MS: Preparing for XBox360-dev

[ector]

MS: Preparing for XBox360-dev - 360 big-endian

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/dev/developingforxbox360.htm

Just a little document from MS about how to prepare for 360 development if you're not a signed developer.

This sounds kind of interesting though:

At this time, access to development tools for the Xbox 360â„¢ video game console is limited to developers working on approved titles for licensed publishers. This will change over time, so check back for more information in the future.

Also, this quote reveals an annoying truth:

Update your content pipeline to support big-endian hardware. Intel-based PCs are little-endian, while Xbox 360 is big-endian. We recommend that all content on the Xbox 360 game disc be in big-endian format for best performance.

 

[AlNom]

hm...

here's a little summary I found on what endian means for those who do not know: http://www.cs.umass.edu/~verts/cs32/endian.html

 

[MoeStooge]

We prefer to be called native Americans...

 

[BlueTsunami]

We prefer to be called native Americans...

oh gosh...that made me snicker and think about life and death and why do people live on...good times.

 

[richardpfeil]

Interesting quote in there...

Avoid walking linked-lists, or any other data structure that has nodes spread across memory.

It's the same problem the Cell has. Most of the cases Microsoft brought up as difficult on the SPE aren't so great for the 360 either. Actually, they're not so hot for any processor that has memory bandwidth limitations (read: all modern processors).

 

[Inane_Dork]

Interesting quote in there...
It's the same problem the Cell has. Most of the cases Microsoft brought up as difficult on the SPE aren't so great for the 360 either. Actually, they're not so hot for any processor that has memory bandwidth limitations (read: all modern processors).

Emphasis added.

Exactly. I think the only difference is the severity of the consequence anymore.

 

[Gubbi]

Bandwidth is not the problem, latency is.

Cheers
Gubbi