Next-gen developers confirm that leaked Xbox 720 (Durango) dev kit photos are genuine - Polidicks

[QUOTE] It's one of the most bizarre next-gen console leaks yet - a story so strange we still struggle to believe there's any truth to it whatsoever. When a Microsoft Durango devkit appeared on an [URL="http://www.assemblergames.com/forums/content.php"]obscure developer forum[/URL] - for sale at $10,000 no less - nobody quite knew for certain what on earth was going on. The shots depict an anonymous-looking PC tower case, attached to a cheap display and running Matrix-style datastream graphics over an unconvincing debug launcher. The obvious conclusion drawn by many was that it was an unambiguous fake. Intrigued, Digital Foundry reached out to the source of the leak, and followed up the story with multiple developers working on next-gen projects. The uniform response was startling: apparently, these shots are the real deal. The devkit itself is an anonymous-looking black box, said by one next-gen developer to contain parts that have much in common with a modern "standard gaming PC". The shots depict a dashboard reminiscent of the current Xbox 360 test kit launcher, featuring a basic compiled program, dubbed "D3D11Game1" along with "NuiView" - which on 360 at least is a simple tool for rendering camera views and data from an attached Kinect peripheral. No next-gen Kinect hardware photos have yet to surface, but it is said to be considerably revised from the existing Xbox 360/PC peripheral. We tracked down the man who leaked the initial shots, who uses the alias [URL="https://twitter.com/superdae"]"DaE"[/URL]. At the time we spoke over instant messaging, he was seemingly running rampant across Europe, quaffing significant amounts of absinth. Being generous, his Twitter feed doesn't seem to make a lot of sense, and some of the claims being made about Halo 4 running on PowerPC/Xbox 360 emulators would stretch even Roger Moore's prodigious eyebrow-raising skills to absolute breaking point. However, the fact is that the pictures he leaked have been acknowledged as genuine by reliable sources we know to be working on AAA next-gen games, and the inescapable conclusion is that the leaker [I]has[/I] indeed been hands-on with a Durango devkit - and then tried to sell it. DaE told us that this was a prank he played on the administrator of the AssemblerGames forum - the end result being that he was banned for his efforts and the offending post swiftly removed. [img_thumb]http://images.eurogamer.net/2012/articles//a/1/5/0/2/2/4/8/Durango0.jpg.jpg[/img_thumb][img_thumb]http://images.eurogamer.net/2012/articles//a/1/5/0/2/2/4/8/Durango1.jpg.jpg[/img_thumb][img_thumb]http://images.eurogamer.net/2012/articles//a/1/5/0/2/2/4/8/Durango2.jpg.jpg[/img_thumb] Beyond that, further information is sketchy and unreliable. DaE reckons that the current devkits were dispatched to studios in February, and feature Intel CPUs and a graphics card that carries the NVIDIA brand - but he doesn't identify either part more specifically. He also claims that the Durango kit features more than 8GB of memory (other sources have suggested 12GB), and that it is 64-bit in nature - at this point it's worth bearing in mind that dev hardware typically features double the RAM of retail kit in order to accommodate debugging tools and other systems. DaE also says that Microsoft is targeting an eight-core CPU for the final retail hardware - if true, this must surely be based around Atom architecture to fit inside the thermal envelope. The hardware configuration seems difficult to believe as it is so divorced from the technological make-up of the current Xbox 360, and we could find no corroborative sources to establish the Intel/NVIDIA hook-up, let alone the eight-core CPU. However, another source, speaking in the wake of the Durango developer meet-up that took place in London just before GDC this year, corroborates that the system is 64-bit in nature, adding that current DirectX 11 engines developed on PC can be ported to 64-bit and that they will run with no problem on Microsoft's new console. The platform holder achieved immense success by basing the Xbox 360 workflow closely on existing PC development tools and the DirectX API and it looks as though it aims to continue that recipe for success with its next-gen offering. In an effort to prove the authenticity of his devkit leak, DaE also leaked a [URL="http://images.eurogamer.net/2012/richardleadbetter/durango.png"]screenshot of Microsoft's Visual Studio coding tool[/URL], apparently set-up for Durango. None of the developers we spoke to disputed what they were seeing. "As an aside it's got my favourite MS return code in there: ERROR_SUCCESS," chuckled one source. The presence on this screen of the [URL="http://software.intel.com/en-us/articles/avx-emulation-header-file/"]"immintrin"[/URL] element strongly suggests that the Durango coding environment is built around x86 CPU architecture, supporting the AVX (advanced vector extensions) instruction set that was added in last year's Sandy Bridge revision. However, AVX is now supported on some of the most recent AMD processors too. [img_thumb]http://images.eurogamer.net/2012/articles//a/1/5/0/2/2/4/8/dev.png/EG11/resize/600x-1[/img_thumb] Of course, this anonymous-looking PC box is not the machine Microsoft will be selling at retail next year - it's alpha kit, assembled from existing parts to best emulate the hardware configuration of the console and actual silicon will be in the closing phases of development as we speak. In a world where games typically take two years or more to develop, these units are lashed together to give game-makers a headstart in the absence of final hardware - Xbox 360 alpha kits were little more than PowerMacs with ATI graphics cards installed, and were still being used to demo code as late as E3 2005, mere months before the retail launch. It's the mooted choice of hardware partners that is perhaps the most surprising element of this new twist in the Durango story, and the most crucial element that we could not double-source. Microsoft negotiated poor licensing deals with Intel and NVIDIA on the original Xbox that made the console uneconomical to produce in later years - thought to be one of the major reasons that the platform holder shifted to IBM for the 360's Xenon CPU and ATI (subsequently bought by AMD) for the Xenos graphics core. Unarguably, it is this graphics core that gave Microsoft its advantage over the PlayStation 3 in multi-platform games, and a shift back to NVIDIA would not only be surprising, but it would also outright contradict most of the rumours that have emerged about Durango to date. At the very least, the x86 nature of the leaked Visual Studio shot is intriguing - in combination with the AMD rumours swirling around PlayStation 4, there's the very strong suggestion that the era of custom console hardware is now very much a thing of the past. Licensing revised versions of existing architecture - exactly as Sony did with PlayStation Vita - appears to be the most efficient way of getting the most powerful consoles without breaking the bank in terms of R&D. In a world where many blame consoles for the decline in PC gaming, it would be richly ironic if the next-gen platforms from Microsoft and Sony were based almost exclusively on PC technology... [/QUOTE] Source: [URL="http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-the-curious-case-of-the-durango-devkit-leak"]eurogamer.net[/URL]

