Microsoft Xbox Reveal Event - May 21, 2013

[babybumb]

Cloud Computing offloading wasnt a big deal in Simcity but it affected sales for sure

 

[anexanhume]

Offloading computations is great, but now you're telling developers they have to have servers for single player games too, and you're telling gamers that if their internet connection drops, their game is going to lose features.

 

[Silent_Buddha]

So did Ken Kutaragi, only he called it the "grid". Cloud processing is a total red herring they're using to justify the online verifications that are happening.

You don't expand from currently 5000 servers for Xbox live to 300,000 servers if it's only for online verifications. That's far more than Steam has and that's their entire reason for being in business. Basically that's far more than Blizzard uses for the entirety of World of Warcraft. It's very significant.

Regards,
SB

 

[bkilian]

Is it just me... I feel like a bunch of server / infrastructure guys got together to make this box. Hyper-V / Remote FX / Cloud Computing... I mean this is not what I was expecting from a tech talk. I'm in IT and this feels too much like work stuff.

Boyd, the director of software for the box, created Xbox live, and managed that service and infrastructure, so you're not far wrong.

 

[DJ12]

So, we are selling this on "the cloud".

So next week, GaiKai becomes a cloud computing source as well as game streaming technology. Who then cares about xbox?

People who want to watch TV?

 

[blakjedi]

Partially Resident Textures ( Virtual Texturing ) -- https://www.google.com/search?q=partially+resident+textures

i looked at the amd pps on it and it seems to be a 7970 feature... or a 7970 feature first.

xbox one = xbox won?

 

[Mize]

This whole "offload computations to the cloud" bullshit is just that.

Are we really to believe that some "cloud" center has assigned cpu resources to each user process that exceed that which is already in these consoles or (in the case of PC computing) their computers? Really? Buy a $400-500 console and we'll set aside a blade server for your "cloud computational" needs?

Either the xbox one or ps4 could run circles around the Cray that I did my PhD modeling work on back in 1996...they don't need to offload anything. Sheesh.

 

[Wynix]

Oh man, this architecture panel is barely talking about the architecture.
Will we have to wait for Die pics before we can determine the actual specs?

 

[3dilettante]

I don't get it...
What makes it a unique feature, one that the competition can't replicate?
Are we talking about computing and sending results back to the box?
To me that sounds like, all you need is the infrastructure to do it, and the programming to receive it.

Am I missing something? Probably!

Microsoft should probably provide the APIs and system support. Its Azure service would underpin a lot of it. This should allow for greater growth for Azure and provide a corporate backstop to publishers and devs afraid of committing to their own servers.

It's not impossible to replicate. The hardware virtualization bits are AMD features, but competitors would need to put up the software and physical infrastructure. We don't have that confirmed.

 

[jlippo]

Cloud Computing offloading wasnt a big deal in Simcity but it affected sales for sure

There were no cloud computing in simcity..
Well, no more than any server based multiplayer game.

 

[Strange]

The next epic fail after Windows 8...

One success, one fail.

The usual cycle from Microsoft appears to be unbroken.

 

[Rockster]

He definitely said >200Gb/s system bandwidth. Also made mention of Flash along with his ESRAM statement. Not sure, but it sounds like there is some amount of flash present, with perhaps some amount available to games as cache. Just a guess.

 

[Brad Grenz]

You don't expand from currently 5000 servers for Xbox live to 300,000 servers if it's only for online verifications. That's far more than Steam has and that's their entire reason for being in business. Basically that's far more than Blizzard uses for the entirety of World of Warcraft. It's very significant.

Regards,
SB

Except that figure is just the number of Azure cloud computing servers MS has.

 

[Gubbi]

Not sure about the ESRAM story yet- are we still that framebuffer centric in terms of bandwidth requirements? The 8GB of GDDR5 seems to be a tempting touting point for easier memory management (engine-side) but I suppose with this deliberate choice MS has probably automation for ease of access, too.

It's a cost reduction measure for the long term. It is what allows MS to use DDR3 for main memory. Three years from now MS is to going use a half width DDR4 interface on XBox One V1.1, while Sony will be stuck with boutique GDDR5 for the duration.

Cheers

 

[Nisaaru]

When the guy says that he wanted to build a console for the needs of others(as he "perceived") instead of his needs of a gamer tells the whole story of it. If you don't have people at the head which want to excel in what they like themselves you get such a concept.

 

[bitsandbytes]

He definitely said >200Gb/s system bandwidth. Also made mention of Flash along with his ESRAM statement. Not sure, but it sounds like there is some amount of flash present, with perhaps some amount available to games as cache. Just a guess.

ESRAM BW?

I have to say my expectations were on the low side for this reveal and I am shocked at how poor it was.

 

[bkilian]

Offloading computations is great, but now you're telling developers they have to have servers for single player games too, and you're telling gamers that if their internet connection drops, their game is going to lose features.

I would do something like crowd simulation for a racing game. Play offline, you get sparse crowds like current gen, play online, you get huge dynamic crowds with much more diversity.

 

[Wynix]

i looked at the amd pps on it and it seems to be a 7970 feature... or a 7970 feature first.

xbox one = xbox won?

What? you think they have a 7970 in the box? why would they not mention Tflops then?

 

[-tkf-]

Oh man, this architecture panel is barely talking about the architecture.
Will we have to wait for Die pics before we can determine the actual specs?

The panel is talking more about their experience developing this machine than the machine itself.. ohh my, i hope they didn't get into a "we are so good" feeling when they developed this. They say "you can't predict the future" yet they somehow build a machine they think will be future proof thanks to..? the OS? The quick swap? Thankfully they can be all excited about how great they are and how awesome this OS is. They better have some games as well..

Hmm i am a bit underwhelmed , i expected Microsoft to at least be equal with Sony on the gaming part, seems they are very busy doing a Windows 8 / Apps / Social TV / Game thing.

 

[Strange]

I would do something like crowd simulation for a racing game. Play offline, you get sparse crowds like current gen, play online, you get huge dynamic crowds with much more diversity.

I don't see how that would really require cloud computing.