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..

 

 

[Durge Driven]

How much in R&D will something like this cost ?

Better idea would be to hire ISI to build new gen physics engine

No one

I mean you can take out ISI and insert KUNOS if you feel AC/ ACC is better physics engine or any other studio .......of course, I am not that egotistical

My point is most be happy if they don't build this yet keep the same engine just so they can complain about physics all over again

No one understands me

 

[DeVxC]

It's been done before... I guess if you don't mistakes your self than you will not learn from someone's mistakes. Post by Whip (#3) it's perfect for this ... idea

 

[Kjell81d]

I don't know what's AMD are on, but I suppose they should release something decent to replace the RX Vega 64(GTX 1080 equivalent). So a 100% AMD machine with all the new goodies is a winner.

Ian Bell is heading in the right direction.

Vega 64 is more akin to a 1070 but hotter and uses more power.

 

[callumjtc]

When you have a bug in your logo

I find it ironic their logo is a bug considering PC1 and 2...

 

[Dr. Death]

Someone warn Ian that aprils fools is april 1st, not January 4th.

 

[The Walker]

No Fortnite 8K@240fps no buy

 

[bgil66]

Who is Ian Bell?

 

[Metla]

I can't help but think they should just developed it as a high end PC, and marketed as such. Have a Madbox PC and a Madbox PC + VR.

There is a portion of the market willing to spend big coin on slick looking gaming PC's even when the performance isn't in alignment with cheaper gaming rigs.

By instead calling it a console it will have to be crippled by software (the OS) so that its less then a PC, and it will have to compete price wise with the consoles. And by the claims made so far its going to compete with top end gaming PC's of the day in regards to performance.

None of which adds up.

 

[Austin Ogonoski]

I'm still waiting for the PS4's killer app after five years. Any next gen console, regardless of developer, is a firm pass from me.

 

[Metla]

Who is Ian Bell?

Mod Edit: No personal insults please.

 

[LEDzZzEPP]

I think MAD is a good name...yep

 

[E304LIFE]

My take:

- It likely won't have a Windows licence and SMS has kept its engine working on SteamOS. Do the math.

- SMS won't be compute limited by mundane console hardware when it comes to their Finite Element tyre simulation, VR etc.

- NVidia might be a designated hardware partner in this. They have had no presence in the console space in recent times and are likely hungry for it.

- If SMS can pull this off, they can target both their consumer and pro VR experiences to the baseline of this hardware. Yes, more expensive custom PC builds can be faster, but this will likely hit the sweet spot in terms of price/performance.

- If SMS partners with e.g. Valve/Steam for distribution, they will be able to iterate and deliver updates much faster. They will also be able to implement their own network backends, which will mean that they aren't bound by 3rd party T&Cs in the way they likely were with Sony and MS. That in turn means that they can tailor the connected aspects of the experience to the needs of different titles.

- If it works with Steam, it'll have access to the entire Steam catalog now that the Vulkan + Proton DirectX translation layer is a thing.

- It'll be interesting to see which kind of CPU this thing will have. Unless NVidia has an x86-compatible ace up its sleeve, it'll likely be a high-end intel type of deal.

- It'll basically be a PC with a console plug'n'play experience. Best of both worlds (if you're the glass half full type, that is).

- I hope the current design isn't final. The RGB LED stuff is par for the course these days, but it really does look like a weird mix of old hat and gaudy Taiwan lighting. Not exactly a winner out of the box in the looks department to this particular middle-aged European.

Hmm..Is this a trick? Because this actually sounds like it makes some sense. Wonder about air cooling, as it would have to be well laid out for that design and power I would think, and water cooling would increase cost and possible reliability issues.

 

[Mr Deap]

Vega 64 is more akin to a 1070 but hotter and uses more power.

Kind of waiting for the roadmap announcement...
https://www.techradar.com/news/amd-to-announce-7nm-processor-and-graphics-cards-at-ces-2019

With Ryzen they fixed the single threaded performance & perform better than Intel Sandy Bridge clock per clock which most people can live with without drawback.

Vega isn't what I would say a proper overview, but you can see the database of the RX 580.
https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/radeon-rx-580.c2938

Same memory bus width as the GTX 980 & the die size is smaller on the 580. It also perform about the same for mobile spec. When you compare clock per clock, it give you a slight idea how close they are to the competition.

Pascal & Turing benefit from higher clock speed boost & don't expect that kind of speed in mobile devices.

 

[ozm8ey]

Its not always about how powerful its gonna be, but instead its what are the exclusives going to be? xbox has forza mororsport, forza horizzon, halo, etc Playstation has Gran turismo, god war, etc So whats this going to have that those 2 don't?

 

[Fat-Alfie]

Empty promises

 

[Kaygeeoh]

Someone warn Ian that aprils fools is april 1st, not January 4th.

Maybe he was using a different date format than usual and got confused. 04/01/2019 vs 01/04/2019

 

[Kaygeeoh]

Hmm..Is this a trick? Because this actually sounds like it makes some sense. Wonder about air cooling, as it would have to be well laid out for that design and power I would think, and water cooling would increase cost and possible reliability issues.

I thought this was a well though out view. There's a couple good points in these 10 pages of disbelief anger and disappointment.

 

[busterwolfeman]

Oh man, Ian "Mad" Bell is doing PR again. Nothing more to be said...

 

[Aki Korhonen]

i miss geoff crammonds F1GP Series and
especially the greatest ai ever..
has Ian bell done pc/pc2 artificial intelligence because its worst ever made!so maybe this is just bad idea like the two games.

 

[PaulH]

I can't wait!
This will be brilliant!




Now where's my meds.............