Comments on: One More Time

By: westacular: MS is a bunch of stupidheads!

westacular: MS is a bunch of stupidheads! — Sun, 24 Dec 2006 14:21:15 +0000

[...] Westacular (westacular) wrote,@ 2005-05-12 16:01:00 MS is a bunch of stupidheads! (If Toups can cross-post his XBox360 hate, then so shall I)For PlayStation backwards-compatibility, Sony had only to emulate or include a system-on-a-chip version of its old custom harder on its new custom hardware. There were no ‘secrets’ about the original design that Sony could not access when designing the PS2.The XBox, in contrast, used a Intel processor with an nVidia-dominated motherboard. The components were customized from their off-the-shelf versions, but the designs remained the intellectual property of their respective sources.XBox360 has switched around and is using IBM processor(s) with ATI components where nVidia ones used to be. Microsoft and nVidia aren’t on the best terms after that dispute over licensing fees, and any attempt to do a decent job of backwards-compatibility would involve (a) further licensing nVidia technology, and either (b) expensively making a system-on-a-chip version of it, or (c) revealing the nVidia designs to ATI so ATI could include a compatibility layer in its hardware.nVidia would never agree to (c), and would probably make (a) punitively high. For (b), the cost of including a “mini-XBox” within an XBox360 would likely still be pretty high, as (I’m guessing) not enough time as past to make it the original’s chips old and dirt cheap to manufacture. Similarly, I don’t see the 360 as being fast enough to emulate the original in software (especially considering the differences in architecture), and even if it were, I don’t know how quickly or effectively MS could implement that.Between this and the whole “HD revolution! But, no, it doesn’t play any of the forth-coming HD formats” thing, the decision to release the 360 this year seems, well, stupid, and more than a little bit Sega-ish. What purpose does it serve, other than to beat Sony to market (who, once again, have gained tremendous buzz about what their still-far-off system will be capable of)?And then there’s the name “360″ ??? a clever way to make the system sound on-the-level with both the PS3 and Revolution, but it seems entirely ad hoc and relates it no perceivable way to the existing brand or the new system’s properties.(Post a new comment) legalstep 2005-05-12 09:49 pm UTC (link) Our rage. We share it like a brotherhood. Yeah that’s what pisses me off too.Nintendo gets mad props for not giving a shit.(Reply to this) shapermc 2005-05-14 04:34 pm UTC (link) Yea, I agree. I think that the early release seems kind of Sega-ish. Nice post.(Reply to this) [...]

By: PAINPAINPAIN

PAINPAINPAIN — Thu, 12 May 2005 10:45:31 +0000

I think this HD thing is a big excuse to sell lots of Toshiba HD televisions, but that’s just the bitter cynic in me. I am in anticipation of Xbox 360 loveliness in the coming days…

By: Jason

Jason — Wed, 11 May 2005 23:04:16 +0000

I think Microsoft moving to a pre-E3 announcement is smart marketing at work. This way they get to splash with positive “reviews” ahead of all the pundits who tend to nitpick everything the first time they lay eyes on it. Will it work? We’ll see.

By: Westacular

Westacular — Wed, 11 May 2005 21:15:12 +0000

I?ve noticed certain windows when you try to move them, will lag or freeze. Quicktime 7 also has a tendency to choke on certain files, even ones that that gave 6 no problem at all. I even have to initiate a force quit.

Might these have something to do with Tiger’s increased ability to offload processing on to the graphics card? It seems like both of those two issues could stem from an issue with your GPU or Tiger giving it more credit than it’s due.

—-

For PlayStation backwards-compatability, Sony had only to emulate or include a system-on-a-chip version of its old custom harder on its new custom hardware. There were no ‘secrets’ about the original design that Sony could not access when designing the PS2.

The XBox, in constrast, used a Intel processor with an nVidia-dominated motherboard. The components were customized from their off-the-shelf versions, but the designs remained the intellectual property of their respective sources.

XBox360 has switched around and is using IBM processor(s) with ATI components where nVidia ones used to be. Microsoft and nVidia aren’t on the best terms after that dispute over licensing fees, and any attempt to do a decent job of backwards-compatability would involve (a) further licensing nVidia technology, and either (b) expensively making a system-on-a-chip version of it, or (c) revealing the nVidia designs to ATI so ATI could include a compatability layer.

nVidia would never agree to (c), and would probably make (a) punitively high. For (b), the cost of including a “mini-XBox” within an XBox360 would likely still be pretty high, as (I’m guessing) not enough time as past to make it the original’s chips old and dirt cheap to manufacture. Similarly, I don’t see the 360 as being fast enough to emulate the original in software (especially considering the differences in architecture), and even if it were, I don’t know how quickly or effectively MS could implement that.

Between this and the whole “HD revolution! But, no, it doesn’t play any of the forth-coming HD formats” thing, the decision to release the 360 this year seems, well, stupid, and more than a little bit Sega-ish. What purpose does it serve, other than to beat Sony to market (who, once again, have gained tremendous buzz about what their still-far-off system will be capable of)?

And then there’s the name “360″ — a clever way to make the system sound on-the-level with both the PS3 and Revolution, but it seems entirely ad hoc and relates it no perceivable way to the existing brand or the new system’s properties.