New Console Developer? Ian Bell Announces 'Mad Box'

[Paul Jeffrey]

Slightly Mad Studios Ian Bell has confirmed on Twitter that the developers behind Project CARS are working on a new and super powerful console.

Intending to pitch right into the fight for console supremacy with the likes of Microsoft and Sony, Bell has confirmed that SMS are working on the provisionally titled 'Mad Box' device, with plans to significantly move the console marketplace forward with what has been described as "the most powerful console ever built...".

Although plans are in the infancy at this moment in time, Bell has stated that the new Mad Box console should be VR compatible from the off, with a proposed 90fps per eye, 180 FPS internally expected at the point of the consoles release - expected to be two or three years away at this stage.

Although much of the internal spec is still under consideration by Slightly Mad Studios, the overall design of the console has surfaced earlier today, as can be evidenced by the screenshots in this article, and Bell has been in very bullish mood during much of initial reveal discussions on social media - coming straight out of the blocks with some very impressive statements about the consoles capabilities once launched - easily putting the new Mad Box in the frame as a potential Xbox and PlayStation 4 beating piece of hardware.

Of course it is still early days in the development of the new Mad Box, but if the initial plans for the console do come to fruition this will be a very impressive piece of kit indeed. One of the key features mentioned briefly by Ian is the desire to open up the game engine to developers, presumably allowing game developers to access the engine platform in which to develop new games. Furthermore, Bell has stated that this will be a free facility for developers, which should be a powerful incentive for game studios to create content that works well with the new console.

All in all this is certainly a surprise move from SMS, and one very interesting topic to keep an eye on in the coming months..

 

 

[OzzyNeil]

For any next-gen console to work, whether it be from MS/Sony or a rogue company trying to enter the market, it's really not on the hardware developers to provide a good console, but rather devs to provide good games.

And I'm sorry, but after the absolutely insane state of AAA-games this generation, there's no reason to be excited for any new console. SMS could pull off the impossible and put out a good console, but it wouldn't matter at the end of the day because devs are just completely losing the plot.

Fallout 76? Complete disaster from top to bottom.

Battlefield V? Missing 40% of features at launch, with black female Nazi soldiers. Oh and they're not actually Nazi's because that's offensive I guess. CEO lashes out as fans for being "uneducated" when they draw attention to any of this.

EA Sports games? Ultimate team has completely taken over. Franchise modes with broken AI logic EA doesn't care to fix. Go to Ryan Moody's YT channel if you want a breakdown on Madden. Promise it's worth it.

Battlefront II? Lootboxes so bad Disney had to step in.

Need for Speed Payback? Rehashed open world w/ lootboxes. Sorry, "prize cards."

Fortnite? Horrid netcode. This game is actually kind of fun when it works though.

Blops 4? Sorry, we ran out of ideas, here's our take on Fortnite. Also the beta had better netcode by 33% because we wanted to sucker people in lmao.

Horizon 4? Here are useless Fortnite emotes and this annoying prize wheel mechanic. Also we haven't changed the game since Horizon 1.

I will do my part to ensure it's the best possible console we can release, but will I purchase any next gen console to play at my own leisure? lmao no.

Yep, the way **** is going, i might be going back to board games, anyone for scrabble?

 

[Alex Townsend]

Think I'll just stick to my home built PC that works how I need it to. I sold my Xbox One a few months ago and really haven't missed it. The Roku 3 has more than made up for what it was actually being used for...
Only thing I did miss was Halo. It's the one thing I bought the original Xbox for as it was a system seller for me.
Then I found I could play Halo and Halo 2 on the PC so even that isn't an issue anymore.

Someone said it already, the consoles only sell because of their exclusives. PS had GT and back in the day MGS which sold systems, Xbox had Forza and Halo, Nintendo has Mario and all the other family cute stuff. Mad Box has... what?
Unless they are going to make Project cars titles exclusives somehow....? Which would just be a little weird...

 

[R1Joel]

For any next-gen console to work, whether it be from MS/Sony or a rogue company trying to enter the market, it's really not on the hardware developers to provide a good console, but rather devs to provide good games.

I think games are still good and are still improving, but greed has gotten in the way. The problem is that these devs release games with lootboxes or micro transactions and thousands of people fall right into the trap and spend hundreds if not thousands of dollars. So they aren't going to change the way they do things anytime soon. I know people that spend hundreds on Facebook or mobile games.

