Durango Developers Verify Xbox 720 Prototype Details

[Jeremy Wilkinson]

Durango Developers Verify Xbox 720 Prototype Details

A developer has outed photos of Microsoft's new PC-like "Durango" development platform.

Pictures and details of a development kit for Microsoft's next console have appeared on the ASSEMblergames forum. Codenamed "Durango", the unremarkable-looking black box seems to be essentially a high-end gaming PC in terms of its technology and appearance.

The source of the leak, who goes by the alias DaE, originally listed the Durango for sale for an eyebrow-raising $10,000, but the administrator removed the post after outing it as a prank. However, while the sale may have been a practical joke, the device itself is apparently anything but, with a variety of developers telling Digital Foundry that the photos of the kit's sparse user interface are legitimate.

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The most widely-confirmed details are the type of processor and amount of memory that the Durango possesses. The Digital Foundry report confirmed DaE's claims that the dev kit is a 64-bit system sporting over 8GB of RAM, with some other sources giving a figure of 12GB. The memory is not indicative of the final Xbox 720, though, as the majority of development kits contain twice the memory of the finished product for debugging purposes. Another developer has added that the Durango can run the DirectX 11 engines used by many recent PC games with ease.

The other information DaE gave is somewhat less well-corroborated, however. Other developers in possession of the kit neither confirmed nor denied his claims that the Durango contains an eight-core processor, and his remarks on the manufacturers of various key components are also questionable . According to DaE, the processor and graphics card were made by Intel and NVIDIA respectively, a pairing which harks back to the original Xbox's hardware partnerships.

DaE also uploaded a screenshot of the Visual Studio environment he has been using to code for Durango. Not one of Digital Foundry's sources raised any doubt as to its veracity, with one adding, "As an aside it's got my favorite MS return code in there: ERROR_SUCCESS." One of the header files used, titled "immintrin.h", gives a strong hint that the processor will use an x86 architecture similar to that used in many PCs, signalling an intriguing departure from the proprietary architectures seen in most consoles and narrowing the gap between personal computer and console technology.

Source: Digital Foundry [http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-the-curious-case-of-the-durango-devkit-leak]

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[Ympulse]

That console will have to cost a grand at least, the components alone would retail at a pretty hefty price.

[edit] assuming this is legit

 

[nodlimax]

I bet this increase in processing power should be giving the PC gaming elite a bit of a Crysis of confidence.

Why would it? The current console generation is the reason why many PC players are extremely upset. They're blocking advancements in the gaming area.

Why do you think more and more Devs are currently going back to the PC? The current console generation is dead.

 

[halobolola]

Cant wait for the increase in quality from games

 

[Erttheking]

I bet this increase in processing power should be giving the PC gaming elite a bit of a Crysis of confidence.

Why would it? The current console generation is the reason why many PC players are extremely upset. They're blocking advancements in the gaming area.

Why do you think more and more Devs are currently going back to the PC? The current console generation is dead.

...You do know that that post was supposed to be a joke right?

OT: I am going off to college in a month so odds are I won't be able to fork over cash for a new console for awhile, but this interests me.

 

[Megacherv]

His Solution Explorer's on the wrong side of the screen! GAH!

Also, I wish Visual Studio 11 was more colourful

EDIT: I will say however that I noticed the Metro style UI, especially the circular loading icon (the thing that looks like YouTube's 'buffering ring'), which is one of the two loading animations used in Windows 8. This could actually show that the new console is Metro based and could be sharing Win8's kernal like Windows Phone 8 will do, OR it's just a hoax constructed in Windows 8

 

[Dangit2019]

I'm really just hoping that Microsoft will still put games at the center focus in their next console. Look, I like being able to watch Netflix on there like everybody else, but when they start adding things like ESPN (that could easily be accessed by anyone with cable) and then put the "Start Game" button up in a small corner surrounded by big advertisements...

Spoiler

...then it just makes me wonder if games are still going to be top priority come the next generation or if they put more and more crap that no gamer needs into it.

 

[TK421]

I'm really just hoping that Microsoft will still put games at the center focus in their next console. Look, I like being able to watch Netflix on there like everybody else, but when they start adding things like ESPN (that could easily be accessed by anyone with cable) and then put the "Start Game" button up in a small corner surrounded by big advertisements...

Spoiler

...then it just makes me wonder if games are still going to be top priority come the next generation or if they put more and more crap that no gamer needs into it.

This is what I am worried about as well. Very worried actually. I don't want any of that extra crap. NONE of it. Not even Netflix, if that makes them want to add more "extras."

The game in a corner thing is actually why I cancelled my Xbox Gold account to start with. I sent them an email describing how I think the game should be the main focus and not ads, and if that wasn't changed I would not be purchasing Gold again. The reply will shock and disgust you:

"Hello [my gamertag].
We received your email, But that is not the experience that we want you to have with your Xbox system.

[Representative's Name]"

Now, that is not an exact quote (this was about a year ago, when the Xbox dashboard defaulted to the "Spotlight" channel, actual email is long gone) but it is very, very close.

Isn't that the scariest reply that you guys have ever seen?

 

[Lvl 64 Klutz]

I need a new, less expensive hobby. Every time I think there's a lull in the industry taking my money in order to stay on track, something else pops up.

 

[sindremaster]

The Digital Foundry report confirmed DaE's claims that the dev kit is a 64-bit system sporting over 8GB of RAM, with some other sources giving a figure of 12GB. The memory is not indicative of the final Xbox 720, though, as the majority of development kits contain twice the memory of the finished product for debugging purposes.

