More Xbox 2 specs, this time from GDC through GameSpy via Voodoo Extreme. The upshot? A triple-cored PPC, 256Mb of total memory, optional hard drive, 720p standard output and a new 500Mhz GPU. Yowza. Apparently part 2 of this series is due tomorrow.
In other news:
The Junkyard has broken its three-month Halo spotlight silence with a new piece on Ross "Oz" Mills; check it out. Thanks Mhaddy. Also, the Junkyard's opinion piece on the Xbox power cord replacement program by Jake "Evergreen98" Billo is also worth looking at, if you haven't already.
Microsoft is recalling over 14 million of the power cables for its Xbox game console, representing more than half of all those sold worldwide to date and including all those made for continental Europe prior to January 2004 and those for the rest of the world prior to October, 2003.
Joystiq today points to supposed specs for the Xbox 2's GPU gleaned from neowin.net, and a debate over backwards compatibility (also discussed here once upon a time) ensues.
The Inquirer posits today that Microsoft might forgo any next-generation media formats in the Xbox 2 in favor of plain old DVD, to keep costs down. They also cite the "Xbox 360" name rumor. Thanks BDGamer.
Over at MacFixIt, Charlie reports that his copy of Halo for the Mac wouldn't run ever since he installed Security Update 2005-001, but that reinstalling the 10.3.7 Combo Updater resolved the situation.
Again more news that deserves the personalized touch, but instead is going to get buried in the mass grave that is a news roundup. Pass the lye...
Filefront has interviewed Steve Collins, CTO at Havok, the company that makes the Havok physics engine used in many games, including Halo 2. An important note is that their measuring stick for what is "right" is what game designers think feels correct, not necessarily scientific accuracy.
As usual there was more gaming news than we could keep up with over the weekend. Here's a rundown:
TeamXbox has an editorial up on how Bungie implemented stat-tracking, leaderboards, and RSS feeds for Halo 2, and why more gaming companies don't use XML.
Now that everyone is back from vacation, the gaming world is moving and shaking again. Here's a look around at items relating to Bungie, Halo, or the Xbox:
GamesIndustry.biz points to the lack of any official word about Microsoft's next gaming console, codenamed "Xenon" and referred to variously as Xbox 2 or Xbox Next, as a sign that the product's announcement will probably not occur at CES this year, but might later at GDC; many expected it to be announced at last year's GDC, where Microsoft instead touted XNA.
The previously promised update for Mac Halo came to fruition last week, bringing the game back to parity with its PC counterpart, adding game pad support as well as support for the GameRanger service; rumors have been circulating regarding the possible cessation or fee increases for the Mac version of GameSpy that Halo uses as its default browser.
Because of certain individuals that felt it necessary to repost the same message over and over again, anonymous comment posting has been disabled until further notice. Only registered users will be allowed to post comments. This move is regrettable, but it seems necessary.