Xbox 2 is a Mac? What the?

Monday October 4, 2004 at 10:10 pm | Filed under Gaming, Mac

Man I missed the boat on this news. Apparently back in February, Microsoft seeded developers with Dev kits for the next version of the Xbox. You know what type of system they gave developers? A mac!

In February, Microsoft released the Software Development Kit (SDK) for its forthcoming Xbox 2 video game console. Since the Xbox 2 will utilize IBM processors similar to the ones used in today’s Macintosh systems, the SDK was seeded to developers on dual Apple Power Mac G5 systems running a custom Windows NT Kernel.

Kinda shows you some of the firepower that’s going into the next Xbox. Pretty cool. I also read in some magazine that Microsoft is planning to market the games side of things, more than the power of the system. Obviously they’ll have the power to run amazing games, but they have to create amazing games for the system first. This was something they felt they could have done better on with the initial launch of the Xbox. I tend to agree since the Xbox comes up short with a lot of the more mainstream family games that has the PS2 sales still going strong so long after its launch. Action games, however, are better on the Box.

« Tivo and Netflix jump in bed? beh-say-bole has been beddy beddy good to me »

No Responses to “Xbox 2 is a Mac? What the?”

  1. Jon Says:
    October 5th, 2004 at 9:30 am

    I’m not trying to put forth a position with this comment. I’m not pro or con on either Xbox or PlayStation. If I had cash to throw around, I’d own both. The thing you said about Microsoft moving towards a marketing strategy that pushes the games rather than the power of the system reminded me of articles I’ve been reading lately about the latest news on the PS3. Right now, it’s starting to look like the next gen consoles will have a bit of a reversal… the next Xbox will be first to market, but the next PlayStation will be the more powerful machine. If that’s really how it’s going to play out, then that would definitely explain Microsoft’s change in marketing strategy.

  2. joe Says:
    October 5th, 2004 at 11:19 pm

    Good point, although I don’t see a lot of poeple waiting for Sony’s next gen to come out. The first box to the market ill sell, and sell well. swell.

    We’ll have to wait and see! I don’t think you can lose whichever way you go. Heck, I didn’t think the Gamecube was a bad deal.

  3. Jon Says:
    October 6th, 2004 at 8:58 am

    Considering “Metroid Prime” the GameCube isn’t a bad deal at $99. Once it hit that price point, Joel bought it and now he’s got all three.

    You’re right. If the window of time from launch of the MS box to launch of PS3 is as long as people are saying it is, MS will gain big market share much like the PS2 was able to do.