Cracking the Xbox 360 Code – An excerpt from Takahashi’s book
With the Da Vinci Code Fever finally cooling down are you wondering where your next Conspiracy Theory Fix will come from? Don’t look now but it’s from another book. However, this one doesn’t involve a Mary, a descendant of Jesus, a self-flaggelating albino and Tom Hanks with a hairdo inspired by an oil slick-coated furry animal that died while clinging to a rock the size of, well, Hank’s head.
The book is called The Xbox 360 Uncloaked written by Dean Takahashi. The title alone suggests the next-gen console’s history is darker than the image it projects today. We feature a page from that book that could have made the NY Times list of bestseller (we didn’t take the effort to check) showing a memo from the Xbox 360’s past.
The memo could be the damning evidence that Xbox 360 code breakers have been looking for all this time. We can’t tell you what it says but we printed it here verbatim for your eyes only:
MessageFrom: X And The City
Sent: Tuesday, October 29, 2002 7:28 PM
To: X And The City
Subject: X and the City – 10/29/2002
October 29, 2002 – Volume 4, Issue 19
“Who’s coming as their Gamertag on Halloween?”
Xenon: We Could Tell You but Then…
Many people have been asking numerous questions about the next generation of Xbox. As we all know, there is a core development team actively working on the Xenon project. As you have also probably noticed, communication about Xenon has been scarce (for example, even the name “Xenon” is confidential and should not be used outside the group). Here is a brief summary of what is and is not happening on Xenon.
First, product-specific information about Xenon is not being shared widely. We have already experienced a significant information leak to one of our key partners, which is unacceptable. As you may know from Xbox 1.0, leaks of this sort can have a major impact on our business profitability. For this reason, if you know information about Xenon, keep it quiet. (BTW, if you leak information about Xenon, you should expect to be fired and prosecuted. ‘Nuff said.) If you need information about Xenon, feel free to see Greg Gibson. As contracts get signed and we transition from partner selection to project execution, information will begin to flow more freely. Please be patient.
That said, the Xenon team is not working in a vacuum on the product development. Over the next two months, the product spec and initial architecture options are being reviewed at several levels. First, we are conducting developer feedback sessions to understand the impact of our hardware architecture on specific game engines. Second, we have initiated a Microsoft technical review board with several leads from Windows, Ehome, and Research to ensure that Xenon fits well into the corporate entertainment initiatives. Third, internal Xbox technical reviews will be held to leverage the vast experience (and scars) within our organization. Finally, several end-user reviews (such as focus groups and surveys) are being held to better understand how the product options are perceived by our consumers.
In short, Xenon is moving forward, information is intentionally scarce, and key customer feedback is being incorporated into the project plans. Feel free to contact Greg Gibson with questions and concerns.
Via Mercury News
With the Da Vinci Code Fever finally cooling down are you wondering where your next Conspiracy Theory Fix will come from? Don’t look now but it’s from another book. However, this one doesn’t involve a Mary, a descendant of Jesus, a self-flaggelating albino and Tom Hanks with a hairdo inspired by an oil slick-coated furry animal that died while clinging to a rock the size of, well, Hank’s head.
The book is called The Xbox 360 Uncloaked written by Dean Takahashi. The title alone suggests the next-gen console’s history is darker than the image it projects today. We feature a page from that book that could have made the NY Times list of bestseller (we didn’t take the effort to check) showing a memo from the Xbox 360’s past.
The memo could be the damning evidence that Xbox 360 code breakers have been looking for all this time. We can’t tell you what it says but we printed it here verbatim for your eyes only:
MessageFrom: X And The City
Sent: Tuesday, October 29, 2002 7:28 PM
To: X And The City
Subject: X and the City – 10/29/2002
October 29, 2002 – Volume 4, Issue 19
“Who’s coming as their Gamertag on Halloween?”
Xenon: We Could Tell You but Then…
Many people have been asking numerous questions about the next generation of Xbox. As we all know, there is a core development team actively working on the Xenon project. As you have also probably noticed, communication about Xenon has been scarce (for example, even the name “Xenon” is confidential and should not be used outside the group). Here is a brief summary of what is and is not happening on Xenon.
First, product-specific information about Xenon is not being shared widely. We have already experienced a significant information leak to one of our key partners, which is unacceptable. As you may know from Xbox 1.0, leaks of this sort can have a major impact on our business profitability. For this reason, if you know information about Xenon, keep it quiet. (BTW, if you leak information about Xenon, you should expect to be fired and prosecuted. ‘Nuff said.) If you need information about Xenon, feel free to see Greg Gibson. As contracts get signed and we transition from partner selection to project execution, information will begin to flow more freely. Please be patient.
That said, the Xenon team is not working in a vacuum on the product development. Over the next two months, the product spec and initial architecture options are being reviewed at several levels. First, we are conducting developer feedback sessions to understand the impact of our hardware architecture on specific game engines. Second, we have initiated a Microsoft technical review board with several leads from Windows, Ehome, and Research to ensure that Xenon fits well into the corporate entertainment initiatives. Third, internal Xbox technical reviews will be held to leverage the vast experience (and scars) within our organization. Finally, several end-user reviews (such as focus groups and surveys) are being held to better understand how the product options are perceived by our consumers.
In short, Xenon is moving forward, information is intentionally scarce, and key customer feedback is being incorporated into the project plans. Feel free to contact Greg Gibson with questions and concerns.
Via Mercury News