Inside X2! From Gamespy

Sammael · 03-08-2005

http://xbox.gamespy.com/xbox/microso.../594331p1.html

The Guts of the Next Box

# CPU - Xenon's CPU has three 3.0 GHz PowerPC cores. Each core is capable of two instructions per cycle and has an L1 cache with 32 KB for data and 32 KB for instructions. The three cores share 1 MB of L2 cache. Alpha 2 developer kits currently have two cores instead of three.

# GPU - Xenon's GPU is a generation beyond the ATI X800. Its clock speed is 500 MHz and it supports Shader 3.0. Developers are currently working with an alpha 2 GPU. Beta GPU units are expected by May and the final GPU is slated for a summer release. The final GPU will be more powerful than anything on the market today; in game terms, it would handle a game like Half-Life 2 with ease.

# System Memory - Xenon will have 256 MB of system RAM. Keep in mind that this number should not be equated to typical PC RAM. The Xbox has 64 MB of system RAM and is a very capable machine.

# Optical Drive - As many have speculated, Xenon will not use Blu-Ray or HD-DVD. Games will come on dual-layer DVD-9 discs. While the media is the same as that of the current Xbox, the usable space on each disc is up to 7 GB. The drive is slated to run at 12X.

# Memory Units - Xenon will use 64 MB to 1,024 MB memory cards. 8 MB is reserved for system use, leaving a 56 MB to 1,016 MB for user data.

# Hard Drive - As many have speculated, Xenon's hard drive is optional. 2 GB of the drive will be used as game cache. The final drive size is still being determined.

# Camera - Xenon will have a USB 2.0 camera. It's capable of 1.2 megapixel still shots and VGA video. Photos can be used in-game and for gamer profiles. The camera can also be used for video chat. It's unknown if the Xenon camera will allow for EyeToy-like gameplay. Developers are currently using a simulated camera driver.

# Sound Chip - Xenon does not have an audio chip in the traditional sense. Decompression is handled by hardware, while the rest of the chores are handled by software. DirectSound3D has been dropped in favor of X3DAudio. The former was deemed too inflexible.

The Software

Microsoft is requiring developers to make all Xenon titles Live enabled. One of the key reasons for this will be revealed in the second part of this story.

Developers are being instructed to plan their games for high-definition. The baseline is 720p at 1280x720 for gameplay and video clips, 16:9 aspect ratio, 5.1 Surround Sound, and anti-aliasing. These features are the current minimum requirement.

All Xenon games can be played using custom soundtracks. Owners can also play their own music directly. Supported formats are MP3 and WMA. Files can be encoded up to 320Kbps CBR or VBR stereo. The system is branded a Music Player Service.

For gameplay movies, Xenon uses Xenon Motion Video (XMV). XMV is based on Windows Media 9 and uses the mandatory codec for HD-DVD. The goal for video is 720p running at 30 frames per second with 5.1 Surround Sound.

**Reclaimer** · 03-08-2005

Sweet mother mercy this is looking good.
No word on the infernal wireless controllers, which is good.
Too bad about the hard drive being optional though.

But the rest I'm really digging.

**SamSmith** · 03-08-2005

those are similar specs to this diagram that i found.. would be sweet if it were real... but until we know otherwise it isnt

**wbio** · 03-08-2005

Wow, that is much more powerful than I expected, MS is really doing things right this time.

**MerimacHamwich** · 03-08-2005

Fairly promising. Kinda sad that article points to them using HD-DVD technology though.

**SamSmith** · 03-08-2005

Originally Posted by MerimacHamwich

Kinda sad that article points to them using HD-DVD technology though.

why do you say that?? i think it was always prety much confirmed that that would be the format for xbox2 to use... but do you think its a bad thing?? im quite happy that its using hd-dvd... loads ofdual layer space... much more than i can ever imagine being used!! and similar to blu ray... but development of hddvd is cheaper, so that might pay off for the consumour!! but im thankful that hddvd will be used... i got a bit of a fright a while back when i heard that they might stick with regular dvd... but thankfully this is unlikely.

**wbio** · 03-08-2005

Originally Posted by MerimacHamwich

Fairly promising. Kinda sad that article points to them using HD-DVD technology though.

Where do you get that from?

Originally Posted by Sammael

# Optical Drive - As many have speculated, Xenon will not use Blu-Ray or HD-DVD. Games will come on dual-layer DVD-9 discs. While the media is the same as that of the current Xbox, the usable space on each disc is up to 7 GB. The drive is slated to run at 12X.

**squid413** · 03-08-2005

ummm no hddvd or blu ray??? What are they thinking? If they actually want to compete, they will need one of those formats. Preferably blu ray because of the storage. Games are gonna need much more space than what dvd currently offers. Other than that the rest looks pretty good.

**MerimacHamwich** · 03-08-2005

Originally Posted by Sammael

http://xbox.gamespy.com/xbox/microso.../594331p1.html

For gameplay movies, Xenon uses Xenon Motion Video (XMV). XMV is based on Windows Media 9 and uses the mandatory codec for HD-DVD. The goal for video is 720p running at 30 frames per second with 5.1 Surround Sound.

