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.

Next Xbox Details Revealed!

Next Xbox Details Revealed!
San Francisco, Calif.—Today at the annual Game Developers Conference (GDC), Microsoft® announced the first details about its next-generation Xbox® video game system. Hardware, software, and services are being fused to power enhanced gaming and entertainment experiences.

Microsoft Corporate Vice President and Chief XNA™ Architect J Allard further outlined the company’s vision for the future of entertainment, citing the emergence of an “HD Era” in video games, fueled by consumer demand for experiences that are always connected, always personalized, and always in high-definition.

“In the HD Era, the platform is bigger than the processor,” Allard said. “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.”

Building on 10 years of innovation with the DirectX® API, the Microsoft Windows® and Xbox platforms will enable ground-breaking game experiences in the HD Era. To show what this will mean for gamers, Allard shared the first details about the Next-Generation Xbox Guide. Persistent across all games and media experiences, the Guide is an entertainment gateway that instantly connects players to games, friends, and digital media.

Features of the Next-Generation Xbox Guide include:

* Gamer Cards: These cards will give gamers a quick look at key Xbox Live™ information. They will help players instantly connect with people that have similar skills, interests, and lifestyles.
* Marketplace: Browse-able by game, genre, and 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 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 the Marketplace. Imagine players slapping down $.99 to buy a one-of-a-kind, fully tricked-out racing car to be the envy of all 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.

Typifying the HD Era gaming experience, the Next-Generation Xbox Guide requires hardware designed with software in mind. System-level features of the Guide, such as custom playlists, the Xbox Live Friends list, and voice chat, are enabled at the chip level, liberating developers to focus on creating games, not developing for technical certification requirements.

To support consumer demands for the HD Era, the next-generation Xbox is designed around key principles that let developers maximize real performance, using concepts they are already familiar with. The next-generation Xbox hardware design principles include the following:

* 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.
* A custom-designed graphics processor, co-developed with ATI Technologies Inc., designed for HD Era games and entertainment applications.

In addition, familiar software technologies (such as DirectX, PIX, XACT, and the recently announced XNA Studio) and an integrated team-based development environment tailored for game production complement the new hardware. The goal is to help game developers unlock increasingly powerful and complex silicon.

The HD Era gaming platform will strike an elegant balance of hardware, software, and services to power the new experiences that consumers demand. Gaming and entertainment features, such as the Next-Generation Xbox Guide, represent a shift toward more immersive and integrated consumer experiences. This shift will be further illustrated by:

* A significant leap to high-definition graphics, in which character movements and expressions are intensely vibrant and nearly indiscernible from real life,
* Multichannel, positional audio fidelity so clear and precise that players will be able to hear the faintest enemy footsteps sneaking up behind them,
* Richer online communications, and
* An abundance of on-demand game console content.

About Xbox
Xbox is the video game system from Microsoft that brings people together for the most exhilarating game and entertainment experiences. Xbox delivers an expansive collection of breakthrough games, powerful hardware, and the unified Xbox Live online service. The tag line “It’s good to play together” captures the spirit of Xbox as the social hub of the new digital entertainment lifestyle. Xbox is now available in North America, Asia, Europe, and Australia.

New Xbox details leak out ahead of launch

Mon May 9, 6:29 PM ET
Extensive details of Microsoft Corp.'s newest video game console leaked out on the Internet on Monday, three days ahead of the console's formal worldwide unveiling on MTV.

Based on pictures and purported eyewitness accounts that made the rounds of the Internet over the weekend, the console will be known as "Xbox 360."

Microsoft would not confirm any of the information circulating on the Web, saying "everything you are reading about at this point is buzz and speculation."

The console is mostly white and designed to stand on one end, will feature a wireless controller and also a remote control that appears to handle multimedia functions like audio and video playback, according to various online forums that track consumer technologies.

The console's power button has "skins," customizable appearances that can apparently be added by the user. Other peripheral devices that appeared in some of the shots include a headset and a kind of Web camera. The pictures first appeared prominently on the tech Web site Engadget.com.

On Monday afternoon, gaming and technology Web sites including TeamXbox.com, GamingHorizon.com and Engadget began to publish identical-looking lists with detailed technical specifications for the console.

Among those details were a detachable 20 gigabyte hard drive, support for wireless networking, three 3.2 gigahertz central processors, surround sound and universal support for high-definition video.

The sites also said there would be two tiers of the Xbox Live online gaming service, one free and one with a subscription that would offer enhanced matchmaking and customization features.

Plenty of details remain to be revealed, including when exactly Xbox 360 will ship, what it will cost, what will be included, what games will be available at launch and whether it will be compatible with games for the original Xbox.

It was not clear if all of those questions will be answered on Thursday's MTV broadcast, or even next week at the news conference Microsoft will hold at E3, the annual games industry trade show in Los Angeles.

Microsoft said in early April it would unveil its new console on MTV, a change in tactics in an industry where new hardware has always been revealed at trade shows closed to the public. Microsoft said at the time it wanted to break that mold and drum up public enthusiasm for its new machine.

That Microsoft planned a new console this year was perhaps the worst-kept secret in the industry though, as game publishers have said over the last few months they expect a new console ahead of this year's holiday season.

The original Xbox launched a year after the debut of market leader, Sony Corp's PlayStation 2, and that head start proved invaluable to Sony. Early on in the Xbox's life Microsoft promised it would not be beaten to market with its next console.

Sony is expected to offer some details about the PlayStation 3 at E3 next week, though the console itself is not expected until sometime in 2006.