The Rumor Roundup

[Megadrive1988]

MS and Nintendo doing ONE console together, jointly, is not something I want to see. please, nooooo :?

I don't see it happening. but then again, being on the outside looking in, I'm not privy to anything actually going on.

for now, I am going with the info in this now-old article:

With the deal, ATI will now apparently design graphics chips for two next-generation consoles, manufactured by Micorosoft and Nintendo. In March, ATI said it was developing technologies for use in future products, also suspected to be a game console. the same month where ATI signed a deal with Intel to design core logic chips and other products for use with Intel's Pentium M mobile processor.

Don't expect the graphics capabilities of future Nintendo and Microsoft products to be exactly the same, however, the ATI spokesman said. "Yes, we have different design teams working on them, with different requirements and different timetables," the spokesman said.

not that I am discounting what Dave is saying. hopefully E3 will shed some light on MS and Nintendo plans, even though we almost certainly won't get to hear any details on N5, other than the most vauge chipset info, ala Dolphin partners, process technology, clockspeeds at E3 1999.

ahh...I would be shocked if Nintendo joins Microsoft Xbox 2.

 

[Joe DeFuria]

MS and Nintendo doing ONE console together, jointly, is not something I want to see. please, nooooo :?

Dave isn't implying that they're doing a joint console...but perhaps the same basic platform. Games could possibly be compatible, but other than that, maybe one console has more features than another....

I

 

[Headstone]

There were rumors to this end last fall. Something about secret meetings at Comdex IIRC. I believe the jist of it was a sort of end around Sony. Share resourses and have a one two punch possibly with MS aimed at the hardcore and Nintendo at the family gamer. Or with MS doing a media center unit with Nintendo doing the standalone.

 

[duncan36]

ATI have previously said that the East Coast team is the fastest growung element of ATI - with the recent move to larger offices and the influx of people that i know of, this certainly seems to be the case. I'm increasingly of the opinion that the East Coast team will now be primarily for PC designs, while the West Coast team will do special projects and then stuff ke chipsets/integrated at othertimes.

As for R500, i think it will probably share the same basic platform as the xbox, in terms of ALU design philosophy, but its design will be more tailored to the diversity of pc titles, while the xbox chip will be configured very closely to the requirements of a closed box system.

WRT Nintendo I'm increasingly getting suggestions that it may be the same platform as xbox2. I floated this past someone who follows this industry very closely a year ago and he didn't warm to the suggestion then, curiously he seems to be getting a little convinced by it now.

I was floating the MS+Nintendo merger last year. It's a perfect marriage. Nintendo was (maybe they still are) the only company making money on hardware. They have the most experience making money on console hardware period. Microsoft knows how to make money in software (and how!). They compliment each other nicely.

I think only a behind the scenes collaboration would be palatable to the Japanese egos at Nintendo.
Sharing the hardware guts sounds like a win all around situation to me. I'm certain the units will be marketed and packaged differently and not be software compatible, though I would imagine if they share hardware some at least limited software sharing deal has been worked out too.

 

[KimB]

I would guess that software will not be compatible, but would be more easily portable than many console games are today.

 

[madshi]

last I heard the East Coast team is solely concentrating on the XBox, while R500 for the PC is now a West Coast product.

I'm increasingly of the opinion that the East Coast team will now be primarily for PC designs, while the West Coast team will do special projects and then stuff ke chipsets/integrated at othertimes.

Is it just me, or do those both quotes contradict each other?

 

[KimB]

Hehe. Dave! Which one's the typo?

 

[Dave Baumann]

West Coast should be descrete desktop.

 

[tazdevl]

They're still working on the organizational structure and processes, nothing is set in stone.

 

[hoom]

Surely the 'same platform' for Nintendo & xbox2 would be MS XNA?

 

[termik]

One thing doesn´t add up there Dave, if it's all East MS & Nintendo,
and assuming the quoted statementes from ATI, how can there be 2 different teams and schedules?
Wasn't it supose to be all very tightly apart?


Sorry for the OT but:
Há sempre tugas onde quer eu vá
Olá compadres.
Gostaria que me respondessem a uma perguntinha - Onde compram material informático, nomeadamente a placa gráfica?
Se num sítio online digam-me.

 

[elroy]

Add this to the rumormill http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=15210. Goes into a bit more detail about the 2 molex connector thing.

 

[digitalwanderer]

Add this to the rumormill http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=15210. Goes into a bit more detail about the 2 molex connector thing.

Yeah, but with a single-slot peltier cooling solution and that small supernova of a GPU they're going to need that power!

 

[martrox]

Yeah, but with a single-slot peltier cooling solution and that small supernova of a GPU they're going to need that power!

DC...are you friggin kidding? Factory supplied peltier? That's not only insane, but absolutely stupid....

 

[Eolirin]

Two molex connectors? If that thing draws that much power how much heat do you suppose it'll be giving off?

 

[digitalwanderer]

Yeah, but with a single-slot peltier cooling solution and that small supernova of a GPU they're going to need that power!

DC...are you friggin kidding? Factory supplied peltier? That's not only insane, but absolutely stupid....

I was just trying to bait Baron into getting frustrated enough with me to tell me a little about the actual cooler....besides, look at my title!

 

[MasterBaiter]

Yeah, but with a single-slot peltier cooling solution and that small supernova of a GPU they're going to need that power!

DC...are you friggin kidding? Factory supplied peltier? That's not only insane, but absolutely stupid....

I was just trying to bait Baron into getting frustrated enough with me to tell me a little about the actual cooler....besides, look at my title!

Intelligence through ignorance... very evil indeed

 

[digitalwanderer]

Intelligence through ignorance... very evil indeed

Thanks, I do so try. 8)

 

[KimB]

I think the only sane use of a peltier cooler is along with another exotic cooling solution. They would be great with water coolers, for example.

Hell, I still have the dream of having an icewater-cooled system, where the reservoir sits below an ice maker that makes sure to always keep at least a couple of cubes of ice in the reservoir (I could probably figure out when to tell the ice maker to turn on by measuring the water level).

The ice would keep the water very close to 0 degrees celsius, and the peltier would keep the CPU (and GPU, I suppose) some amount cooler than that (I believe they typically have a temperature differential of ~20 degrees celsius? Not sure exactly...). Then, of course, I'd just need to make sure condensation isn't a problem...

 

[Althornin]

I think the only sane use of a peltier cooler is along with another exotic cooling solution. They would be great with water coolers, for example.

Hell, I still have the dream of having an icewater-cooled system, where the reservoir sits below an ice maker that makes sure to always keep at least a couple of cubes of ice in the reservoir (I could probably figure out when to tell the ice maker to turn on by measuring the water level).

The ice would keep the water very close to 0 degrees celsius, and the peltier would keep the CPU (and GPU, I suppose) some amount cooler than that (I believe they typically have a temperature differential of ~20 degrees celsius? Not sure exactly...). Then, of course, I'd just need to make sure condensation isn't a problem...

They sell water chillers, or you can make one, or just go straight phase change. Peltiers are just too damn inefficient.