1050°

Xbox 720 Specs: Eight-core CPU, 8 GB RAM, Windows 8 Kernel?

Microsoft Xbox 720 could have an Eight-core CPU, according to new leaks.

This latest rumour is via BD, who posts regularly on TGFC, which is a Chinese forum. What’s special about him? Well, he is an ex-Ubisoft employee, and claims to know all information about the Xbox 720, including the RAM, OS, and plenty of other stuff.

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hennessey864119d ago (Edited 4119d ago )

According to him, the Xbox 720 will have an Eight-core CPU, and a HD 8800 series GPU. This also fits in with our previous report where we mentioned that the Xbox 720 could be running on a AMD HD 8000M graphics card.

It is also said that Microsoft will be using Windows 8 kernel for the system, which is pretty straightforward, as they have been pushing it a lot. He said it will have 8 GB memory and a 640GB hard drive.

If theses are accurate it should be a beast, but I still think these will be toned down. I can't see 8 GB of ram, maybe 4 and a 640 GB hard drive seems like a random number picked out of the sky

iamnsuperman4119d ago (Edited 4119d ago )

640 GB puts into question the validity of this. I have one 640 GB hard drive) in my PS3 but that thing was hard enough to find (really obscure size). The general consensus is to make 250 or 500 GB then up to 1TB. 640 is a bit random.

DiRtY4119d ago

The number is probably used because the current Xbox 360 SKU offers a 320GB HDD. So they doubled it. And is 320GB a more common figure for HDD space?!

Anyway, if this is true, I think we will see some really impressive games for it. Can't wait to see what 343 industry will do with this. Halo 4 already looked awesome for a game that runs on a 7 years old system.

kneon4119d ago

I suspect the specs are a little old. the 640gb drives weren't around long because the 750gb drives came out soon after at about the same price.

But remember that they will be placing orders for millions of drives, they could order any wacky size they wanted to.

HammockGames4119d ago (Edited 4119d ago )

Agreed, 640 GB for a hard drive size is relatively uncommon. Not unheard of, but not as main stream as 500, 750, or into TB territory.

Generally speaking, hard drive prices tend to be lower for more common makes/sizes - cheaper to pick from the lot of what's already made en masse rather than requesting special orders.

And we know console makers will be looking to control mfg. costs.

Ezz20134119d ago

if thos spec are true
what do you think the console will cost ??!!

ABizzel14119d ago

@Ezz

We can't really say. None of those spec are off the shelf or detailed enough to give a specific price.

However, performance wise it should be on par with most mid-high to high end gaming laptops which are on par with mid to mid-high PCs.

So it's a jump, but not the leap from sd to hd. Most improvements will come from ai, effects, lighting, hd textures, scale, environment, improved resolution and fps, and scope. Not game changing graphics, but all things that will make games significantly more enjoyable.

Watch Dogs, Star Wars 1313, and all the games you've seen running beautifully on PC will now be on consoles, still not as beautiful, but incredibly difficult to see the difference with the naked eye.

hesido4119d ago

I agree 640GB is an odd size and standard size HD's cost less to end-users, however, I know a couple of hard-disk manufacturers who can get you great deals when you order several million hard-disks :) So I don't think the number does bad to the validity, although we can't validate it.

jmac534119d ago

You have to remember this will be a proprietary hard drive from Microsoft and not a company like Seagate. Unfortunately this probably means we won't be able to use off the shelf hard drives like the PS3 and will end up paying $159 for a 1TB official Microsoft hard drive.

sikbeta4119d ago

Like those rumors from months ago:

XBOX infinity = XBOX 8

Sounds Beastly powerful, can't believe people were talking about incremental upgrades, this thing (IF true) is a big leap compared to X360, can't wait!

AAACE54118d ago

I really hate when people judge consoles like computers. They always want more ram like it is a deciding factor. Pc's need lots of ram because they always have other stuff running in the background. Consoles generally don't have all that much going on in the background.

Not to mention the huge amount of heat 8gb of ram will create.

I know consoles are getting closer to being computers but the fact is they still aren't! They are currently media hubs.

MikeMyers4118d ago

8gb sounds good but I will believe it when I see it.

M_Prime4118d ago

am i the only one that is curious what it will use for games? will we go blueray? will we stay with DVD? I know with increased drive space buying games via the xbox will be easy but as it stands now you can't really get new releases YET. I would really love if then did something like a SD card. I mean blueray holds 25gb per layer. a 32gb sd card is pretty cheap.

i mean according to
http://www.emedialive.com/A...

a blueray disk is about $3 for 1 but of course larger quantities are cheaper

according to a random google search
http://www.dhgate.com/micro...
a sd card is about $5 for 32gb. Now again larger quantities would mean better prices and even Nintendo uses them for the DS. I know it feels like a step back to cartridge but transfer speeds would be awesome and no more scratches (dvds scratch, bluerays are much better i know) and i doubt MS will pay for blueray

ElectricKaibutsu4118d ago (Edited 4118d ago )

@M_Prime
I'm betting blu-ray. No way would they stick to DVDs! Maybe they'll go with a proprietary blu-ray based drive like Wii U but I'm betting they'll just use a standard one to be able to play blu-ray movies, like the PS3. Though, that means Sony will be getting a couple cents per Xbox since they co-own the blu-ray patent.

Edit: I don't know why consoles don't go with cartridges anymore, even though SD card sizes have caught up. I think when you buy discs in bulk it's still a heckuva lot cheaper than cards. The DS still uses cards because they use a lot less power and there's very short loading times.

