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microsoft.public.xbox,comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.video,comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.chips,alt.games.video.xbox,alt.comp.periphs.videocards.ati
Yet another article on MS's plans for building the new Xbox.
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?section_name=dev&aid=2534
Microsoft turns to technology licensing for Xbox Next
Rob Fahey 16:33 10/11/2003
Are off the shelf components hurting MS' pocket too much?
Recent agreements signed by Microsoft with a variety of companies to
supply technology for the successor to Xbox reveal that the company is
switching to the manufacturing model preferred by its rivals.
While the Xbox is formed of off the shelf components supplied by
leading technology firms such as Intel and NVIDIA, the contracts for
technology for the next generation console, codenamed Xenon, indicate
that the company's attitude to manufacturing has changed considerably.
Rather than buying devices which are effectively PC components from
manufacturers, Microsoft's next generation plan revolves around
licensing technology designs from key suppliers such as ATI, IBM and
SIS Technologies, and then arranging for the manufacture of these
chipsets itself - effectively becoming a full-scale chip maker, albeit
one without a fabrication plant of its own.
This new approach means that rather than selling components to
Microsoft, as NVIDIA and Intel do, ATI and IBM will be receiving
royalties for the use of their technology - but Microsoft will have
ultimate control over the manufacturing and final use of that
technology, effectively giving the company far more control over its
own platform, and the ability to make significant cost savings on
manufacture.
This is the same system that Nintendo and Sony operate, and it's one
ATI and IBM are familiar with - since they've worked with Nintendo and
Sony respectively on console projects. ATI provides the graphics
hardware for Nintendo's GameCube under broadly the same terms as its
new deal with Microsoft for Xenon, while IBM is one of Sony's
development partners on the Cell microprocessor for the PS3.
Another benefit for Microsoft is that this form of technology
licensing will make the Xenon platform into a far more proprietary
system than the Xbox, thus making it far less likely that people will
be able to hack the system to run PC software. This has been a major
problem for the Xbox to date - the inclusion of PC components in the
box was a red flag to a bull as far as software hackers were
concerned, and it's thought that many Xboxen are now used as home
media centres and emulators rather than as games consoles as a result.
The technology licensed from ATI is likely to be based on that used in
the company's Radeon cores, but will probably be modified
significantly to fit a games console's requirements. Similarly, it's
expected that the CPU core licensed from IBM will be a PowerPC core,
but it may be modified to fit into the Xenon platform - in much the
same way that the PS2 runs a MIPS architecture core which has been
modified with a new instruction set to make it more useful for console
gaming purposes.
Although this will probably deter the hackers to some degree, and the
business and manufacturing model open to Microsoft will almost
certainly save it significant amounts of money (with actual physical
manufacture of the chips likely to be outsourced either to the Far
East or back to IBM itself), it has its drawbacks. The company touted
the Xbox as the easiest platform of its generation to develop on
because it was so similar to the PC; this will not necessarily hold
true for Xenon, which won't be based on an x86 architecture like the
Xbox and the PC. Making life tougher for the hackers may also make it
tougher for legitimate developers - and there are also major question
marks over how this console will manage to maintain backwards
compatibility and play Xbox games, with rumours abounding that
Microsoft has approached emulation specialists Connectix with a view
to solving this thorny issue.
Yet another article on MS's plans for building the new Xbox.
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?section_name=dev&aid=2534
Microsoft turns to technology licensing for Xbox Next
Rob Fahey 16:33 10/11/2003
Are off the shelf components hurting MS' pocket too much?
Recent agreements signed by Microsoft with a variety of companies to
supply technology for the successor to Xbox reveal that the company is
switching to the manufacturing model preferred by its rivals.
While the Xbox is formed of off the shelf components supplied by
leading technology firms such as Intel and NVIDIA, the contracts for
technology for the next generation console, codenamed Xenon, indicate
that the company's attitude to manufacturing has changed considerably.
Rather than buying devices which are effectively PC components from
manufacturers, Microsoft's next generation plan revolves around
licensing technology designs from key suppliers such as ATI, IBM and
SIS Technologies, and then arranging for the manufacture of these
chipsets itself - effectively becoming a full-scale chip maker, albeit
one without a fabrication plant of its own.
This new approach means that rather than selling components to
Microsoft, as NVIDIA and Intel do, ATI and IBM will be receiving
royalties for the use of their technology - but Microsoft will have
ultimate control over the manufacturing and final use of that
technology, effectively giving the company far more control over its
own platform, and the ability to make significant cost savings on
manufacture.
This is the same system that Nintendo and Sony operate, and it's one
ATI and IBM are familiar with - since they've worked with Nintendo and
Sony respectively on console projects. ATI provides the graphics
hardware for Nintendo's GameCube under broadly the same terms as its
new deal with Microsoft for Xenon, while IBM is one of Sony's
development partners on the Cell microprocessor for the PS3.
Another benefit for Microsoft is that this form of technology
licensing will make the Xenon platform into a far more proprietary
system than the Xbox, thus making it far less likely that people will
be able to hack the system to run PC software. This has been a major
problem for the Xbox to date - the inclusion of PC components in the
box was a red flag to a bull as far as software hackers were
concerned, and it's thought that many Xboxen are now used as home
media centres and emulators rather than as games consoles as a result.
The technology licensed from ATI is likely to be based on that used in
the company's Radeon cores, but will probably be modified
significantly to fit a games console's requirements. Similarly, it's
expected that the CPU core licensed from IBM will be a PowerPC core,
but it may be modified to fit into the Xenon platform - in much the
same way that the PS2 runs a MIPS architecture core which has been
modified with a new instruction set to make it more useful for console
gaming purposes.
Although this will probably deter the hackers to some degree, and the
business and manufacturing model open to Microsoft will almost
certainly save it significant amounts of money (with actual physical
manufacture of the chips likely to be outsourced either to the Far
East or back to IBM itself), it has its drawbacks. The company touted
the Xbox as the easiest platform of its generation to develop on
because it was so similar to the PC; this will not necessarily hold
true for Xenon, which won't be based on an x86 architecture like the
Xbox and the PC. Making life tougher for the hackers may also make it
tougher for legitimate developers - and there are also major question
marks over how this console will manage to maintain backwards
compatibility and play Xbox games, with rumours abounding that
Microsoft has approached emulation specialists Connectix with a view
to solving this thorny issue.