Pros: Impressive specs and game list, looks pretty, $300 price (estimates ranged from $500-$600)
Cons: Despite Microsoft's marketing attempts, some people still think Xbox is a PC.
The Bottom Line: Xbox's success depends on what ingenious features developers design around the hardware. If games written for the Xbox tap into its potential, the console could be a huge success.
puter's Full Review: Microsoft Xbox 360 Core System White Console
This opinion attempts to clarify some of the issues surrounding the Xbox, such as its PC roots.
If all of the electronic components used in the Xbox were identical to all of those used in a nuclear missile, would we call the Xbox a nuclear weapon? If you need to, ponder this question while I discuss some of the other issues revolving around Microsoft's soon-to-be-released gaming machine.
Wow, this thing is cool!
I attended an Xbox talk at my university in Fall 2000, and the speaker was a person from the Xbox's audio system team. He showed us several very impressive demos, although he did not have a prototype Xbox to demo--instead we were shown video clips that were filmed using the prototype machine with an Nvidia GeForce2 video card and a 733 MHz Pentium III.
The demos were absolutely breathtaking. Even more impressive, the speaker assured us that the final Xbox's NV2a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) would improve the machine's graphics capabilities by a factor of seven to ten. In most of the demos, he stated that CPU usage was very low because all of the graphic effects were done entirely within the GPU. There are several advantages to this.
First, it frees up the system bus because you don't have a huge amount of graphics information traveling back and forth between the GPU and CPU. In a typical PC, there is a significant amount of graphics-related data congesting the system bus. In Xbox's Unified Memory Architecture (UMA), the GPU and memory controller are integrated into a single chip. This means that in order for the CPU to access the memory, it must go through the GPU chip. This may sound like a bad thing, but with the huge amount of memory bandwidth required for fast and texture-rich graphics, it allows for super-fast communication between the GPU and memory.
Furthermore, UMA allows game developers to choose how they want to allocate memory. They can choose to use 48 MB for graphics, 4 MB for audio and 4 MB for game logic (for use by the CPU); or they can choose to use 16 MB for graphics, 16 MB for audio, and 32 MB for game logic.
A non-unified architecture would require the developers to limit themselves in each type of memory, such as 32 MB for graphics, 8 MB for audio, and 24 MB for logic. While limitations like this are acceptable for output to a standard TV, UMA will allow developers to optimize their games for display in either low resolutions (TV) or high resolutions (HDTV or possibly a computer monitor). Whichever option the developers choose, it will have a direct impact on how much memory they need to dedicate to graphics.
Second, if the CPU doesn't have to deal with any of the graphics, it is free to focus purely on game logic and calculating the trajectories of various objects within the game. Just imagine how intelligent the AI can be if "it's thinking" at 733 MHz instead of 300 MHz. Think how much more accurate collision detection can be if more of the CPU is dedicated to it. I'm sure if you've played a fast-paced game before, you've attacked and hit an enemy, only to realize a split-second later that he didn't even flinch.
Unfortunately, the Xbox won't automatically increase an AI's IQ or improve collision detection--the game developers will have to actually work those out on their own. Still, the potential is incredible.
I didn't know my ears could drool
While the video demos that Microsoft's representative showed us at the Xbox talk were drool-inducing, he later introduced us to an entirely new area that most of us hadn't thought much about before, even though we had probably appreciated it: audio processing.
In the four corners of the rep's computer screen were four types of music. I can only remember country and jazz, so let's just say that the other two were rock and classical.
When the demo started, some rock music was playing. Okay, sure, that sounded good--but it wasn't that impressive. Then the speaker moved his cursor toward the jazz corner of his screen. As he moved the cursor, you could hear rock music blending in perfectly with jazz music, then morphing entirely into jazz as his cursor reached the corner. Then he moved his cursor down toward the country corner and--once again--the two types of music gradually blended together and then gradually changed into pure country music as the cursor reached the country corner. As a final demonstration of this impressive audio processing technology, the speaker moved his cursor to the center of his computer screen, where all four types of music blended seamlessly into a new and interesting mixture.
Obviously, good developers will use this technology at transition points throughout a game for more fluid transitions, instead of abruptly stopping spooky "dungeon" music and switching to "boss" music. It'll be like having your own personal DJ inside your Xbox.
Along with the processing features I just described, the Xbox will also feature 3D positional audio by Sensaura. I personally haven't heard Sensaura's 3D audio; but from what I understand, it's on par with Aureal's (may they rest in peace) A3D.
You can't install much on an 8 GB hard drive these days.
