Xbox 360 News

At the press conference, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates revealed that the Xbox 360 video may incorporate in the future the next-generation DVD format developed by Toshiba. “The initial shipments of Xbox 360 will be based on today's DVD format,” Gates confirmed. “We are looking at whether future versions of Xbox 360 will incorporate an additional capability of an HD DVD player or something else.”

Microsoft Corp. and Toshiba Corp., which have a patent-sharing agreement on consumer electronics and personal computers, will develop players for next-generation DVDs and the Longhorn operating system for portable computers.

This article isn’t here to crown a winner or to even begin to claim which platform will have better games, it is simply here to answer questions we all have had as well as discuss these new platforms in greater detail than we have before.

Before proceeding with this article, there’s a bit of required reading to really get the most out of it. We strongly suggest reading through our Cell processor article, as well as our launch coverage of the PlayStation 3. We would also suggest reading through our Xbox 360 articles for background on Microsoft’s console, as well as an earlier piece published on multi-threaded game development. Finally, be sure that you’re fully up to date on the latest GPUs, especially the recently announced NVIDIA GeForce 7800 GTX as it is very closely related to the graphics processor in the PS3.

Here's some stuff the interview covers:
- The different connections the Xbox 360 will offer: composite, component, s-video and VGA. But no digital connection.
- Xbox 360 will play high definition video in VC1 (WMVHD) format, they are still evaluating upscaling standard definition DVDs.
- Xbox 360 does not support 1080p at this time.

' It’s an incremental improvement at an astronomical expense. Microsoft deliver the capability when and if customers want it. '

- Xbox 360 has hardware accelerated audio decompression for Windows Media audio content, rest is done on multi-core CPU hardware (dedicated audio chip).
- Wireless Network Adapter is connected via USB - so Xbox360 could in theory have a dual network setup (no plans for this atm).
- Launch headset is wired, but Xbox360 can handle 4 wireless headsets (truly wireless or wireless via the gamepad).
- The Xbox 360 OS (kernel) will be an extension of the Xbox 1.0 OS.
- Xbox360 games and Xbox live will NOT require the HDD or Memory Unit.

With former Square Enix executive Yoshihiro Maruyama now guiding Xbox ops in Japan, the story will be different for the 360--or so Maruyama hopes.