' Microsoft's presentaion at E3 fell a little flat simply because the company had already unveiled the console in an MTV special that aired the wek before ' That doesn't mean, however, that details aren't still coming out about the system>

Microsoft has just signed a deal with Xbox chipmaker NVIDIA for backward compatibility of old Xbox games with the Xbox 360. This was necessary because the next-gen version of the system utilizes a PowerPC CPU and a non-compatible graphics chip by another company, ATI (the original Xbox has intel chips and an NVIDA GPU). At E3, Microsoft announced that only "best-selling" Xbox games would be playable on the 360, but this new deal opens up the possibility for more titles. However, not all Xbox games will be playable on the new system. Microsoft is not commenting on the situation, but word is that patched versions of the Xbox games will be made available over Xbox Live to allow play on the 360. Patches for some titles will also come pre-loaded on the next-gen system's hard drive.



In other hard drive news, Xbox 360 owners may be one step closer to being able to purchase songs for their system via Microsoft's MSN Music download service. Chief Xbox Officer Robbie Bach will take over the company's digital music business, which is currently spread out over mulitple divisions within MS. It's not hard to imagine that the company wants to make the console, with its 20 GB HD, a music machine via it's USB ports, devices like an iPod or even a PSP can be connected to the platform.

Currently, 25 to 40 games are expected at the launch of the Xbox 360 this holiday season, and Japanese magazine Famitsu even says that MS has "secret" special features for the system planned that will be available via download year after the system's release. News-Source: GameInformer Magazine August Isuue #148