ABizzel14118d ago

LOL at all my disagrees.

Check the specs, the only thing that's remotely advance would be the CPU, but it could easily be an 8 core FX processor (solid CPU's, but very common), and used in most AMD based gaming PC's.

The 8GB of RAM will likely be 2GB GPU, and 6GB system RAM, but even if it is 8GB system/multipurpose RAM that's generally the bare minimal gaming PC's have today (16GB being the standard).

The 8800M series GPU's are nothing, but a republishing of the 7800M series, that consumes less power, but has boost clock which lets the GUP reach higher clock speeds, as long as it's within heat parameters.

All this is great, but it's not running games at 1080p @ 60fps. THe benefit it has is being in a console and being tweaked to specifically playing games, which could help it outperform your a duplicate Laptop / PC, but not blow it out the water.

DeadlyFire4118d ago (Edited 4118d ago )

640 GB is not to uncommon for a laptop hard drive. They are easy to find.

As far as the CPU goes I am leaning towards Power7+ CPU for Xbox 3.

Well here is how I see Xbox 3/PS4 hardware so far.

8 core Power7+ with 32 threads
AMD 8870M(992 Gigaflops) + Another GPU. I am thinking AMD 8850 (2990 Gigaflops)

Roughly equal to about 3982 Gigaflops

PS4
AMD Kaveri x2(920 Gigaflopsx2 = 1840 Gigaflops) with 8 cores roughly 16 threads
AMD 7970M or other unknown GPU

Roughly equal to about 3940 Gigaflops

I know if you watch rumors like I do. That 1840 number should catch your eye for PS4 spec.

x86 vs. RISC at its best. Honestly if what I have listed is coming it certainly explains why there was an article claiming Xbox 3 would be twice as powerful. Wrongful claim if indeed true specs.

4118d ago
+ Show (12) more repliesLast reply 4118d ago
shutUpAndTakeMyMoney4119d ago (Edited 4119d ago )

Windows 8 kernel would make xbox to pc and pc to xbox port easy for devs to port games.

They have xbox live on windows 8 anyway.

But I have no problem moving to linux. PC gamers are not adopting win8 fast. Actually noone is since it's selling slower than vista. And vista sucks.

Seems Blizzard is porting to linux also..

One thing is for sure xbox 720 UI will be tiled based and will be advertised to be used with kinect.

That just sounds like a MS thing to do.

sourav934119d ago

"Actually noone is since it's selling slower than vista. And vista sucks."

Slower than Vista? Erm, I don't think so. I do agree that PC gamers aren't adopting 8, but to claim that it's slower than windows Vista, is ridiculous.

rainslacker4119d ago

They wouldn't be using a full version of Win8 for the Xbox anyways. It'd use the kernel, but the rest of the OS would be modified to suit the closed architecture of the system, as well as be tailored for the hardware. The kernel could even be modified to be more efficient.

Comparing a console OS to a PC OS doesn't really translate well when it comes to performance. At most you can look at Win8 and see what they might go for with design and usability.

For MS it makes sense to do this, as it is a way for them to push Windows 8 onto the consumer. It people see benefit in PC/Xbox cross-compatibility, they are more likely to pick up Windows 8. On the other hand, they'll be moving on to Windows 9 a year or two after the Xbox is released, and depending on what kind of wacky scheme they come up with to make it "better" than the last, it may render Win8 irrelevant.

I personally can see some benefit to Win8 in the system when it comes to integration with smart-glass, and would make the UI pretty usable and easy to navigate.

sourav934119d ago

Sorry sorry, my bad. I guess my eyes aren't what they used to be. I thought you meant the OS being slower.

mcstorm4118d ago

Windows 8 will be fine. What people are not looking at is the bigger picture. Windows 8 has only just come out and a lot of laptops/desktops that are out there for sale with windows 8 on where made for windows 7. Look at CES and you will see that there are some very good looking and well prices Windows 8 machines on the way.

Just because something is not selling well off the mark dose not mean it is a flop. (Look at the PS3 sales for example).

As for the Next xbox these specs seem impressive but I really don't expect them to be as high as they are. I see 2GB of ram not 8.

I do see the next xbox having more ties in with Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 though as this will complete the MS eco system to take on Apple and Google.

Look forward to seeing what MS and Sony give us at E3. I think Next gen is going to be even bigger for the games industry as Sony Ninteno and Microsoft will all be gong for the same markets.

steve30x4118d ago

He said its selling slower than Vista. He didnt say Windows 8 was slower than Vista.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 4118d ago
kayoss4119d ago

The bigger question is assuming that all these specs are true. How much would the console cost to the consumers. I know Microsoft will take a lost for every console sold but how much of a lost would Microsoft willing to take? If all these specs were in the final product, I dont see how Microsoft can sell this console under $450.

green4119d ago

I think Microsoft can make a loss with some and a profit with others if they offer to the consumer different purchasing methods like what they are now offering with the 360 in NA.

Buying it outright for $500 will result in a slight loss but paying $150 and a monthly repayment of $20 over a 2 year period will result in a profit for Microsoft in the long run because the consumer ends up paying $630.

LocutusEstBorg4119d ago

8800 is bullshit. The consoles are already being manufactured.

MRHARDON4119d ago

The 8800 has in development at least from December 22, 2011.

So AMD probably can provide Microsoft with a well developed architecture of the 8800 to use in the Xbox 720 if they really needed it.

