About a month or so ago I thought I read some posts/threads here and there about the next generation of X-Box gaming console. Some of the information I garnered, while I don't know of its accuracy, suggested that Microsoft had chosen to license the video processing technology from ATI and as of a falling out with nVidia.
Part of the consumer concern I share is the potential loss of backward compatibilty. With an ATI chipset being used, I would find Microsoft's capabilities to right an emulator to handle nVidia-specific video coding to be extremely questionable.
So, if the X-box is not capable of backward capability (please let me know if this turns out to be a non-issue), I wonder about the future of X-Box in general. While I am sure Microsoft will always have new customers, I am really concern about potential investment losses.
For instance, I took out an insurance policy last summer when i bought the X-box in that in event the console fails I get a new one over a period of two years. But, what if it fails within this two-year period of time? Oops, the replacement is at the cost of games I cannot play, and games I will be forced to replace.
Now, I don't mind spending money on insurance under the auspices of that my protection on the console offers a continued play of games I already own, but this is being fundamentally challenge due to Microsoft business practices in a next generation gaming console that shares nothing with its past.
I wonder if I am really worrying about anything, or is there really something to worry about. I don't like the idea of throwaway platforms where everything invested in one generation's platform is worthless to the next generation. Does anyone feel the same?
Part of the consumer concern I share is the potential loss of backward compatibilty. With an ATI chipset being used, I would find Microsoft's capabilities to right an emulator to handle nVidia-specific video coding to be extremely questionable.
So, if the X-box is not capable of backward capability (please let me know if this turns out to be a non-issue), I wonder about the future of X-Box in general. While I am sure Microsoft will always have new customers, I am really concern about potential investment losses.
For instance, I took out an insurance policy last summer when i bought the X-box in that in event the console fails I get a new one over a period of two years. But, what if it fails within this two-year period of time? Oops, the replacement is at the cost of games I cannot play, and games I will be forced to replace.
Now, I don't mind spending money on insurance under the auspices of that my protection on the console offers a continued play of games I already own, but this is being fundamentally challenge due to Microsoft business practices in a next generation gaming console that shares nothing with its past.
I wonder if I am really worrying about anything, or is there really something to worry about. I don't like the idea of throwaway platforms where everything invested in one generation's platform is worthless to the next generation. Does anyone feel the same?