OP, It's not fucking difficult to post pictures. [img]http://images.eurogamer.net/2012/articles//a/1/5/0/2/2/4/8/Durango0.jpg.jpg/EG11/resize/300x-1[/img] [img]http://images.eurogamer.net/2012/articles//a/1/5/0/2/2/4/8/dev.png/EG11/resize/600x-1[/img]

A 'major' developer wanted to reveal their next-gen game on this years E3 but on the final moment Microsoft/Sony hold them back and were furious about it. Maybe this is their revenge? :v: [IMG]http://thesilentchief.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/psm3.jpg[/IMG] [QUOTE][I]“..One major developer was furious that next gen consoles didn’t show at E3 2012, after he was told to ready next gen content for a first party press conference.”[/I][/QUOTE]

I'm starting to be cautiously optimistic about next-gen consoles.

Oooh. D3D11game1 implies it supports DX11, which means we'll finally move on beyond DX9 in PC games. This is nice.

[QUOTE=Moby-;37077919]OP, It's not fucking difficult to post pictures. [/QUOTE] Yea, sorry, for some reason I was not able to include pics in post (probably due to fp lags), fixed now

Wow those specs sounds like ports wouldn't be complete shit!

[QUOTE=TestECull;37077962]Oooh. D3D11game1 implies it supports DX11, which means we'll finally move on beyond DX9 in PC games. This is nice.[/QUOTE] It would be fucking ridiculous if they didn't.

[img]http://images.eurogamer.net/2012/articles//a/1/5/0/2/2/4/8/dev.png/EG11/resize/600x-1[/img] ERROR_SUCCESS, What?

