Allard offers XBOX Details

In a speech delivered at the Games Developers Conference, Microsoft Veepee and the man behind the XNA development platform J Allard expanded a little on the company's plans for the next-generation Xbox console. "In the HD Era the platform is bigger than the processor," Allard enthused. "New technology and emerging consumer forces will come together to enable the rock stars of game development to shake up the old establishment and redefine entertainment as we know it." The man orchestrating this 'revolution', also spoke of 'the emergence of an "HD Era" in video games that is fueled by consumer demand for experiences that are always connected, always personalized and always in high-definition', according to Microsoft's official PR.

Waxing lyrical further on the merits of the HD era, the new official line from Redmond speaks of an Xbox 'guide', outlining the following features:

* Gamer Cards. Gamer Cards provide gamers with a quick look at key Xbox Live(tm) information. They let players instantly connect with people who have similar skills, interests and lifestyles.
* Marketplace. Browseable by game, by genre, and in a number of other ways, the Marketplace will provide a one-stop shop for consumers to acquire episodic content, new game levels, maps, weapons, vehicles, skins and new community-created content.
* Micro-transactions. Breaking down barriers of small-ticket online commerce, micro-transactions will allow developers and the gaming community to charge as little as they like for content they create and publish on Marketplace. Imagine players slapping down $.99 to buy a one-of-a-kind, fully tricked-out racing car to be the envy of their buddies.
* Custom playlists. This feature eliminates the need for developers to support custom music in games. The guide instantly connects players to their music so they can listen to their own tracks while playing all their favorite next-generation Xbox games.

Developers creating titles for the next-generation Xbox will also be liberated from having to worry about programming for technical certification requirements (TCRs), as features like voice chat and 'playlists' will be integrated at chip level in the new hardware. The aforementioned guide to the way forward is also created with software at its heart, and the XNA development platform is what Microsoft hope will make the Xbox easy to develop for despite the rising complexity of the hardware involved.

On the hardware itself, Allard's presentation revealed the following juicily official details:

* A well-balanced system that will deliver more than a teraflop of targeted computing performance
* A multicore processor architecture co-developed with IBM Corp. that provides developer "headroom" and flexibility for the HD Era
* A custom-designed graphics processor co-developed with ATI Technologies Inc. designed for HD Era games and entertainment applications

Nothing too specific, but the performance claims are certainly lofty, meanwhile the new details conclude with word that development standards like DirectX, PIX and XACT will be supported to empower developers, as will the newly created XNA Studio, a tailored development environment created for ease of use and to get the most out of the new hardware. We'll keep you posted on this, and can't wait for more details, probably coming at E3.