Unless someone comes up with a hack, you won't be able to install programs on the Xbox's 8GB hard drive anyway. The hard drive's primary purpose is for caching the contents of the DVD game discs to improve performance, although it may be possible for developers to partition off parts of the hard drive for storing saved games, patches, and custom add-on packs (e.g., new maps and levels for games such as those available for Doom, Quake, WarCraft, etc.), among other things. Maybe some devious person will write an Xbox "game" that does nothing but play music that's downloaded to the hard drive over the machine's broadband network connection--but it's doubtful, considering the strict requirements of the system.
All Xbox games will have to be licensed for the platform in order to run properly. Basically, this helps protect us from having some random person or company write and sell a terrible game that doesn't even run on the system. At the same time, smaller developers are not left out of the picture, because they can sign up for a developer program where they can design an Xbox game on a PC using a tool provided by Microsoft. Whenever the product is ready, they can submit the game to Microsoft. Microsoft will then certify the game if it runs properly on the Xbox.
"I'm not at liberty to disclose that information."
There were a lot of things the speaker was unable to comment on, but I was disappointed when he told us that the system does not have standard USB ports for its controllers. I also think the box would look a lot cooler if it looked like the big silver X logo with fins on the back, but as it is, the Xbox looks pretty good.
One neat feature the Xbox has is its A/V pack. This allows a consumer to buy whatever type of audio/video connector works with his or her display device. At release time there will likely be S-Video, composite (1 video, 2 audio RCA connectors), and coax A/V packs available; and the Xbox may eventually feature Dolby DTS through an A/V pack. The speaker wouldn't confirm this, but he did trip up a little bit when the question was asked. I guess we'll just have to wait until the thing is released before we know for certain.
"It will be competitively priced."
---Price Update 5/16/2001---
ZDNet reports that the Xbox sales launch is November 8, 2001, and the price is set at $299. With such impressive features for such a low price, the Xbox should level the competition if enough developers write good games for the system.
---End Update---
As for price, who knows? All the Xbox audio guy was able to tell us was the quote from one of his colleagues. People speculate that "competitive" means somewhere in the range of $500-$600, which sounds expensive until you consider how much people spend on games for their console systems. Actually, other console manufacturers rely on this fact when they sell their consoles for less than what it costs to manufacture them. There might be laws against U.S. companies selling their products below manufacturing costs. If anyone knows more about this, please tell me.
Eventually Xbox prices will go down, either because the product is a bomb or because its successor is on the way. If you ask me, $200 was a lot to spend on a Sega Genesis or Super Nintendo many years ago, and now $300 for a PS2 is pretty outrageous. Is inflation getting that bad, or are kids just getting that spoiled? Of course, a lot of the people buying Xboxes (and who probably already forked out the money for a PS2) will be people in their twenties whose babysitter was named NES.
The Xbox is NOT a PC
Many people are confused about what the Xbox really is. The specifications all show roots in the PC industry: Nvidia GPU, 733 MHz Intel Pentium III CPU, 3D positional sound, 64 MB DDR RAM, 8 GB hard drive, 5x DVD drive, and possibility video output to a computer monitor. While these specs make the machine look like a low- to mid-range PC, the Xbox is anything but that.
Microsoft has tried very hard to stress that the Xbox is most definitely NOT a standardized computer, even though Xbox runs on a very stripped-down version of the NT5 kernel--just enough to run DirectX 8.
Unless someone creates an emulator, it will not be possible to run Xbox games on a regular PC. Even if someone does create an emulator, it will require top-of-the-line hardware to run Xbox games with the same performance as the actual console, particularly because of all the performance trade-offs due to different system architectures. In that case, why bother spending $1000 or more to upgrade your computer (which already runs all the software you need it to run) when you could buy the real console for "a competitive price?" Even though there are emulators for all the other game consoles, none of those consoles are considered PCs.
Personally, I would classify a consumer PC as a computer capable of running mainstream desktop applications. The Xbox's memory system architecture is very different from that of a regular PC, and the video and sound chips are custom-made for the Xbox. Yes, the Xbox's NV2a is largely based on the NV20, but it also has all sorts of other functions integrated into it. These details alone will probably pose some serious problems for anyone who tries to hack the Xbox and make it into a Linux or Windows 2000 PC.
Just because the Xbox uses a standard 733 MHz P!!! and 8 GB hard drive doesn't mean that it's a PC. Graphing calculators and I think even some gaming consoles use the same Motorola 68K-series chips that old Macintosh computers used, but none of these devices are considered PCs.
The Xbox is simply the next logical step in the evolution of gaming consoles. If you think about it, there really haven't been any revolutionary developments in consoles for quite a while. The only fundamental difference between the first Ataris and a PS2 is that the PS2 has memory cards. Both hook up only to a TV, both require game media, and both have handheld controllers. Sure, the PS2 will play audio CDs, but that has nothing to do with gaming. The Xbox will feature local mass storage and the ability to output high-resolution video to a device other than a TV.
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