[QUOTE=AzzyMaster;37078419][img]http://images.eurogamer.net/2012/articles//a/1/5/0/2/2/4/8/dev.png/EG11/resize/600x-1[/img] ERROR_SUCCESS, What?[/QUOTE] Even success is an error for microsoft :D

[QUOTE=Crimptor;37077925]I'm starting to be cautiously optimistic about next-gen consoles.[/QUOTE] Hahaha, I've long been openly negative about them. :v:

[QUOTE=TestECull;37077962]Oooh. D3D11game1 implies it supports DX11, which means we'll finally move on beyond DX9 in PC games. This is nice.[/QUOTE] sigh, now i have to update my computer :(

Uh oh.. Some console games are already putting my computer to it's knees (mostly due to bad ports), can't wait to play crysis 4 at 5 fps on my HD4850.. Yeah.. in 2 to 3 years fps gaming is about to change big time

"Don't think we've seen the last of DUKE NUKEM either" No pls no.

[QUOTE=Lizzrd;37078095]Wow those specs sounds like ports wouldn't be complete shit![/QUOTE] Yeah. Until 2014, when it'll be outdated.

Would it not make alot of sense to go with AMD over Intel/Nvidia because of costs and AMD already has a well suited 8 core Piledriver architecture?

[QUOTE=AzzyMaster;37078419][img]http://images.eurogamer.net/2012/articles//a/1/5/0/2/2/4/8/dev.png/EG11/resize/600x-1[/img] ERROR_SUCCESS, What?[/QUOTE] did you read the article

[QUOTE=nVidia;37078148]It would be fucking ridiculous if they didn't.[/QUOTE] Yet it wouldn't be surprising. Also, let's wait for it's Sony rival.

I bet the step up in visuals will be the smallest one yet.

[QUOTE=DrBreen;37078666]Uh oh.. Some console games are already putting my computer to it's knees (mostly due to bad ports), can't wait to play crysis 4 at 5 fps on my HD4850.. Yeah.. in 2 to 3 years fps gaming is about to change big time[/QUOTE] Actually it means ports will run better. The 360 and PS3 currently have the equivalent of an nVidia 7800GS and ATI X1900XT under the hood. They support nothing beyond DX9 and don't have much raw HP. Porting games written for them to PC means your super modern DX11 card can't use any of those shiny new features it has, forcing it to basically brute force it's way around. Games that do support those shiny new features run much muuuuch better as a result. You should note a framerate increase when the first games for the new consoles come out, not a decrease. [QUOTE=Eeshton;37078629]sigh, now i have to update my computer :([/QUOTE] You and me both. The fact that stagnant console hardware has capped games on DX9 is the only reason I haven't had to upgrade since 2007. I'm still rocking an 8800GS 384MB. Haven't had a reason to upgrade because games haven't changed enough, it can still get the job done at the resolution I specify.

I wonder if we'll finally have a console with anti aliasing Hurts my eyes man

I'm excited for these new consoles, if only because they'll be enough of a jump from the last consoles to finally allow games to move forward with better hardware. I just hope the next generation isn't as ridiculously long as the PS3 and 360 gen has been.

[QUOTE=CakeMaster7;37079426]I'm excited for these new consoles, if only because they'll be enough of a jump from the last consoles to finally allow games to move forward with better hardware. I just hope the next generation isn't as ridiculously long as the PS3 and 360 gen has been.[/QUOTE] Modern PCs are having a hard time running bad ports. They will have no chance when it comes to next gen ports.

Hopefully one of the next gen consoles is very similar to a PC, so ports wont be that bad.

[QUOTE=itisjuly;37079479]Modern PCs are having a hard time running bad ports. They will have no chance when it comes to next gen ports.[/QUOTE] did you even read what someone posted like three above you?

That might as well be the last generation of consoles, guys.

ok so the pics are genuine can we get more advanced PC games now? Allot of games these days make me go "whoa, it's like I'm really playing a game from 2007"

[QUOTE=The Baconator;37080528]ok so the pics are genuine can we get more advanced PC games now? Allot of games these days make me go "whoa, it's like I'm really playing a game from 2007"[/QUOTE] I'm hoping for this as well, I'm excited to see there'll be more than 1 GB of RAM. Maybe we'll finally have higher resolution textures. [editline]4th August 2012[/editline] [QUOTE=itisjuly;37079479]Modern PCs are having a hard time running bad ports. They will have no chance when it comes to next gen ports.[/QUOTE] Bad ports will run badly on modern PCs regardless of hardware. That's why we call them [I]bad ports.[/I]

DX12 (or whatever the next DX will be) will probably be released Oct 2015 so depending on how soon these next gen consoles come out consoles and PCs can ride side by side-ish for a while.

Let's hope we finally leap into the true 1080p era (as promised years ago) after cutting corners with 720p-640p.