from gi.biz

With the launch of Microsoft's next console only a few short months away, the firm's developer group boss Chris Satchell has revealed a host of new hardware and functionality information about the system.

Speaking to our sister site Eurogamer.net in London this morning, Satchell discussed the working of the system at great length, answering in-depth questions about the hardware, the operating system, the new Xbox Live functions and so on.

The following is a runown of the things he said that haven't previously been revealed, some interesting things you may have missed in the recent past, and the answers he gave to specific questions.

Interface/Functionality

The console can be switched on and off wirelessly using the Media Remote control or the wireless game controller.
You will definitely need a hard disk to play Xbox 1 games.
Wherever you are - whether it's a game, film or piece of music - you can pull up the Guide (remember it from GDC?), which is a bit like a universal Start Menu, that allows you to look for friends, adjust playback and options, and even sort through people you've played against recently - listing them by reputation or what-have-you.
The pages of the Xbox 360 user interface are called "blades".
The Live blade is the default if you have a Live account, and shows you your gamer-card including a selected image (or photograph), your gamertag, the number of games you've played, your Gamerscore (more on that in a second), your achievements and your reputation.
More on Gamerscore - each Xbox 360 game gives out certain points based on accomplishments, and as well as being able to view a list of your individual achievements ("Finished level 10," etc) you are also given a total based on this. Xbox 1 games will not contribute to these stats.
The Game blade allows you to manage stuff like save-games, as well as accessing demos and trailers (standard and high-definition versions).
The System blade offers greater control over your individual settings. You can specify, for example, that you prefer to invert the right analogue stick camera control and this will then be picked up on in any game you play.
Likewise, the System blade allows greater control over family settings. Microsoft thinks this is very important, Satchell said, and will therefore allow all manner of controls at a system or individual profile level. You can choose to allow specific people or the whole system access to certain games, DVDs (based on ratings - apparently "99 per cent" of DVDs now supply that information direct to the console), and areas of Live. Online, you can opt to ban certain friends, voice messaging, video messaging (if the camera is available), downloadables or just control online play.
f you yank the hard disk off the top of the Xbox 360 when it's in the middle of doing something, it will not corrupt it beyond repair or damage the File Allocation Table or anything like that - the hard disk uses a "transaction model" so that if you interrupt a transfer the data simply isn't present and the space is presumably reallocated when you next save data to it.
The "ring of light" around the power button highlights which wireless controller is being used, highlighting player one's activity in the top-left quadrant. When the console is laid on its side, it senses this and starts using the top-left quadrant as you see it with the console laid flat. What's more, the ring of light motif is spread throughout the Xbox 360 interface, so you can see which player pulled up the "Guide" page as you're watching a film or playing a game and, in the words of Satchell, "slap him".
Cross-platform development between Windows and Xbox is being actively pursued - in the future, Microsoft hopes that people will be able to play games against each other using either platform.
On the issue of cooling - Satchell said he thought the system had three fans (he said he wasn't sure but thought it was three, so we'd open to correction on that one), and we couldn't hear them at all as he spoke. When you play a DVD, it powers down to just one fan. It's "a lot" better than the "wind tunnel" alpha kits, he said.

Xbox Live

Transferring your Xbox Live account to Xbox 360 will be part of the initial set-up procedure when you first plug in your console, and existing users have "Gold" membership.
People buying the Xbox 360 GBP 279.99 package - the higher-end one - get a 30-day free trial of Gold membership on Xbox Live. Actual pricing has yet to be announced - although some would beg to differ.
Your "reputation" stat is based on your activities online. Rather like an eBay rating, people who have encountered you can rate you positively or negatively, and this is reflected in your reputation.
Xbox Live will allow you to play in various Zones - there will be causal, pro, family, and underground (where "anything goes") and perhaps more - and these will allow you to go for whatever kind of experience you like.
Marketplace is also accessible through the Live blade. As you know, this is where you can download premium content and, in the future, content created by users ...

Patbier (the programmer) informed me about the advance of the Alice Dreams project on MSN, project currently developed with Poche (the graphic designer).

The major feature added since the last public demo was to establish a new font management to make a better visual result.

Also a texture reorganization, to be able to manage future enemies.

Indeed the project is very slowed down. Poche has much job, and it shouldn't be forgotten that this project is a "free time"... Done when it's done !

The next improvement is to manage videos.

The project should restart soon at 100% when the job is less important... Patience, our friends don't like nonsense !!!

