News & Rumors: Xbox One (codename Durango)

[Shifty Geezer]

Media Centre talk moved. I'm sure you can find the topic without me linking to it.

 

[warb]

There is really no updated info on the TV features, articles are from May or June. Then there is this: Curious as to what a supported tuner will be?

Probably any STB/tuner as long as it has HDMI-out. Compatibility should be good if they're talking up the universal remote aspect.

 

[Jwm]

Probably any STB/tuner as long as it has HDMI-out. Compatibility should be good if they're talking up the universal remote aspect.

I forgot that there are smaller OTA tuner boxes and such that this would work for. Guess I was reading between the lines for a smaller XboxDVR that would fill this role.

 

[Rangers]

Penello left a interesting comment on GAF about that YT interview, which I just spotted.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=80168873&postcount=708

True story about this interview:

I made poor Adam wait for me for like 20 min. I had totally underestimated the fact it was going to take me NEARLY AN HOUR to find parking at PAX. So I was totally frustrated, had been in a car in traffic for over 90 minutes, and was RUSHING into the convention center. I had just walked in, and had been keeping him and his crew waiting. So I sat down, and we rolled – no prep or anything. I’m surprised I didn’t come across as a complete buffoon given how cold I came into this.

I also found out this was going to be on-camera, which I’m not a big fan of, because, well… look at me. I have a face for Radio.

Anyway I appreciate the kind comments.

I’m not going to get into this PR thing again. There are clearly people who understand, and people who don’t. I’ve been a GAF member for a while, and was a reader long before that. I’ve been in gaming my entire professional career, and a player since videogames EXISTED. I come on GAF because I want to. I don’t get paid to post here or any other silly nonsense. Occasionally, the PR team will roll me out to do official interviews, which I’m not really a huge fan of doing.

Regarding the Kinect video I was talking about. There are several, but the one I like best is this. Also – this is now several months old. Latency is even better now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hi5kMNfgDS4

Disc install – Turns out, at this point the speed and throughput of the consoles exceeds the transfer speeds of the disc. I don’t have the exact numbers, but the reason BOTH CONSOLES do mandatory installs is because you’d be actually giving up a ton of potential performance by bottlenecking the systems at the read speeds of the disc. Even on 360 games like GTAV are mandatory HDD installs – at this point reading from disc is just too slow. On top of which, the instant game switching feature goes away…

Performance: I’m not dismissing raw performance. I’m stating – as I have stated from the beginning – that the performance delta between the two platforms is not as great as the raw numbers lead the average consumer to believe. There are things about our system architecture not fully understood, and there are things about theirs as well, that bring the two systems into balance.

People DO understand that Microsoft has some of the smartest graphics programmers IN THE WORLD. We CREATED DirectX, the standard API’s that everyone programs against. So while people laude Sony for their HW skills, do you really think we don’t know how to build a system optimized for maximizing graphics for programmers? Seriously? There is no way we’re giving up a 30%+ advantage to Sony. And ANYONE who has seen both systems running could say there are great looking games on both systems. If there was really huge performance difference – it would be obvious.

I get a ton of hate for saying this – but it’s been the same EVERY generation. Sony claims more power, they did it with Cell, they did it with Emotion Engine, and they are doing it again. And, in the end, games on our system looked the same or better.

I’m not saying they haven’t built a good system – I’m merely saying that anyone who wants to die on their sword over this 30%+ power advantage are going to be fighting an uphill battle over the next 10 years…

I wonder when console planners will have a bell ring in their head that we always end up being the most interested in power. I mean that's of course what the GAF thread about this YT interview has descended into, predictably.

It's the same as how I wonder how Reggie Fils-Aime reconciles the fact he says Wii U technical capability isn't really important, but I noticed it's what interviewers usually always wanted to ask him about first.

You'd think these so called smart guys might get it oneday.

 

[XpiderMX]

People DO understand that Microsoft has some of the smartest graphics programmers IN THE WORLD. We CREATED DirectX, the standard API’s that everyone programs against. So while people laude Sony for their HW skills, do you really think we don’t know how to build a system optimized for maximizing graphics for programmers? Seriously? There is no way we’re giving up a 30%+ advantage to Sony. And ANYONE who has seen both systems running could say there are great looking games on both systems. If there was really huge performance difference – it would be obvious.

I get a ton of hate for saying this – but it’s been the same EVERY generation. Sony claims more power, they did it with Cell, they did it with Emotion Engine, and they are doing it again. And, in the end, games on our system looked the same or better.

He looks a little bit angry...

 

[Rangers]

He looks a little bit angry...

Heh, yeah you can tell GAF is getting to him a little. I dont blame him.

 

[XpiderMX]

Heh, yeah you can tell GAF is getting to him a little. I dont blame him.

Poor guy, now he is "public enemy" for that forum.

I really like to know if he is talking like "PR" or if he is confident from his words (talking about power differences).

 

[Bagel seed]

Just PR. He crossed the line with gaf on that post

 

[BRiT]

Just PR. He crossed the line with gaf on that post

I think posting anything on GAF is crossing the line. Why bother giving them any attention or time or effort?

 

[Jwm]

I think posting anything on GAF is crossing the line. Why bother giving them any attention or time or effort?

When I can't sleep I read it for the drama, but he is a brave man for posting in this console war climate. He should post here so we can get some tech questions answered, instead of debating the merits of what exactly the name of his title means.

