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Let's talk Xbox 720: Xbox World shares everything it knows about the next console

BigTnaples

Todd Howard's Secret GAF Account
That'd infer full 360 compatibility.

Yeah sadly I doubt we will see XBLA titles be compatible. Which is terrible. But unless they have full 360 compatibility, than they wont work. Only difference between an XBLA game and a Retail one is distribution.


Crysis is an XBLA title and it is arguably the most technically impressive game on the system.
 

SapientWolf

Trucker Sexologist
A split marketplace would be a nightmare for MS. It's going to be hard to convince 360 owners to jump in on the 720 when they're still anchored to the 360.
 

BigTnaples

Todd Howard's Secret GAF Account
A split marketplace would be a nightmare for MS. It's going to be hard to convince 360 owners to jump in on the 720 when they're still anchored to the 360.

It is a nightmare, but as much as I would love to see BC, I just don't see it happening. Too hard of a technical and cost hurdle.
 

topplehat

Member
I don't think it's unreasonable to believe there will be some sort of BC for 360 titles. The only reason the PS3 didn't have it was because of the Cell processor, so BC required more hardware.
 

KageMaru

Member
The purpose of a win8 kernel shared across mobile, PC, and console is to ease cross-platform development. If it takes little work to move a live arcade game to windows phone 8, it makes that platform more attractive. Free to play between PC and Xbox would also be more manageable. It makes development for the next Xbox easier in general.

I'm hoping this is more common with PC and 720 games, while the tablet and phones have their own games. While this looks attractive from a marketing point of view, I doubt many would be happy if a XBLA game on the 720 was held back so it would be easily ported to a tablet or windows phone.

Are there any rumors if existing XBLA games will work on the next xbox?

No, but I can only imagine the meltdowns if they aren't BC for at least XBLA games.
 

BigTnaples

Todd Howard's Secret GAF Account
No, but I can only imagine the meltdowns if they aren't BC for at least XBLA games.

As I said though, there is really no such thing as "at least XBLA games" the only difference is the method in which you play them, disc vs download.


The actual games are still designed to run on the same hardware, and are no less technically advanced. In fact, I personally would call Crysis XBLA the most technically impressive title on the system.
 
So if MS adds Blu-Ray does Sony get royalty?

And how likely is AR?

I always thought it would be cool to have Surround Sound headphones and AR/3D glasses bundled in to promote a true next-gen experience that really gets you into a game, but it all sounds so expensive.

I've been hoping for next gen controllers with more input, but I'm unsure if I care for a screen.

Sounds about right that 720 will be a powerhouse. I wonder if it will translate into a similar problem with PS3, though I sense MS will be smarter than Sony about that... I think.

I fully expect Sony to be more sensible with their power and pricing. If MS is doing all this, what is Sony doing?
 

SapientWolf

Trucker Sexologist
It is a nightmare, but as much as I would love to see BC, I just don't see it happening. Too hard of a technical and cost hurdle.
They'll try their hardest. At the least, I think the last wave games, big names and top sellers will get emulated and some of the lesser knowns will work too as a consequence. Competing with your own cheaper console and its massive, popular library of games is just way too inefficient.

Cross platform purchasing for XBLA would be smart too, if some of the games get ported over instead of emulated.
 

KageMaru

Member
As I said though, there is really no such thing as "at least XBLA games" the only difference is the method in which you play them, disc vs download.


The actual games are still designed to run on the same hardware, and are no less technically advanced. In fact, I personally would call Crysis XBLA the most technically impressive title on the system.

Well Crysis is considered a GoD game. =p However I agree, XBLA devs should have the same access to the hardware as retail games.
 
So if MS adds Blu-Ray does Sony get royalty?

And how likely is AR?

I always thought it would be cool to have Surround Sound headphones and AR/3D glasses bundled in to promote a true next-gen experience that really gets you into a game, but it all sounds so expensive.

I've been hoping for next gen controllers with more input, but I'm unsure if I care for a screen.

Absolutely.
 

Majanew

Banned
As I said though, there is really no such thing as "at least XBLA games" the only difference is the method in which you play them, disc vs download.


The actual games are still designed to run on the same hardware, and are no less technically advanced. In fact, I personally would call Crysis XBLA the most technically impressive title on the system.

Crysis is Game on Demand not Arcade.
 

