The complete Xbox One architects interview!

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Plainview

I am a sinner.
Sep 11, 2013
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Digital Foundry has posted the complete Xbox One architects interview. It's a very informative read. It's quite long. There are some excepts below and the rest is at the source link.

So here we go - a complete transcript of Digital Foundry's discussions on the Xbox One architecture with two integral members of the team that helped create the hardware. We're looking at around an hour's worth of very dense tech talk here, much of which you will not have seen before.

But first, a little background. How did this opportunity come about? At Gamescom in August, it became clear that Microsoft was looking to adjust its stance on how it talked about its hardware from a technological perspective. Almost certainly this came about owing to an overall spec sheet that does not look too encouraging compared to the equivalent metrics being offered by Sony for the PlayStation 4, and it was clear that gamer interpretations of some of the specs didn't quite square with Microsoft's thinking over its design.

Over and above the upcoming console war though, it's clear that Xbox One has been designed with a very different philosophy in mind, with some ambitious tech powering elements such as concurrent apps and multiple virtual machines. There's a very different approach to GPU compute too - not to mention the whole balance argument. Coming out of the experience, it was clear that this was a story that the architects were passionate about and very much wanted to tell.

That said, Microsoft does have a history in sharing in-depth data on the make-up of its console architectures, and its presentation at Hot Chips 25 this year at Stanford University indicated that the design team were willing to talk in detail about the silicon to a degree beyond what Sony are willing to share - which is perhaps understandable on the PlayStation front when you have a spec sheet that essentially does most of the talking for you.

"For Microsoft, this was an opportunity to explain a design philosophy that core gamers aren't connecting with so easily."

So the question many of you are no doubt asking is, are we looking at a free-flowing technical discussion or a PR exercise? Well, let's not kid ourselves - every interview that reaches publication is some form of public relations for the interviewee and that applies equally whether we're talking to Microsoft, Sony or anybody else. Perhaps the lingering disappointment for us with our Mark Cerny interview was the fact that it quickly became evident he was not going to let us into much that he hadn't already covered elsewhere. It's also fair to say that the impressive specs, well-rounded line-up and a phenomenally well-managed PR strategy have left Sony in a very favourable position, with nothing to prove - for now, at least.

For Microsoft, things are clearly very different. It's a case of explaining a design philosophy that core gamers aren't connecting with so easily, while at the same time getting across the message that the technological prowess of a games console isn't limited just to the compute power of the GPU or the memory set-up - though ironically, in combination with the quality of the development environment, these are the very strengths that allowed Xbox 360 to dominate the early years of the current-gen console battle.

Onto the discussion then - perhaps Digital Foundry's most expansive hardware interview yet, kicking off with the requisite conference call introductions...​

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I thought this was a second chance at the thread as the other one was locked!
 
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