Xbox1 production to DIE very soon. Nvidia ends chip shipments to MS

[Guest]

Nvidia ends shipments of chips for Xbox
By Chris Nuttall FT.com, 00:04 BST May 13, 2005

Nvidia, the graphics chipmaker, said on Thursday it was ending shipments of
chips for Microsoft's Xbox game console in the current quarter as what was
once one of its biggest customers moved on to its next-generation machine.

Microsoft is expected to release the Xbox 360 in November, featuring a
graphics chip from rival ATI. Microsoft had informed Nvidia it would not
take any more product after Nvidia's second quarter, ending August 1.

The news was a clear indication that Microsoft was cutting off production of
the old Xbox and of the imminent release of its successor. In contrast, Sony
is still selling its original PlayStation console several years after the
launch of the PS2.

Nvidia's inclusion in the original Xbox, launched in 2001, had been a major
boost for the Silicon Valley company, but other areas of its business have
since grown and Microsoft is no longer one of its top-ten customers.

An Nvidia chip will feature in the PlayStation 3, expected next year, and
the company said revenues from that would begin to flow in after the
technology licensing started in the third quarter.

The graphics company reported record sales in its first quarter ending May 1
of $583.8m, up 24 per cent on a year earlier. Net profits were $64.4m or 36
cents per diluted share, compared to $21.3m or 12 cents a year earlier.

Analysts had expected sales of $579.7m and earnings of 28 cents, according
to Reuters Estimates.

Nvidia said there had been 20 per cent growth in chip sales for high-end PCs
and its next-generation GPU (graphics processing unit) was set to be
unveiled at the E3 computer games trade show next week.

The company said it had been forced to write off handheld inventory after
Motorola cut its orders for chips for 3G phones as demand failed to meet
expectations.

Nvidia expected the handheld segment to return to growth in the second half.
It was bullish on the current quarter, usually the seasonally slowest with
sales down 5 to 10 per cent on the previous quarter. Instead, Nvidia
forecast sales would be flat to slightly up.

Nvidia shares rose nearly 9 per cent in after-hours trading to $24.75 on the
news.


http://www.beyond3d.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=22832

 

[Robert J Batina]

Squirt. If someone wanted an XBOX by now, they should have gotten one.

 

[Christian Winter]

Squirt. If someone wanted an XBOX by now, they should have gotten one.

As long as they keep making games!

 

[Jonah Falcon]

As long as they keep making games!

As long as the X360 is backwards compatible.

Jonah Falcon

 

[NightSky 421]

As long as they keep making games!

My understanding is that we will continue to see new games through the end
of 2007 for the original Xbox. I'm hanging on to mine.

 

[Christian Winter]

Hell yeah! I'd wait at least a year until I might consider buying the
360. Have other's do the beta testing and eliminate the most obvious
flaws with the console. Besides that, within one year I bet the price
will drop at least 25 Percent, especially if you wait until after the
holidays.

 

[Inglo]

Squirt. If someone wanted an XBOX by now, they should have gotten one.

If someone wants an XBox after the XBox360 comes out, there will be tons
of used ones hitting the market.

 

[NightSky 421]

Hell yeah! I'd wait at least a year until I might consider buying the
360. Have other's do the beta testing and eliminate the most obvious
flaws with the console. Besides that, within one year I bet the price
will drop at least 25 Percent, especially if you wait until after the
holidays.

Despite the fact that production for Xbox is coming to an end here, I
suspect there will still be some kicking around come holiday time. I think
you're right about the pricing and I'm sure retailers will be anxious to get
rid of any leftover stock once the Xbox 360 comes out. As far as Xbox 360
goes, it's come to my attention that it will be using wireless controllers
and that has basically killed any interest I may have had in it. Hopefully
there will be corded controllers available for the USB 2.0 ports, but I
don't have high hopes. Anyway, I don't think I would have considered an
Xbox 360 for a couple of years if at all.

 

[Paul Smith]

Despite the fact that production for Xbox is coming to an end here, I
suspect there will still be some kicking around come holiday time. I
think
you're right about the pricing and I'm sure retailers will be anxious to
get
rid of any leftover stock once the Xbox 360 comes out. As far as Xbox 360
goes, it's come to my attention that it will be using wireless controllers
and that has basically killed any interest I may have had in it.
Hopefully
there will be corded controllers available for the USB 2.0 ports, but I
don't have high hopes. Anyway, I don't think I would have considered an
Xbox 360 for a couple of years if at all.

For the Microsoft controller you'll be able to buy a rechargable pack
(rather then batteries) that plugs into the USB ports and will also allow
you to play wiredly. I'm sure however they will be 3rd party wired ones
too.

On a note about wireless and Microsoft, their other wireless stuff like
keyboards and mouse are great, no problems with them at all.

--
Paul Smith,
Yeovil, UK.
http://www.xbox360degrees.com/ Xbox 360 news.

*Replace nospam with smirnov to reply by e-mail*

 

[NightSky 421]

For the Microsoft controller you'll be able to buy a rechargable pack
(rather then batteries) that plugs into the USB ports and will also allow
you to play wiredly. I'm sure however they will be 3rd party wired ones
too.

That's a relief. Thanks for posting.

 

[theOne]

That's a relief. Thanks for posting.

what do yo dislike? the recharging part?

 

[John Lewis]

If someone wants an XBox after the XBox360 comes out, there will be tons
of used ones hitting the market.

