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Next Big Thing?
Posted by
Geek Woman
The Games Developers Conference was this past week so dribs and drabs of
information have been coming forth to quell the rumors about the next gen
consoles. Microsoft Vice Pres and the man behind the new Xbox (XNA) named
J. Allard made more of a political type speech than a specific and
technical one. Many people came away from it saying "huh?" including the
guys from G4 Tech TV.
I will humbly attempt to decipher the technobabble. We might not be told
just what the next gen Xbox will be, but we can get an idea of what it
might be by what they are buying.
Xbox Goes Shopping
Last week we noticed the first ingredient was a bevy of Japanese game
developers. Notably from the Final Fantasy team. We can also tell quite a
bit about the new console by who Xbox is buying hardware, software and
something called miidleware from. One thing about con's they are a great
place to shop.
J. Allard said
"In the HD Era the platform is bigger than the processor,". "New
technology and emerging consumer forces will come together to enable the
rock stars of game development to shake up the old establishment and
redefine entertainment as we know it."
...ohhh kayyy...
Let's break this down. We are told that now "physics are the new
graphics". Ageia announced the world's first dedicated 'physics chip'. It
which will function like 3D accelerator chip. The PhysX is designed to
expand what is possible drastically. The new chip will offer up to 100
times more physics processing power.
Next, the NovodeX Physics engine is currently supported by the chip, and
this technology will be included in the Unreal Engine 3. That engine will
drive many of next year's biggest titles. Then the boards based on the new
chip will be sold by third-parties on PCI and PCI Express.
SpeedTreeRT is the only foliage middleware provider for the next
generation Xbox platform. And they boast that theirs is going into the
video game system in development by Xbox.
Then the really big deal supposedly is the "HD Era" in video gaming.
High-definition. Allard's speech revealed some other tidbits that can be
inferred.
"more than a teraflop of targeted computing performance" + ""multicore
processor architecture co-developed with IBM Corp" = G4. Do the math.
OK, this may just confirm the rumor that the new gen consoles are all
going to have a minimum G4 or G5 processor. It is interesting that new
alliances and partnerships develop. No loyalties seem to perpetuate from
one generation to the next. Just like parents who try to pass down a
business to children and grandchildren, change is inevitable. But will
this next generation supersede it's ancestors?
It is up to us apparently. Most of you will be too young to remember
armadillos like the 8 track tape, or the Betamax. What? Industry standards
in media are ultimately decided by what the free market picks up on and
buys. Soon, like everything else from vinyl, to the cassette tape to the
DVD these formats will obsolesce. The future content will be either on HD
DVD or Blu-ray.
Eye on the Apple
If you want to know what's next, keep your eye on the Apple. Yes. Apple.
They brought us the PC, the operating system, the mouse, windows, the
touch screen, handwriting recognition, and most every other computer
innovation in the past 3 decades. Most hardware providers are aligning
with Blu-ray, and most content providers are backing HD DVD. The Blu-ray
are optical discs for storing high definition content.
"Apple is pleased to join the Blu-ray Disc Association board as
part of our efforts to drive consumer adoption of HD," said Steve Jobs,
Apple's CEO. "Consumers are already creating stunning HD content with
Apple's leading video editing applications like iMovie HD and are
anxiously awaiting a way to burn their own high def DVDs."
Right Steve. Lest we forget the mighty "i". There's iTunes, iPod, iPhoto,
iMovie. All highly desirable and marketable. Even the cheap knock offs
flourish. If imitation is flattery, and Apple should be pretty flattered
by all the imitators there have been over the years for every one of the
new gizmo's that Apple has beamed down.
Apple's choice of course galvanized the battle. It appears to be between
hardware and device manufacturers on one side and content providers on the
other. Apple's going with Blu-ray's position as they wrestle with the
competing spec HD DVD.
The HD DVD standard is backed by NEC, Toshiba and Sanyo. Movie studios New
Line Cinema, Paramount Pictures, Universal Pictures and Warner Bros.
Studios announced their support for HD DVD.
Apple has joined up with Dell, Hewlett Packard, Hitachi, LG Electronics,
Mitsubishi Electric, Panasonic, Pioneer, Royal Philips, Samsung, Sharp,
Sony, TDK Thomson, Twentieth Century Fox and Walt Disney all sit on the
Blu-ray Disc Association's board.
"Honey, could you hand me that Blu-ray over there so I can levitate it
into my iPhotoPhonePSPHologramaPod?" she said, two years from now...
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