Wow, that’s something, Shadow! 
I’ve heard of XBoxes with upgrades such as more RAM and faster processors or graphics cards - but I can’t see the point, possibly aside from homebrew games.
Surely no commercial game would be able to address more than the standard 64 MB, and wouldn’t a faster processor or graphics card create timing problems or errors?
I can see why a bigger hard drive would be better, but wouldn’t anything else be surplus to requirements?
Little off-topic but all the same…
They’re running Mac OSX on Xbox’s now…totally useless yes, due to it’s incredibally slow speed, but possible.
I thought Mac OS X is for the Apple PowerPC processor architecture?
As far as I was aware, the XBox is just another form of a PC and as such, uses the X86 architecture. In order to run PowerPC software on it, you would need an emulator.
That may well explain the slowness of it!
shrugs
I’ll send a screenshot to you soon, by e-mail, you can decide for yourself.
So what games should we expect to see on the Xbox’s successor? Microsoft will need more than Halo 3 to steal more of Sony’s marketshare whether Xbox fans want to admit it or not.
Microsoft should time the release of its newest console to coincide with the release of the much anticipated Playstation 3, otherwise gamers will simply ignore the “Xbox 360” and wait for the more powerful PS3 to arrive.
I’ve always been under the impression that the Mixrosoft wanted to launch their conosle first, possibily at the end of 05, with Nintendo around that time also. Playstation 3 has been up in the air, from Gamespot I’ve read articles that state it will launch at the end of this year and some that say it will launch in the middle of 06. You can never really know from Sony.
As for the Xbox 360, the name is OK, as long as the 360 means it will have some cool technology or implementation like a tracker ball on the controller. Guess we’ll wait till E3 to really find out.
That console looks awesome Shadow.And I’m not really a SW fan.
Geoof : Panzer Dragoon Quini should do the trick 
Xbox 360… it’s sounds rather silly to me.
I mean, who’s going to want to say “I’m just going to have a quick game of Halo 3 on my Xbox 360”. It’s a lot quicker to say PS3. I suppose it could be shortened to “360”, like how some people called the Nintendo 64, the “64”, though.
Microsoft need a good reason to call it the Xbox 360. Otherwise, it’s just too random.
Release at the same time as PS3???
Think about it… new consoles generally cost around $300. If the average person had to choose between PS3 or Xbox 2, which do you think they’d buy?
That’s why you stagger releases. Give people time to save up a little money again so it doesn’t hit their pocketbooks quite so hard. The only question is whether or not that year will make a huge difference in terms of technology…
Surely Microsoft has near-ubiquitous marketing power? Enough to at least keep the “Xbox 360” firmly in the public eye for however long it takes?
Sega released the Dreamcast 16 months before the PS2 in the hopes of gaining a large enough marketshare to sustain itself long before anyone else arrived, and look how that turned out: everyone (especially in Japan) waited for the PS2.
By launching the Xbox’s successor closer to the release date of the PS3, it takes away that advantage. This time around the quality of the software will decide which console people buy – not system specifications and false promises of Toy Story-quality graphics.
That’s what I call a fair fight.
But, you have to equate this fight to something like the Madden vs. ESPN/2K fight. Most people are already in their comfort zone with Madden (and in the case of consoles, their PlayStations). They’ve been playing it for years, know what to expect, and know they won’t be disappointed because their expectation levels have been met over and over.
If you were to force the average consumer to pick between the two, do you think they’d pick the console who was very obviously everyone’s second pick in the last generation? Or do you think they’d go for the “tried and true”?
You see the same sort of purchasing patterns with games, particularly games that require a lot of time investment, i.e. RPGs. In Japan, for instance, only the DragonQuest, Final Fantasy, and Tales series really sell. Why? Because people have been playing them for years. Nowadays, they don’t have time to play tons of RPGs, nor are they willing to spend $50 (actually around $65 in Japan) for a game that they’re not sure they’ll end up liking, so they go with what’s familiar.
Of course, unless there is something in this supposed Xbox 360 that completely blows away the PS3 in terms of features, then it’s a different story. But, we’ve gotten to the point where graphics simply don’t matter. Everything (even in this generation) is of at least a high enough level as to where it doesn’t detract from the gameplay experience. What will make the difference this next generation is (1) out of the box functionality and (2) hardware utility.
Nintendo’s already promised a “revolutionary” new console as far as how you interact with your games, Sony is already proclaiming to harness the power of all PlayStations worldwide with their Cell technology… See what I mean? Last generation, it was all about polygons per second, etc. But what ultimately won the battle early on for Sony? DVD functionality. Now, it’s about how innovative your console will be, and what it can do besides simply play games.
Should be interesting.
You actually make it sound as if Sony has already won! Personally, I do believe that Microsoft has its work cut out for it, especially in Japan. If anywhere, America and Europe is where I believe Microsft will catch up with Sony.
And no, Halo 3 or the promise of Halo 3 alone won’t be enough to sell the Xbox 360 no matter what some Xbox fans would have us believe. I can still hear them chanting its name… Halo 3, Halo 3…
Shudders.
Hopefully, software will play the largest role in deciding what console people ultimately decide to buy. I don’t expect a Final Fantasy game to be available even at the American launch of the PS3 (unless Square is working night and day on one such game even as we type), so I wonder what Sony has in store for the future. They’re not competing against someone who’s a billion dollars in debt like last time. >:)
Well, as of right now, Sony has won. Without any sort of official news on any of the new consoles, you have to assume they are equal, particularly if you think they should release in the same period.
Which brings me back to my point: all things being equal, if the average consumer had to choose, which do you think they would choose? And remember, while MS certainly has its fair share of quality developers, most developers that are on Xbox are also on PS2. You must assume that the software lineup at this point, without having any sort of official lineup, will be at least equal.
And like it or not, Halo 3 will make a huge difference. Halo 2 didn’t sell nearly 5 million by random chance. And Sony doesn’t even need a FF at launch to sell. All they need is the promise of FF, MGS, Gran Turismo, etc and the masses will flock to the console.
I agree, though, that this next generation will definitely be more of an even fight than the previous, but unless MS has some amazing features and software at launch, there’s not much reason to assume that Xbox 360 (man, I don’t like that name) will beat the PS3.
Did the tight lipped Abadd just let slip that Halo 3 is confirmed? >>
Hahaha… Do you think I would make a slip like that? What I meant was “whether or not Halo 3 ships will make a huge difference.”
As good as Halo 2 was, Halo 3 isn’t for everyone, and it will take more than the mere promise of Halo 3 (especially if it takes another 3 years to develop) or even the availability of the game to win the hearts and minds of gamers far and wide. The Halo franchise has made something like 600 million dollars for Microsoft so far, and a movie is even in the works. Still, it’s not enough.
What makes you think it’s not enough? Perhaps it isn’t for you, personally, but given the fact that Halo 1 still outsold most games even a few years after its release, and Halo 2 has sold nearly as many units as GTA, despite the fact that the Xbox has half the userbase than the PS2, I’d say that the Xbox crowd has deemed the Halo franchise pretty damn important.
Of course, that’s not all the Xbox 360 needs, but the promise of Halo 3 would certainly attract a huge crowd. Halo is the Xbox’s killer app. Without it, it would have tanked at launch.
Whoever you are stop using Abadd’s computer please!
Care to explain yourself a little bit better?