Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Nvidia CEO Talks Next-Gen Consoles

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the probably-knows-what-he's-talking-about dept.

kukyfrope writes "Jen-Hsun Huang, CEO of Nvidia recently shared his thoughts with the San Jose Mercury News about next-gen consoles, claiming that developing a chip for the 360 was too expensive and that the inclusion of a Blu-ray player will help the console last for 10 years. Huang also predicts that the 360 cannot afford to be a DVD-only system by Christmas 2007, likening the 360-DVD vs PS3-Blu-ray battle to the Dreamcast-CD vs PS2-DVD battle. 'The first PlayStation had a CD-ROM drive. The PlayStation 2 had DVD. It makes no sense for the PlayStation 3 to use DVDs. To postpone it by a few months so they could include Blu-ray was a master stroke. When that comes out, it's going to look so much more advanced than last-generation game consoles,' Huang said."

6 of 173 comments (clear)

  1. sigh by Nazmun · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Yeah because the ps3 was released ten years after the ps2.... What they mean is that the console will be in production for that long. For example, the psone was just bought out of production last year. That's pretty close to ten years if it hasn't passed it.

    The ps2 will be a ten year system if they can still sell it for the next 5ish years. Which they probably can due to strong brand name appeal and the expense of the new system. (ps2's still outsell xbox360's week by week now).

    --
    Hmmm... Pie...
  2. Thank you for your comments! by The-Bus · · Score: 3, Interesting
    Just in case no one noticed, Nvidia is the graphic processor provider for the PS3. See this quote from the article:

    "No one has enough extraneous resources around to build chips for all the game consoles. You have to build one or so at a time. In a lot of ways, they also pick you. Sony picked us and Microsoft didn't."

    He sounds remorseful enough that it indicates he wished Microsoft had picked Nvidia. But then again, he's also a bit glad:

    "I know I couldn't afford it. I would love to build it. I just can't afford it."

    So, here's the president of one of the main suppliers for the PS3 talking about how Microsoft didn't choose him, but even if they did, his company couldn't afford to actually build the GPU for the 360? Excuse me if I don't take his comments with a bucket full of salt.

    To top it off, as in any article discussing graphics, we're about ten years away from photorealism, just as we were in 2001 and 1996.

    To his credit though, I really liked this exchange which is in the full interview:

    Q. Where do you want to see graphics go?
    "I would like to see it go in a couple of directions. I would like [games] to be easier to access."

    His response is, "Screw graphics, let's work on gameplay." I can't knock him for that.

    --

    Small potatoes make the steak look bigger.

  3. Re:Blue-ray by ObligatoryUserName · · Score: 4, Interesting

    EA and others have said that they feel they made a huge mistake by abandoning new game development for the PS1 as early as they did. Their current plans seem to indicate that they will keep putting out new games for the PS2 for at least 10 years after the system's launch date.

    However, new games don't imply new IP! The floundering of Prince of Persia in the marketplace, in spite of what many industry insiders considered a very well executed game, convinced many in the industry that there's only a small window at the beginning of a system's life to launch new IP in. After a certain point it's just not worth it because people don't buy AAA games that aren't sequels in sufficent quantities to recoup development costs. Sad, but apparently true.

    Strangly enough, a theory has also developed that says that while you need to rush out new IP at the beginning of the life of a new system, if you're doing a sequel to existing IP on a new system it's not worth it to push it out in that early window. It's better to take your time and "get things right"/wait for the install base to develop before you push out things like GTA 4 or Halo 3.

  4. Re:PS4 Release Date by _xeno_ · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Actually, it's more ironic than that, because Sony (well, Ken Kutaragi, head of the division that makes the PS3) has in the past said they're planning on upgrading the PS3 throughout its lifecycle. See, since it's really a computer, apparently he thinks they can get away with announcing "upgraded" versions. So by 2016, the PS4 might finally replace the PS3-OSR2-SP5 or something.

    The actual quote is:

    In the PC world, specifications rarely last more than two years. You need to update them. I believe the PC is always evolving. I think that the time may come that the 60GB HDD would become too small or the RAM to low. Such issues are numerous.

    From this article.

    So, yeah, maybe a "10-year lifecycle" isn't out of the question, if they keep on churning out new consoles and call 'em PS3s anyway.

    Plus, by continuously upgrading specs, they can ensure that the PS3 will continue to cost $600 for years! ($500 for the previous iteration.)

    --
    You are in a maze of twisty little relative jumps, all alike.
  5. Re:Blue-ray by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    And yet, God of War, being new IP released during PS2's midlife, was a grand success.

  6. 3dfx already did it... by 2008 · · Score: 1, Interesting

    From the full interview:

    "SLI is probably one of the most important innovations that we have brought in the last several years."
    3dfx had a very similar, albeit not identical, system ages ago.

    "Nvidia 1.0 was building 3-D graphics. Creating the consumer 3-D market."
    No, that was 3dfx again.

    Of course, Nvidia bought the remains of 3dfx so perhaps they're counting that.

    Revisionist history aside, the full interview here (not the watered down blog post), is really interesting, and exactly the sort of thing that should be on slashdot.

    --
    I quit!