Will 2013 be the year that we see the next generation of gaming? A lot of gamers are seeing Xbox, Playstation 3, and Nintendo Wii are past their prime. For the Xbox specifically, it’s been eight years since it first hit the scene. The question is why with this age of technology are gamers still waiting for something new?
The following is an excerpt of Russ Boswell’s’ article and ideas on when we will see the next generation of gaming and why it’s been eight years with Microsoft still sitting on the Xbox. It will appear in Friday’s issue of TechLife News in the iOS Newsstand and AppleMagazine digital magazine at Zinio.
Sources close to Microsoft have come forward lately, claiming that they have the exact technical specifications that will be used in the company’s upcoming system. According to these reports, the new Xbox will sport an impressive 8-Gigabytes of Ram, It will possibly contain up to eight separate “Jackal” processors. The sources state that these processors will be dedicated to specific tasks, e.g. a specific amount that just controls media like streaming and watching videos, while another set is tuned directly to gaming. It is assumed that this will save a considerable amount of energy, since these cores can be turned on and off according to what the consumer is doing. It will also feature an ATI Radeon graphics card, and while it hasn’t been speculated as to exactly which card they will be using, it’s expected to be one of the best currently available on the market. It’s important to understand, though, that these specifications are not set in stone. There are often changes made to these devices prior to launch, since technology moves so quickly.
The Playstation 3 has leaked specifications floating around on the web as well. They’re actually pretty similar to the planned Xbox, with the key difference being the amount of RAM available. Sony, which normally prides itself on being the “most elaborate console developer in the gaming world (in terms of internal tech)” is speculated to be using only 4-Gigabytes of RAM in its Playstation 4. That’s half of what the Xbox is planning on containing, which is odd, considering Sony is usually obsessed with overpowering its competitors. Perhaps this is a sign that the company is looking to save a little cash since they’ve been struggling financially for some time now.
Find out more about these potential updates and how it might affect Apple by reading Next Gen Gaming on the Horizon in Friday’s issue of AppleMagazine and TechLife News.