 

[Austin Ogonoski]

The problem is that these devs release games with lootboxes or micro transactions and thousands of people fall right into the trap and spend hundreds if not thousands of dollars. So they aren't going to change the way they do things anytime soon. I know people that spend hundreds on Facebook or mobile games.

I personally watched a good friend of mine spend the last $20 in his bank account on an Ultimate Team pack for NHL.

Developers have found a way to tap into the human brain the way casinos do. Unless massively strict regulations come hard and fast to curb this stuff, gaming is going to die a brutal & bloody death.

 

[Michael Hornbuckle]

Has gambling died a brutal and bloody death?

 

[Deleted member 197115]

For any next-gen console to work, whether it be from MS/Sony or a rogue company trying to enter the market, it's really not on the hardware developers to provide a good console, but rather devs to provide good games.

And I'm sorry, but after the absolutely insane state of AAA-games this generation, there's no reason to be excited for any new console. SMS could pull off the impossible and put out a good console, but it wouldn't matter at the end of the day because devs are just completely losing the plot.

Fallout 76? Complete disaster from top to bottom.

Battlefield V? Missing 40% of features at launch, with black female Nazi soldiers. Oh and they're not actually Nazi's because that's offensive I guess. CEO lashes out as fans for being "uneducated" when they draw attention to any of this.

EA Sports games? Ultimate team has completely taken over. Franchise modes with broken AI logic EA doesn't care to fix. Go to Ryan Moody's YT channel if you want a breakdown on Madden. Promise it's worth it.

Battlefront II? Lootboxes so bad Disney had to step in.

Need for Speed Payback? Rehashed open world w/ lootboxes. Sorry, "prize cards."

Fortnite? Horrid netcode. This game is actually kind of fun when it works though.

Blops 4? Sorry, we ran out of ideas, here's our take on Fortnite. Also the beta had better netcode by 33% because we wanted to sucker people in lmao.

Horizon 4? Here are useless Fortnite emotes and this annoying prize wheel mechanic. Also we haven't changed the game since Horizon 1.

I will do my part to ensure it's the best possible console we can release, but will I purchase any next gen console to play at my own leisure? lmao no.

OMG, new internet blog from Austin, yes please.
The more hate and negativity, the better. Why stop with racing games.

 

[kondor999]

they just stuck the card in the side on the 3d model, that panel cant be removable and have those ports on it. sloppy engineering render, If this was serious then the renders should be too.

No, those "ports" are the outputs of the graphics card itself. This console is just an ITX-sized PC.

 

[Austin Ogonoski]

OMG, new internet blog from Austin, yes please.
The more hate and negativity, the better. Why stop with racing games.

There was nothing special about what I did.

This video ripping apart Fallout 76 has 2.1 millions views.

 

[Justin Koch]

is it april?

 

[Metla]

And just as a refresher, I believe it was just in the second year of the X360 when MS was able to make profit from Xbox franchise, so if Ian wants to create something similar, he should prepare to be in red for a long time.

Its been reported Xbox division of MS had lost 4 BILLION by 2005....

And that losses on the Xbox 1 hardware currently sit around 400 million, with reports from as recent as June 2017 that each unit is still selling below cost of production.

So yeah, They might need to release some more DLC to fund the madbox...

 

[Constantin Grimminger]

Isn’t pcars 1 the game that showed that the market wants more realistic games back in 2010?

No. pCars 1 came out in 2015, when rF2, AC and GSCE were already released.

That codemaster made a gamble with Grid Autosport that eventually lead to Dirt Rally and current F1 games that gets more and more realistic year by year.

Love it that you speak about realism and mention exactly those games that are so far off realism that they're not even called "sim" anymore.

Or the rise of AC that rode the resurgence of realistic racing games that Kunos capitalized it well? Or those often underwhelming official WRC, MXGP and so on games that tries to be more realistic than some officially branded trolley physics? Even Forza 7 tried to be more realistic but I don’t feel much difference personally.

They did play a part in the resurgence of realistic games with that much hated gureilla marketing they have with pcars 1. Hate them all you want but they do seemed to be aware of upcoming trends./QUOTE]
AC was there when people wanted it - sim surroundings if needed, but also sim-cade-ish if wanted. Featured GT3 (which were super popular then) and a good selection of road cars for the casual player.

SMS did exactly nothing towards any rise of more realistic games. They've always been there ever since the Grand Prix series started and will always be there. Also, SMS were even a bit late to the party with their initial release in 2015.