BigTnaples

Todd Howard's Secret GAF Account
Crysis is Game on Demand not Arcade.


Fair enough, though my point still stands, aside from size in MB/GB the game is allowed to be, there is no technical difference between an arcade game, like Am I Alive, Perfect Dark HD, Battlefield 1943 etc and the average game you buy like Crysis, Halo or Gears.


There is no magical dividing line between the games.


If the 720 is BC for XBLA games it would be BC for ALL games. And vice versa.
 
Yeah sadly I doubt we will see XBLA titles be compatible. Which is terrible. But unless they have full 360 compatibility, than they wont work. Only difference between an XBLA game and a Retail one is distribution.

Crysis is an XBLA title and it is arguably the most technically impressive game on the system
Although you are right that there in no technical difference between XBLA and regular retail Games, you better believe that there will be full and complete backwards compatibility in the next Xbox.
 

Bitmap Frogs

Mr. Community
It is a nightmare, but as much as I would love to see BC, I just don't see it happening. Too hard of a technical and cost hurdle.

It can easily be done if MS wants to. They already have a soc inside the slim.

The only reason sony ditched bc is because they had a 600$ monster no one wanted to buy and had to shave every single nickel they could.
 

gaming_noob

Member
How much?

It probably wouldn't be a significant amount in the end even if assuming the Durango will sell the same amount as Xbox 360.

Blu-Ray is owned by the Blu-Ray Disc Association comprised of Sony, Panasonic, Pioneer, Philips, Thomson, LG Electronics, Hitachi, Sharp, and Samsung.
 
Yeah sadly I doubt we will see XBLA titles be compatible. Which is terrible. But unless they have full 360 compatibility, than they wont work. Only difference between an XBLA game and a Retail one is distribution.


Crysis is an XBLA title and it is arguably the most technically impressive game on the system.

XBLA should work,i don't see why it wouldn't. you just use your same gamertag on the new system and download them. If they are taking digital serious then i expect this to work for each new console.
 
A split marketplace would be a nightmare for MS. It's going to be hard to convince 360 owners to jump in on the 720 when they're still anchored to the 360.

I am thinking it will be a universal marketplace where 360 gamers can still buy xbla titles at least for some more years to come. Similar to how sony sold games for ps2 even after ps3 is out.
 

Tyrax

Member
I am all in on MS. They have not failed me. Ever.

I had a red ring on my launch 360 after 2 years, but they replaced it for free. Windows CE ran the dreamcast, that system was great but short lived. Other than those two issues I agree that MS have not let me down.
 

BigTnaples

Todd Howard's Secret GAF Account
I really hope you're all right about BC and I can play my vast 360 library on my 720.


However I won't get excited...


I have a feeling I will be re-buying "Full HD Collections" of games like Halo, Gears, Mass Effect etc. while XBLA gems like Perfect Dark HD and Battlefield 1943 will have me needing to plug in an old 360 to run...


God I hope I'm wrong though....
 
Again what you're asking for is unrealistic and makes absolutely no business sense. So I'm not even sure why you're making this argument.

Because I am of the opinion that it makes perfect sense, since the technology wars of the next few years will be decided by the ecosystem, not the devices.
 

KageMaru

Member
Because I am of the opinion that it makes perfect sense, since the technology wars of the next few years will be decided by the ecosystem, not the devices.

Considering how no company has the universal ecosystem you speak of, I don't think it'll effect anyone in any negative way.

Not sure how it makes perfect sense to have everything available on every device within the ecosystem when that's not really phsycally possible unless we wish to restrict everything to mobile/tablet level of complexity. I doubt the 720 and PC owners would be too happy about that.
 
I'm not sure why people are talking about the next Xbox not having BC. I thought it was given that due to the hardware being similar it would have BC?
 
Considering how no company has the universal ecosystem you speak of, I don't think it'll effect anyone in any negative way.

Well that's the point. Microsoft is in a unique position to bring true unification and finally give people a reason to buy Windows tablets and phones. It would be a unique selling point.
 

Maximilian E.

AKA MS-Evangelist
Question regarding BC (and other thoughts).

What are the chances or the feasibility that MS puts a 360 SoC in 720?
But also, IF MS would do so, could it not be put to good use, and let the new CPU/GPU handle all the game code?

So for example:
the 360 SoC can be used as the MCP chip was used in the OG Xbox, handling sound, network (perhaps even OS).

