Not going to happen, part of what makes consoles as powerful as they are given the hardware they have is that they are a closed system. Developers can optimise the hell out of their video and audio code because they know what hardware is going to be present in the box. That is why games that were ported from the original Xbox required a lot newer hardware to run compared to the hardware in the Xbox which was basically a 733Mhz P3 and a 5000 series nvidia card. The 360 is a bit harder to make a comparison too with the PPC main cpu and a modified ATI chip with a propritary frame buffer memory. Microsoft already contracts out the production of the 360 under their name, why would they let somebody else build it and then slap their brand name on it instead?
That's a great point. Maybe it would be more along the lines of building a 360 using the same parts, but a vendor throwing in extra stuff, like a TiVo, or a blueray player, or a VCR..(haha, kidding.)
I agree. More importantly, they optimize for a very specific hardware configuration to eke out as much speed and power as possible--how can Microsoft guarantee complete compatibility if some other company is making them?
Even a minor change could have major compatibility issues with some games, leading to all the problems you have in the PC game market, which is exactly what consoles are trying to avoid. Why would MS want that headache?
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Not going to happen, part of what makes consoles as powerful as they are given the hardware they have is that they are a closed system. Developers can optimise the hell out of their video and audio code because they know what hardware is going to be present in the box. That is why games that were ported from the original Xbox required a lot newer hardware to run compared to the hardware in the Xbox which was basically a 733Mhz P3 and a 5000 series nvidia card. The 360 is a bit harder to make a comparison too with the PPC main cpu and a modified ATI chip with a propritary frame buffer memory. Microsoft already contracts out the production of the 360 under their name, why would they let somebody else build it and then slap their brand name on it instead?
That's a great point. Maybe it would be more along the lines of building a 360 using the same parts, but a vendor throwing in extra stuff, like a TiVo, or a blueray player, or a VCR..(haha, kidding.)
I agree. More importantly, they optimize for a very specific hardware configuration to eke out as much speed and power as possible--how can Microsoft guarantee complete compatibility if some other company is making them?
Even a minor change could have major compatibility issues with some games, leading to all the problems you have in the PC game market, which is exactly what consoles are trying to avoid. Why would MS want that headache?