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IBM to manufacture Xbox 2 CPUTeam Xbox
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Microsoft confirms IBM CPU technology in XBOX 2
XBOX goes 64-bitxbit -
SiS announces technology development agreement with Microsoft
Xbox integrates SiS Media I/O technologies into future Xbox products and services
Microsoft today (04.11.03) announced it has entered into a technology development agreement with SiS (Silicon Integrated Systems) Corp. Under the agreement, SiS is developing advanced media Input/Output technologies for use in future Xbox products and services.
"We're integrating SiS' cutting edge, media I/O technologies into future products to create innovative Xbox products and services that serve the digital entertainment lifestyle." said Todd Holmdahl, general manager Xbox hardware.
"The selection of Silicon Integrated Systems Corporation (SiS) by Microsoft Corporation to partner in future Xbox gaming technologies confirms the SiS track record for innovation in design and supplying leading edge technologies to the market." said Michael Chen, President and Chief Executive Officer, SiS Corp. "Microsoft's decision clearly demonstrates its confidence in SiS' ability to deliver cutting edge technologies, design & integration expertise that will be vital to future the Xbox platform."
Press releaseComment
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First Details: Inside the Xbox 2 - Part 1Team XboxComment
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Xbox to switch to PowerPC
Microsoft's next-generation Xbox will ditch its Intel chip in favor of the same kind of chip used in Apple's Macs -- an IBM PowerPC processor -- IBM and Microsoft announced on Monday.
At least one industry analyst thinks the choice may be the first crack in the so-called "Wintel" partnership that has dominated the computer industry for decades.
Read the full story
IBM chips will now power all the major game consoles -- the next-generation PlayStation will be based on IBM's The Cell, and Nintendo currently uses the PowerPC in the GameCube.
Wired NewsComment
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Xbox2 vies with PS3 technology
There's something strange about Microsoft's choice of IBM to make its processors for the Xbox 2. You might think that it's a reasonable choice but it brings up more questions than most analysts are going to be comfortable with. Many have immediately jumped on the idea that the Xbox 2 will use a PowerPC variant processor at its heart but that's far from the only option. The biggest spanner in the works could be the Sony/Toshiba/IBM Cell processor.
The most curious thing about the choice of IBM is that the firm is already producing processors for Nintendo and is designing the next generation of 'Cell' processors for the Playstation 3. So IBM effectively knows what all of the key players are up to, something that might not sit comfortably with the CEOs of the three main console firms.
Route G5
It's tempting to think that IBM will be supplying Microsoft with a modified PowerPC chip for the Xbox 2. The new G5 series of 64bit processors being used in the latest Apple Macs certainly has shown good performance but there would be a huge number of problems for Microsoft in switching to that architecture.
Microsoft would need to port the latest version of its Xbox operating system to PowerPC; after all, even consoles need an operating system. That would be a large task just by itself. Then there are the problems of backwards compatibility, even the latest G5 probably couldn't run an x86 emulator fast enough to play games from the original Xbox.
Opter In
Then there's the AMD side of the equation, it has been thick as thieves with IBM in the production of its AMD64 technology processors. Big Blue would almost certainly have no problems buying permission from AMD to produce an Opteron/Athlon 64 based processor, it might well have that permission already.
An AMD64 based processor makes much more sense than a PowerPC one. Microsoft already has an operating system that works on that architecture and backwards compatibility with the current Xbox would be no problem. Microsoft has contracted Sis to produce the IO chip for the system and that firm already produces a chipset for the Athlon 64. It all looks like the logical answer but then there's that spanner in the works.
The Real Threat
The biggest firm in console gaming by far is Sony with its Playstation 2. The juiciest leaks that have appeared about the Cell processor put that architecture a country mile ahead of any other mainstream processor performance wise. It looks likely to offer capabilities that will be well beyond the AMD64 and PowerPC variants when it is released, even taking into account the latter processors improving considerably over the next couple of years.
