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MS-owned developer Bungie has finished work on the hugely anticipated Xbox exclusive first-person shooter Halo 2, according to the latest weekly update from the team, with the game on track for a November 9th launch in USA (11th in Europe). "It's finished and shipped to a nebulous region known as RTC (Release to Certification)," according to the update, "where it will be dumped from eight digital tapes onto a DVD and go through some final testing." "After Halo 2 we are planning to do something different," Bungie studio manager Pete Parsons told the BBC recently. "We will do something else and we have a few ideas." This will, of course, raise speculation that Bungie may not be planning to do a Halo title as an Xbox 2 launch title, as had been widely expected, since for a new Halo game to be ready for the launch of MS's next console - expected in late 2005 - work would have to begin right away.

Go read the whole article on GamesIndustry.biz. http://www.gamesindu...ge.php?aid=4720
(October 4 08:21 EST)

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Commenting on the next generation, MS Corporate Vice President Peter Moore says, "We'll not repeat these mistakes next time." MS plans to learn from the mistakes, and will be starting Xbox 2's design from scratch, making it smaller and simpler. Moore plans for strong software from the start, along with titles targeting the Japanese market. Also, Moore reveals once again, "We will not be later than our rivals." Moore also reveals one hint at progress on game development for the next generation system. Apparently, the company has already finished distributing support tools for game development to software companies. It's unclear if these are specific Xbox 2 development tools, or just tools to get started with work on machines that reflect the Xbox 2's planned specifications.

Read the whole article on xbox.ign.com. http://xbox.ign.com/...4/554097p1.html
(October 5 11:21 EST) -

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Xbox 2 may make use of the HD-DVD format, if some Japanese electronics giants have their way. Today, at the CEATEC Japan technology exhibition, now ongoing at the Makuhari Messe convention center, just outside of Tokyo, a manager at NEC revealed that his company is working to get MS to use the format in the successor console to Xbox. A separate interview with Toshiba president Tadashi Okamura revealed a similar course for the electronics giant, with Okamura stating, in reference to HD-DVD, "We'd of course like them (MS) to use it." Both Toshiba and NEC are strong proponents for HD-DVD (High Definition Digital Versatile Disk) becoming the successor to DVD. The format is in competition with Blue Ray, which is backed by Sony and a number of other companies. This move would seem to be a direct counter to recent news that Sony Computer Entertainment plans to incorporate Blue Ray into its PlayStation 3 console. Interestingly enough, Toshiba is actually working with Sony on the Cell processor, a key component of the PS3.

Read the whole article on xbox.ign.com. http://xbox.ign.com/...4/554095p1.html
(October 5 11:29 EST)

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Gates confirms plans for Xbox Live spectator modes
>> From GamesIndustry.biz:

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Comments made by MS founder and chairman Bill Gates during a lecture at the University of California, Berkeley, have confirmed that the company is planning to add spectator modes to Xbox Live in the future. It's expected that the system will not only allow users to spectate on games but will also provide additional graphics and displays, similar to a sports TV channel. However, it's still not clear whether Xbox Live TV will be implemented in titles for the current Xbox platform, or if it's planned as a feature for the next-generation Xbox console.

Read the whole article on GamesIndustry.biz.
(October 6 11:31 EST)

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Electronic Arts' CFO Warren Jenson has told an investment conference in the USA that the company currently expects the Xbox 2 and PS3 to launch within six months of each other, in a window beginning in late 2005. While Jenson did qualify his statements by saying that EA doesn't have all the information about the launches as yet, and that the information they do have isn't perfect, his comments will be seen as further confirmation of the widely rumoured Xbox 2 launch timescale.

(October 8 09:43 EST)

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The Consumer Electronics Show has confirmed that MS chairman Bill Gates is set to give a pre-show keynote speech in Las Vegas on January 5th next year - with a public announcement of Xbox 2 widely expected. Gates will speak on Wednesday, January 5th at 6.30pm PST, the night before the opening of the CES event - which is the largest trade show of any description in North America, and is expected to attract 130,000 professionals from 110 countries over its three-day span.

Read the whole article on GamesIndustry.biz.
(October 18 11:25 EST)

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themuffinking writes "IBM (the manufacturers of some of the parts for the PS3 and Xbox 2) told Alex Albrecht that the processors they are putting in the new PS3 and Xbox2 are going to be the same processor, with the parts around it arranged slightly differently. Alex pried this information out of an IBM employee, likely while interviewing him for the show on which Alex is a cohost, The Screen Savers. Alex equivocates by saying "Now again, this is a rumor... so no Slashdotting". Too late for that, but keep in mind this is just hearsay at this point.

While both CPUs are developed by or in co-operation with IBM, note that officially the PS3 should be a CELL-based CPU and the Xbox2 a PowerPC-based CPU.
Unless Sony gave up CELL there should cerainly be atleast some difference between the 2 CPUs ... IBM, Sony and Toshiba didn't invest so much money in CELL for nothing ...
(November 1 13:18 EST)

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The Inquirer is today reporting MS’s intention to release three models of the Xbox2, one of which appears to be a fully functioning PC device, whilst the other two are based closer to a home console – one with a HDD, the other without. It’s believed that the leak stems from a presentation held within the UK, suggesting that the Xbox 2 and Xbox 2 HD are planned for release in Autumn 2005, followed by the launch of the Xbox 2 PC in Autumn 2006.