DeadlyFire4118d ago

True, but they could have taken a die from a prototype planned design and sculpted it for the Xbox 3 in 2012 before 8800 started production. The 8000 line is the refresh line so most parts from it are just enhanced versions of 7800 series.

nirwanda4118d ago

The 360 had a protype gpu in it with unified pipelines before those gpus were could be bought on a pc, i expect the new xbox to have some future dx functions to trail in the new xbox

nukeitall4119d ago (Edited 4119d ago )

8GB would be the bomb, and RAM is cheap now, very cheap.

For fast switching between tasks (or background tasks) such as fast switching to a browser, chatting with your friends on skype, picture in picture and so on you need gobbles of RAM so this could be true.

For reference, Wii U has 2GB which half is for the OS alone.

GameSpawn4118d ago

RAM is getting cheap, but consoles and video cards do not use the RAM that is getting cheap.

DDR3 RAM is general use and as such is manufactured to be cheap and get cheaper until the next iteration replaces it (DDR4).

Video cards, gaming consoles, and servers use RAM that is more tailored to their tasks (GDDR4,5,6, XDR and DDR3 with ECC -- respectively) that also has VERY low latencies and errors and VERY high speeds. These things mean that this type of RAM isn't going to be cheap as it is MUCH more expensive to manufacture.

To put this in perspective 8GB of DDR3 is worth about the same (money-wise) as 2GB of GDDR5. If RAM was as cheap as you think, we'd have video cards with 16GB of RAM for graphics, but this just isn't the case.

nukeitall4118d ago

"Video cards, gaming consoles, and servers use RAM that is more tailored to their tasks (GDDR4,5,6, XDR and DDR3 with ECC -- respectively) that also has VERY low latencies and errors and VERY high speeds"

DDR3 with ECC is actually slower RAM than the regular counterpart due to the error correction it has to do.

A PC uses two types of memory, system and video. No reason why you can't have a similar system with a cache in between.

GameSpawn4118d ago (Edited 4118d ago )

"DDR3 with ECC is actually slower RAM than the regular counterpart due to the error correction it has to do."

You didn't read carefully did you. I mentioned ECC RAM in the case of Servers. Servers need the error correction. Also you do not have a complete grasp on computer architecture to understand that DDR3 with ECC can actually outperform Non-ECC when total performance is taken into account. Servers are working with much larger datasets than the average computer and if the processor is constantly having to re-poll data from memory because of errors and then subsequently the RAM would have to re-poll from either the hard drive cache or processor cache for corrections, you can see how things build up. With ECC RAM you are heading off the bottleneck, but this is only the case in systems where large amounts of time-sensitive datasets are being moved through the system, aka servers.

"A PC uses two types of memory, system and video. No reason why you can't have a similar system with a cache in between."

All caches exist to reduce bottlenecks (at least in the eyes of the user). The downside is depending on how big or small the cache is you can actually create a worse bottleneck. Also caches are VERY expensive to manufacture; this is the primary reason for the large price difference between processors with say 2MB of cache vs 6MB of cache.

Also RAM doesn't have a cache. The processor's cache (graphics or central) serves as the padding between the processor and the memory. RAM has traditionally, believe it or not, been the cache for the hard drive. However, there still was latency issues between RAM and hard drive so hard drives now have built in caches to help reduce latencies between HDD and RAM (and subsequently the processor) further.

It is hard to draw it out for you but any computer system follows this:
CPU <-> CPU Cache <-> Memory <-> HDD Cache <-> HDD
Graphics Cards are the same, just without the HDD:
GPU <-> GPU Cache <-> Graphics Memory (Depending on the system the GPU or Graphics memory will have a connection to the system bus, usually through the system's north bridge, to move data in and out of system RAM)
In most PCs' case everything fans off the northbridge, which is connected to the CPU and acts as a traffic cop directing data between the CPU, GPU, RAM, and out onto the system bus or to the Southbridge toward the HDD. Gaming consoles such as the PS3 and XBOX 360 do not have northbridges and southbridges per se as tasks that these two chips would have done are absorbed into the custom made CPUs and chipsets that these gaming consoles use -- the basic concept is the same though controllers are in different locations than normally with PCs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...

GameSpawn4118d ago (Edited 4118d ago )

(stupid 4000 character limit)

The only thing you need to keep in mind and the picture I always try to paint for people is that personal computers are general use machines that need their hardware to be flexible -- flexible meaning more mass produced cheaper, less efficient components. Gaming consoles are high speed streaming systems that are highly focused on primarily one thing -- games; so their architectures are designed to suit the data they process. In effect with this in mind, PCs are HORRIBLY inefficient systems while gaming consoles are far more efficient systems as less resources are going to waste every processor cycle in a gaming console vs a PC.

Also gaming consoles utilize faster more efficient components such as XDR RAM and GDDR5 and 6 graphics memory to aid in this efficiency over general computers. The downside being that to have the faster more efficient RAM you must sacrifice capacity to maintain the same price being spent on the component. Also if the data is being streamed through the system than 16GB is pointless if at any given time only 2GB is really ever needed. Find me a 16GB graphics card under $500 and well talk about the possibility of consoles having more than 8GB of memory in the near future.

nirwanda4118d ago

@gamespawn your right i think they will use faster ram, the cpu and gpu will probably be on the same die with the clock speed lowered slightly to help with the heat and mass production.this will help with bottlenecks between cpu and gpu and make it easy to share fast memory.

nukeitall4118d ago

@GameSpawn:

First of all, I appreciate that when you believe somebody doesn't understand things well you try to help out instead of bashing them. In my case, I'm a programmer and a trained computer engineer with a degree so I know this very well.

