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| Minuteman
131th Post
 
Regular Customer
   
|  "Re(6):Xbox Price Cut"
, posted Sun 21 Mar 16:14
quote:
The plan to scrap the hard drive is for the Xbox 2 that will be coming in 2005 or 2006, not some new version of the original Xbox.
I was going to ask... anyone know WHY they're doing that? I really liked the HD in the XBox, and I'd hate for them to get rid of it... Even if it's an option, you know game companies aren't going to include the feature in very many games at all (other than maybe allowing for custom soundtracks... I REALLY hope that will still be an option).
Probably for two big reasons:
1 - Cost. Keep the cost of the system as low as possible.
2 - Piracy. I am sure MS has seen their Xbox system turned into a modding dream. Linux, pirated games, emulators, DiVX movies, mp3's, you name it, people use the Xbox for it. I don't think MS is happy with that.
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| Luisinan 815th Post
Red Carpet Regular Member+
   
    
| "Re(10):Xbox Price Cut" , posted Sun 21 Mar 22:27
quote:
The lack of backwards compatability was announced well before the rumor (now confirmed) that the xbox 2 wouldn't have a HDD. The reason is they've gone for a new video chip and the makers of their old chip in the xbox won't write an emulator for it or anything so there's no way xbox 2 could display an xbox game.
Not only that, they're using a totaly different processors. The X-Box uses an Intel Pentium chip for the CPU and a GeForce chip for the GPU. The X-Box 2 will probably use a pair of IBM 64-bit chips for the CPU and an ATI Radeon chip for the GPU. Its immensely funny because Microsoft went exactly the opposite for the X-Box 2 when it came to what components to use. What is even funnier is that Microsoft is using IBM chips. IBM used to be Microsoft's biggest rival and enemy in the old days of computing. They are still rivals because IBM pushes Linux servers more then Windows servers. On top of that, I think the development kits that Microsoft will use for the X-Box 2 are basically suped-up G5 Macintoshes. ha ha ha
IT IS A WACKY WORLD when the Evil Empire (tm) teams up with the enemies they crushed so badly in order to remain alive. Microsoft needs the X-Box 2 to be succesful. But the X-Box 2 is shaping up to be a suped-up G5 Macintosh. ha ha ha.
Personally, I cannot wait for the X-Box 2 to arrive. I personally think that X-Box 2 is gonna be a womp-master machine. The PS3 cell processor is gonna be a mess to program like the PS2 because of its complicated multiple processors. The IBM G5 chips are ridiculously powerful (proven by the G5 Macintosh) and have a lot of documentation- so even if you have multiple G5 chips working together, it won't be that hard to harness their power. Also, ATI makes real good graphics cards.
But trust me, I hate Microsoft, but I cannot help but salivate over the X-Box 2. If Microsoft gets better developer support, I sincerely think they can overcome Sony in the next gen wars. Why? Because I think the hardcore video game enthusiasts are now smarter and are less likey to fall prey to the Sony hype. We got burned with the PS2, PSX and probably the PSP. Its gonna happen again with the PS3. Its widely accepted that out of the three next gen consoles, the PS2 generally has the worst ports and the X-Box has the best. On top of that, Sony has only had reports hyping the PS3 'cell' processor. Whereas, the IBM chip has had real world results with the G5 Macintosh the really demontstrate its power.
Anyway, X-Box 2 is gonna be a monster machine. Only Sony's legion of fanboys can kill it.
Bored? "160"
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| DarkZero 680th Post
Red Carpet Regular Member
| "Re(7):Xbox Price Cut" , posted Sun 21 Mar 22:37
quote:
Probably for two big reasons:
1 - Cost. Keep the cost of the system as low as possible.
2 - Piracy. I am sure MS has seen their Xbox system turned into a modding dream. Linux, pirated games, emulators, DiVX movies, mp3's, you name it, people use the Xbox for it. I don't think MS is happy with that.
Microsoft doesn't really seem as concerned with piracy as I thought they would be. They're certainly not as zealous as Nintendo has been, and for the most part they've only been involved in going after the big mod chip distributors like Lik-Sang. In other words, they go after the guys that everyone else is going after, but they don't really go beyond that.
I think the real reason is that the hard drive simply isn't a selling point. In the two years or so that the Xbox has been around, no one has yet found a serious killer app for the hard drive. They've found absolutely nothing that lets Microsoft say, "The Xbox kicks ass because it can do this, and it does that because it has a hard drive. No one else can do that, because they don't have one." The hard drive is a very expensive and bulky component, but it hasn't become a selling point for the system. By comparison, the Xbox's cheap little NIC card, which is very inexpensive, allows it to connect to Xbox Live, which has become a major selling point for the Xbox and a secondary revenue stream for Microsoft.
Basically, they're keeping the parts that make them money (fast CPU, high-end graphics card, NIC card) and getting rid of the parts that don't (hard drive).
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"Re(8):Xbox Price Cut" 
flakier crust!"