Read the whole articel on

http://www.totalvide...article_id=6732

http://www.theinquir.../?article=19615

http://www.gamesindu...ge.php?aid=5435

(November 11 09:28 EST)

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According to a segment of a question and answer section on IGN, MS will be launching the successor to the Xbox, currently bedraped with the moniker Xenon, in 2005. “MS will release the successor to Xbox in 2005,” writes the site. “And by the way, if there is still any doubt about this happening, now's the time to put it to rest. I've seen some holiday 2005 plans from publishers and several of them have major Xbox 2 titles scheduled for next November. I could name specific franchises and brand new IPs. It's really happening. And from the looks of it, there are going to be some pretty impressive launch titles.”

Read the whole article on Spong.com. http://news.spong.com/x?art=7990
(November 16 10:31 EST)

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* RUMOR : The Xbox Next will come in three different models. * Source: UK hardware site/online tabloid The Inquirer. * The official story: "MS does not comment on rumors or speculation"--MS spokesman. * What we heard: The past two weeks, Xbox rumors dominated the forums, the most juicy of which said that there will be not one, not two, but three versions of MS's new console: The hard drive-less Xbox Next, the Xbox Next HD, which will come with a hard drive, and the Xbox Next PC, which will be both an Xbox and an entry-level PC. And there's some substantiation to this scenario, since supposedly customer testing of an "Xbox Next PC" occurred earlier this year. * Bogus or not bogus?: Here's hoping this rumor is not bogus.

(November 20 02:00 EST)

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Junji Nakamura, president of Japanese publisher Tecmo, has slammed Sony's plans for the PlayStation 3, accusing the firm of allowing its ambitions in the home appliance space to overshadow its commitment to games. Speaking to investors at a conference held by the firm to mark its half-yearly results, Nakamura-san also expressed his confidence in MS's ability to build on its experience with Xbox and succeed in the next generation. "There's not much information from Sony," he told a questioner who asked about the firm's progress on next-generation development, according to a report on Bloomberg Japan. "The situation with MS is very different.". Nakamura-san opined that the American giant would "be able to use their experience of the current machine's failure to succeed, even in this country."

Read the whole article on GamesIndustry.biz.
(November 23 08:52 EST)

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The report "Game Consoles 2004: Waiting for the Next Generation", from high-tech market research firm In-Stat/MDR, expects the Xbox successor to arrive in late 2005: "The first next-generation console should hit the market in the fourth quarter of 2005 with the introduction of MS's Xbox 2. Sony, however, is not likely to give MS too much lead time before launching its PS3 console, which should occur by mid-2006. Nintendo will try to launch its next-generation GameCube 2 console either before, or simultaneously with Sony, which Nintendo considers to be its primary competition."

Read the whole article on TeamXbox.com
(November 30 11:26 EST)

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The Internet is like dry brush and it doesn't take much to set it ablaze. Such is the case with WarDevil - Unleash the Beast Within, a next-generation title from UK-based Digi-Guys. The official website does not specifically state this title is for Xbox 2, however, several key pieces of information make it an almost sure thing. Though the trailer appears to be CG cut-scenes, Digi-Guys seems to suggest that the in-game visuals won't differ much. If this is true, WarDevil would rival today's current PC graphics, truly putting Xbox 2 on the console cutting edge. The cinematic experience of WarDevil is intentional, as the title will also become a CGI high-definition short film.

Read the whole story (with trailer and screens) on xbox.ign.com.
(December 3 10:19 EST)

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Electronic Arts chief financial officer has told a US investment conference that the next-generation home consoles will feature wireless hubs, effectively putting wireless network access into millions of homes. "You're going to start seeing increments of online-related revenue creeping into the revenue stream over the coming years," he commented. "As we get into the next generation of consoles and further globalisation, this becomes a much bigger deal."

Read the whole story on GamesIndustry.biz.
(December 2 23:38 EST)

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SPOnG can exclusively reveal this morning that MS is planning to lift the lid on its most sensitive XBox 2 plans next month, with various media and software partners scheduled to attend a keynote briefing. At the meeting, to be held in Seattle on January 17, MS’s Xbox team will seek to outline its key branding direction, underlining launch plans and what it perceives as its target demographic. It’s worth bearing in mind that this news, 100% confirmed this morning by a senior source under conditions of anonymity, does throw weight behind the new console seeing daylight on January 5 at the Consumer Electronics Show, where Bill gates is set to make a keynote address.

Go read the whole story on Spong.com.
(December 6 12:27 EST)

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Well, we haven't talked about the next version of Xbox. But people know we're working on it, and people have to assume it's going to be the world's best game console. That's the place where it needs to start. But we do think there are going to be opportunities to enable what we've called "integrated innovation" scenarios. You can assume that everything we do -- the gaming side and things that integrate with other forms of entertainment -- is going to get better and better and better. Certainly, there's the idea that you're going to want to share what I'll call for lack of a better phrase your digital memories, whether that's digital photos, digital video or broadcast video. Music is clearly a scenario that everyone is focused on. Certainly, Apple has done some good work there. But we're still very early in the curve of what's possible and what people want. Communications turns out to be a very important scenario as well, whether that's chat, messaging, blogging, telephony. All those things are important scenarios, and there will be things that MS will be doing to deliver those. Now in some of those, we may be an infrastructure player, rather than a direct consumer player. There are tons of ways where software can play a role. Being a consumer-electronics company today isn't just about having some cool hardware technology. iPod is a great example. The actually technology in the iPod isn't very innovative. What's innovative in that product is the design, no question; the software, no question; and the way the design and the software and the hardware integrate with each other. That's the underlying thing that has fundamentally changed.

Go read the full interview on businessweek.com http://www.businessw..._5618_tc185.htm
(December 8 15:31 EST)