Remember that article I wrote where I expressed my doubt about price estimations for the next generation of console software titles? Well the source I quoted was quoted in another article predicting software cost explosions. I just don’t think it’ll happen, but you can read the article if you really want to. I’m not stopping you.

Link: TechNewsWorld - An X-Factor for the New Xbox?

Remedy is working on a game for the PC and next-gen consoles. They have an HD trailer available, giving you an idea of what to expect from the technology.

Link: CODEjUNKiES - Remedy’s next-gen game unmasked
Link: EUROGAMER BitTorrent

[Update 03may05: engadget’s Bill Gates Interview, Part 2]

And while this isn’t Canuck related, it is Xbox 2 related. For what it’s worth, it looks like Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter says not to get too excited about next-generation console revenues until the PS3 hits. He cautions investors not to think of the Xbox 2’s launch as the beginning of the next generation, and expect rapid sales growth in 2006. Rather, the PS3 will start the next generation cycle. Hey, I’m a Sony PlayStation fan (I have a PS2), but I’m not so sure I would go that far. Microsoft is going to make sure the Xbox 2 is successful, and I think that success will bring the dough.

Link: Gamespot News - Next-gen growth starts with PS3, no sooner

Bill Gates has a lot to say about the next Xbox as well, and engadget got the scoop.

Link: engadget - The Engadget Interview: Bill Gates, Pt. 1

He says that Xbox 2 has a chance to be number 1:

Link: News.com - Gates: New Xbox has Chance to be No. 1

And he confirmed that it will be released this year:

Link: seattlepi.com - Xbox: Gates slips up for Once

And finally, Mr. Gates thinks HD is addicting and that you won’t want to go back:

Link: DenverPost - Gates’ HD Vision

To show that, indeed, Canadians are always behind, we get to see the unveiling of the Xbox 2 on TV one day after the Americans. Americans will be seeing it on May 12th on MTV, and we’ll be seeing it May 13th on CTV.

Link: BYTESECTOR - Exclusive Canadian Debut of Next-Generation Xbox

The Cell processor is a wonderfully adept piece of hardware. Its design is meant not just for video games (it’ll be the processor in the HD-capable PS3), but also for servers, TV, mobile phones, workstations, and more. The Cell is designed to run at 4GHz or higher. The chip hits 256GFLOPS at 4GHz, enough to compress HD video using H.264 encoding in real time. 256GFLOPS is 40 times the Emotion Engine used in the PS2 and 15 times the Pentium 4. The Cell chip consists of a general-purpose core processor and multiple additional core processors called synergistic processing elements, or SPEs. The prototype chips have a PowerPC main core and eight SPEs. Both of these things can be changed - it’s conceivable that the main core be a MIPS core or an ARM core. As well, the number of SPEs can vary, depending on the application for which the Cell needs to be used.

The interface connecting the Cell to peripheral ICs is 12 bytes wide - seven bytes for output and five for input. This ratio can be adjusted. Plus:

The per-pin peak data rate for FlexIO is a high 6.4 Gbits/s, which is higher than the 2.5 Gbits/s delivered by existing PCI Express serial transfer, or even 5 Gbits/s second-generation PCI Express technology. As a result, the system interface offers a peak data rate of 76.8 Gbytes/s, roughly ten times faster than the Pentium 4.

I could go on quoting even more of the article. This is just scratching the surface of what the Cell processor is. For many more details, just go over to the NE Asia Online article linked to below.

Link: NE Asia Online - Can Sony Dominate With Cell?