XBox 2.0

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So Microsoft started talking about XBox 2.0 yesterday and has provided some details.  From the press release:

The next-generation XBox hardware design principles include the following:

  • A well-balanced system that will deliver more than a teraflop of targeted computing performance
  • A multicore processor architecture co-developed with IBM Corp. that provides developer "headroom" and flexibility for the HD Era
  • A custom-designed graphics processor co-developed with ATI Technologies Inc. designed for HD Era games and entertainment applications

Now I will admit to not being some hard core gamer.  In fact I skipped from the Atari era to the XBox era with out much of a stop in the middle.  The XBox caught my eye because of the quality of the games and the graphics.  I seem to either like the square block men of Atari or the realism of the XBox, nothing in between works for me.  These hardware stats really impress me and I can only image what game developers will be able to do.

Speaking of developers.  The press release also states:

In addition, familiar software technologies such as DirectX, PIX, XACT and the recently announced XNA Studio

XNA is Microsoft's game generation platform.  The really cool thing is that XNA it is built on top of the forth coming Visual Studio Team System and DirectX.  So if you get bored of your day job coding business applications you can always use lots of your existing skills to develop games that quote:

This shift will be further illustrated by a significant leap to high-definition graphics, where character movements and expressions are intensely vibrant and nearly indiscernible from real life; by multichannel, positional audio fidelity so clear and precise that players will be able to hear the faintest enemy footsteps sneaking up behind them;

Then again you if you port this technology back to the PC the ideas really get going.  How about an IM program tied in with GPS information.  You hear your boss's footsteps getting louder on your computer speakers as he walked down the hall to your desk late on a Friday afternoon.  You would be able to see his express clearly as an emoticon and determine if you should be leaving before he makes it to you.  Since you could tell what direction he was coming from you have the best chance of avoiding him and saving your weekend.