I want to know more about the hidden

Spoiler

dGPU

Spoiler

Spoiler

(sarcasm I promise)

15 co-processors and what some of their functions could be. I like the finer tech details, not my GPU is 33.33% floppier than yours! Meh.. I am buying everything, just show me how it all works.

 

[XpiderMX]

I want to know more about the hidden

Spoiler

dGPU

Spoiler

Spoiler

(sarcasm I promise)

15 co-processors and what some of their functions could be. I like the finer tech details, not my GPU is 33.33% floppier than yours! Meh.. I am buying everything, just show me how it all works.

I don't know if he know something but he said that:

There are still a lot of important details about the platforms that are still unknown.

And

I'm merely saying the application of that performance will mean the actual difference will not be that great.

Again.. Just PR?

Spoiler

I guess yes...

 

[Rangers]

I want to know more about the hidden 15 co-processors and what some of their functions could be.

I have a feeling there is a lot of padding, and stuff that is also in PS4, in that 15 number, but I too would love a full explanation.

Think I read in another forum 8 of them have to do with audio? No idea if that was legit info though.

 

[zupallinere]

... I like the finer tech details.

Not if you are expecting a

Spoiler

dGPU

;-)

We don't know everything about either console at this point. Al is right to be proud of his system but comparing the PS4 to the Cell is a little PR-istic.

Do we know how many or how much of these fixed function processors or co-processors on the XB1 are going to be shared with or reserved for the other OS ?

Kudos to Panello mixing it up with the wildlings on GAF.

 

[Jwm]

I have a feeling there is a lot of padding, and stuff that is also in PS4, in that 15 number, but I too would love a full explanation.

Think I read in another forum 8 of them have to do with audio? No idea if that was legit info though.

Agreed, but when you say 15, then I am going to get curious and want to see the goods.

 

[Jay]

Al is right to be proud of his system but comparing the PS4 to the Cell is a little PR-istic.

I don't think it was PR-istic.
Not when taken in the context of what he was saying.
He was making the point that just because on paper something is supposed to be x amount powerful, that may not be born out in practice.
He wasn't saying that the PS4 is hard to develop for, he was saying that the public don't know what either company has done to the system, etc.

I don't read GAF, tried to the other week, I'm with you Kudos to him for going there.

 

[Cyan]

Penello left a interesting comment on GAF about that YT interview, which I just spotted.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=80168873&postcount=708



I wonder when console planners will have a bell ring in their head that we always end up being the most interested in power. I mean that's of course what the GAF thread about this YT interview has descended into, predictably.

It's the same as how I wonder how Reggie Fils-Aime reconciles the fact he says Wii U technical capability isn't really important, but I noticed it's what interviewers usually always wanted to ask him about first.

You'd think these so called smart guys might get it oneday.

Rangers, I didn't know about that, thanks for sharing. There is more from Albert Penello on the capabilities of the console compared to the Xbox One.

He compared next gen consoles to a 400hp Porsche and a 700hp Corvette. (after the 4 minutes mark)

I was famously chastised for saying in an interview once that comparing hardware specs was meaningless. And the point with that is, the people that are speculating on this are not our hardware engineers and we’re not Sony’s hardware engineers. They’re doing things in their hardware to make it best that they can. We’re doing things in our hardware to make it the best that we can.

I don’t believe the difference between these two platforms is significant as comparing individual components. I’m a big car fan, How is it that a 300 or 400 HP Porsche can be faster than a 700 HP Corvette?

It’s balance. There’s different things you put in the system to make the performance the same, but make different trade-offs. When it comes to RAM, they’ve made one decision on RAM, we’ve made another.

We have ESRAM, which is very fast and allows developers to have a small cache very quickly.

We have a very balanced architecture. We have done a lot of custom things in the silicon to reduce the number of bottlenecks so every component that we have is running at peak performance.

When I look at these games I don’t see a difference. I know there’s a lot of people that wanna compare those things on paper and see these individual components, but to me it comes down to the games, it comes down to the experiences.

And I look at games like Ryse, I look at Forza, and I don’t see anything better on a competing platform than what I’m seeing there.

Original interview where he said all of this.

​

 

[Jay]

He compared the Xbox One and the PS4 to a 400hp Porsche and a 700hp Corvette. (after the 4 minutes mark)

I must seriously interpret things differently than most people.
He never said XB1 was a 400hp Porsche and PS4 was a 700hp Corvette.
We was saying that power alone doesn't tell the whole story, and that no one knows what either Sony or MS has done to their systems to alleviate bottlenecks.

The way you put it, it gives it a different sort of slant.

 

[Johnny Awesome]

Penello is on the money and GAF is garbage. Anyone expecting reasoned debate over there is delusional. That cboat sailed a long time ago.

 

[MrFox]

Penello seems to have very little PR training, his recent drama and anger wouldn't have passed a good PR team. It's great that a Microsoft salesman gives some info on a forum but it's still a salesman pitch. There's little data in what he says.

The victim angle is getting a bit stupid. How about discussing data?

 

[Jay]

Penello seems to have very little PR training, his recent drama and anger wouldn't have passed a good PR team. It's great that a Microsoft salesman gives some info on a forum but it's still a salesman pitch. There's little data in what he says.

The victim angle is getting a bit stupid. How about discussing data?

Guess he can only talk about what is already in the public domain, so I'm not sure what people expect?
Apart from trying to put context around things, and trying to explain what is already known, I don't know what else he could say.