IBM has confirmed that the enigmatic innards of the Xbox 360 are to include three processing cores, each one running at clock speeds of more than three gigahertz. Seemingly, this is necessary for the high-definition graphics that the console will be able to render. On sale in the US on 22 November, the new Xbox is eagerly awaited.
The Xbox chips are based on IBM's 64-bit PowerPC processors but have been modified for game playing during the two years IBM has been working on the project. Three PowerPC cores made up of 165 million transistors form the processing engine of the device.
When it goes on sale the basic Xbox 360 console is expected to cost $299 (£209). The high-end version should cost $399 (£279).