That leaves Microsoft with a big problem. If it chooses PowerPC or AMD64, it might end up trying to sell an Xbox 2 that at best offers only half the performance of the Playstation 3. A far from appetising thought.
But then you need to think about just why IBM and Toshiba are involved with the Cell processor in the first place. Both firms are aiming to use it in high-power multiprocessor systems. In theory at least, both firms could supply Cell processor systems to whichever companies they liked. So then you end up with the last major possibility, that Microsoft could well have chosen IBM to manufacture processors for the Xbox 2 because it has somehow persuaded the firm to supply Cell processors for the new system.
There're no two ways around it, Sony would be livid if that was the case but it would also be stuck. Microsoft has more than enough money to step into the breach if Sony decided to walk away from dealing with IBM over that happening. That's something Sony couldn't afford to allow because it would mean the firm scrabbling around trying to find a replacement architecture and Xbox 2 getting the Cell technology all to itself, with all that entails.
Conclusion
Sitting pretty in the middle of all this is IBM. Whichever way things go it will be getting money from all parties. It effectively has the One Ring to rule them all. It's doubtful that Microsoft will manage to get its claws into the Cell technology but far from impossible. You can lay a bet that Sony's lawyers are looking at its contract with IBM very carefully indeed at the moment.
The InquirerComment
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New GameCube and Xbox2 to be the same thing?
Thanks to the lovely lot in an IRC channel I chat in, this link cropped up. The gist of it goes something like this. IBM big cheese blabs to Reuters that IBM is doing the CPU for the new GameCube, before Nintendo have announced anything. With ATI already confirmed as Nintendo's graphics partner, that leaves Microsoft and Nintendo with the same GPU and CPU suppliers. Hmm. The article, quite rightly, argues that unless they were creating the same platform, would it be wise to go down that road, for product inside info reasons?
So, Microsoft and Nintendo to produce different branded versions of the same base hardware? Are they both angling to combine their strengths, with IBM and ATI as backers, against Sony? If it's true, will the two new consoles play each others games?
With IBM also collaborating with Sony on the PS3, it certainly has its fingers in a bunch of console pies, so it'll be interesting to see what shakes out. I'd be willing to bet it's a fair assumption that the base hardware will be identical, if Mr IBM Big Cheese didn't goof and mean to say Microsoft that is.
Hexus / Reuters / The RegisterComment
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Rumor
Xbox 2 to be Shown at GDC 2004?
Is Microsoft planning on unveiling their next-gen console as early as next March? Could be...
According to Computer and Video Games, Microsoft may actually be secretly planning to give a demonstration of their next-generation hardware at the Game Developers Conference, which takes place in California from March 22-26 of next year. Many believe that Sony will show something for the PS3 next E3, so this may be Microsoft's move to get a head start on the hype.
C&VG claims a senior source, operating under strict conditions of anonymity, told the site: "The plan is to talk specs and show early tech demos [of Xbox 2] at a US event next Easter. This will provide a platform leading towards something more substantial at E3."
If this proves to be true, it is expected that the demonstration will occur in a very similar manner to that of the original Xbox unveiling in 2000, meaning it will take place behind closed doors on an invitation only basis. Needless to say, Microsoft wouldn't let on to anything saying, "This is a rumor and we do not comment on rumors."
GamerFeedComment
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Xbox 2 CPU to be a 65nm partTeam XboxComment
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Why Microsoft is using the PowerPC chip for the Xbox2Without a doubt the Xbox 2 will be the world's first consumer supercomputer ever. Everything about it reeks of supercomputer....Multiple Power4/G5 RISC CPU's processing in parallel and employing vector math processing. Those CPU's designed by supercomputer manufacturer IBM. Graphics processor employing dynamic logic and vector math processing from the world of supercomputers, manufactured by ATI which is now primarily run by ex-SGI engineers, again a manufacturer of supercomputers. Can't wait until someone hacks into it and installs 64 bit Linux. Can you imagine a Beowulf Cluster built of multiple Xbox 2s ?!!!
Here's looking to 2005...Cheers, Danny Strickland
The InquirerComment
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