X360 'Folding@home' possible

Microsoft games boss Peter Moore has indicated that the company would seriously consider running a research project similar to Sony's Folding@home initiative, on the Xbox 360, GamesIndustry.biz reports.

The Folding@home project allows multiple, connected PlayStation 3's to calculate data to aid medical research for Stanford University.

Sony's assistance has been widely praised for bringing attention to such schemes, where idle home consoles are able to simulate the processing power of multiple PCs.

"If we truly believe that we can in some way marshal the resources of a much larger installed base of Xbox 360 owners, with a processor that's of equal power to the PS3, then you have my commitment that we'll look at that," commented Moore, corporate VP of interactive entertainment at Microsoft, to The Mercury News.

"And if we believe we can add value to solving a gnarly problem such as medical problems and the health problems that Folding@home seems to be doing, then we'll certainly look at that very strongly."

So far, over 250,000 registered PlayStation 3 users have signed for the Folding@home project, although Moore is still wary of the actual results

"I'm not quite sure yet whether we're seeing real tangible results from the PlayStation 3 Folding@home initiative. We continue to look at this and see whether there's real value," he added.