So the new console will only have 4GB of RAM? My 3 year old PC has that. I don't know how much the 360 or PS3 have but that seems low to me. Isn't the point of a new console generation to actually upgrade the consoles?

 

[GAunderrated]

The Digital Foundry report confirmed DaE's claims that the dev kit is a 64-bit system sporting over 8GB of RAM, with some other sources giving a figure of 12GB. The memory is not indicative of the final Xbox 720, though, as the majority of development kits contain twice the memory of the finished product for debugging purposes.

So the new console will only have 4GB of RAM? My 3 year old PC has that. I don't know how much the 360 or PS3 have but that seems low to me. Isn't the point of a new console generation to actually upgrade the consoles?

To me the point of the new console system is going to make you pay for a close off, limited use, service happy, highly ad heavy PC. Sure the upgrading is nice but I seriously doubt the prices for those upgrades will be competitive considering how gaming companies priced their upgraded memory this generation.

I can't see these consoles being under 600 bucks at least and its not including upgrades.

 

[Pinkamena]

So the new console will only have 4GB of RAM? My 3 year old PC has that. I don't know how much the 360 or PS3 have but that seems low to me. Isn't the point of a new console generation to actually upgrade the consoles?

Hey, at least that's way better than the woeful 512 megabytes the current consoles sport.

As a rare case of optimism on my part, I'm quite interested in what the new gen is going to be capable of.

The Xbox360 has 512 MB of RAM? How the hell does it even run games?

 

[theriddlen]

I bet this increase in processing power should be giving the PC gaming elite a bit of a Crysis of confidence.

Why would it? The current console generation is the reason why many PC players are extremely upset. They're blocking advancements in the gaming area.

Why do you think more and more Devs are currently going back to the PC? The current console generation is dead.

Actually, as a PC gamer, I'm very happy with current situation. I bought my PC in 2008, and since then, I can play any game I want on high details, because the market hasn't moved on. And currently, the graphics are already great looking. I like it this way.

Oh, and I don't care about the platform wars. I'm happy where I am, I can play everything I want, the way I want, and nothing is gonna change it.

 

[MightyMole]

If the new Xbox is going to be that expensive.. Actually, no, I'm tired of consoles. I already got a decent PC, I'll just upgrade it for less than a new console and make it better than them. I'll probably pick up a Wii U because... Well it's Nintendo and their console is at least trying something new and they usually release pretty good exclusive titles fairly consistently, but since Sony and Microsoft have turned to making their consoles streamlined, neutered PCs I might as well jump to the real thing. With any luck, I'll just get any console exclusives on the Wii U since it's improving their 3rd party support.

Take me into your loving embrace, Gaben.

 

[medv4380]

One of the header files used, titled "immintrin.h", gives a strong hint that the processor will use an x86 architecture similar to that used in many PCs, signalling an intriguing departure from the proprietary architectures seen in most consoles and narrowing the gap between personal computer and console technology.

In terms of the XBox hardware news I am not interested in Intel of Nvidia. I want to know if it has quality RAM that will last, and not the RAM that causes RROD. It also isn't x86. It can has to be AMD64 arch or only have 3 Gigs of RAM. If it has 3 Tera bytes of RAM but a 90% failure rate I'm still not buying. If it has more then 3 Gigs and is made by Intel it can only be AMD64 or if they want to be abusive to devs IA64. But outside of HP no one uses The Starship Itanic.

 

[NLS]

One of the header files used, titled "immintrin.h", gives a strong hint that the processor will use an x86 architecture similar to that used in many PCs, signalling an intriguing departure from the proprietary architectures seen in most consoles and narrowing the gap between personal computer and console technology.

In terms of the XBox hardware news I am not interested in Intel of Nvidia. I want to know if it has quality RAM that will last, and not the RAM that causes RROD. It also isn't x86. It can has to be AMD64 arch or only have 3 Gigs of RAM. If it has 3 Tera bytes of RAM but a 90% failure rate I'm still not buying. If it has more then 3 Gigs and is made by Intel it can only be AMD64 or if they want to be abusive to devs IA64. But outside of HP no one uses The Starship Itanic.

By x86, I'm sure he meant x86_64, at least that's what first came to mind. Nobodoy uses "plain old" x86 anymore, it's either x86_64 or ARM or whatever other processor architecture. So if they're going for x86 it's gonna be 64bit.

But if these rumors are true, then the next Xbox's games should be able to run on any modern gaming PC, either with official support from Microsoft or with the brute force of programming talent out there. We'll have to wait and see until we get an official word from Microsoft regarding their next hardware product.

 

[Shy_Guy]

The Xbox360 has 512 MB of RAM? How the hell does it even run games?

Consoles don't require anywhere near as much RAM as PCs due to the fact that they only run 1 very specific program at any given time, with a minimal system UI that takes up very little memory. PCs on the other hand have various programs and an entire complex operating system that requires vast amounts of RAM.

When the 360 first launched it was able to outperform many "high-end" PCs with 2GB+ of RAM because it has no complex OS to run in the background constantly and only a game to worry about. It is also always easier to optimize a game when you know exactly what hardware everyone is working with.

Absurd amounts of optimization, not using any sort of advanced technology (hell, shadows that don't look like shit is advanced in the context we're talking about) and a combination of a multitude of other things, like cutting down on the quality and quantity of models and animations wherever possible, or taking on a small scale where visuals and gameplay are concerned.

I guess I can imagine how someone would see the things the consoles pull off as impressive, but in some areas, the things have been showing their age since before they finished their first year.

Also this. Currently a lot of stuff is left out from PC games ported to console. Resolutions are lowered, etc.