"Also you do not have a complete grasp on computer architecture to understand that DDR3 with ECC can actually outperform Non-ECC when total performance is taken into account."

"Servers are working with much larger datasets than the average computer and if the processor is constantly having to re-poll data from memory because of errors and then subsequently the RAM would have to re-poll from either the hard drive cache or processor cache for corrections, you can see how things build up."

The processor almost always has to fetch data from memory (RAM) because it's internal memory is very very very small. General RAM do not know if it has an error so it doesn't poll from hard drive again.

That is why it is called ECC aka error correcting code. It is an algorithm that is run to ensure correctness to a certain degree.

"All caches exist to reduce bottlenecks (at least in the eyes of the user). The downside is depending on how big or small the cache is you can actually create a worse bottleneck."

You can negatively affect performance with cache if you have constantly have cache misses. That is however up to the programmer to ensure the low amount of cache miss and is relatively independent of the hardware.

In almost all cases do cache improve performance.

"Also caches are VERY expensive to manufacture; this is the primary reason for the large price difference between processors with say 2MB of cache vs 6MB of cache."

It is not the *only* reason, among them yield/die size and mark up.

"Also RAM doesn't have a cache."

A cache is anywhere you put a faster copy of something in front of a storage. CPU registry has (L1-Lx i.e CPU) cache that is again a cache for RAM that is again a cache for hard drive and so on. You can always insert another link.

Keep in mind that consoles are often times a highly specialized design that doesn't always follow PC architecture. A good example of this is the PS3, it has most of the same components, but how to use them is vastly different.

"flexible meaning more mass produced cheaper, less efficient components. Gaming consoles are high speed streaming systems that are highly focused on primarily one thing -- games; so their architectures are designed to suit the data they process."

Yup, although consoles are now evolving to the point of being more generalized and sort of replacing PCs.

"Find me a 16GB graphics card under $500 and well talk about the possibility of consoles having more than 8GB of memory in the near future."

If you look at the PS3, it uses 256 MB general purpose RAM i.e. system RAM, while the GPU has it's own 256 MB dedicated high bandwidth low latency RAM. No reason why next generation console can't have 8GB of general system memory with a connected bus to graphics memory. Still far faster than fetching the data from hard drive or optical disc.

You might not get 4GBs of graphics RAM, but the delay is now a factor of 100-1000 times less due to this caching.

I'm not a hardware engineer, but schemes like that aren't exactly unknown....

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 4118d ago
user39158004119d ago

HD size are not hard to do and 640 its reasonable, but the cost of that beast will be like a normal notebook with an I7 ore lol... The price will be around 599 and up, they will loose money for sure, an 8 core cpu ugh... expensive adding an updated hd 8800 gpu? Forget it, will be lucky to pay 599 with MS taking the lost of manufacturing, advertising, and delivery to market... If it was those spec a 800 to 1000 is the fair price for that machine, well its not new that MS take risk, they did the same with xbox 1.

nirwanda4118d ago

Ms will pay for the designs of the chips from AMD and set up there own manufacturing plant to produce the components to cut out any 3rd party costs, and you can save loads of money in the future, alot of amd/intel chip cost go into R+D and ms wont be updating anything except cost cutting once the final specs are finalized.

chukamachine4119d ago

xbox machines have always been just a pc.

Nothing has changed.

Your going to be playing HALO,FORZA,FABLE,GEARS all over again with the 720p.

But this time in superhd.

InMyOpinion4119d ago

A PC fully dedicated to running games. No different from the Xbox 360 and many other consoles.

Gamer19824119d ago

W8 would cripple the new xbox.. It uses 2gb alone and the reason consoles last so long is lack of a foundation OS like windows. Look at phones and tablets OS take most of resources. They dont work on consoles.

ElectricKaibutsu4118d ago

All computers have operating systems, including consoles. As Rainslacker stated above, they would probably just use a modified kernel tailored for the Xbox, not run the whole Windows 8 operating system.

bobshi4119d ago

@Ezz2013 the target cost is $299 for the cheapest SKU.

KwietStorm_BLM4119d ago

If its another proprietary Microsoft drive, they'll make it any size they want.

Cueil4118d ago

they'd be paying per plate no?

fatstarr4119d ago (Edited 4119d ago )

but how much is price?

699 us dollars?

specs are unrealistic... Microsoft wouldn't release an 8 core when they can get passed with a 4 core cpu. GPU wise I can see that happening. ram wise its plausible.

SilentNegotiator4118d ago

Shhhhh! Don't ruin their dreams! People eat unrealistic specs up on this site.

nirwanda4118d ago

The 360 had a triple core cpu while pc's had only duel core processors, and the gpu was an experiment for unified shared tech before it was available on the pc, if you look at it from AMDs point of view MS are paying for chip design of a new dx chip for free (R+D is alot of the cost) and ms gets to make a slightly scared back version of new tech early

Nafon4119d ago

8gb of ram would only be useful if this actually ran windows 8 lol

clrlite4118d ago (Edited 4118d ago )

yeah Nafon, unless it features some absurdly high tech GPU (and fast ram) that will actually help utilize the RAM properly. Also, if it runs windows 8 it will probably be a modified version of the OS imo.

Lior4118d ago

Hahaha those specs are a joke the gpu is already outdated and I do believe even the ps3 has an 8 core CPU

4118d ago
tee_bag2424118d ago (Edited 4118d ago )

Lior..Immature much?

legend9114118d ago

It will be AMD, most likely. Just not so much RAM or space. That sounds like someone who is uneducated on consoles threw together an article and called it a rumor.

