Xbox 360
Xbox Next is a name used along with Project Xenon, Xbox 2 and Xbox 360 to refer to Microsoft's as-yet unnamed Xbox successor video game console. It is expected to be released late 2005 in USA and the launch in Europe is only expected a few weeks later.
In a Q&A with the development community, Pete Isensee, Development Lead, Xbox Advanced Technology Group, detailed the Xbox Next's specifications. The console is powered by a customized 3.0 GHz CPU, based on the IBM PowerPC 970 processor. The GPU is a custom 500 MHz ATI X800 design. The console has 256 MB of unified memory.
The CPU includes three independent processors (cores) on a single die. Each core runs at 3.0 GHz. The Xenon CPU can issue two instructions per clock cycle per core. The CPU peaks at approximately 72 GFLOPS.
In March 2004, Microsoft announced a new software game development strategy, dubbed "XNA", relevant to the Xbox Next.
The Xbox Next will compete for marketshare with the Playstation 3 and Nintendo's Project Revolution.
Rumors
- Unlike the Xbox, the basic version of the Xbox Next is rumored not to have a hard disk.
- In November 2004, The Inquirer reported that three separate versions of the Xbox Next may be released: a standard Xbox Next, the Xbox Next HD with a built-in hard drive and additional multimeda functionality, and the Xbox Next PC which would incorporate an entry-level PC, a CD burner, a wireless keyboard and mouse, and a special multimedia edition of Windows XP.
- If the Xbox Next does come in a version with a hard drive, Halo "2.5" will be a launch title.
References
- We Got Next (part 1) and We Got Next (part 2), Gamespy articles about the Xbox Next (March 8, 2005).
- Microsoft to release three versions of Xbox 2, an Inquirer article about the three proposed Xbox Next variants
- No Hard Drive in Xbox 2 Confirmed, TeamXbox News article
- Microsoft leaks details on Xbox Next, from MercuryNews.com
- Big Changes Are Planned in Game-Software Strategy, a New York Times article