IGN.XBOX posted an interview with J. Allard, General Manager of the Xbox. Some of the system specs have changed. To wit:

Graphics processor: From 300MHz to 250MHz

Polygon performance: From 300 M/sec to 125 M/sec

DVD movie playback: Now requires remote control accessory

When asked why they had changed specs after Seamus Blackley last year said, ""The only changes that you'd ever possibly see -- and I think that the probability of there being any changes is extraordinarily low -- would be upgrades to system performance", the answers got a bit evasive. About the polygon count dropping:

The funny thing about poly performance is that that's a theoretical number, and it's a good number to talk about because competitors talk about theoretical numbers, but we've long held that the most important number is what game performance looks like. So the fact that NV20s are in developers hands is great, and the final hardware will be in their hands in a couple of months. I think we'll have no problem making the 3x differentian in real game performance, and maybe even more.

Then about the graphics processor change:

It's more of a spec refinement, not a change. Technically it's a change -- that's the clock rate we're going to be able to achieve and still maintain the 3x performance.

That's pretty cool. It's a refinement and not a change, unless you want to get technical, and then well, ok, it is a change. Heh.

The most surprising bit is that they're not going to include a remote control device for DVD playback with the Xbox. If you want to watch DVD movies, you have to buy your own remote. There will be no other way to do it!

What is up with this crazy Xbox? Comment here.

Interesting news. I guess they couldn't meet the low retail price they need to compete successfully in the console business. That and perhaps NVidia had problems with their new chipset. Or maybe heat was a problem and they just discovered that people don't really want loud cooling fans in their consoles...

The missing remote control is definitely a cost cutting measure, they probably figured Sony got away with it so why shouldn't we? They'd better have a really good game lineup now that their technical advantage is crumbling, though.

I saw somewhere that it costs a company extra in licensing fees if the machine can play DVDs right out of the box and that MS is using this remote separately idea to avoid paying said fee. I'd love to see some confirmation on that one. That would rank right up there with Sony putting YABASIC on their European PS2s so they can call it a "computer" and avoid a high tariff on importing game consoles.

As for the video bit... the theoretical performance is still pretty damn high even with this change. Considering the memory architecture which is very different from a PC, this Xbox is still going to be first or second in the "power" sweepstakes. My guess is it cut costs and manufacture times by quite a bit.

--Dave

"The missing remote control is definitely a cost cutting measure, they probably figured Sony got away with it so why shouldn't we?"

Yeah, but with the PS2 you can still play DVDs. It's just more of a pain without the remote. With the Xbox you will not even be able to play a DVD until you buy a remote. It's just bizarre, unless it's a dodge to avoid licensing fees, like Dave wonders.

It sure makes you wonder what the cost of the Xbox is going to be. I can't imagine Microsoft pricing it at more than $299. I wonder what their manufacturing costs will be?

Hey, if this flops, maybe we should call it Xbob in honor of Microsoft Bob. :)

Ah, MS Bob. For a while there I thought I imagined it. Here's my take on the XBox so far:

Specs: 733 MHz? 250 MHz? 6.4GB/sec? 125 million/sec? What? Even better, who cares? Until I see running games and real honest to god silicon, these numbers are just this side of meaningless.

Broadband out of the box: Sony really dropped the ball on this one. Being able to hook an XBox right into an ethernet hub and playing online in 5 minuets or less is nice. (Dear Microsoft, If I can't hook up an XBox to an ethernet hub and be playing online in 5 minuets or less, then you dropped the ball too. Got it? Love, Al. p.s. It takes more than 5 minuets to sign up for MSN and if I already have broadband why do I need it? Capice?)

The hard drive: On the plus side, it should make downloading demos *much* easier. No more renting games that have already been rented out! No more shuffling through four or five memory cards to find that one save from two months ago! On the minus side, if they blow the UI then all those complaints about an added hard drive making things more confusing go from "baseless speculation" to "visionary."

The box: I gotta go against the grain on this one. I like the way the XBox looks. Sleek and black. If I wanted to color coordinate, I'd be my wife.