UnholyLight4118d ago

Not sure why all the dislikes. 640GB sounds about right but you are correct kind of a weird number.

talisker4118d ago

Those are probably the devbox specs. I heard something similar firsthand from a friend working in gamedev. He also said one core will be used exclusively for the system.

+ Show (13) more repliesLast reply 4118d ago
4119d ago Replies(1)
YoungPlex4119d ago

If this is the case, 720 will be a beast!

Munky4119d ago (Edited 4119d ago )

I was thinking the same thing, that mock up is pretty sexy looking. The actual console, not the cheesy "infinity" logo.

YoungPlex4119d ago (Edited 4119d ago )

I know right! I honestly think that MS has the advantage of selling at a loss. They might not be the best selling in every department but they do have the most headroom to be flexible a bit. I see PS4 being somewhere in the middle realistically, in terms of power of course. However, power is NOT everything, but it will be nice to have a true nextgen system...

UnholyLight4118d ago

Actually that infinity logo is kinda cool. Works well

ElectricKaibutsu4118d ago

@YoungPlex
I agree. If the PS4 is a bit less powerful than the next Xbox, I can't see how that would hurt Sony in any way. It saves Sony money, it saves us consumers money, and they'll still get all the multiplats. Just like the 360 this generation, it was weaker than the PS3 but that didn't actually matter for anything other than fanboy bragging rights.

greenpowerz4119d ago (Edited 4119d ago )

it kind of has to be a beast. running Next gen motion and being an own the living room Multi media hub for all MSFT's products. IF MSFT is serious the 720 would have to be some soft of Home theater PC hybrid.

@YoungPlex. MSFT dropped the price of the 360 as conservitive as possible and basically milked the price, just for that very reason. I've been saying this for months.

MSFT tested the waters with their subsidized payment plan. I have a feeling they don't like the cost of new generations too often and are trying to future proof as much as possible. The leaked docs claim more of a PC-ish direction with Hardware/upgrading/multi sku

Wouldn't be surprised if this thing scales in the same ballpark as OPPO blu-ray players.

DivineAssault 4118d ago

pipe dreams are always fun.. Jus wait til E3 rolls around before u start claiming its validity..

zebrahim4119d ago

A mobile GpU? Mmm...can someone explain this to me? Is the next xbox competing with the ipad? Lol

Pandamobile4119d ago

It's not surprising that consoles use a mobile version of a GPU. If they used the desktop version, the TDP would likely be too high for a little box like a console.

OpenGL4119d ago

That's not what they mean by mobile GPU, they're specifically referring to laptop-class GPUs, some of which are extremely powerful and capable of playing any game out. The Geforce GTX 680MX is a mobile GPU that is almost as fast as a desktop Geforce GTX 670 and has the same shader/rop/tmu count of the GTX 680.

FlyingFoxy4118d ago

I have a 5870M in my laptop, and there hasn't been a revolution in GPU's for years. I mean if you look at performance per card each year it's been about a 10-15% performance increase. it's like the Desktop 5870 which i also have, the 6870 released a year later was actually 10% or so slower than the 5870. So card numbers don't always tell the true story.

However, my laptop plays some games like L4D2 @ 1080P full details and rarely drops below 60FPS. On my desktop i don't think it ever does with the same desktop card. So while it's obvious the desktop equivalent card is better than the mobile card, mobile card's are still decent.

I think they should add an SSD to the consoles though even if it's only 64GB as it would make a large difference to load times in games, it does for sure on PC.

tee_bag2424118d ago

680MX is a beast! I got the 7970M which is pretty beasty too

Show all comments (157)
280°

Xbox's Preservation Step Sets A Much-Needed Example, Especially For Nintendo

Hanzla from eXputer inquires: "If Xbox can care about preserving its games and legacy, what exactly is wrong with Nintendo, trying to kill game preservation single-handedly?"

purple1015d ago

Ahh yes the good old game preservation of saving all your games to a removable hhd on the Xbox 360, taking it round your mates house, setting up multiple tvs to
Be met with “save data corrupted, please re download”

Or how about removing 360 games
From the store
, download them now or else, and, better hope to god that save data doesn’t corrupt, or it’s lost for ever

Nice one ☝️

Zeref5d ago

It's better than what Nintendo and Playstation is doing. It might not be perfect but at least they are TRYING. Unlike the others.

DarXyde5d ago

Trying? Take off the blinders for a moment, mate.

1. A failure to preserve games is just that: a failure to preserve games. Don't try to sugarcoat it: NO ONE is doing it properly. Better than awful is nothing to write home about.

2. At the time of this comment, isn't it the case that you need an internet connection to play Xbox games even if you buy physical discs that are hardly in circulation anymore? I don't have a Series X and I can't verify, but I think that is correct. I'm fairly certain you can at least play PS5 games at version 1.0 (not much of a win really when many games require day one patches). I think Microsoft's all digital, licensing approach is by far more aggressive than anyone else's. They really try to push you to game pass where you lose your entire library by umm.... Skipping a month of payments.

I don't think anyone is doing it right whatsoever. Don't get me started on Nintendo, who goes after anyone looking to preserve their games better than they ever would with extreme litigation.

Don't be a simp for any of these companies. Get it together.

PhillyDonJawn5d ago (Edited 5d ago )

@DarX never speak on Xbox again. You lost all credibility with your internet connection comment. Smh you have 0 clue and misinformed yet speaking on something you don't no squat about.

