Technology company AMD (supplier of graphics hardware for the Xbox 360)
is claiming that the Xbox 360's successor will be capable of producing
the kind of visual detail seen in James Cameron's Avatar, as reported on
examiner.com via the August issue of Official Xbox Magazine US.
Cramming the kind of technology it took to render every frame of the
eyeball-searing Avatar into a console within the next year or so sounds
impossible, but AMD is claiming the next Xbox will launch with this
within reach.
AMD would not confirm it was actually working on the next Xbox but
director of ISV relationships at AMD, Neal Robison, has said that gamers
have a lot to be excited about. Beyond visual fidelity Robison claims
that the AI and physics capabilities of the next generation will allow
for every pedestrian in an open-world title like GTA or Saints Row to be
an individual character with a unique personality. This would mean NPCs
would react in a whole host of new and different ways to in-game
actions.