Develop source: New Xbox console on desks at EA

[Megadrive1988]

New system could steal Wii 2’s thunder with shock E3 reveal

The successor to the Xbox 360 console is on desks at an unnamed Electronic Arts studio, Develop understands.

The new hardware, sent to EA last month, is a very early build with no casing – it is in fact being stored inside a PC shell.

EA developers are getting to grips with the tech to create first-generation software, Develop has been told.

“Quite often when new consoles come around they’re packaged into a PC shell, but actually what’s inside is an entirely new console,” a senior, trusted, well-placed source said.

Microsoft has declined to comment. EA has declined to comment. Develop’s source is not employed at either company.

The source believed, but did not have certain information, that the new Xbox would launch by the end of 2012. The individual expects an announcement will be made, at least in some form, at E3.

SHOW TIME
In March, new data revealed Microsoft was at the early stages in building the successor to the Xbox 360.

The platform owner had advertised new job vacancies such as Graphics Hardware Architect and Performance Engineer for the Xbox Console Architecture Group.

Microsoft’s new hires will be “responsible for defining and delivering next generation console architectures from conception through implementation,” the company said.

The language of the job vacancies suggested a reveal for the console is years away, but Develop’s source says a shock reveal could be weeks away.

“Why let Nintendo steal the thunder in June [At E3]? It doesn’t want to lose momentum. That’s why I think Microsoft is rushing to make an announcement at E3.”

It leads to suspicion that key next-gen projects are underway at Microsoft’s own internal studios. Some project names Develop has seen would suggest a change of guard.

NEXT GENERATION
Specifications for the device are not available, for now. Develop understands that the hardware will feature enhanced support for Kinect with just a couple of alterations.

Over 52 million Xbox consoles have been sold since the system’s launch in May 2005.

Microsoft’s innovative motion controller, Kinect, launched November last year and has buoyed the console’s appeal.

Ten million Kinect units were sold worldwide as of March this year.

“Kinect will keep the 360 going for a couple of years, but Microsoft knows that if it slows down now it will face trouble,” the source added.

http://www.develop-online.net/news/37618/Develop-source-New-Xbox-console-on-desks-at-EA

This E3 should be quite the interesting show with next-gen Nintendo and possibly next-gen Microsoft reveals. Question is, now, must Sony have an answer too? I cannot wait to find out ^__^

 

[Deleted member 13524]

Wow, could Nintendo be caught with the pants on their hands with this one?

IMO, it's too soon, looking at how much they've spent and how much they've lost on the hardware with the initial sell-at-a-loss and the whole RROD thing.
But then again, it's Microsoft with their deep pockets.

 

[Silenti]

Pardon the ignorance, but presuming there is any truth to this, given the timeframe, wouldn't this be a PC with hardware meant to simulate the kind of power available? In other words, something that bears little resemblance to the final hardware's capabilities much less anything like the architecture?

Wasn't there an Xbox 360 alpha hardware setup that had the right amount of RAM, a POWERPC chip that was not even the right architecture and a graphics card which wasn't even close?

 

[Deleted member 13524]

Pardon the ignorance, but presuming there is any truth to this, given the timeframe, wouldn't this be a PC with hardware meant to simulate the kind of power available? In other words, something that bears little resemblance to the final hardware's capabilities much less anything like the architecture?

Well, the first Wii playable demos were shown in actual gamecubes (really, they had gamecubes behind a box and a journalist happened to peek behind and take pictures), and the first PS3 demos were just pre-renders with an image quality that never came to be possible in the console.
So a PC with hardware capable of (emu?)simulating the console's final hardware would actually be more "honest" than what we've seen in the last gen's announcements.

Wasn't there an Xbox 360 alpha hardware setup that had the right amount of RAM, a POWERPC chip that was not even the right architecture and a graphics card which wasn't even close?

I don't remember that at all, but you could be right.






Still don't think it's true, though. Microsoft can afford to wait for more disruptive tech advancements to happen before launching their next console, and so does Sony.
Nintendo, on the other hand, cannot.

 

[swaaye]

The pre release 360 dev hardware was a Mac G5 with a Radeon X800XT. I think they had a second generation kit with X1800 or X1900 too. Ironically that hardware was probably faster than the real thing, certainly if there was one with a X1900.

 

[kagemaru]

MS is making a mistake if this is true IMO.

 

[Megadrive1988]

Wasn't there an Xbox 360 alpha hardware setup that had the right amount of RAM, a POWERPC chip that was not even the right architecture and a graphics card which wasn't even close?

Yeah Mac G5s with Radeon X800 cards.

edit: beaten.

 

[-tkf-]

MS is making a mistake if this is true IMO.

No, stealing thunder is a cool move. Nintendo shows WII2, MS shows 720 "prototype" which may be released after the WII 2 but they still take the wind out of Nintendos sails.

Imho, the one of the 3 that gets left behind on the release will hurt the most. Microsoft did a great job with the 360 early launch and clearly caught Sony on the wrong foot.

Repeat of last gen?

 

[bkilian]

MS is making a mistake if this is true IMO.

I suspect it's not true.

 

[AlNom]

Too soon! It doesn't make sense with Kinect launching just recently....