Einhander19725d ago

What has Sony done exactly? You guys keep deflecting to Sony but I am not actually seeing any results, and ai am certain nothing that you can come up with even comes close to what Microsoft has done and what they have tried and failed to do, like tie all your disks to your account on xbone.

Microsoft removed their whole indie section when they moved to the xbone because they were going to only allow games on the service that came from a publisher, id@xbox started after xbone launched and it only exists because Sony embraced indie and Microsoft was forced to cancel their plans and reverse course.

And every single game that was part of games for windows live including disk games (I have gta 4 on disk that won't work) so hundreds of games that use that DRM no longer work unless the company themselves patched it out which of course very few did.

MrBaskerville5d ago

Not trying. Tried. they killed of the backcomp program years ago. They set something up again, but sounds like it's more of an attempt to save the current library on whatever they are planning next. With luck they save everything and more, but let's see. I could see them killing off parts of the OG xbox and 360 libraries. Can't imagine that they would allow us to play Forza 5-7 in the future.

With that said, I do like what they've done and really wish they could have done more.

shinoff21834d ago

Zeref

So killing off physical media is trying what exactly. Ms don't really give a fk if you think they do your kidding yourself.

Profchaos4d ago

They are not trying this team is established for forward compatability the team is. It interested in preserving Xbox or 360 games.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 4d ago
isarai5d ago

Is that why Hellblade 2 is digital only?

Zeref5d ago

Just because it's digital only doesn't mean you can't preserve it. Just put it on an external and you have the exact same functionality of what a disc does.

MrNinosan5d ago

Guess you're trolling, but if you actually think that's how it works, I'd recommend buying some braincells.

mkis0074d ago (Edited 4d ago )

Volitile vs nonvolitile data. A disc will not corrupt either. A drive can be corrupted.

Einhander19725d ago

This is just a scammy PR move to distract from the fact they are going digital only and trying to push streaming and subscriptions only.

No gaming company has pushed harder to remove ownership than Microsoft.

Without discs there is no preservation, preservation can't be done by the rights holders it can only be done by the consumers, anything else is a lie.

5d ago Replies(3)
Einhander19725d ago

Anyone remember xblig which Microsoft removed their whole 360 indie section removing hundreds of games from people?

5d ago
5d ago
Zeref5d ago

Do you know you can put your games on an external and preserve them that way? There are no benefits to discs. ZERO. Idk why some of you are still obsessed with them.

DarXyde5d ago

Because games like Persona 5 exist. It's STILL V1.00. On Playstation, that's a win because 1.00 is installed on the disc—no need to download anything.

If a game does not require any updates, it's all on the disc.

Extremely low bar in the modern era, of course. It's not much of a win by any stretch.

But for now, physical media does have a purpose, at least on Playstation.

Einhander19725d ago

That is factually not how game licensing works, try plugging your hard drive into someone else xbox, It's not going to work, and it won't work if the licensing servers ever go down.

Einhander19725d ago

Anyone remember games for windows live.

I have around a dozen games, some on Steam itself that will not work because Microsoft shut off the licensing servers.

BehindTheRows5d ago (Edited 5d ago )

I do. I STILL have games (Gears of War being the big one) I cannot access because Games for Windows LIVE is total garbage and no one has held Microsoft accountable.

Zeref5d ago (Edited 5d ago )

You don't have an Xbox apparently. Because you can 100 percent plug in your external and play games from it on any Xbox console lol. You just have to be logged in to prove ownership.

Chevalier4d ago

"You don't have an Xbox apparently. Because you can 100 percent plug in your external and play games from it on any Xbox console lol. You just have to be logged in to prove ownership."

Damn how many times do people got to explain your idiocy to you? You can take a copy of Persona 5 like someone used as an example and play that game on ANY console WITHOUT logging in which means I can lend the game to a friend without internet and they can play my game. Can you lend your hard drive to anyone without logging in for them to play? NOPE. That is a huge difference and if you think otherwise then sorry you're an idiot.

Tacoboto5d ago

"No gaming company has pushed harder to remove ownership than Microsoft."

Ubisoft is literally erasing games people bought from their libraries... My PS1-3 discs are useless on modern hardware. Nintendo's re-published and resold almost their entire Wii U library, and the eShop is completely dead with no BC mechanism in the Switch software. Microsoft publishes everything they make today day one on Steam and Xbox/Windows. Sony only brings to PC the titles they think you might want some years later and Nintendo won't even design a functional long-lasting joystick.

You're absolutely trolling and not serious if you think Microsoft today is the worst offender.

shinoff21834d ago

Yay steam

Not everyone fks with computers though. The disc is still the best way as a console player. Period.

Tacoboto4d ago

How do Sony and Nintendo feel about these discs from 2001-2013?

Don't be stupid, you know Xbox is the best at this today.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 4d ago
Hofstaderman5d ago

Nobody wants this. Sales or the lack of it in the case of XBOX is very telling. I wonder how the adorably all digital series X will fare. Adorably dismal perhaps?

crazyCoconuts5d ago

Only time will tell, but for from someone like me suspecting that Xbox is trying to gracefully exit the console market, that "forward compatibility" team is trying to get Xbox games playing on Windows PCs. I mean, it's nice that they're not planning on exiting with a "enjoy your games while the hardware still works" message, so that's nice. They still have a brand to protect via Microsoft so probably feel obligated to have a better exit strategy.

