Sony showed the way by developing the CELL chip for the Sony PS3. In the typical Microsoft me to way, Microsoft has started to lay the ground work for its own chip development.

The NY Times reports that Microsoft formed the Computer Architecture Group, which is supposed to work on the next generation Xbox CPU.


Another field the new chip design group is going to be active is Voice recognition.

Intel might not be a happy about Microsoft building their own chips, but I think there is no other way for Microsoft to continue to compete with Sony in the long run.

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I heard about this last week. I' m still unsure about the choice. I' ll start off by saying the writer of this article is dumb because Sony didn' t make the Cell, IBM did. Sony put forward the funds. What MS is doing is completely in house. Two very different things.

MS has always been a software manufacturer and their move into hardware worries me a bit. I know they have a lot of experience working with hardware but working with it and making it is a etty big difference. So far they' ve done a really good job designing 360s but going the extra length of designing the actual chips seems a bit much. I actually wish they would have stuck with IBM. I' m really woried about IBM now that not only has Apple dropped them but MS has now too...

There are going to be some massive changes in the industry going on these next few years and the following generation is going to be radically different because of it.

Interesting, i didn' t really expect MS to go that way, but i guess anything to coup more money in the longer run i suppose isn' t surprising.

I' m curious what the interest there is in voice recognition though? I can' t see anything to be gained from it.

I wonder too what sony have planned for PS4 chip wise, if it' ll be a new model of the cell chip or what. I guess depending on how much money they can make as they seem to be losing money left right and center.

This does not surprise me, in the xbox 1 day' s nvidia had them over a barrel and refused to cost reduce their products, let alone integrate them with other peoples.

In the same timescale sony integrated their cpu and graphics to one unit and reduced the cost by double.

Nvidia were notorius at that time and xbox gpu made up for over 20% of their revenue.

They want more control over costs, and will outsource production as usual. The article is way off the mark and any processor will most probably be co-developed with someone big in the market. Sony had been having meetings with IBM since around 2001 over the CELL.

I think this is a bad move. Anyone remember how much devs complained about the PS2' s Emotion Engine?

Yeah, but the hype kept it from getting too out of control. (Seeing any connectioins?) People were expecting alot, and it kinda delivered, I guess.

ORIGINAL: immortaldanmx

I think this is a bad move. Anyone remember how much devs complained about the PS2' s Emotion Engine?

The difference is that MS makes the middleware so that developers don' t have a pain in the ass learning how to use chips. That' s what XNA is for. They give developers the proper info so that they can start working with the new technology quickly. If MS makes the chips that means they' ll be able to make the tools as they are designing the chips which will be insanely efficient for developers since all the unknowns will already be worked out.

I' m not worried about difficulty to program if MS makes the chips, I' m just worried about the chips themselves.

I agree with rampage. The only thing I' m worried about is if the chips will be fast. It is hard for a first time hardware developer to get something with a competing speed. But if they design it specifically for games that could make a big difference in speed. As long as they don' t make it stupid like Cell (OMG PS3 helps me do my laundry!).

Ack nooo I dont wanna think about the next next gen...but very interesting.

Oh great, voice recognition. I already know how much " fun" it is to deal with automated voice recognition systems when I' m trying to deal with utility companies.

All I can say is, next-next gen will be very very interesting. Possibly new controllers all-together (goodbye analog sticks?), games that make Gears look like graphics from Star Wars VII, and...just tons of possiblities...

I kinda thought that AMD would design the Xbox 3 cpu now that they have aquired Ati and can have its own chipsets.

I woudln' t be surprised if Ati supplies the GPU again and AMD manufacutures the Xbox 3 cpu.

Wow. This is a very calculated risk. To completely design and produce their own chips (they had a hand in the 360 chip design) could be really good, if the 3rd iteration of their console performs well in the marketplace. Outsourcing seems more logical, as you' re minimizing your potential losses (if the 3rd gen Xbox fails), but M$ may be thinking into the future with this one. Could be interesting.

Microsoft will be the new " Umbrella Corp." , and will soon begin developing medicine (and bio-weapons, under wraps)! Nanite based, perhaps?!

Capitalism FTW!

- GameDaily reported that Microsoft does not have plans to develop its own CPU for Xbox 3. Current the research group is only concerned with hardware architecture topics.

Source: The-Magicbox

As long as they don' t make it stupid like Cell (OMG PS3 helps me do my laundry!).

The ps3 can' t really help you do your laundry smartness. It could help you calculate how many clothes you could fit individually into 34,890 different washers, but it couldn' t calculate which setting you' d put them on.

DU-UH!!!

All I can say is, next-next gen will be very very interesting. Possibly new controllers all-together (goodbye analog sticks?), games that make Gears look like graphics from Star Wars VII, and...just tons of possiblities

I know, Carrie Fisher' s body was amazingly well rendered. Too bad it was only CG


Cryin' shame I tell ya. Cryin' shame.

You' d be making a major mistake to compare this to Sony' s emotion engine. Microsoft is a company that whatever they end up designing for a cpu they' ll most likely be making the best possible decision from the perspective of the developer.

This is Microsoft :)