 

[Zaphod]

Well, the first Wii playable demos were shown in actual gamecubes (really, they had gamecubes behind a box and a journalist happened to peek behind and take pictures)

Not according to Nintendo. GameCube-ish box != Actual GameCube.

"The Wii hardware we exhibited at E3 2006 was made specifically for the E3 show and is not the final mass-production version. Some of this hardware was cased in Nintendo GameCube housing."

 

[Deleted member 13524]

Not according to Nintendo. GameCube-ish box != Actual GameCube.

Eeerm.. yeah right.
It was all new hardware that they somehow decided to put inside a Gamecube case, and then they covered it so no one could see it, just in case people would suspect it was an actual GC..

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Well, the first Wii playable demos were shown in actual gamecubes (really, they had gamecubes behind a box and a journalist happened to peek behind and take pictures), and the first PS3 demos were just pre-renders with an image quality that never came to be possible in the console.

Silenti's not talking about E3 showings (for which many companies use smoke and mirrors, such is PR, so there's no point trying to identify any of them as being more righteous), but developer systems. And he's right. Developers began development for XB360 on Macs. It could be that the first gen systems developers are being handed have something like the performance and coding characteristics of the intended consoles. Or maybe even just the right controller and camera APIs in a PC for them to experiment with. A custom part won't be available this early, and it's possible even if a fairly off-the-shelf component is used, it'll be approximated with current hardware.

 

[kagemaru]

No, stealing thunder is a cool move. Nintendo shows WII2, MS shows 720 "prototype" which may be released after the WII 2 but they still take the wind out of Nintendos sails.

Imho, the one of the 3 that gets left behind on the release will hurt the most. Microsoft did a great job with the 360 early launch and clearly caught Sony on the wrong foot.

Repeat of last gen?

IMO showing your hand too early can be a bad move.

It's not clear how much thunder Ninty will have by revealing the WiiHD, so trying to counter something that may not even be there is risky I would think.

It may do more harm than good to show it this early IMO. Let Ninty show what they have and be a better position to counter it I would think.

I suspect it's not true.

I hope you're right.

 

[Deleted member 13524]

IMO showing your hand too early can be a bad move.

It's not clear how much thunder Ninty will have by revealing the WiiHD, so trying to counter something that may not even be there is risky I would think.

It may do more harm than good to show it this early IMO. Let Ninty show what they have and be a better position to counter it I would think.

Unless they already know all they need to know about Nintendo Feel (2007-level graphics + marginally better cpu, 2GB 128-bit DDR3, controller with 960*540 screen and tactile feedback).
If Microsoft has a trusted-enough source that confirms the above, they might be already planning to release i.e. a console with ~HD6990 graphics power + Power7 CPU + 4\8GB GDDR5 256 bit UMA + blu-ray + kinect evolution, with nice-looking demos that will try steal the thunder away from Nintendo.

Just outspeccing the Nintendo console enough to create a generation gap "feeling" amongst the public could be enough to steal the show.

 

[Squilliam]

IMO, it's too soon, looking at how much they've spent and how much they've lost on the hardware with the initial sell-at-a-loss and the whole RROD thing.
But then again, it's Microsoft with their deep pockets.

The losses (or maybe even profits?) Of Xbox 360 depending on how the rest of the division did are already sunk. Holding on to a console because you haven't made your money back is a foolish decision.

Too soon! It doesn't make sense with Kinect launching just recently....

Too soon? Kinect as an interface isn't going to die off if both the current and the new console support it, maybe to the point where both support the same games?

Just outspeccing the Nintendo console enough to create a generation gap "feeling" amongst the public could be enough to steal the show.

That depends on the merits of new controller Nintendo develops.

 

[dragonelite]

I dont understand why do i always see people saying build in kinect.
If i see how my friends and i have our 360 placed dumped somewhere in the tv stand i can't use the functionality.

 

[DieH@rd]

This year Nintendo will be last with their press conference. MS i Sony will try their best to capture the minds of the press before nintendo's new console reveal. IMO this MS will reveal their next console in 2012.

June 6th Microsoft: 9:00 A.M. PST
June 6th Sony: 5:00 P.M. PST
June 7th Nintendo: 9:00 A.M. PST

 

[Deleted member 13524]

http://www.industrygamers.com/news/xbox-360-successor-story-total-fabrication-says-ea/

"This story is a total fabrication – 100 percent not true," commented EA corporate spokesman Jeff Brown.

\puts on the cop helmet and blows the whistle:
Move along people, there's nothing to see here anymore.

 

[Rangers]

Update 3: Electronic Arts' director of corporate communications Jeff Brown said in a statement to IGN, "This story is a total fabrication – 100 percent not true."

Update 2: A trusted development source tells IGN, "To the best of my knowledge no one here knows what [the new Xbox] will be. Only that it will probably drop in 2013."

Update 1: An unnamed source tells Eurogamer an E3 2011 reveal for Microsoft's next Xbox is "highly unlikely," putting Develop's E3 rumor to rest for now.

Anybody on this board should be sophisticated enough to know a new Xbox in 2k12 is highly unlikely. I even rate 2013 as rather unlikely. Microsoft may well have a vague target of 2013 I suspect, but I'm also guessing it'll slip due to time pressures.