Rumor: Microsoft working on first party sequel for next Xbox console
by Griffin McElroy 
{ Jan 5th 2008 at 1:15PM }
EGM's Quartermann (or, as we at the Joystiq offices like to call him, ScoopMaster Q) reports that he recently caught wind of a heretofore unannounced Microsoft project -- a sequel to one of their first party titles, which is being developed for the next Xbox console. Apparently, the game was being developed for the Xbox 360, but for reasons unknown, the company recently decided to postpone the game, putting it instead on their next system.While it's no surprise that there will be another Microsoft gaming console (Xbox 720? 361? Ybox?), nor is it particularly strange for a company to work on games for a system before its release (or announcement), it is peculiar that this news, if true, comes pretty soon in the Xbox 360's life. Considering that Microsoft has repeatedly said that the 360 will outlast the usual five year console cycle, why would they start working on games for a new system just a little over two years after the 360 came out? Consider one of our eyebrows officially raised in skepticism.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Vol @ Jan 5th 2008 1:24PM
Just ensure that the console is properly cooled, tested, and I'm a buyer.
jack in the xbox @ Jan 5th 2008 8:21PM
huh? WHAT? i suddenly feel the need to...LAUGH OUT LOUD!!!! Can you hear me now? Can you hear me now? OMG OMG NO MORE SUPPORT THE RED RING 360!!!! OMG LOL!!!
Jhongerkong @ Jan 6th 2008 7:52PM
You're an idiot.
Vol @ Jan 5th 2008 1:25PM
Oh yeah, don't leave us short on the hard drive size too. 250-500 GB would be great at that point.
Vol @ Jan 5th 2008 1:27PM
It's probably true.. the 360 didn't have a real killer app for the 360 when it launched other than COD2.
Jevanzz @ Jan 5th 2008 2:07PM
Shit me, think you can condense that next time into 1 comment?
flameofdoom666 @ Jan 5th 2008 2:09PM
Kameo and Perfect Dark Zero were the main launch titles. They are highly underrated. Kameo is an amazing platformer, and Perfect Dark Zero is everything you could ever want from a launch shooter. Even Rare said they had to rush some features for launch.
Vol @ Jan 5th 2008 2:13PM
Sorry about that.. I just kept thinking of new ideas after a post. I have both those games and really, neither impressed me as much as COD2.
Abuzar @ Jan 5th 2008 4:49PM
NO. Don't you DARE call PDZ a good shooter ever again. I cant believe I wasted my money on it when I could have bought COD2. Which I did after wasting hours of my life on PDZ.
baby sea tuna @ Jan 5th 2008 6:18PM
Yeah, but it still had more launch games worth picking up than the other 2 did.
Vol @ Jan 5th 2008 6:25PM
My point is, I went to the demo kiosk at Wal-Mart when the 360 was set to debut and seeing a 60 FPS, high definition game with gorgeous graphics made me foam at the mouth for the console. I already was a Xbox owner at the time. That kiosk sold a lot of COD2 and 360s.
DWells55 @ Jan 6th 2008 1:48PM
Perfect Dark Zero was an absolute disgrace to the amazing N64 Perfect Dark. I still regard Perfect Dark 64 as one of the best single player and multiplayer FPS games ever. But Perfect Dark Zero was a terrible game with an absolutely nonsensical and impossible to follow storyline, awful gameplay, and completely unrelated to the original. I was so incredibly hyped up for that game after how much I loved the original and playing Perfect Dark Zero was probably the most disappointing gaming experience ever.
LaughingTarget @ Jan 5th 2008 1:30PM
Halo 4
Obie @ Jan 5th 2008 1:33PM
More like Call of Duty 6!
B1gC72 @ Jan 5th 2008 2:19PM
those arent first party.
mattclarkie @ Jan 5th 2008 2:30PM
I think so too.
LaughingTarget @ Jan 5th 2008 3:01PM
Microsoft owns Halo, thus first party.
B1gC72 @ Jan 5th 2008 3:18PM
no, they used to own Bungie and Microsoft published the game. they dont own Bungie anymore. that's a second party situation. a first party game is made by a company that Microsoft owns 51% or more stake in. though its usually still an exclusive situation 1st and 2nd parties are 2 different things.
B1gC72 @ Jan 5th 2008 3:24PM
.....but i guess they do own the Halo trademark so they could in theory still make the Halo series without Bungie and it would be first party. so it could go either way. i can admit when im possibly wrong dammit.
