The guys at MSXBox have received a clarification on the grapics processor that will be used in the Xbox. It's not a chip that would be usable in the PC, although of course Nvidia will probably be able to use parts of it for a new PC chip. From Microsoft's J Allard

"We're working with Nvidia to develop a graphics chip which is a step beyond the NV20, it's called the NV2A. In early design discussions, we did loosely refer to it as an 'NV25', but decided to change it to NV2A to avoid, not incite confusion. it's a custom chip which is designed especially for the Xbox and some very specific requirements for the console that makes it a non-candidate for a pc card and will be faster than the NV20."

It looks like XBox is continuing to show some force in signing up even more developers and announcing more games. Here is the latest roundup of XBox bits for you guys to chew on. You will be assimilated:

- Activision confirms 6 titles for the XBox in development.
- PlanetXBox has an interview with Turbine (The Asheron's Call guys) about XBox and possible MMORPG's for XBox
- NVidia stock is rocketing (they are doing the chips for XBox) going up over 7% in value just today.
- THQ announced yesterday that they are developing XBox titles.

At this rate, I dont have any more doubts about buying one of these machines. The guys have so many developers and so much support I'd feel almost silly for not having one. Looks like fun :)

Gamecenter has a big ass X-Box interview (they call it monster interview themselves), talking to Seamus Blackley of Microsoft. Blackley was actually the guy who first though of the idea of doing a console. There's information on developer support, the hardware specs, the XDKs, if they are still on track for the fall 2001 date, the broadband support and just a heck of a lot more.

GC: But this is now. This is Xbox. This is a Windows 2000 kernel, it's got a hard drive...
S.B.: Nah, it's a game console. This is the thing: we have not talked to consumers yet. Seriously, think about it--we haven't done a single thing for consumers. We've only talked to developers and publishers. We've gone out to developers and we've said, "Hey, here are the components, here are the tools." We bring a lot of stuff from the PC, but it's not a PC, and they understand that. For consumers it's a little confusing because they see "Pentium" and "hard drive" and they think, "Oh, this must be a junior PC."
Of course, Konami is not confused that it's a game console, right? So people should take great heart in the fact that [Konami] understands that it's a console, as do all the other partners we have. Because like I said before, shockingly, game consoles are computers. You should never confuse [Xbox] with a PC and you should never confuse the content with PC content; I mean it's all console content. When we actually start talking to consumers and showing games, that's going to be really, really clear. You're going to see this box and it runs console games.

Gamespy has learned from unnamed sources that SquareSoft and Electronic Arts have signed up as developers for the Microsoft Xbox console, despite being absent from the original developers list. Looks like Microsoft got all the major developers making games for the Xbox now.

The latest SharkyExtreme PrivateEye article takes a look at the X-Box from Microsoft which we've learned quite a bit more about recently with announcement from NVidia and MS.

Word from Konami is that Metal Gear Solid will be making its way to the XBox. It looks like that 'killer app' for the Playstation2 isnt so exclusive.

NVidia has announced it's providing a Media Communications Processor for the Xbox. This processor will handle the broadband connectivity, communications, and audio capabilities for the Microsoft console. This is the 2nd processor NVidia will be providing as they are also providing the graphics processor.

``The Xbox MCP, also called MCPX, is the first product in a new category of media and communication processors that will power the 21st century broadband digital appliances,'' said Jen-Hsun Huang, president and CEO at NVIDIA. ``Our vision is to leverage the power of the MCP to transform platforms such as PCs, game consoles, and set-top boxes into `residential gateways'. The MCP will eventually become a `network router on a chip', and distribute broadband content throughout the networked digital home.''

A few days ago there was also a report of Nvidia making an integrated chipset for AMD and Intel CPUs.

update Jack - The MCP was also the big spinning bad guy in Tron... Coincidence? I think not. Check out this picture I found of nVidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang.

On a more serious note, this isn't the first time nVidia's gone this route. Way back in 1995, nVidia made the NV1, which bombed after Diamond didn't renew their contract. Here's the report from BYTE way back then:

Nvidia wants your games. The NV1 is a highly integrated multimedia accelerator that includes a 3-D video accelerator (which can do 2-D graphics, too), a 350-MIPS audio engine (with Sound Blaster emulation), and an I/O processor (for joysticks and the like). This chip is designed to improve the game experience significantly. If early demonstrations are any indicator, it will.

The 3-D video accelerator is the most interesting part of the chip. What's intriguing is a graphics primitive called QTM (Quadratic Texture Map), a derivative of an algorithm named nonuniform rational B-splines (NURBS).