At the moment, the 360 SoC is at 45nm if I remember correctly. MS could make it smaller and use it in the 720, to offloading workload and of course, to ensure full BC.

So question, how likely is it that we see 360 SoC in 720?
And can it be used as I "think" it could be? (I don´t see why not though).

(I know that adding an extra chip make the system hotter, more complex and adds extra cost, so therefore perhaps this will be a solution for a second SKU)
 
Well that's the point. Microsoft is in a unique position to bring true unification and finally give people a reason to buy Windows tablets and phones. It would be a unique selling point.

A unique selling point for the open platform that they just happen to make an OS for. At the same time, it would harm their closed platform that they control in entirety. It's not happening, at least not yet.
 

James Sawyer Ford

Gold Member
A CPU 8x the power of Xenos would make this relatively feasible. The shift from Xbox to 360 was more cumbersome, going from OOE to in-order.

So is it feasible for CELL? Sure, CELL is a more powerful processor than Xenos, but they share some similarities. And people are claiming bc is impossible for PS4 due to the switch to x86
 
So is it feasible for CELL? Sure, CELL is a more powerful processor than Xenos, but they share some similarities. And people are claiming bc is impossible for PS4 due to the switch to x86

They share some similarities, namely the PPE, but on the whole, Cell's architecture is completely different and more complex. SPEs are still very powerful when it comes to processing of data organized in certain ways, they're programmed differently than the PPE, and the memory handling is quite complex. It's not nearly the same as with Xenon (Xenos is the GPU).
 
BigTnaples said:
It probably wont happen but I wouldn't mind seeing a $599 or even $799 console at launch.

In 2005 that would have sounded insane, but in 2013, not so much..
With the worse economy and the lack of success PS3 had at prices over $300, it sounds more insane.
 
Damnit..just wanted to play TWD but my 360 broke down :/ Just doesn't wanna start up.
I don't really wanna buy a new system because the '720' might be just around the corner ( and my brother has got an older 20GB model I can borrow that seems to work 'fine', although it produces a lot of noise ). Haven't been keeping up with the rumours, but what are the chances that MS is actually gonna launch a new systeem in 2013?
 

blu

Wants the largest console games publisher to avoid Nintendo's platforms.
Clarify self reflectance?
No parts of the car reflect on the car itself. Only reflections from 'remote' objects are present.

You need ray tracing/path tracing for proper reflectance, and 2nd order illumination, in general.
 
A CPU 8x the power of Xenos would make this relatively feasible. The shift from Xbox to 360 was more cumbersome, going from OOE to in-order.

I'm skeptical that the floating point capabilities in any potential x86 solution will be adequate to emulate the 360's beefy vector units. Backwards compatibility is just as out of reach for 360 games as PS3. Perhaps more so because the SPEs could theoretically be included on a PS4 CPU/APU because they're so tiny and modular by design.
 

BigTnaples

Todd Howard's Secret GAF Account
With the worse economy and the lack of success PS3 had at prices over $300, it sounds more insane.


You say this, yet hardware like the Kinect, iPad, Kindle Fire, iPhone, etc are breaking sales records all the time..

Games like Halo, CoD, Borderlands, Assassins Creed, Gears, etc are all also breaking sales records. Not to mention the Steam boom.

The same with movies like Avatar, Dark Knight, Harry Potter, Hunger Games, etc etc etc.

We've also seen a dramatic rise in subscription entertainment like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, CoD Elite, PS+, BF Premium, HBO Go etc.

It's not like people are so hard off that they aren't willing to spend money, a lot of money in fact on entertainment.


Not to mention all the factors like functionality and longevity that make the consoles of 2013 an entirely different machine than in 2005.. Which you ignored.



Also this is an Xbox 720 thread. The 360 never had an issue moving units at a $400 price point back in 2005, and that was when all it really did was play xbox games and rip CDs, and everyone expected to buy a new one in 4-5 years.... Again, the consoles do exponentially more now and they last up to a decade..
 

Majanew

Banned
Damnit..just wanted to play TWD but my 360 broke down :/ Just doesn't wanna start up.
I don't really wanna buy a new system because the '720' might be just around the corner ( and my brother has got an older 20GB model I can borrow that seems to work 'fine', although it produces a lot of noise ). Haven't been keeping up with the rumours, but what are the chances that MS is actually gonna launch a new systeem in 2013?

100%
 
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