more on the XBOX...
  02/20/2001 1:41:00 PM MST Albuquerque, Nm
  By Dustin D. Brand; Owner AMO

the XBOX has them drooling...   Microsofts' XBOX computer game system has the guys at Discreet who are the makers of the commercial quality 3DStudioMax drooling.

  Feb 15, 2001:
  Discreet today announced it has entered into a strategic development relationship with Microsoft to provide animation tools for the Xbox. Discreet will provide architectural and feature changes to its award-winning 3D modeling, rendering and animation package, 3ds max, for Xbox game developers. Discreet has engineered its recent release of 3ds max 4 so that Xbox developers can integrate state-of-the-art vertex and pixel shaders directly into the 3ds max viewport. This unique technology will allow Xbox artists and game designers to collaborate more closely than ever before to deliver high-impact Xbox games that play as good as they look. 3ds max 4 is a next-generation game-development tool that blurs the line between the creation phase and finished product for Xbox game titles by removing redundant steps in a game's construction. The 3ds max 4 viewport allows game developers to actually see hardware-rendered, textured models animating in real-time as they would appear in a finished Xbox game. This benefit represents an un-paralleled breakthrough in the production pipeline that delivers efficiency, accuracy and the added luxury for game producers and art directors to instantly see how a game will look, providing more time to make changes or to experiment with artistic variations.

  "The makers of Xbox have a goal of putting the artists and game designers in charge of development," said Drew Angeloff, Xbox Tools Program Manager. "By doing this we hope to leverage the skills of these incredibly talented people so every game has awesome artwork and graphics, as well as fantastic gameplay. 3ds max 4 is a huge step forward in freeing artists from guesswork, and is an incredible tool to help these people create great games."

  "While the advanced interactive graphics of 3ds max 4 benefit all 3D artists, the fact it delivers the DirectX 8 functionality with the full acceleration of NVIDIA hardware is an enormous boon to anyone developing for the Xbox," said Phillip Miller, senior director of Discreet software products. "Game programmers can implement custom vertex and pixel shaders directly within 3ds max 4, enabling artists to create their content within an environment that closely matches their Xbox game title, while the same shaders can live on within the respective Xbox game engine. The connection between the creator and the game has never been tighter," continued Miller.

  People, when the makers of the professional 3ds max starting saying things like this about the XBOX, you should realize it's not your average computer game system.

  We should expect some intense info on the XBOX at the upcoming Electronics Entertainment Expo e3 this May in Los Angeles.