Microsoft has announced that more than 150 companies have pledged their support for their Xbox console. Not just any developers either, what to think about Capcom, Konami, Midway and Namco besides the developers/publishers we're used to on the PC like Activision, Eidos, Infogrames and Sierra. Microsoft has also unveiled a new logo for the console but I couldn't find that anywhere. Goofy quote of the day

``We wanted the logo to convey the newness and excitement of Xbox -- to let gamers know they will enter a new world,'' said John O'Rourke, director of Xbox marketing at Microsoft. ``One pack of skateboarders who recently saw the logo said they wanted to plaster it on their boards. That's what I call acceptance.''

update Computer and Video Games News has the logo. I'm gonna print it out and plaster it on the skateboard that I don't have. The guys at PlanetXbox have the developers list.

Gamespot UK has a brief interview with J.Allard, who is on the Xbox team at Microsoft. The interview mainly focuses on the games instead of the hardware.

For the XBox watchers, Microsoft put out a press release about the game developers they have rounded up to support the console'ish system.

Salon.com is carrying a lengthy and interesting article looking at how the Microsoft X-Box will most likely change the face of home entertainment/gaming. It's heavy on the praise but has a lot of good points. There are quotes from a few game developers in there. In case there was any doubt though... :

Hardcore gamers will never be satisfied by a platform with frozen specs, not if they can get a better experience on an open one," says Costikyan. And they will. The PC is a platform in continuous evolution

Yup. I imagine I'll decide on getting one or not when we see some full blown games running on the systems. Unless they have TombRaider XII ported to it, I'm not gettin it!

CNet has a story on a 2nd chip NVidia is making for the Microsoft Xbox console. It might possibly be the audio processor, which would be a new step for the company.

"It's supposed to require a whole lot of math," Glaskowsky said of the audio chip. "Nvidia certainly has a whole lot of know-how to do that."
Nvidia also is doing the core logic for the Xbox--the technology that allows the Pentium III microprocessor to talk to the graphics chip and other components--although Huang indicated that the unknown chip goes beyond that function. The chip might provide additional power for video processing, Glaskowsky hypothesized.

The Carmack posted on /. (thanks Norulez) responding to yesterday's story about him being on the Xbox advisory board. He says it really isn't that special considering he's on a lot of advisory boards. He does mention what he's talked to Microsoft about before, and also what his participation in other advisory boards have been, such as those from 3dfx and NVidia. Here is a small snip

I want microsoft to make good products. Heck, I want everyone to make good products. Even at the height of the D3D vs OpenGL antagonism, I had always given them source drops of what I was working on, and freedom to use it for demonstrating new features. <snip> In any case, talking with MS has no bearing on my development decisions. I'm still using OpenGL, and we are still planning simultanious releases for linux and MacOS-X. If things work out well with X-Box, that may be added to the list.

The guys at PlanetXbox are reporting that John Carmack will be on the Xbox technical advisory board, so he will no doubt have some influence in the technical design of the Microsoft console. Of course, so far id has not announced development for the machine, a lot depends on whether or not OpenGL will be supported.

There's an lengthy article about the X-Box graphics on Dr Dobb's, written by former id programmer Michael Abrash, who has been working at Microsoft for a few years now. Thanks adam. There's a general article about the graphics (well it has techy terms, but I think any good Shack reader should be able understand most of it :) ), but also a seperate piece about X-Box memory bandwidth something which is important since the GeForce2 right now is pretty much limited by that. Here's a piece about the power of the graphics chip that NVidia will be providing

To put that into easily visualized terms, Quake on a Pentium Pro could draw about three lit player models per frame at 640×480, 60 Hz. Xbox should be able to draw roughly 3000 of the same models per frame, even with a second texture, pixel shading, and antialiasing thrown in for good measure.

Xbox.ign.com has an interview with The Carmack, talking to him about the X-Box console from Microsoft. They discuss what's so good about the X-Box, the possible OpenGL support, if PC developers will go console only, and possible Doom/Quake ports of the id games to the console.

I saw on Stomped that the X-Box comparison page now lists the X-Box CPU running at 733mhz instead of the originally announced 600mhz.

Wired has a story of some random E3 things, including the news that ex-id programmer Michael Abrash is now on the X-Box team. Saw that on Stomped.

MSXBox.com is having a poll on what Microsoft should call their X-Box mascot, like "Mario" for Nintendo. You can chose between Lexi, Raven, Cleo and Athena.

Some X-Box news on Daily Radar, who talked to Ed Fries of MS game publishing, who reveils they are looking for around 10 in-house published games to be released with the X-Box launch.