PlayStation, Xbox Console Competitor Mad Box Releases First Look at Their Design

Megalith

Megalith

24-bit/48kHz
Staff member
Joined
Aug 20, 2006
Messages
13,000
With a David and Goliath battle ahead of him, Slightly Mad Studios’ CEO and co-founder Ian Bell has been busy selling the idea that his recently announced 4K-capable games console has what it takes to take on the PlayStation and Xbox One. While the system’s guts can’t be shared yet (components haven’t been finalized), Bell already has renders of what the console will look like. The CEO claims he’s been in talks with NVIDIA and AMD for ASIC AI in the "Mad Box," which will have “excessive” amounts of power.

Bell returned to Twitter later with the first images of the new console that’s still being worked on. Shaped like an “M” with the bottom sides flaring out to keep the console upright, it appears to come in multiple colors or can at least be configured to display different colors on the front, and sides. It also appears to have a see-through casing, but Bell said the guts of the console have been blurred out due to ongoing talks about the console’s components.
 
Ain't nothing wrong with some more competition.

Gota be tuff for a new console to start off as it dont matter how strong the hardware is if they dont have support from a few good software developers at launch.

Wish them luck!

I remember the days of neo geo,turbo graphics and 3DO. Good times indeed.
 
So it's not out for three years, meaning by that point the Xbox Next and PS5 will have a year of titles including their usual handful of first-party exclusives? If they were able to beat the fall/winter 2020 expected launch and nab an exclusive or two to at least pull some fanbases their way they might have had a chance. But when 4k-capable PCs have been reasonable since the 1080 launched in May 2016, and the next big consoles definitely doing at least acceptable checkerboard/dynamic res 4k, this is an uphill battle against megalithic companies that can stand to lose hundreds of millions initially on the hardware because of software and licensing deals over the next few years. So, good luck and godspeed, brave warriors!
 
You know what I love about consoles, they blend into the furniture.. I dislike the design choice of this console.
 
  • Like
Reactions: DF-1
like this
It's already to big as a console, they need to go more ITX thin like some of the Silverstone cases.
 
Renders....BFD.

Talk to me when you have a physical device, Specs and a ballpark price. Seriously at least the Phantom had a physical product when they were trying to bullshit everyone. That said, I'm all for more players in this market, but right now I'm unimpressed. All I see is a artists "Vision" and smoke and mirrors.
 
Looks fuckin stupid...how is that supposed to fit in a persons entertainment center?

First nail in the coffin. Shit design.
 
You guys, just put it on it's side if you need to fit it in a tight space. Then you have a sick "E" shaped console.


Can't wait for pre orders to open up. I'm gonna get 4. That way I can spell out "MEME" on my TV stand. It's going to be epyc.
 
Krenum said:
Looks fuckin stupid...how is that supposed to fit in a persons entertainment center?

First nail in the coffin. Shit design.
Click to expand...
Same way those netgear routers and switches do, I guess...
 
what was the name of that fake console that Kyle busted a few years back ... ?
 
Looks like trash and there is no room for a 4th console. Unless they throw a lot money to get big exclusives it won't have a chance. Even againts two established console it would be rough. MS got lucky with Halo or otherwise they proabably wouldn't be in the console business now.
 
SamuraiInBlack said:
A game platform is only as good as its game lineup.
Click to expand...

And scale attracts developers. Consoles major advantage over PCs is a developer gets literally millions of machines that are identical. Good luck on these guys getting anywhere near one million.

Scale is why the Steam box was a complete waste. Without committing to a minimum or restricted set of hardware you weren't going to get any economy of scale. And unsurprisingly Steam boxes went no where. So stupid.
 
vegeta535 said:
Looks like trash and there is no room for a 4th console. Unless they throw a lot money to get big exclusives it won't have a chance. Even againts two established console it would be rough. MS got lucky with Halo or otherwise they proabably wouldn't be in the console business now.
Click to expand...

Luck didn't haven anything to do with it. MS basically bought Bungie outright to have their flagship title. But yes, had Halo failed, the Xbox would have been a one and done.

And you're right, they better have deep pockets....
 
Why not a clean industrial design with good cooling? I guess have to jump on the RGB bandwagon...

None the less competition is competition provided it actually can compete. If it can it will be a long road ahead of them.
 
Based on that case design and non existent hardware, it seems this is a merger with Soulja Boy for market dominance.
 
Meh, had a slight cringe when I read shaped like an 'M' but after seeing the renders, it looks fine to me (for a gaming console).
 
With 3 you can spell MEW

...I'm not a fan of scrabble but I can't imagine any other use for these things
 
These are "golden arcs"... great analogy from a great movie
 
There was a time when we had many players in the console market. Nintendo, Sega, Sony, Atari, SNK, and 3DO all offered consoles in the early and mid 90s. It was an interesting time for video games. As much as I'd like to see a new competitor be successful, I believe the era of multiple consoles on the market at once has long passed.
 
I don't get it. The hardware is all the same, why will your console be better or worse than PS5?


Gonna create your own GPU company and invent a new way of rendering to get around patent protection.... suuuure
 
FlawleZ said:
There was a time when we had many players in the console market. Nintendo, Sega, Sony, Atari, SNK, and 3DO all offered consoles in the early and mid 90s. It was an interesting time for video games. As much as I'd like to see a new competitor be successful, I believe the era of multiple consoles on the market at once has long passed.
Click to expand...

It's no longer a possibility, there's essentially 2 GPU makers in the world offering similar performance levels. What is the point of making a new console?
 
Good to have competition, I hope they can get a footing. Gonna be a hard fight though, a lot of brand loyalty now-a-days.
 
Verge said:
It's no longer a possibility, there's essentially 2 GPU makers in the world offering similar performance levels. What is the point of making a new console?
Click to expand...
It's not impossible – a new entrant could use a custom gpu which focuses on a different rendering method (raytracing, for instance). If the dev tools are easy to use, developers could be attracted to that simply because it differentiates them from most other games on the market. With that and a powerful supporting cpu, it could easily become a viable competitor. The limiting factors are money and ingenuity.
 
Nobu said:
It's not impossible – a new entrant could use a custom gpu which focuses on a different rendering method (raytracing, for instance). If the dev tools are easy to use, developers could be attracted to that simply because it differentiates them from most other games on the market. With that and a powerful supporting cpu, it could easily become a viable competitor. The limiting factors are money and ingenuity.
Click to expand...

With current patent law this is nearly impossible, the rendering method would have to be completely new, along with most of the silicon. It would take a quantum leap quite frankly.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top