| VGKing said: "Ok, moving on. Have you read the VGLeaks article about the Durango specs? Yes? Good because everything you read in that article was 100% correct. Except, for one tiny little detail that MS kept guarded from most devs until very recently. That detail being that every Durango ships with a Xbox 360 SOC." This is a contradiction. Why would MS release an Xbox mini that connects to the 720 for backwards compatibility if each Xbox720 has the ability to play 360 games? LOL The thing about the Durango/360 SoC being used simultaneously is good/bad. The good part is obvious power improvements, the bad part is that it makes building games more complex. I don't know if I believe this part. Good thing they are keeping the 360 controller design. Bad thing they are keeping batteries. Seriously, its 2013 lithium-ion batteries are cheap. Next Xbox using Windows 8!? Good: Can play games published on the Windows Store. Has connectivity with PCs running W8. Bad: Windows Store isn't exactly the place to go to find indie games or quality apps. This may change in the future but as of now, its a wasteland. Also, having Windows Store accessible via Xbox 720 will only be confusing. Most will probably publish their games through XBL. |
Windows 8 running on the next box I only see good. The fact that Indies can skip the whole 10 grand cert process, the publisher model and all of tha that clunky crap that got in the way of them creating games for the 360 is gone. They can make their games, and updated them without having to sell a liver. Just because the Windows store is short on apps now will probably change pretty quickly once Developers head to that gold mine.
Windows 8 Kernel is very stable. Tested and approved for true multi-tasking which should make moving around the next Xbox UI to other stuff way better than the 360, and faster.
I actually like the batteries for my 360 controller over how the dualshock has it internal. I always have rechargeable batteries charging so when my 360 controller starts to flash, no hooking it up to the box just swap the batteries. On the Dual shock when it needs charging, I have to plug it in and since my cable is pretty short, most times I have to remember to charge it after I am finishing playing or have to wait 15 mins to get a decent charge to continue to play.
As to why MS would release a Mini and also have the Durango with the SOC inside is that the Mini is just a 360 without a disk and the plans to having it connected to the Durango unit was scrapped in favor of supplying Durango with BC. In other words, MS decided (only if rumor is true disclaimer) that BC would be a competitive advantage and its worth the cost of putting it in the Durango unit. I would agree this would be a clear competitive advantage and probably will allow MS to keep a good chunk of Xbox gamers. The Mini probably will be sold and marketed as competition to the Apple TV, Google and Samsung devices. As the rumor noted, this device is being made by a totally different team so their priorities are probably different.
As far as complexity of having the 360 SOC and Durango current setup. yes, that does appear to be something MS will need to address but then again, MS has a API layer and if the SOC is treated as any other GPU then the complexity will not be that great. It really will depend on exactly how this SOC can be used with native next box games. If Developers can purpose the chip any way they please well, it could be very interesting how games shape up on the device.
