Microsoft Corp and Intel Corp could be considering an entry into the $15bn games console market. They are said to be working together on a console design, dubbed ‘X-Box’ to compete with offerings from Sega Electronics Ltd, Nintendo Co and Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE).
According to games web site Next Generation Online, the X-Box will use a 500MHz Intel CPU – although a version based on Advanced Micro Devices Inc’s Athlon may also be in the works – combined with Nvidia Corp’s new GeForce 256 graphics processor. Nvidia has already claimed that its new chip will offer graphics performance comparable with Sony Corp’s Playstation 2. Like the new Sega Dreamcast, the box would run a modified version of Windows CE. Gateway Inc and Dell Computer Corp are cited as probable OEM partners. The X-Box is likely to be launched in the fall of 2000 – around the same time that the Playstation 2 and the Nintendo Dolphin are slated for a worldwide launch.
Microsoft was unavailable for comment on the X-Box project. However, Intel spokesperson, Dan Francisco, said, Intel is working on making the PC the gaming platform of choice. However, given that Intel’s CEO, Craig Barrett, showed an ‘entertainment PC’ as part at the Intel Developer’s Forum last week, and all the new consoles from the major manufacturers include internet access, it is tempting to ask where the line between ‘entertainment PC’ and games console is drawn. Francisco wouldn’t comment on any possible console venture between Microsoft and Intel.
Meanwhile – as if to show why Microsoft and Intel might want to dip a toe into the console market – Sega of America is promoting the US launch of its Dreamcast console as the biggest in entertainment history. It expects the console to generate nearly $45m in sales during its first 24 hours on the market. This, says Sega, will outstrip any entertainment launches in history, including the $28m first day sales record currently held by Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. It is suggested that Microsoft has delayed announcing its X Box project because the company did not want to rain on Dreamcast’s parade.
