450.

 

[trancejeremy]

Pardon me but I have not been able to watch Tech TV since it has been relocated to a different tier with my cable company. Is the Revoultion Nintendos next console platform?

Yes. It's due to be released in mid 2006, apparently.

Also, the hardware apparently is actually similar to that of the 360 (Power PC based, ATI graphics), but presumably more powerful, since it's about a year newer. It will apparently also have built in wireless support and some sort of really wacky controller

Here's a story about the date (and also claims to have specs, but I dunno about the latter).

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/05/12/nintendo_revolution_release_date/

 

[trancejeremy]

Oh I severely doubt that. The PSP was 300 dollars and that is without all thegadgets. As the videogame generation matures so does the hardware and these next ones are going to be able to do more stuff than ever. Look for 500 dollar machines, maybe 450.

Well, the PSP was actually only $250 in the US, and $50 of that was due to the "value pack" you had to buy. The price in Japan was actually only around $175

 

[Lobo Lurker]

That's a lot of high-end hardware MS is putting into the X-Box 360. The ATI card alone would likley retail (if it were separately available for a pc) for around $500. I have a sneaky suspicion that this console is going to cost around $750. Hopefully I'm wrong it it comes in for around $360 (which ties in nicely with it's name).

The package (unless MS sees fit to change it at E3) is:
The XBox 360 console
One wireless controller
One 20GB removable hard drive

As has been noted, without a massive OS and numerous different componants to support, 512MB is a lot. Keep in mind that the GPU (graphics card) will be monopolizing some/most of that.

I find it highly doubtful that any games will come out that fully utilize the six threads that the multi-core CPU can use for at least 2 or 3 years (at least, in any meaningful way).

It is doubtful that you will be able to use the XBox 360 as a computer. It will support audio and video calling/conferencing and even accept streaming media from your pc. But if you mod the XBox, you won't be able to use it for XBox Live... and MS has mandated that all games must use in some fashion XBox Live.

Supposedly there will be a wireless networking card available in the near future; making the box completely wireless (except for the monitor/hdtv/audio connections).

I wouldn't be surprised if MS forgoes backwards compatablility. It's not really needed unless the software available at launch isn't very good.

Gamespot.com has a nice writeup on the XBox 360 that's a pretty interesting read.

As far as the CELL goes... I think programmers are going to have a heck-of-a-time writing for that monstrosity. And while it can do a whole heck of a lot at once, it's not a very advanced chip (not that it needs to be for a console). I think that, given AMD & Intel's demonstrations of dual-core CPUs recently, the XBox 360 will be the most powerful system on the market.

Time to pick up an HDTV, I think.

 

[Lobo Lurker]

Well, the PSP was actually only $250 in the US, and $50 of that was due to the "value pack" you had to buy. The price in Japan was actually only around $175

Do a little research (google maybe). The PSP is speculated to cost about $500 to manufacture. Sony is hoping to recoup that cost with thier licensing fees.

If you don't know, this is the standard business model for console providers (Microsoft, Sony, & Nintendo). They sell thier product at a hefty loss in order to get it into as many homes as possible. They make thier money back each time you purchase a game 'cuase a % of that purchase gets paid to them by the game developers/publishers in exchange for the right to develop & sell games using that platform (does that make sense to you? Ever since becoming semi-proficient with Spanish, my English skills have deteriorated and I find that I don't explain things as clearly as I would like).

 

[drothgery]

The PS2 has 32, the Dreamcast had 16.

And the Xbox had more ram (and better specs) mostly because it was the last of that generation to launched, by a year.

Err, the Cube launched at the same time (at least in the US), with quite a bit less memory.