http://gizmodo.com/5063680/next-xbox-will-upgrade-xbox-360-games-to-look-amazing-use-new-controller-features

New rumblings suggest that MS is working including new tools in the 360 SDK's to allow developers to program 360 games to be forward compatible with the next xbox. The idea being that the in game settings which control resolution, draw distance, texture resolution, etc. could be proigrammed to upgrade if a 360 title is played on whatever the next gen xbox will be. Meaning not only is the next xbox going to play 360 games but the games would look and perform considerably better. Just a rumor but as the article mentions these were the guys who first reported that the 360 HDD would be "optional".

My personal guess is that even if this is possible a title by title patch would be required for any game made before this practice would be started.

yea, but I'd imagine it would be a small patch.

I'd imagine the next Xbox will be built from the current PPC architecture. AMD looks like a lock right now for both the PS4 and the next Xbox, too, considering their performance-die size ratio is so far beyond Nvidia it's not even funny.

yea, but I'd imagine it would be a small patch.

I'd imagine the next Xbox will be built from the current PPC architecture. AMD looks like a lock right now for both the PS4 and the next Xbox, too, considering their performance-die size ratio is so far beyond Nvidia it's not even funny.

While that's true now this flips every year(with the exception to the reign of the 8800 gtx) The real reason they would stick with ati is that there is bad blood between Nvidia and Microsoft because of the first Xbox. Also it would be easier to maintain backward compatibility as ATI is in the 360.

I think this sounds pretty logical as on the xbox (the original) most of the games were hard coded to run at a set resolution so the xbox emulator on the 360 couldn't touch that or it would break the game. These days they play with the resolution and other features (aa, ansio filtering) just to get the game running and then the 360 scales it to the correct resolution.

This is a great idea. I don't think developers will be putting higher res textures or better quality audio streams in the already cramped 360 discs, but resolution is a no brainer. I don't think developers would work on patches to upgrade current games, but newer ones from 2009-2010, the type of games people will be playing when the new system comes out, definitely. It'll also be a really good reason to upgrade.

The next generation of consoles needs to be capable enough to do 1080p/60fps.

Last I heard, MS owns the IP behind the current XBOX CPU and GPU.
So they don't necessarily need to go to AMD/ATI for a new GPU; they can just do a multi-core implementation of the same GPU combined with the existing tiling capability.
As for storage media, currently available (but unused) tech allows up to ten layers on a red laser DVD with a minimal firmware tweak on existing readers so new disks could be pressed with 2 layers holding 360 code and 8 layers holding NextBox code. Or they could have one BD layer and two or three red laser layers.
MS has a lot of choices for the NextBox, depending on what they intend to do with it; introduce it as a high-end extension of the 360 platform or as a separate higher-end platform.
Given that the new box won't come out before 2011-12 they likely still have another year to ponder the issues before making irrevocable commitments.

The next generation of consoles needs to be capable enough to do 1080p/60fps.

Hopefully without sounding like a 747 taking off.

I just hope the next xbox will be compatible with the 360's peripherals. I've got 5 controllers, a guitar, Hori joystick, and the wireless racing wheel.

I just hope the next xbox will be compatible with the 360's peripherals. I've got 5 controllers, a guitar, Hori joystick, and the wireless racing wheel.

Yeah, I'm sure it wont. :(

I bet half their profits come from selling peripherals.

I just hope the next xbox will be compatible with the 360's peripherals. I've got 5 controllers, a guitar, Hori joystick, and the wireless racing wheel.

Yeah, I'm sure it wont. :(

I bet half their profits come from selling peripherals.

well uh if they update teh wired ports it will likely be USB 3.0 which is naturally backwards compatible. and I see no reason for MS to change their propietary RF encryption model. At most some motion capability(highly likely for the next system) might be missed if you use a 360 controller.

PPC? To me that mean Pocket PC. I'm lost.
As for GPU you guys forget that Microsoft is all about making there systems easy for devs so I doubt your see some stupid artitechture like PS3.
And your forgetting that there were some forward games for xbox 1 to xbox 360. Halo 2 is the only one I can of offhand but I think there were a handful of others.

PPC? To me that mean Pocket PC. I'm lost.
As for GPU you guys forget that Microsoft is all about making there systems easy for devs so I doubt your see some stupid artitechture like PS3.
And your forgetting that there were some forward games for xbox 1 to xbox 360. Halo 2 is the only one I can of offhand but I think there were a handful of others.

PPC stands for Power PC which is a IBM devloped processor brand and archiecture. MS owns the design of teh CPU used in the 360 but will likely be looking for a couple extra cores next time around my guess is 6. As for PS3's sdeisgn it's not really stupid just not designed well for today's gaming. the CELL needs a lot of knowledge to use properly and it will benefit game design eventually.

i understand their inference here, but their term "forward compatible" is factually incorrect when referring to the hardware. the next system would still be backwards compatible. it's the current gen games that would be forward compatible...

i understand their inference here, but their term "forward compatible" is factually incorrect when referring to the hardware. the next system would still be backwards compatible. it's the current gen games that would be forward compatible...

Correct; the idea being that properly coded games will perform at one level on current hardware and at an improved level on future hardware. Essentially the rumor comes down to a new SDK and guidelines to go with it.

One way MS could easily achieve this (as they did with Windows software in the past) is by implementing API calls in an updated SDK that call software features in the current XBOX but will call hardware in the next. In other words, they can provide standard linkable code to perform functions (say dynamic lighting, etc) that on a future xbox would be done in hardware. And yes, they can allow for things like frame-rate and resolution to be toggled by a patch so the game will render at 1980p/60 on future hardware.
Lots of things like this can be done when the software development environment is designed from the ground up for abstraction and extensibility. So there's nothing outrageous about the rumor, per se. The guy could just be blowing smoke but there's nothing to say its not true either.
Then again, its not really going to have much of an impact on anything beyond, maybe, scaring the competition a bit with the idea that the next XBOX might ship not with the usual 6-12 native games, but several dozen market-proven games.
Fun speculation but no real near term impact other than keep us busy while we wait for the holiday flood to begin: Fable II, Fallout III, Gears II, oh my aching wallet...
...and that's just the next three weeks...
:eek:

... the idea being that properly coded games will perform at one level on current hardware and at an improved level on future hardware. Essentially the rumor comes down to a new SDK and guidelines to go with it.



Man, that would be great. I think it's forward thinking improvements like this that benefit us all when it comes to the value of these high-priced toys. If there really is something like this in the works, then it seems like these guys really have their act together.

shouldnt the title be "New (or current?) games to be forward compatible?"

or "Next xbox to be backward compatible?"

nevermind, talbain already brought that up.


either way its a great idea.... a new console upgrade would be similar to upgrading your gpu/cpu in your PC and cranking the graphics up on newer games to make them look prettier than before.

Hopefully without sounding like a 747 taking off.

+1 but I think they'll likely have it so you can download full games to the hard drive by then. There may be advances in cooling technology by then. On a side note you should see this RAM we got in at work this week. They were 1GB modules that were only half as high as a regular ones. Things are gettin' smaller, cooler, quieter all the time.

That would be really cool. I'd like to see Halo 3 at 1920x1080 native with some AA.

i understand their inference here, but their term "forward compatible" is factually incorrect when referring to the hardware. the next system would still be backwards compatible. it's the current gen games that would be forward compatible...

LOL, I thought that too..."Sweet I can play Xbox 1440 games on the 720!"

Seriously, I hope this is true, as I hate having to deep-six my favorite games because I don't have the space to keep all the old consoles hooked up. But it's awfully early in the development cycle for any real details to be surfacing.