MS going with ATI for Xbox 2..

http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/030814/145156_1.html

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ATI Technologies and Microsoft Announce Technology Development Agreement
Thursday August 14, 8:04 am ET
ATI Graphics Technologies to Power Future Xbox Products and Services


MARKHAM, Ontario--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 14, 2003--ATI Technologies Inc. (TSX: ATY, NASDAQ: ATYT) today announced it has entered into a technology development agreement with Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT - News). Under the agreement, ATI is developing custom, leading-edge graphics technologies for use in future Xbox® products and services.
"We're combining Microsoft's vision, software experience and R&D resources with ATI's pioneering leadership in graphics technologies to create innovative future Xbox products and services that meet the lifestyle needs of consumers in the Digital Decade," said Robbie Bach, senior vice president of the Home and Entertainment Division at Microsoft. "We selected ATI after reviewing the top graphics technologies in development and determining that ATI's technical vision fits perfectly with the future direction of Xbox."

"Microsoft shares our passion for cutting-edge innovation," said K. Y. Ho, chairman and chief executive officer, ATI Technologies Inc. "Our success working with Microsoft in the past gives us great confidence as we move forward, and our broad experience and wealth of engineering resources will ensure that we deliver. This agreement cements ATI's position as the prime graphics supplier for the future of the games industry."

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Well, Nvidia is screwed. Maybe it's a good thing, though, PC gaming could certainly use some standardization, even if it comes in the form of a monopoly. I like ATI better anyway, even though I've got an Nvidia card. So... anyone wanna start taking bets how much MS is going fork over to ATI to ensure graphics superiority over Nintendo?

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Originally Posted by Andy

So... anyone wanna start taking bets how much MS is going fork over to ATI to ensure graphics superiority over Nintendo?

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Wouldn't Sony be the focus in this regard?

JM

Good for MS. ATI lately been doing great, and their latest line up of graphic cards offer some great power and quality.

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Originally Posted by JM

Wouldn't Sony be the focus in this regard?

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He said graphics superiority, not user base.

I bet it's gonna be a Radeon 9800 Pro soldered straight onto the mobo.

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Originally Posted by Andy

http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/030814/145156_1.html



Well, Nvidia is screwed. Maybe it's a good thing, though, PC gaming could certainly use some standardization, even if it comes in the form of a monopoly.

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That's where OpenGL and Direct3D come in. Video card manufacturers simply interpret the standards set by those APIs, and the more interpretations, the better. Competition breeds innovation. Think of how boring and stifled the console industry would be with only one choice.

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Originally Posted by cka

I bet it's gonna be a Radeon 9800 Pro soldered straight onto the mobo.

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By the time Xbox 2 comes out, that'll be quite the outdated card I'm sure. Even if you're kidding, just saying :)

You think this means that the new Xbox won't have backwards compatibility? That would be a pain in the ass, but it sounds like Microsoft's greedy little fingers to me.

this isn't surprising considering how bad NVidia fucked up the XBox chips.

*Waves the ATI flag*

Yay for ATI! I was just ordering my 9800Pro today too. Nvidia has sucked far too long.