Xbla being a .net layer means they could in theory build a bytecode translator If the hardware is different enough to prevent normal running, so long as the libraries are still there.

Is it not possible they could stick a 360 CPU in there as well? If they did that, could the old games utilise the new graphics chip/RAM without fuss? Or is that a simple-minded suggestion from a belmer?

That's what Sony did with the first iteration of the PS3, then dropped it when they realised they could sell you the same games again on PSNdecided it was too expensive.

Is that what they did? Or was it ALL of the PS2 hardware crammed in?

If they go with ARM, will it work with LEGacy games?

I hope it's not too expensive.

PS2 hardware must have only been the size of a beermat, by then, surely?

The rumours are that it'll be an IBM PowerPC 16 core processor. Is that x86?

Is there any legal issues with MS cramming a Blueray player into the 720? Because that was one of the big reasons people got a PS3 too.

They have to buy a licence off Sony, which they apparently have. Which is... Strange.

Apparently the WiiU will use similar technology but not actual BluRay, so they'll have high capacity disks, but it won't function as a BluRay player.

Why? Explain to the idiot please!

That was the spec leaked about the "Durango" project, which by all accounts is the next Xbox.

It's not a licence from Sony, it's a licence from the consortium that control Blu-Ray. Sony is a part of that consortium, but only a part.

The licence includes a per-device fee that has to be paid, which is why...

This is happening.

On a similar note, fresh installs of Windows 8 (even the ones with Media Center enabled) won't play DVDs, for the same reason (so Microsoft doesn't have to kick back to the DVD Forum). Upgrades inherit a licence for DVD playback from the previous version of Windows, however. Simples!

Apparently the WiiU will use similar technology but not actual BluRay, so they'll have high capacity disks, but it won't function as a BluRay player.

With the notable exclusion of the last set of consoles, PowerPC is pretty much a chip that's embedded devices only, since Apple dropped it in the middle of the last decade. And it's a ballache for devs who have to support x86/x64 on PCs to have to support a totally different architecture on consoles.

Oh right - so PowerPC is a different thing to x86/64 altogether. Gotcha.

So another question - why do you guys reckon they'll go x86 over x64? Isn't x64 the future?

Thanks for the clarification, Dave.

Pretty much every chip out there today supports x86 and x64.

The question is what mode the OS will run in. If you're not addressing more than 4GB of RAM+VRAM, then there's actually a small performance gain in running in 32-bit mode.

I'd be surprised if the next XBOX had more than 2GB RAM and 1GBVRAM.

What, even ARM ones?

Citation needed. Don't forget that x86-64 had a handful of extra registers. In my experience, that makes it run faster than x86/32, regardless of memory.

So would I.

Yep, Nintendo have no interest in making anything other than a gaming machine, for better or worse.

Wii plays DVDs, doesn't it?

Wii plays DVDs, doesn't it?

He is a smartarse!

One more question, though! With regards to RAM. 2GB doesn't seem like a lot, but I've seen a lot of people saying that they'd be surprised if it has much more than that. In my experience of building PCs, RAM is cheap. Do consoles use some sort of special expensive RAM?

I think it was even smaller than that. Let's all sit down and remember what the PS3 was intended to be when they launched it. It was very well built and cost a fucking fortune and Sony were claiming they were losing money on every one — it had been conceived in a moment of quite breathtaking hubris, as a top-end multimedia machine with the game playing feature almost thrown in as an afterthought. Didn't they originally want to charge £800 for it?

He is a smartarse!

One more question, though! With regards to RAM. 2GB doesn't seem like a lot, but I've seen a lot of people saying that they'd be surprised if it has much more than that. In my experience of building PCs, RAM is cheap. Do consoles use some sort of special expensive RAM?

He is a smartarse!

One more question, though! With regards to RAM. 2GB doesn't seem like a lot, but I've seen a lot of people saying that they'd be surprised if it has much more than that. In my experience of building PCs, RAM is cheap. Do consoles use some sort of special expensive RAM?

But what about the new Xbox Dashboard? Presumably that'll be ramped up even further this time around and we'll see a proper "OS". Will that possibly result in more RAM being required? The current dashboard doesn't half creak on the 360.

Isn't that generally what happens with all new consoles? (the losing money bit).

The 360 was losing money also IIRC. The only thing that keeps them afloat for the first couple of years are the licensing fees on the games.

Most of the dashboard isn't in ram when a game is running.

An aside on the 32/64bit mode thing, there's a funky hybrid mode for userspace apps going into Linux that uses 32bit addressing but also all the 64bit registers and instructions.

Best of both worlds.

It's basically overblown PAE, isn't it?