Xeofate4d ago (Edited 4d ago )

That is not their plan, their plan is to transfer users accounts to the cloud.

Phil Spencer himself said as much a few months back, plans could have changed but I think people are reading way too much into one statement where Phil said he would allow Epic on xbox because he wants to be able to sell xbox games directly on other platforms. Aka, instead of selling Sea of Thives through PSN he wants to have an xbox store to sell his games on PlayStation without giving PlayStation any money.

Again, it's extremely unlikely that Phil plans to put PC on xbox and licensing would prevent them from just giving out other publishers games purchased on xbox copies of thier games on PC, Microsoft does not own their games.

crazyCoconuts4d ago

The thing that doesn't align with the cloud strategy is the giving up on exclusives. You'd still need strong exclusives for cloud streaming - it's still a "platform" , just with a lower upfront hardware investment. I feel like they've learned what PS learned with PSNow long ago. We're not ready to stream games and it's only gonna lose them money to try at this point

FinalFantasyFanatic4d ago

I would love that, I'd buy up some of the Xbox games if they could run on PC, like the Rare Replay, Lost Odyssey and Dead or Alive Ultimate, probably a pipe dream though.

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370°

Could Xbox Soon Become The Next Dreamcast?

Microsoft's future in the video game space is murky right now, so let's break it all down.

Read Full Story >>
thegamer.com
ApocalypseShadow17d ago (Edited 17d ago )

Not anytime soon. But they're on that path.

One thing not mentioned in the article is Microsoft's money bags. If Sega had Microsoft's money, they would have still been around as a hardware manufacturer. Xbox as a platform only survives because of the money bags. They can continue making consoles for the core and port to PC.

The multiplatform strategy is only the result of arrogance and misguided leadership that blew up in their face. They thought gamers would jump on Xbox in droves if they knew that many of their favorite games would be only on Xbox. But that's not happening at all. Sales didn't increase. They decreased. Why? Because the dumb asses thought giving away these expensively made games in a cheap service would also turn the tide.

Gamers on other platforms are willing to buy quality. They don't need to be handed nearly free games in a service that aren't even finished and sometimes average in their development. Gamers buy Nintendo games. They buy Sony games. Microsoft groomed their base to not buy games. Even the quality ones. It has always been their plan to go digital. But most gamers still like single player gaming. Still like physical releases.

Microsoft's problem has always been that they don't produce high quality games at the same output as Nintendo and Sony. Actually, they should be producing quite a lot more because they're worth over 2 TRILLION. How they don't have more is ridiculous and no excuse. Buying publishers to take away from competition only backfired. Because it still takes millions of dollars to continue to make those games from the publishers they snatched. Their only choice was to crawl back to their competitors to help sustain those developers because Nintendo and Sony platforms were the ones buying games.

Am I sorry for Microsoft? Hell no! They deserved last place for putting in the least effort. They deserved the fallout for buying up the industry and didn't make a single blip on the radar against their competitors where they now need those same gamers they took away games from to support them. Part of it may have been to cash in on their competition. But the result is the slow death of their platform. They may go 3rd party. They may keep making hardware. I don't give a shit about them to worry about it. I only give a shit about the destructive nature of their industry moves that only negatively affect gamers. They could sell and drop out of the industry and I wouldn't blink. Probably laugh. But not blink. They deserve whatever comes to them. At least Sega put in the effort when it came to games. They just had poor leadership. Microsoft has poor leadership and barely makes memorable games. That's a killer combination. And not in a good way.

Cacabunga17d ago

That would be an insult to Dreamcast.. it had a crazy line up of legendary critically acclaimed games.

Crows9017d ago

I was thinking the same. Dreamcast had incredible games in such a short amount of time. It was truly exceptional.

darthv7217d ago

...and yet all those great games were not enough to sway people from the looming release of the PS2 at the time. Sony just has that kind of brand loyalty.

Cacabunga16d ago

Darth

I do not agree.. Sony had even better games thanks to an unprecedented 3rd party support..
DC had amazing lineup but 90% were arcade games..

88316d ago

@darth:
And Sony showed off "The Emotion Engine" and their real time demos that made everyone think they would miss out on REAL next gen 128bit magic if they jumped in before PS2s polygon pushing monster (and early lack of anti-aliasing with a healthy heap of shimmer + DVD playback) stepped up. PS2 was a fantastic system though with amazing games.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 16d ago
blacktiger17d ago

That's not true. Just because Microsoft has the money doesn't mean Microsoft can allow xbox to bleed entire Microsoft money. It doesn't work like they. Also SEC will be watching and investor won't allow it. Lot of reasons why Microsoft can not continue even if they wanted to. SEC regulations is expensive.

fr0sty17d ago (Edited 17d ago )

Exactly this... Microsoft is a publicly traded company, mostly owned by their shareholders (Approximately 59.24% of the company's stock is owned by Institutional Investors, 7.73% is owned by Insiders and 33.03% is owned by Public Companies and Individual Investors.). Their shareholders call the shots on the business decisions, and their shareholders want one thing and one thing only, for their stock price to go up. Losses do not make stock prices go up... so if the division continually posts losses on hardware, but shows profits on software and services (which has been the case with Xbox its entire lifespan, for over 20 years now), the shareholders are going to grow impatient and demand they stop making hardware and focus on the only thing that has ever made them money, software and services.

When Microsoft bought Blizzard and Activision for almost 100 billion, I knew that was the nail in the coffin for Xbox as a console... as the shareholders were going to expect a quick return on that investment, and when it didn't materialize, they were going to be out for blood... out to force Xbox to sell those games on as many consoles as possible, "and while you're at it, sell those first party exclusives that aren't selling well on other consoles as well... hell, just stop making consoles and sell games."