Note I said HD-DVD technology, not the format itself. As it clearly states there, they will be using HD-DVD codecs. Which could be ok, but I dunno.

**wbio** · 03-08-2005

Originally Posted by MerimacHamwich

Note I said HD-DVD technology, not the format itself. As it clearly states there, they will be using HD-DVD codecs. Which could be ok, but I dunno.

Ah, ok, sorry, I got mixed up

**vman** · 03-08-2005

wow, that is ****ing awesome. im gonna make love to my Xenon. its so sexy! UGHH!!

**CharlieHustle** · 03-08-2005

Originally Posted by squid413

ummm no hddvd or blu ray??? What are they thinking? If they actually want to compete, they will need one of those formats. Preferably blu ray because of the storage. Games are gonna need much more space than what dvd currently offers. Other than that the rest looks pretty good.

Ms are being smart.. First off, the hd dvd or blue ray isnt even out the door. So a lot of people wont even know what it is. Also , This medium will not make the games better. As we all forgot that dvd's are 8 gigs, as i recall, not too many games require a total of 8 gigs to hold. As long as our games will be in 720p or 1080i(hopefully) then we will all be happy. Our xbox has a ton of storage, (HD), and most of us dont even use all of it, or even half of it. So what do you think a ton of storage will do for games, but make developers take longer to make games because of more code writing, and so forth? Ms should wait for the xbox3 or 720 if they want to take advantage of the blu ray or hddvd format, its not necessary now.

**TOTTEN** · 03-08-2005

Im getting it for sure. Now all I need is to get a job pretty soon to start saving up.

**Snowblind** · 03-08-2005

Originally Posted by Sammael

All Xenon games can be played using custom soundtracks. Owners can also play their own music directly. Supported formats are MP3 and WMA. Files can be encoded up to 320Kbps CBR or VBR stereo. The system is branded a Music Player Service.

Riiiiight on! Xenon is becoming more and more tempting to buy.

**natedog8** · 03-08-2005

For gameplay movies, Xenon uses Xenon Motion Video (XMV). XMV is based on Windows Media 9 and uses the mandatory codec for HD-DVD.

so does that mean that it WILL be called the xenon? since they've got the whole XMV thing planned out?

and can someone explain what anti aliasing is? perhaps in words i could understand?

**MerimacHamwich** · 03-08-2005

It "fuzzes" edges out so that you don't have jaggies. It's an incredible system hog, and at HD resolutions, it's really unnecessary. But, if it's mandatory, that just means games will look uber good. Hopefully it doesn't mean they run uber slow though.
: \

/me wonders how the whole HD thing is going to transfer over to regular definition users.

**squid413** · 03-08-2005

Originally Posted by CharlieHustle

Ms are being smart.. First off, the hd dvd or blue ray isnt even out the door. So a lot of people wont even know what it is. Also , This medium will not make the games better. As we all forgot that dvd's are 8 gigs, as i recall, not too many games require a total of 8 gigs to hold. As long as our games will be in 720p or 1080i(hopefully) then we will all be happy. Our xbox has a ton of storage, (HD), and most of us dont even use all of it, or even half of it. So what do you think a ton of storage will do for games, but make developers take longer to make games because of more code writing, and so forth? Ms should wait for the xbox3 or 720 if they want to take advantage of the blu ray or hddvd format, its not necessary now.

Actually Bluray is out now. Its been out for some time now in japan. Also blu ray and HD DVD movies are set to come out later this year. So then Bluray and HDDVD will be coming out around when xenon comes out. MS could actually make a lot of money this way. Since HD DVD and Blu ray players will most likely be about $1000 when they first come out, if xenon is $300 or even $400 and can play HD DVD or Blu ray, then maybe people will get xenon as their players. Also if they wait they will probably release xbox 3 in 2009 or 2010 somewhere around that time. By that time DVD will be obsolete and movies will be coming out on Blu ray or HD DVD (whichever format wins). If ms decided to go blu ray, it is almost certain blu ray would win because ps3 will be blu ray for sure.

**GuiltySpark** · 03-08-2005

Triple 3 GHZ processors!

The things gonna burn a hole in my center!

What kind of cooling is this thing gonna have? Is it going to be loud? These are questions I need the answers to!

**vman** · 03-08-2005

Originally Posted by squid413

Actually Bluray is out now. Its been out for some time now in japan. Also blu ray and HD DVD movies are set to come out later this year. So then Bluray and HDDVD will be coming out around when xenon comes out. MS could actually make a lot of money this way. Since HD DVD and Blu ray players will most likely be about $1000 when they first come out, if xenon is $300 or even $400 and can play HD DVD or Blu ray, then maybe people will get xenon as their players. Also if they wait they will probably release xbox 3 in 2009 or 2010 somewhere around that time. By that time DVD will be obsolete and movies will be coming out on Blu ray or HD DVD (whichever format wins). If ms decided to go blu ray, it is almost certain blu ray would win because ps3 will be blu ray for sure.

im sure that if MS has to, they will make another Xenon model with Bluray capabilities.