NATO_Duke @ Jan 7th 2008 12:17PM
Yeah, you are wrong about Halo. MS owns the "IP", thus they own the rights to make future installments. Though Bungie is the one who actually codes it, MS is who decides when, where, and for whom it is coded.
Obie @ Jan 5th 2008 1:30PM
Will it have an HD-DVD drive?
Oh wait...nevermind. :p
And this new bitch better not red ring on me 3 times!
borland502 (SDF - Macross Ring) @ Jan 5th 2008 2:17PM
I know. I'm not such a Sony whore that I have blocked out the possibility of picking up the 360. But every time some of the exclusives beckon...the red glare of the EYE forces me back.
Are the new 45nm consoles free of this trouble? Bioshock, Front Mission, and Ace Combat 6 aren't worth that fearsome red glow.
Obie @ Jan 5th 2008 2:33PM
Actually I think they went fom 90 to 65 nm.
And no word yet if the console is more stable now.
Spartacus @ Jan 5th 2008 4:08PM
The 65nm process is applied to the CPU ONLY, not the GPU, which is still 90nm. Given the fact that the GPU is the source of the heating problem (the CPU has plenty of airflow), and the reports of the Elite (the first iteration of the 360 with the new chips) red ringing, I'd say the problem isn't a thing of the past just yet.
However they DID slap a heatsink on the GPU, which is a good start- now they just need some actual airflow. If you're that paranoid though and don't want to fall back onto the 3 year warranty, a relatively cheap and awesome fix is water cooling. You just need a Koolance Exos system and 2 waterblocks (and a bit of know-how). Sure it voids the warranty, but then again, with water cooling, you won't need it...
jynxycat @ Jan 5th 2008 4:22PM
That is assuming that something else like the DVD-rom doesn't go bad ;P
I'd want to send in a custom cooling xbox 360 for warrenty repairs just to see what they'd say.
Shape @ Jan 5th 2008 4:47PM
No, the GPU was shrunk as well in the latest revision of the 360. The GPU doesn't appear to be 65nm, but it is smaller than the 90nm one. Perhaps 80nm.
AnandTech has pictures. It is obvious:
http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.aspx?i=3152&p=1
Pics are here:
http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.aspx?i=3152&p=5
Limezor @ Jan 5th 2008 1:31PM
Halo 4?
DWells55 @ Jan 6th 2008 1:52PM
I love how the exact same thing (minus the question mark) was posted a minute before yours and is voted all the way down while yours is voted all the way up.
Mike @ Jan 5th 2008 5:29PM
Games are regularly in development/preproduction three years before release
Cuja @ Jan 5th 2008 1:36PM
Might guess is that its being held back to coincide with the release of a new improve model of the 360.
Jake @ Jan 5th 2008 1:37PM
Unbelivable, Microsoft have screwed gamers over twice, both times to get a headstart in gaming.
I was suprised gamers stuck by them the first time. Doing it a 2nd time, is surely commercial suicide..
Vol @ Jan 5th 2008 1:41PM
I don't get how it screwed consumers. Xbox still has games and it's still able able to play Live. They knew what they were doing when they released the first, true high definition console on the market.
Exo @ Jan 5th 2008 1:41PM
what? you do know that console makers start work on teh next system right after the launch of a new one right? ps4 and wii 2 are already way in the works, and you dont need a news story to know that.
Obie @ Jan 5th 2008 1:43PM
It is true that they rushed the Xbox to market to beat the PS3. The console undertested, unstable hardware is proof. And it really sucked that they pretty much cut off all Xbox-1 development to force their client base to make the switch.
They better not rush this one to market.
Mr Khan @ Jan 5th 2008 2:38PM
Aye, i remember hearing about this mysterious CELL thing back in 2003
They start work quick
ssuk @ Jan 5th 2008 3:01PM
The Cell processor used in the PS3 is just a processor, just because the PS3 used it doesn't mean development started with it. There are server boxes now running Cell technology, as there are now home computers using the Intel Xenon processor used in the Xbox 360.
tcc3 @ Jan 5th 2008 3:45PM
ssuk
The 360 processor is not an intel design, nor is it being used in any hope PCs.
Mike @ Jan 5th 2008 1:40PM
looks like they will be dropping all support for the xbox 360 and moving on to a newer console. I guess they want an even bigger headstart against the ps4 and the NES 2.
Jake @ Jan 5th 2008 1:55PM
This time, rather than rushing to get it out the door quicker than Sony, why not take your time, ensure it's feature complete, and reliable...
That is what I hate about gaming sites like this.