If there is another Xbox console generation, it will definitely be the last, but I doubt there even will be one at this point. I think the Xbox division planning on it just in case, but I don't think the project has been greenlit from Microsoft itself. The rumors that they have not yet even secured the chips needed from the chip fabrication facilities ties into this.

shinoff218317d ago

While I usually agree with you . Alot of what was said can just also be asked before any of that.

How long will the shareholders wait? It doesn't appear long at all

Babadook716d ago

I think I get your point. Like just because MS has money does not mean they are content to throw it away on a dying ecosystem. Xbox has to be profitable or “what’s the point?”

ifinitygamer17d ago

Money bags, yes, but are we ignoring that Xbox actually makes a profit on games and GamePass? Hardware is often a loss leader, and they're probably making profit 4 years into the life cycle, but games and services revenue have been very profitable while other parts of Microsoft's business is struggling. Say what you will about the quality of those games, of course, but this is kind of a reverse Dreamcast situation, where the console was dragging down the company and put it at risk of shuttering entirely. Killing that console saved the business and allowed it to continue to make games on multiple platforms. In this case, the service is very profitable, as are the games, and they're also double-dipping into Multiplatform to extend this further, while their hardware is just sort of what they believe to be the best for gamers and their own titles (whether that is the case or not...)

fr0sty17d ago (Edited 17d ago )

The issue is, they aren't selling enough hardware to make their exclusives profitable, and now that they've bought half the gaming publisher/dev industry, they have no choice but to go third party to make a profit... and that is making their shareholders take a real close look at their hardware division under the microscope... why keep making the hardware if the software is all that is making them money, and they continually, generation after generation come in dead last with hardware sales?

Look at a game like Spiderman 2... if it had been an Xbox exclusive, with the amount it cost to develop, it would have been a huge failure... simply not enough consoles out there to sell it on. They would have been lucky to break even.

ifinitygamer16d ago

@fr0sty agreed completely, which is why they're hedging by releasing other games to multiplatform, plus they have PC to make up for the difference in a lot of ways, which is why their games are not complete money pits. It brings up the question of whether or not those exclusives would drive sales of consoles, though. Let's say Spiderman 2 was an Xbox exclusive, it would certainly have pushed console sales, though who's to say how much is anyone's guess.

fr0sty16d ago

That's why you can't rely on just one exclusive, Sony has always delivered on a wide range of solid exclusives, even this generation (even if they haven't been strong on the first party exclusives, they've made up for it with third party). They don't rely on just one "system seller", they have a portfolio of them.

16d ago
JBlaze22616d ago

ApocalypseShadow To be honest Sony has more of a chance to go 3rd party because like you said Microsoft has money, Sony does not. Sony does not have games, Only games they have come from 3rd party. Sony has been losing money for years and you. Saying Microsoft has been putting the least effort just proves you have no idea what's been going on. All Sony has done is repeat and recycle, never innovating or doing something new. All Sony has is brand loyalty nothing else and it shows.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 16d ago
LG_Fox_Brazil17d ago

Not sure about that. It's been two decades and I still think about Power Stone, Shenmue, Crazy Taxi, Jet Set Radio, Seaman and others, but I'm not sure I'll remember Xbox Series X/S games in a few years from now... Maybe I'll remember about the franchises that the Xbox brand spawned, but I don't believe that the Xbox Series lives up to the late Dreamcast or even to the Xbox name itself. I do have great memories about the 360 with Blue Dragon, Gears 2 and Lost Odyssey though

isarai17d ago

Nah, sega actually makes good games

Becuzisaid17d ago

No, Dreamcast was ahead of it's time and most still have very fond memories of it that had one. It also had some good games on it even in it's short lifespan. Xbox has none of these qualities.

Profchaos17d ago

I remember it coming out at the time in a really bad place they hit the market before the PS2 but it was during this transitional time when Sony was promoting the power of the PS2 and so many of the Dreamcast games were awesome but often third parties simply ported the PS1 version increased resolution and performance but rarely fully utilise the capabilities of the console.

I think in the end bad marketing done it in and like the GameCube so many people are fond of it now but at the time it was looked at in the lense of the day and it didn't stack up.

Personally I miss Sega in hardware they took risks that many companies won't

Becuzisaid17d ago

I never owned it, and got the PS2 right when it launched. But there were certain games it had that I was always jealous of that I didn't have access to - Sonic adventure, crazy taxi, power Stone, code Veronica, shenmue, skies of Arcadia. I always thought it was a really cool machine though. I've never heard a bad thing about it though from those that had it.

FinalFantasyFanatic17d ago

I only ever saw one Dreamcast, and that was one my friend owned, pity I never got to play it, I wonder what games he had for it?

It would be nice if some of those games got ported to modern systems.

Profchaos17d ago

Oh man sonic adventure on the Dreamcast made me so jealous as a huge sonic fan on the mega drive who also moved to PlayStation 2 I never got the chance to play it back in the day either. The Dreamcast in Australia where I am was always relegated to the smallest corner of EB Games it was kind of a strong first indicator that things were not going well at the time.

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80°

Microsoft Rewards app on Xbox and weekly streaks to be killed off soon

Microsoft has announced the Microsoft Rewards app on Xbox will be discontinued in April and has confirmed that weekly streaks will also be coming to an end.

Read Full Story >>
trueachievements.com