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PS3 Chip Trials Set To Begin
Thanks to GamePro for their news story regarding Toshiba and Sony's imminent trial production of semiconductor chips that will be the precursor to the Cell chip that's expected to be used in the PlayStation 3. According to the article, "...the trial production of sample chips using the 65-nanometer (one nanometer is a billionth of a meter) technology will begin in 2004... [but] commercial production is not expected to begin until the first half of Toshiba's 2005 fiscal year, which is from April to 2005." Gamesindustry.biz notes that this is "...just about in time to supply components for Sony's PlayStation 3 launch at the end of 2005, if that is indeed the plan."
GTRacer
- Waiting patiently!
Defending IP by destroying access to it? That makes sense, RIAA/MPAA. Go to the corner until you can play nice!
I didn't even know that the chip modders and hackers had already been arrested yet. Talk about swift justice!
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
I was under the assumption that Nintendo's plan was to be the first of the next generation of consoles (nintendo5, xbox2, ps3). If the PS3 truly ships for fall/holiday 2005, would this be the first of the 3?
Maybe, this is pretty early in the game. Nintendo's hype machine wouldn't want to start talking too much now while they are still trying to sell gamecubes.
The PS2 on the other hand is already in virtually any home that is going to buy a console of this generation. Talking about thier future plans isn't going to hurt their growth because they don't have nearly as much to do anymore. MS will likely stay tight-lipped regarding the X-box2 until we get closer to the launch dates as well. I would imagine all 3 of the big players are testing/well into designing something right now.
On Wall Street they say "buy low, sell high" On the pad we say, "buy high, sell high" Isn't that somehow better?
You fail, SIR!
Used to work at Sony. I know they had a working PS3 in 2001 in the US. Very well could be launched by 2005, but I wouldn't have faith in the hardware since it's definitely rushed.
All of the next generation consoles are using some derivitive of the IBM powerpc technology. With the kind of power and capability of these processors we may be likely to start seeing them on our desktops rather than just in our entertainment centers. This will just be a step in the direction of the closed computing that microsoft, hp and other companies are wanting to push towards.
Ohhhh, look at all the pretty shiny things.
Correction : "...just about in time to supply components for Sony's PlayStation 3 launch in Japan at the end of 2005, if that is indeed the plan."
Yeah yeah, how about a U.S. launch date? While the Japanese get all the games and systems first, the U.S. gets systems and games late with some games NEVER coming out here. Sure it'll make its way here, EVENTUALLY, but as an American GAMER I'm not exactly jumping with joy.
...for Sony shareholders
Hopefully the trials will be successful enough that they will push the schedule up to date if they can.
Of course, I'd rather see some technical demos of what future games might look like.
I seem to recall Sony stating a few months ago that production of Cell was going quite slowly, and wouldn't be ready until late 2006 and/or 2007. Now it's already back to 2005? Frankly, I don't trust anything Sony says. After they touted the Ps2 as being more powerful than a supercomputer, and after they announce the PSX, the "ultimate" entertainment center, with specs, only to cut a bunch of features without reducing price just before launch.
.... what would happen if for some reason the PS3 CELL technology didn't scale at all or the processor wasn't nearly as fast in practice as it was on paper. What would happen then? Sony is trying something really special with the CELL technology, but what if it doesn't deliver? This could Jeopardize all Sony's efforts in the PS3.
who's not chomping at the bit for the next generation of consoles? For the last round I couldn't wait to get my hands on the GameCube, PS2, and XBox. In fact, I bought each one within a few days of release.
But this generation seems to push as many pixels as needed for pretty much all games. Games look great these days. Sound hardware has been where it needs to be since the previous generation. Networking is functional.
So what's left? HDTV support would be nice - that will soak up a bit more more pixel-pushing power. Wireless controllers by default? (Playing games on a huge front projection TV from my couch is gaming nirvana.) I can get this now though - doesn't seem to justify a whole new system.
Gameplay innovation anyone??
Wow, great, now I can easily imagine that in my mind! A billionth of a meter...it's all so simple now!
DISCLAIMER: Yes, that was a joke, people
Well until you hear that developers have been shipped development units, I wouldn't hold my breath.
Nintendo is a Japanese company. It's no wonder that the new console would be available in Japan first. I thought Japan was more into the console thing rather than PC games anyway.
The games that never become available in the USA-- one might wonder if they don't meet the parent company's sales expectations, or perhaps don't fit the US markets.
Doom 3 is along the lines of what they'll look like. The nvidia fx demos too.
In earlier /. stories, I know there was a definite intention by MSFT to beat PS3 to the punch. They know that's a big part of them losing the battle in this generation - being late to the party albeit with better technology.
the ENTIRE computer industry is having a hell of a time getting this technology working, and Sony is already marketing it?
Intel has said it will be able to start making 65 nanometer transistors commercially IN 2005, and most people in industry think they're nuts.
Personally, I think they should skip down to around 5 or 10 and just go with diffuse E-beam lithography.
This whole Cell chip thing is all hype, they're going to do what they usually do and downgrade the specs at the last minute very, very quietly.
I'm the original poster. I *meant* 2002, and I appologize for the error. I think it's hilarious how it did get modded informative considering as much.
The article uses the phrase "system LSI". To me that implies this chip is actually a support chip, for example a DMA and memory controller. It would make sense to test the fab process with something smaller than a full CPU. Besides, they haven't announced that Cell has taped out and since they did that for the PS2 EE and GS I would expect a similar announcement before sampling begins.
Graham