Sony did the consumer friendly thing, released the console when it was ready and reliable, yet get a bad wrap. Microsoft are the bad guys
Sony: "We will launch it when it's done"
Microsoft: "rush it into the shops before Xmas, worry about the reliability issues and limitations of DVD9, when we can no longer get away with scamming them dumb consumers. Those hicks will buy anything.."
Fernando Rocker @ Jan 5th 2008 2:05PM
Limitations of DVD9? All the best games of 2007 are on DVD9... even the best selling and best rated PS3 titles are multiplatform games (for example, Call of Duty 4) and that means that DVD9 is perfectly fine for gaming.
Jevanzz @ Jan 5th 2008 2:10PM
DVD9 is perfectly fine for gaming, but Blu-Ray is the way foward. With WB moving exclusively to Blu, it is only a matter of time before HD DVD dies out.
JakubK666 @ Jan 5th 2008 2:25PM
It's also a bigger matter of time when GAMING INDUSTRY starts to give a shit about blu-ray and it's capacity.
B1gC72 @ Jan 5th 2008 2:31PM
like you said Fernando
"All the best games of 2007 are on DVD9"
2007 is over last i checked and the future is fast approaching. DVD9 is absolutely fine for right now but in a couple years it will meet its limitations while Blu-ray will still have plenty of room for expansion. Sony might have taken their time, but they made a solid console with the future in mind. and although it has paid off so far (dont understand why), Microsoft sold you guys a rushed, piece of crap console that you guys simply put up with because of Live and a strong games line up. i would be pretty annoyed if i had to keep going weeks at a time without my PS3 because it kept breaking. i dont knowingly buy faulty hardware, but maybe that's just me.
Fernando Rocker @ Jan 5th 2008 2:36PM
C72
And what about other techniques? Like procedural textures? You can easily make a huge game with procedural textures on DVD9.
Fernando Rocker @ Jan 5th 2008 2:44PM
"... that you guys simply put up with because of Live and a strong games line up..."
A strong games line up? That's what I expect for a gaming console... not Bluray movies and inferior multiplatform games.
Vol @ Jan 5th 2008 2:48PM
"Microsoft sold you guys a rushed, piece of crap console that you guys simply put up with because of Live and a strong games line up."
Last time I checked, that exactly why I bought a console to play games on, you moron. The PS fanbois have forgotten what a console is about.
"It'z got purty movies! BRFTW!"
mergedwarrior @ Jan 5th 2008 3:00PM
Are you a Martian?
They already have a 2 year head start. Geeze, no rest for the wicked.
B1gC72 @ Jan 5th 2008 3:03PM
Fernando,
im not talking about Blu-ray movies, im talking about games on Blu-ray. i could give a shit less about movies on Blu-ray, the only ones i have are the 5 free ones they sent me. what im saying is that with more space there is more room for more information. DVD9 is fine now, like i said, but every format is going to eventually be replaced (ex. cartridges -> CD -> DVD-> Blu-ray -> ?).
you cant deny that Microsoft rushed the 360 and Sony made a solid console with the PS3. but like i said before, it ultimately comes down to the games, and 360 has those in droves. im just stating that i feel it would be quite annoying to go so long without being able to play said games because my console broke.
of my group of close friends, 7 have 360's, while only 2 have PS3's, including myself. all but 2 of them has had problems with their 360's and that's only because they just got them at christmas this year. and this is in no way an isolated event. fanboyism aside, facts are facts man.
Noshino @ Jan 5th 2008 8:34PM
sigh...
Fernando,
"Limitations of DVD9? All the best games of 2007 are on DVD9... even the best selling and best rated PS3 titles are multiplatform games (for example, Call of Duty 4) and that means that DVD9 is perfectly fine for gaming."
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is the all time highest rated game, it was for N64, a cartridge, does that mean we should still be using them nowadays since they were perfectly fine?
Thuggavelli @ Jan 6th 2008 1:55PM
Fernando, if you don't see the limitations of DVD9...
Search and read all of the articles about how M$ is spazzing out and telling developers to 'degrade the experience of future game titles' because the REAL next generation games will not fit. Fact is, a majority of 360 owners do not have a hard drive, so games will have to be put on multiple disks to be played (i.e. GTA). And if not, a notice will be put on the box stating that 'x' amount of hard drive space is required for game play via download of the additional content from xBox Live. This means core system owners will buy games only to insert and discover they've paid for a game that cannot be played until they buy and install a suitable hard drive.
I'm on my 3rd 360 from last year. I just bought my PS3 over the holidays. Reason being... Blu-Ray (no switching of disks mid-game and hd movies) and PS3 Home (omg, looks too good to pass on).