You've probably heard about the major gossip at ECTS: Microsoft are secretly developing a console based on PC technology and will launch it at the end of next year. So what effect will this have on the videogame industry? Or more specifically, is Dreamcast doomed? Future Gamer size up big brother's latest endeavour.
Keith Stuart

Xamination
As is often the case with the European Computer Trade Show, the biggest excitement of the event happened elsewhere. Hundreds of yards away from the sweat pit of Olympia, in one of the many conference rooms at the Hilton Hotel, Microsoft were allegedly showing a select group of industry big wigs the future of the console industry - X Box. For those who have somehow missed all the fuss, the X Box is apparently a PC-based videogame console, set to be released in the autumn of 2000 for around 299 dollars.

The machine, just like the PC, is to be the child of many fathers: Microsoft will provide the operating system and overall design; Intel will donate the 500MHz processor; graphics technology will come from nVidia; and the console itself will be built by the likes of Dell and Gateway. It's essentially a PC in a box. Oh, and it may well outperform PlayStation 2.

So how reliable is the rumour? The easy answer is 'very reliable'. Not only has everyone from The Sunday Times to CTW to Next Generation magazine reported on it, but many of the industry bigwigs approached by Microsoft at ECTS were taking a very liberal approach to the term 'non-disclosure agreement'. Just about everyone was blabbing.