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[doncale]

finally, GI.biz is back in action. after what seemed like a freaking eternity. anyway, it doesnt look good for much of an Xbox 2 announcement tomorrow, if anything.

Rob Fahey 16:45 04/01/2005

Xenon's unveiling likely to be pushed back to GDC or E3

Microsoft chairman Bill Gates' preconference keynote address is set to open the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas tomorrow, but it now looks highly unlikely that the expected Xbox 2 announcement will be made in his speech.

Comments from senior industry figures last autumn raised hopes that the new console, codenamed Xenon among development partners, would be shown off during Gates' CES keynote - just as the original Xbox was in 2001.

However, Microsoft has never commented on the possibility that Xbox 2 will appear at the show, and insiders at the company have told GamesIndustry.biz that anyone expecting to see Xbox 2 in Las Vegas this week would be making "a wasted trip".

Although it's likely that Gates will at least mention Xbox 2 - due for launch before the end of 2005 - during the speech, it's not expected that he'll confirm any unrevealed details about the system or show off any hardware.

Instead, his keynote is likely to focus on other Microsoft products which will be showcased at CES, including technologies for media centres and entertainment-focused PCs, portable video players, digital rights management (DRM) software and "smart watches".

The likely venue for more information about Xbox 2 to be announced now looks like being the Game Developers Conference - which we mention with a sense of deja vu, since an announcement Xbox 2 was expected there last year as well, but ultimately turned out to be the launch of the XNA development platform instead

 

[Grifter]

Something oddly familiar about this topic...

 

[SantaC]

Something oddly familiar about this topic...

http://forums.gaming-age.com/showthread.php?t=29783&highlight=xbox

 

[doncale]

true, but its the newest article to hit the internet on the subject. and RIGHT before CES.

 

[Mama Smurf]

true, but its the newest article to hit the internet on the subject. and RIGHT before CES.

That just makes them late.

 

[Agent Icebeezy]

All 3 new consoles to be unveiled at E3? Wow...

 

[Doom_Bringer]

All 3 new consoles to be unveiled at E3? Wow...

Expect details on Cell next month

 

[PhatSaqs]

How far in advance before launch were the final specs for the Xbox revealed?

 

[teiresias]

Expect details on Cell next month

From that IEEE conference, but wasn't the first unveiling of the PS2 hardware (like the casing and everything) in March of whatever year? So should we expect that in March? I forget the PS2 timeline.

 

[Peter Porker]

 

[Mama Smurf]

How far in advance before launch were the final specs for the Xbox revealed?

I believe the equivalent would be last March. Though the specs changed from what was initially announced.

 

[Rhindle]

finally, GI.biz is back in action. after what seemed like a freaking eternity. anyway, it doesnt look good for much of an Xbox 2 announcement tomorrow, if anything.

Finally! I couldn't wait for the resumption of recycled old news attributed to secret inside sources.

 

[gofreak]

I'll be surprised and somewhat disappointed if there's no new Xbox2 info =/

And PS3 would be due for a Japanese spec/demo unveiling in March judging by the PS2 timeline. Final hardware design etc. wouldn't come till Fall TGS. E3 would have more demos.

 

[Tenacious-V]

That's exactly what I knew was gonna happen. I hate to quote myself but.

The thing is, Bill Gates always gives the keynote every year, I don't know why everyone thinks just cause he's giving it that it means automatically Xenon will be shown..... I think it's more likely that it'll be unveiled at GDS in february. But please billy boy, prove me wrong.

Kinda sucks though......

 

[Mama Smurf]

Like I replied in the other thread, the fact that Bill gates is doing the keynote speech isn't the only reason people thought Xenon would be shown. The reason is that the Xbox was shown for the first time at CES.

 

[doncale]

on the other hand, Xbox1 didn't have its big unvieling at CES it was at GDC the year before. only then at the following CES in 2001 was the completed Xbox shown, at least as far as casing.

I'd expect Xenon to be fully unvieled at GDC. full specs. demos. games shown. then at E3, hands on game playing for the show floor. pricing info, launch date. more games unvieled.


I dont expect more than a couple of words out of Bills mouth about 'the next Xbox' and if we're REALLY REALLY lucky, a brief video.

 

[Mama Smurf]

They're leaving it pretty late to show it however you look at it. I mean, even if they showed it now, which it seems almost certain they won't, it'd still be quite late if we look at past console announcements.

 

[doncale]

From that IEEE conference, but wasn't the first unveiling of the PS2 hardware (like the casing and everything) in March of whatever year? So should we expect that in March? I forget the PS2 timeline.

roughly, this was the PS2 timeline:

Nov or Dec 1998: first info on Toshiba's CPU for next Playstation

Feb 1999: at IEEE, more info/confirmation. on Toshiba CPU, heavily reported (but not officially) to be for for next Playstation

March 1999: full technology unveiling of next generation Playtstation, including the Toshiba CPU, now called the Emotion Engine, and the graphics chip. realtime demos.

May 1999, E3: more of the same demos from March, maybe a few new demos, hands on playable demo GT2000, iirc

Fall 1999: Playstation2 case revieled.

early 2000: Playstation Festival expo of some kind where general public could play PS2 games

March 2000: Playstation2 launches in Japan

 

[mrklaw]

CES kind of makes more sense, as its a much bigger show than GDC, and you can get good mainstream coverage from a big news item. But you'd also have to launch with more than just a bit of info.

GDC is a good place for a 'soft' launch - tech info, maybe a couple of videos. Then E3 for your final wares - hardware unit etc.

If they did launch at CES they'd have to show at least a mockup.



Wait for Spaceworld!

 

[Legal Step]

The one way to tell is if Snoop Dizogg is there, because he is this year's Rock. Bill Gates needs someone to give him street cred with the kids.