Bill Gates opens up about his plans for XBox 2 while a recently approved MS patent gives us some clues as to how the new console will work and a design eerily similar to the leaked schematics of last year.
Even though Bill Gates managed to avoid mentioning XBox 2 during his CES keynote address, it was only a matter of time before the press around him would manage to get something out of him. Speaking to News.com, the head of Microsoft mentioned what his future plans for the console are and how he sees the future living room. In many way he confirms the early descriptions of the XBox as a Trojan Horse through which content will find its way to the owners' home and money will find its way out. It is difficult therefore, to understand where exactly MS plans to go with its plans when it claims ...that 3rd world Internet is a priority. Far be it for us to question, or understand for that matter, the MS plan of action, we bring you some of the highlights of Mr. Gates' answers.
According to Bill Gates, the product destined to bring everything together, is the Media Center PC. The next XBox will connect to it through the msn messenger service while, according to Microsoft strategy, the original XBox was a successful attempt at establishing a reputable gaming brand.
One important difference, stressed by Mr. Gates however, was that Microsoft will not become a content provider but will look at established companies i.e. MTV and the Discovery Channel to do that with MS tools and platforms.
An example of exactly how Microsoft sees the XBox 2 functioning in a home is demonstrated by an example Mr. Gates gave: ...the connection between the Xbox Live and our Messenger will be really simple so people can say, Hey, come and play, Oh, okay, I'm finishing my homework, I'm almost done, I'll get on and play with you. And so even as they're connected up to each other, they don't think of, Oh no, now I'm gaming, now I'm communicating.
When asked about the goals set for XBox 2 you might expect the MS Master Chief to reply that gaming excellence and happy customers are his priority, well close enough since he replied that Xenon's, MS codename for XBox 2, goals are: ...broadening the market, having media capabilities that when there's a PC, we connect up to that. In Mr. Gates' defense though he was quick to recover by stating that XBox 2 will bring ...great video gaming but videogaming for a broader set of people, more communications, more media, more connectivity. And at the same time, we move up to things like high-definition graphics and wireless that the chip breakthroughs allow us to get to.
So just for the games alone you'd go, wow, but the concept now of bringing in your music, your media, connecting to the PC, connecting Xbox Live to Messenger--that just makes it a very big deal.
The MS boss also confirmed that Microsoft will not be directly involved with handheld consoles but he added that he was happy that Sony had PSP out since ...the fact that Sony's a little distracted with that may let us do all the better in the next generation.
As mentioned in the previous page, the patent granted to Microsoft on December 30th by the United States Patent and Trademark Office has given us some hints as to how the new console will work. The news, revealed by TeamXBox.com, suggest that the patent description matches-up well with what Microsoft's J. Allard described last E3 as procedural synthesis. The patent mentions a System and method for parallel execution of data generation tasks which is really describing a system were different processors are working together performing different tasks.
The basic elements described are a multicore CPU element and a GPU working in unison. The main difference lies in the fact that the CPUs will now be powerful enough to move beyond their traditional AI and physics role and will also perform other tasks, the patent describes these as follows: ...generate geometry data associated with one or more objects in the scene. For instance, as will be described, each of these processors may include logic for performing procedural geometry. Such logic receives input data defining tasks to be performed, and then executes such tasks to provide output geometry data (e.g., a collection of vertices). To provide merely one example, a game designer could provide procedural logic to generate geometry data associated with individual leaves on a tree. Such procedural logic would receive a relatively limited amount of information associated with such a task, such as a location of an individual leaf, a direction of any simulated wind in the scene, and so on. Based on this information, the procedural logic could generate vertices that define an individual leaf on the tree. The CPUs that perform geometry-related tasks are referred to as geometry-generating CPUs.
If you study the paragraph above you will notice that the new console will blur the lines traditionally separating CPU functions from those of the GPU.
Since Microsoft decided to play coy regarding XBox2 at CES, this exciting information should keep us busy until we can get some more official announcements.