The controller: OK, I'll admit, I don't like the look of the controller either. Asymmetrical sticks? That big green thing in the middle? Huh? That said, until I hold it in my hand I'll reserve final judgment. Maybe they're onto something with the stick layout. Maybe the big green dome hides a really good rumble unit....

"Broadband out of the box: Sony really dropped the ball on this one. Being able to hook an XBox right into an ethernet hub and playing online in 5 minuets or less is nice."

Can someone explain to me how this works, exactly? I have DSL. Is it simply a matter of switching my DSL modem from my computer to the Xbox? I have an external DSL modem, so that would be pretty easy to do.

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Can someone explain to me how this works, exactly? I have DSL. Is it simply a matter of switching my DSL modem from my computer to the Xbox? I have an external DSL modem, so that would be pretty easy to do.

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"But yes, the Xbox should use DHCP and request its own IP address as your computer does.."

I was curious about how this would work, too, and if the above is correct, then I guess I'd be out of luck because I get a static IP through my ISP/DSL provider.

What would you do if you had a static IP? I suppose I could set up ICS since I have win98se, but there's got to be a more elegant solution. And I'd rather not buy an extra IP, thank you. I would *hate* to think that the answer is everyone get an MSN account in addition to (or worse yet, to replace) their original ISP. Yuck.

heh- just noticed that time on the board is East Coast Time. Whew! Can you say BIG RELIEF.

Not to sound like a soft-core gamer (heaven forbid!), but I really wanted to get to bed at a decent time tonight. The entire holiday I've been obsessed with an oldie, Grand Prix Legends. Got my wheel out and everything. I find that if I turn off the damage model and just bounce off the walls, hay bales, etc, and keep on going, I can improve my standings to like, uh, say, second to last from the 500 or so people in the USA listed at the ranking site. ;) Whatever, it's fun...

Is it weird or what: I get obsessed with a driving sim and Shoot Club goes to the races! Poor Trevor and co are going to be hating life next week when I return to flight sims.

humm... little off topic here but, Oh well! Ok, back to your regularly scheduled thread.

"Is it weird or what: I get obsessed with a driving sim and Shoot Club goes to the races! Poor Trevor and co are going to be hating life next week when I return to flight sims."

I am determined to try a Flight Club one week. It's an awful waste to have four computers here and not take advantage of all the great MP flight sims. And Crimson Skies doesn't count.

-Tom

"I am determined to try a Flight Club one week. It's an awful waste to have four computers here and not take advantage of all the great MP flight sims. And Crimson Skies doesn't count."

Glad to hear it!

The idea was mentioned somewhere on this board not too long ago and I must say I like it a lot. Of course I would like it--I'm sort of one-trick-pony about flight sims--but I'm also curious about how Shoot Club's casual audiance would deal with a flight sim. I suppose a lot would depend on the sim in question... Maybe LB2 with it's pilot/cpg would allow for vets to bring the newbies along. F4 is in much better shape these days, but it's tough being in that cockpit all alone. Ah, perhaps better to drop down to one of the world wars, maybe even as far back as RB3d. Whatever, it'll be a hoot.

LOL, who would have thought it would have been this much fun to peer into Tom's living room/apartment until the wee hours of the morning on a weekly basis, huh?

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I was curious about how this would work, too, and if the above is correct, then I guess I'd be out of luck because I get a static IP through my ISP/DSL provider.

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There's no way in hell I could get away with anything post-WWII. Maybe MiG Alley, but anything with avionics would be out of the question. But I've long intended to run them through a flight tutorial to see how they might take to European Air War. Perhaps Janes WWII Fighters might be better for the graphics splash. I haven't tried CFS2 yet, but I've been meaning to give that a spin. As for Red Baron, I don't think that would have enough *kick* for them.

As for knowing it's a gaming lab, you should see some of the games I've forced those poor guys to play for the sake of my assignments! But as long as we get around to UT or Rogue Spear by the end of the night, they're willing to help me out with almost anything. Except that Mary Kate and Ashley game I tried to get them to play.

-Tom