masud911
04-01-2003, 06:48 PM
i got this from gamefaction.com it says that sony and microsoft met to make a new console i think that would b awesome :
In a shocking development, news from Sony headquarters in Tokyo late Monday night indicates that Sony and Microsoft have come to an unthinkable agreement: a co-branded console to be jointly produced by both manufacturers, and to be released in just 12 months.
The decision comes after a lengthy closed-door discussion at Sony's lush headquarters in Tokyo. Sony, impressed by Microsoft's successes in the online realm, invited some of the key players in the Xbox architectural design to speak to heads of Sony, and a panel of engineers working on various Playstation2 hardware projects, including engineers from Toshiba, the company behind the revolutionary "Cell" design said to power the Playstation3, as well as engineers from IBM, who were recently contracted to construct an online infrastructure for Playstation2 online games.
Discussion was scheduled to focus only on online strategies and architectures, but talks soon spread to overall console design, marketing tactics, hardware manufacturing, and even advanced game distribution systems.
"It was like a giant think-tank," commented Microsoft's J. Alard. "We're talking industry figureheads from every sector, and an amazing wealth of knowledge working together on a level not seen since the Manhattan Project."
"It was quite a sight to see." continued Sony's Kaaz Hirai. "All these normally reserved engineers with beaming smiles on their faces; they were completing each others' sentences and putting together ideas faster than my secretary could take notes!"
This concentration of talent resulted in an amazing achievement: a completely new console design in a little over 24 hours. It borrows key ideas from Sony's design heads, like backwards compatibility and IEEE 1394 connectivity, and merges that with many fundaments of the Microsoft camp, including out-of-the-box broadband connectivity, an integrated hard drive, and a unified memory architecture.
Could this really happen?
"This new console," explained Alard, "Tentatively dubbed the 'PSXbox', is not light-years beyond current console technology, but rather an evolution of what we currently see on the market. We wanted to build with what we think is successful, and ditch what we don't think is working."
This "PSXbox" will feature DVD storage as the primary means of game distribution, but with the included Broadband connectivity and 100 gigabyte IBM hard drive, there is the hope of electronic distribution for games. "Eliminating the retail aspect of game buying would mean a drastic reduction in the overall cost of bringing a game to market," explained Hirai. "This would mean greater profits for us, and less expensive games for consumers."
The console will function like a digital jukebox, similar to how the Xbox functions today, but will be compatible with Sony's MiniDisc and MP3 players for exchanging songs, and will utilize Sony's iLink for providing song and album information for display on Sony receivers. The console will also take this a step further, functioning as a digital video recorder for recording digital video, even while a game is being played. All these functions will be controlled by a highly optimized version of Microsoft's venerable Windows 95 architecture, which will ensure added security and stability.
And, of course, the console will play games as well, but there isn't much to report there just yet. "As this design literally came out of nowhere, we haven't even had a chance to contact the major players in the game development and publishing industries about developing for our new console." explained Hirai. "However, once they hear about the machines' specs, and the vision we have for it, we think they will be quite impressed, and quick to sign on."
The specs he was referring to are indeed quite impressive. Featuring a one-gigabyte block of DDR memory, ten "Cell" processors running at 500 megahertz each for handling game engines, and two 700 megaherz "Cell" processors strictly for graphics, it's estimated that the console will produce stunning graphics performance in the range of 1,000 polygons per second, or about 10x more than current consoles. And, of course, with all this processing power available, one can expect major advancements in other areas, like enemy AI behavior, or physics in driving games.
Perhaps most impressive is the claim that this console will be on store shelves in just one year: on April 1st, 2004. Is this the beginning of a new era of cooperation between corporate competitors, or just a fluke? Time will tell...
Written By: Tim Stevens
In a shocking development, news from Sony headquarters in Tokyo late Monday night indicates that Sony and Microsoft have come to an unthinkable agreement: a co-branded console to be jointly produced by both manufacturers, and to be released in just 12 months.
The decision comes after a lengthy closed-door discussion at Sony's lush headquarters in Tokyo. Sony, impressed by Microsoft's successes in the online realm, invited some of the key players in the Xbox architectural design to speak to heads of Sony, and a panel of engineers working on various Playstation2 hardware projects, including engineers from Toshiba, the company behind the revolutionary "Cell" design said to power the Playstation3, as well as engineers from IBM, who were recently contracted to construct an online infrastructure for Playstation2 online games.
Discussion was scheduled to focus only on online strategies and architectures, but talks soon spread to overall console design, marketing tactics, hardware manufacturing, and even advanced game distribution systems.
"It was like a giant think-tank," commented Microsoft's J. Alard. "We're talking industry figureheads from every sector, and an amazing wealth of knowledge working together on a level not seen since the Manhattan Project."
"It was quite a sight to see." continued Sony's Kaaz Hirai. "All these normally reserved engineers with beaming smiles on their faces; they were completing each others' sentences and putting together ideas faster than my secretary could take notes!"
This concentration of talent resulted in an amazing achievement: a completely new console design in a little over 24 hours. It borrows key ideas from Sony's design heads, like backwards compatibility and IEEE 1394 connectivity, and merges that with many fundaments of the Microsoft camp, including out-of-the-box broadband connectivity, an integrated hard drive, and a unified memory architecture.
Could this really happen?
"This new console," explained Alard, "Tentatively dubbed the 'PSXbox', is not light-years beyond current console technology, but rather an evolution of what we currently see on the market. We wanted to build with what we think is successful, and ditch what we don't think is working."
This "PSXbox" will feature DVD storage as the primary means of game distribution, but with the included Broadband connectivity and 100 gigabyte IBM hard drive, there is the hope of electronic distribution for games. "Eliminating the retail aspect of game buying would mean a drastic reduction in the overall cost of bringing a game to market," explained Hirai. "This would mean greater profits for us, and less expensive games for consumers."
The console will function like a digital jukebox, similar to how the Xbox functions today, but will be compatible with Sony's MiniDisc and MP3 players for exchanging songs, and will utilize Sony's iLink for providing song and album information for display on Sony receivers. The console will also take this a step further, functioning as a digital video recorder for recording digital video, even while a game is being played. All these functions will be controlled by a highly optimized version of Microsoft's venerable Windows 95 architecture, which will ensure added security and stability.
And, of course, the console will play games as well, but there isn't much to report there just yet. "As this design literally came out of nowhere, we haven't even had a chance to contact the major players in the game development and publishing industries about developing for our new console." explained Hirai. "However, once they hear about the machines' specs, and the vision we have for it, we think they will be quite impressed, and quick to sign on."
The specs he was referring to are indeed quite impressive. Featuring a one-gigabyte block of DDR memory, ten "Cell" processors running at 500 megahertz each for handling game engines, and two 700 megaherz "Cell" processors strictly for graphics, it's estimated that the console will produce stunning graphics performance in the range of 1,000 polygons per second, or about 10x more than current consoles. And, of course, with all this processing power available, one can expect major advancements in other areas, like enemy AI behavior, or physics in driving games.
Perhaps most impressive is the claim that this console will be on store shelves in just one year: on April 1st, 2004. Is this the beginning of a new era of cooperation between corporate competitors, or just a fluke? Time will tell...
Written By: Tim Stevens