A formidable news for the Dreamcast scene !!!

Source : DC-France.com. ...

Mr44 has released a new version of the Homebrew Web Browser for the PSP, heres whats new in this release:

- Mono font fixed (may still be strange sometimes)
- bug fix (partially)

Download Here --> http://psp-news.dcemu.co.uk/2chwebbrowser.shtml ...

Mr44 has released a new version of the Homebrew Web Browser for the PSP, heres whats new in this release:

- Mono font fixed (may still be strange sometimes)
- bug fix (partially)

Download Here --> http://psp-news.dcemu.co.uk/2chwebbrowser.shtml ...

Mr44 has released a new version of the Homebrew Web Browser for the PSP, heres whats new in this release:

- Mono font fixed (may still be strange sometimes)
- bug fix (partially)

Download Here --> http://psp-news.dcemu.co.uk/2chwebbrowser.shtml ...

Source - Gamespot

Yesterday at the Game Developers Conference Europe, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe vice president Phil Harrison largely dispelled fears that the PlayStation 3 would come in multiple SKU models. Though he didn't entirely rule out the possibility, he said it would be "confusing" for the consumer and pooh-poohed the Xbox 360 two-tiered sales strategy.

But not all of Harrison's words were as comforting. In fact, many gamers were made downright nervous by the executive's comments on his company's portable, the PSP. He revealed that, having used the free downloads of Wipeout Pure as a test case, Sony would be moving to a pay-per-download model for extra content next year. "It's an experiment which has turned out to be a good experiment," he told UK-based Edge magazine.

Edge also quotes Harrison as saying that Sony is in the process of setting up a digital rights management system for PSP content. Like iTunes, this system will allow gamers to pay for content once and download it multiple times. While Harrison didn't identify what kind of content would be available for download, it would presumably be similar to the Wipeout Pure content, which included new vehicles, levels, and menu skins ...

Source - Gamespot

Yesterday at the Game Developers Conference Europe, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe vice president Phil Harrison largely dispelled fears that the PlayStation 3 would come in multiple SKU models. Though he didn't entirely rule out the possibility, he said it would be "confusing" for the consumer and pooh-poohed the Xbox 360 two-tiered sales strategy.

But not all of Harrison's words were as comforting. In fact, many gamers were made downright nervous by the executive's comments on his company's portable, the PSP. He revealed that, having used the free downloads of Wipeout Pure as a test case, Sony would be moving to a pay-per-download model for extra content next year. "It's an experiment which has turned out to be a good experiment," he told UK-based Edge magazine.

Edge also quotes Harrison as saying that Sony is in the process of setting up a digital rights management system for PSP content. Like iTunes, this system will allow gamers to pay for content once and download it multiple times. While Harrison didn't identify what kind of content would be available for download, it would presumably be similar to the Wipeout Pure content, which included new vehicles, levels, and menu skins ...

Source - Gamespot

Yesterday at the Game Developers Conference Europe, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe vice president Phil Harrison largely dispelled fears that the PlayStation 3 would come in multiple SKU models. Though he didn't entirely rule out the possibility, he said it would be "confusing" for the consumer and pooh-poohed the Xbox 360 two-tiered sales strategy.

But not all of Harrison's words were as comforting. In fact, many gamers were made downright nervous by the executive's comments on his company's portable, the PSP. He revealed that, having used the free downloads of Wipeout Pure as a test case, Sony would be moving to a pay-per-download model for extra content next year. "It's an experiment which has turned out to be a good experiment," he told UK-based Edge magazine.

Edge also quotes Harrison as saying that Sony is in the process of setting up a digital rights management system for PSP content. Like iTunes, this system will allow gamers to pay for content once and download it multiple times. While Harrison didn't identify what kind of content would be available for download, it would presumably be similar to the Wipeout Pure content, which included new vehicles, levels, and menu skins ...

The GP32 has a List of Emulators that will impress all and now its big brother is coming in the next month to challenge both the PSP and the Nintendo DS but the new GP2x is a powerful beast with a screen thats has big as the PSP and one major factor it beats the DS on is the fact that Gamepark have made the system open and embrace Homebrew and amateur coders, the system is a 2 x 200Mhz behemoth and although it wont beat the PSP or DS in the Commercial arena it will be awesome for emulators and Homebrew.

Check out our sister site for the latest in GP2x Screenshots and News Here --> http://gp2x-emulation.dcemu.co.uk/

Seems like i need another console to place at the side of my Nintendo DS ...