And lots of expensively-purchased used software, since the Xbox360
cannot/will-not emulate a Xbox1. So just throw out all your Xbox games

or put then in the garage-sale/Ebay with your Xbox and start your
games-collection all over again while M$$ and their software partners
laugh all the way to the bank. Console purchasers are suckers...the
consoles are all sold as loss-leaders, so that M$$ and the other
games-producers can get rich @ $50 a pop on a captive audience.

John Lewis

 

[Smart Feet]

And lots of expensively-purchased used software, since the Xbox360
cannot/will-not emulate a Xbox1. So just throw out all your Xbox games

Only Microsoft cares so little about its customers. Both the PS3 and
Nintendo Revolution are backward compatible.

 

[robin]

I'm so sick of this backward compatibility issue.
If you want to play old games on your xbox then just
keep your xbox.....
Meanwhile the rest of us would like a new console
to play superior games, not to play the older ones.
PS2 was compatible....think I tried one PS1 game on it
just to see if it worked....then I couldn't even go back
to playing them once the PS2 games got good....
Why is this such an issue....you can still buy nes systems
so if you want to play old games then play them on old systems....
Later

 

[Smart Feet]

I'm so sick of this backward compatibility issue.
If you want to play old games on your xbox then just
keep your xbox.....
Meanwhile the rest of us would like a new console
to play superior games, not to play the older ones.
PS2 was compatible....think I tried one PS1 game on it
just to see if it worked....then I couldn't even go back
to playing them once the PS2 games got good....
Why is this such an issue....you can still buy nes systems
so if you want to play old games then play them on old systems....
Later

It's about space. My son has one of each. Right now it's
XBox/PS2/GameCube. Once he has all of the next generation, it will be
XBox/XBox 360/PS3/Revolution. There isn't going to be enough space for
two XBox's

 

[Jukka Mustasilta]

Nvidia ends shipments of chips for Xbox
By Chris Nuttall FT.com, 00:04 BST May 13, 2005

So MS has the rights for XBOX GFX chip blueprints and someone else will
continue manufacturing them, huh?

 

[NightSky 421]

what do yo dislike? the recharging part?

That's part of it. Also, I prefer the assurance of control that comes with
a cord since it is physically connected to the console. Some people may
scoff at me for saying this, but the other thing is that I prefer to avoid
wireless technology as much as possible since I believe there could be
potential health risks associated with it due to some of the high
frequencies involved. About the only things wireless I have are remote
controls (for my TV and DVD player). Nothing on either of my computers is
wireless, and I have no cordless phone in the house and have never had a
cell phone in my life. OK, I've said enough.

 

[Chris H.]

A lot of companies don't make their own hardware, including chipsets, LCD
screens and even RAM. There are only a handful of manufacturers in the
world for laptop/Tablet PC screens for instance, yet there are hundreds of
"brand" mobile computers.
--
Chris H.
Microsoft Windows MVP/Tablet PC
Tablet Creations - http://nicecreations.us/
Associate Expert
Expert Zone -

 

[John Lewis]

And lots of expensively-purchased used software, since the Xbox360
cannot/will-not emulate a Xbox1.

Well, I stand corrected. M$$ has just announced backward SW
compatibility for the Xbox360.... Considering the totally different
hardware, G5/Ati vs Intel/nVidia, that emulation from the on-disk
binaries will be a very interesting trick indeed, at at what
speed-penalty and hidden gotchas... many developers have pushed
the performance of their Xbox games ( particularly the action-ones)
by (er) 'circumventing' some hardware-touching rules...
This announcement may be a staging by M$$ to convince people not to
stop buying Xbox games during the time between the Xbox360
announcement and its shipment. It may turn out in reality that only a
few current Xbox titles are compatible, with M$$ blaming the rest of
the developers for not following guidelines. So, before throwing out
your Xbox, better test all your favorite titles on the Xbox360...
And I would highly suggest that you go very easy on buying Xbox
versions of games expected to also be available on the Xbox360,
if you intend to get a Xbox360 when it finally becomes available.

John Lewis

 

[John Lewis]

Well, I stand corrected. M$$ has just announced backward SW
compatibility for the Xbox360.... Considering the totally different
hardware, G5/Ati vs Intel/nVidia, that emulation from the on-disk
binaries will be a very interesting trick indeed, at at what
speed-penalty and hidden gotchas... many developers have pushed
the performance of their Xbox games ( particularly the action-ones)
by (er) 'circumventing' some hardware-touching rules...
This announcement may be a staging by M$$ to convince people not to
stop buying Xbox games during the time between the Xbox360
announcement and its shipment. It may turn out in reality that only a
few current Xbox titles are compatible, with M$$ blaming the rest of
the developers for not following guidelines. So, before throwing out
your Xbox, better test all your favorite titles on the Xbox360...
And I would highly suggest that you go very easy on buying Xbox
versions of games expected to also be available on the Xbox360,
if you intend to get a Xbox360 when it finally becomes available.

John Lewis

Followup from Robert Bach, Microsoft VP in charge of the home and
entertainment division............

"Although the Xbox 360 will be backward-compatible, Bach said that it
won't necessarily run all of the older Xbox titles but instead, run
the "top-selling" games."

Meaning of course that M$$ titles might run OK, ( or M$$ might offer
to free- exchange Xbox disks for Xbox2-compatible copies of the most
popular M$$ games...Halo, Halo2 etc ) but The Xbox owner can go
suck a lollipop for anything else............

John Lewis