[17R3W]

First off:

http://engadget.com/entry/1234000300048849/

Microsoft considering licensing Xbox to other companies

Posted Jun 30, 2005, 9:44 AM ET by Marc Perton
Related entries: Gaming

Xbox 360Looks like Microsoft’s still a software company at heart after all. Despite the success of the Xbox and its aggressive pre-launch campaign for the upcoming Xbox 360, the company has begun hinting that it might license the Xbox’s basic software to other companies, which could incorporate Xbox functionality in devices such as cable boxes and TVs. The move could bolster the Xbox in its battle against Sony’s Playstation, and could establish it as a Windows-like platform, rather than a hardware console. It could also get Microsoft out of the low-margin hardware business, letting it focus on the more lucrative software market.

Now the Big thing:
http://engadget.com/entry/1234000420048777/

Posted Jun 30, 2005, 9:00 AM ET by Ryan Block
Related entries: Gaming, Home Entertainment
Anonymous developer trashes PS3 and Xbox 360 processors




If you’re ready to get down, dirty, nitty, and gritty on the latest (and apparently not so greatest) generation of processors used in the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, peep Anand’s analysis of some very insider information on the forthcoming systems by an unnamed game developer who’s worked on both boxes. If you’re comfortable making heads or tails of things like processor architecture, branch prediction, pipelining, etc., feel free to knock yourself out with the read, but straight up word on the street is that the Xbox CPU is only about twice as powerful as the 733MHz Pentium III used in the first Xbox in real world gaming situations, and supposedly Sony’s Cell isn’t all that much better. Of course, there are just so many factors in game system bottlenecks—and we’re not the kind of site to get gory on it here—but the bottom line is if you were super enthused about these two new powerhouse systems, prepare to get some of that piss and vinegar knocked out right quick.

http://hardware.slashdot.org/article...7&from=rss

Next-Gen Console CPUs Not Up to Hype
Posted by timothy on Wednesday June 29, @05:06PM
from the psss-they're-game-consoles-pass-it-on dept.
rAiNsT0rm writes "Anandtech follows up their initial in-depth coverage of the Xbox 360 and PS3 CPU with the real truth about the next-gen consoles' Poor CPU Performance. From the article: "Speaking under conditions of anonymity with real world game developers who have had first hand experience writing code for both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 hardware (and dev kits where applicable), we asked them for nothing more than their brutal honesty. What did they think of these new consoles? Are they really outfitted with the PC-eclipsing performance we've been lead to believe they have? The answer is actually quite frequently found in history; as with anything, you get what you pay for.""