The rumor mill churning out speculation and supposition about Microsoft's next game console received another hearty turn of the crank today, with the publication on several message boards of a white paper purportedly running down specifications for the successor to the Xbox. Attributed to Peter Isensee of Microsoft's Xbox Advanced Technology Group (he's real, even if nothing in the document is), it describes in general terms the capabilities of a system code-named "Xenon," in anticipation of a planned 2005 launch.

The Xenon console, the document claims, is powered by a single custom IBM chip containing three 3.5Ghz cores. Such a chip would be a descendant of the multiple PowerPC G5 processors reportedly employed in the first wave of Xbox 2 development kits earlier this year. That processor would share 256 megabytes of unified memory with a 500Mhz custom ATI graphics chip, capable of shader support beyond High Level Shader Language 3.0 and a peak triangle rate of 500 million triangles per second. By comparison, that triangle rate is about on par with ATI's latest round of X800 PC graphics cards, but the Xenon document claims that its custom GPU can reach that rate while also cranking out "nontrivial" shaders.

Besides the technical jiggery-pokery related to its polygon-generating capabilities, the document notes that the Xenon is capable of high-definition output up to and including 1080i, as well as VGA output (a feature confirmed to appear in Nintendo's next-generation console). It doesn't specifically mention the system's multichannel audio capabilities, but does state that it would support the existing XACT Xbox audio development API.

On the interface end of things, the document mentions "standard USB 2.0 ports" as the primary peripheral interface for the Xenon, allowing it to "potentially host storage devices, cameras, microphones, and other devices." That would dovetail neatly with Microsoft's stated plan to standardize its line of gaming peripherals across both consoles and the PC, part of its XNA initiative. The Xenon controller, it says, adds a pair of shoulder buttons to the existing Xbox controller design, while taking out the vestigial black and white buttons.

On two key points, the document is unclear. With regard to the question of a built-in hard drive, it's a bit waffly: "Xenon console is designed around a larger world view of storage than Xbox was. Games will have access to a variety of storage devices, including connected devices (memory units, USB storage) and remote devices (networked PCs, Xbox Live). At the time of this writing, the decision to include a built-in hard disk in every Xenon console has not been made. If a hard disk is not included in every console, it will certainly be available as an integrated add-on component."

On the subject of backwards compatibility with the existing Xbox, meanwhile, it says, "People often ask if Xenon can be backward compatible with Xbox. Although the architecture of the two consoles is quite different, Xenon has the processing power to emulate Xbox. Whether Xenon will be backward compatible involves a variety of factors, not the least of which is the massive development and testing effort required to allow Xbox games run on Xenon."

Looking over the document, it's clear that it contains no information not either publicly available already or easily inferred from existing reports (published before the Game Developers Conference) about the first round of Xenon development kits. It's a neatly-edited piece of work, but whether it's real or not, it contains no information guaranteed to change anyone's thinking about Microsoft's next console.

Xbox Nation's Che Chou offers the interesting theory that the document could just as easily be a viral marketing plant by Microsoft itself, designed to reinforce popular belief in certain areas (i.e., that its next console will possess plenty of raw technical power) and counter rumors shaping the conventional wisdom in others (particularly persistent reports that the console won't be backwards-compatible with the current Xbox).

Microsoft itself, of course, is offering no comment either way on the subject.

Whether a genuine glimpse of the future or a clever exercise in fine-tuning the public's expectations, it's an interesting read. Have a look at the original version and see what you think.

Copyright © 2004 Ziff Davis Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. Originally appearing in 1UP.