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Playstation 2 Workstation
xtra there's been a lot of talk about the power of the Playstation 2. Now it seems that
Sony believes that the graphical power of the PSX2 is so great, that they are going to use it as the heart of "Creative Workstations", developing a line of computers for people working with graphical content, mainly. The day of covergence draws one step closer.
Back when SGI was making systems everyone wanted, their microprocessor engineers had developed two next generation chip designs for the MiPS family. Code named "The Beast", the first design was to be every inch as fast as a top of the line Cray vector processor, at microprocessor prices.
The second design would be a complete revamp of the MiPS architecture, and was code-named "Alien. It's proposed specs made the Beast look like a 286 with asthma.
Then SGI bought Cray, who whined that their sales would plummet if their pricey, high-margin system looked like a chump next to commodity electronics. Then Beluzzo stepped into the scene, and abandoned MIPS altogether, spinning off the company and washing his hands of RISC. End of story.
Until...
Sony needed something special for the PSX-2. MIPS just happened to have this Beast and alien crap that SGI didn't want anymore, so...MiPS figured if they could make a workstation as powerful as a supercomputer, they could make a game console as powerful as a workstation.
Sony has just awakened to the raw possibilities afforded by the MiPS platform, and Sony -never- misses an opportunity. They're big, they're fast, they're hungry, they're linux-friendly, and that sound you hear is the sound of SGI running for it's life.
The beast is back.
On another note, Atari and Amiga failed because they were run by total incompetents who couldn't balance their own checkbook, never mind run a multinational technology giant. The Amiga 1200 and Atari Falcon were the best selling models in either company's history, with more orders than they could ever hope to fill. Runaway Growth + Moronic Management = Death.
SoupIsGood Food
I noticed in the article that Sony plans to increase the power of the workstations by an order of magnitude every few years. Does this mean they're also going to require end users (read: PSX2 gamers) to upgrade their PSX's as well?
I think that if it's relatively simple to do so (swapping out a CPU or increasing the amt of RAM), like a simple computer hardware upgrade (w/o mobo reinstall), they'll have a lock on the market. But if they expect people to keep in line with the Intel Syndrome (architecture / mobo changes every 9 - 16 months), I'd rather have a fully-powered PC than an almost-obsolete gaming box.
Maybe this is Sony's way of justifying the (expected) high price (compared to other consoles) of the PSX2.
"It's not an expensive game console, it's an inexpensive graphics workstation."
i dont display scores, and my threshhold is -1. post accordingly.
Discuss
http://www.beowulf.org/listarchives/beowulf/199
http://www.eet.com/story/OEG19990302S0026
But I keep my fingers crossed... I hope they do it right and don't get carried away with the power of the machine. Yes, it's next-generation, but even 50 years from now, we'll still be asking for game machines, so there's no need to transform it all into something it is not already.
Still... Dang. I read a review by George Lucas, saying he received an early version of the PS2... Probably a machine sent to LucasArts or something. Anyway, he said there was a difference between the resolution produced by real-time imaging on the PS2 and the one used in TPM, but that you couldn't tell the difference on a television set.
Speaking of TPM, let's hope the PS2 won't receive a hype backlash like TPM did. There is such a thing as over-hyping.
"There is no surer way to ruin a good discussion than to contaminate it with the facts."
Sony didn't capture such a huge share of the home electronics market by not working hard. I find the last paragraph about movie theaters very intriguing indeed. I think they are right about that - movies theaters eventually will go to digital projectors, and Sony (if it continues the course) will have a lock on that market.
Sony already sells a huge chunk of music and movies that are made. I'd say this ties very well to their overall strategy.
- fog
Getting the OS would be relatively easy - as you've pointed out, Linux would be an obvious choice for a port.
The hardest part would be supporting the graphics - whatever OS is chosen, graphics drivers would need to be written, debugged and tuned. They're touting the PSX2 as a superb graphics machine, so the graphics performance is what's going to count. The hardware would most likely be really nifty and complicated, and so getting optimum performance would be non-trivial.
To put it another way, noone buys SGI machines for IRIX, they buy them because of the good graphics hardware and fully integrated and stable GL (and OpenGL) support in IRIX and it's X server.
Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum viditur.
They are. As of now, most PSX2 games are being developed on Linux, and I hear the PSX2 development box is Linux based. But as for the actual end-user box, who knows. The rumor is it's going to be Linux based, but that could be just to score geek interest above all the recent WinCE/video game "achievements".
Source of rumor: a good friend owns a video game store, and is pretty in on the industry. Take that for what it's worth.
Bad things often happen to good people,
It is up to them to see that they remain good.
If I'm producing CG for tv or theaters or games I don't need to do it in real-time. So couldn't I do everything on a expensive PC? (Dual Processor/Oxygen graphics card/unholy amount of RAM/HD)
Doesn't the current software apps, SoftImage/3D Studio Max, already have a lead in many graphics companies? (Many graphics people are trained to use them and they are a proven technology)
Will SGI take this lying down?
The surprise isn't how often we make bad choices; the surprise is how seldom they defeat us.
Now, before I get flamed for this one, consider this. The Dreamcast has a built-in 56K modem, out of the box. And (since I have one, and know) it is easily pulled out and has an interesting port that it plugs into... proprietary, but it is claimed by Sega bigwigs that they'll be offering a DSL or cable (or both) modem upgrade in the future for Dreamcast owners, and it makes sense. Games for the DC are going to need slightly more bandwidth than the regular 56K they can get (and usually less) through a regular phone line. But they have it integrated. Sony's plans call for PS2 owners to have to go out and buy one later on, but theirs will be an Ethernet type card; not only will owners be forced to purchase the card, but also they will need to get an ISP that supports such a device. If Sony expects to succeed, they need to either A)Offer a competitive priced service for their Internet gaming over Sega's or B) Offer a regular modem for those of us who don't feel like going Ethernet just yet.
This might not seem like much of a problem, but I think that Sega's got the right idea. Multiplayer is where things are going, because the computer (while being interesting) never really DOES provide the same challenge (or satisfaction) of beating a friend who you know, or playing in a tournament against other players who are really good too. Example: Armored Core. There is already heavy development on AC2 for the PS2 (and it's pretty much the sole reason I'm getting one) but the computer is going to be second-rate compared to a true AC champ. Besides, how cool would it be to play a four-way AC deathmatch? I drool at the prospect, but with only two ports on the front (a near-fatal decision, IMHO) it won't happen. And the system is DEFINITELY able to handle the workload, so the idea that it's too much of a strain is BS.
I'll be getting a PS2, but I don't know how well it's going to work out. My budget is limited to about $400 for the total system, and it is expected to be released soon (March, IIRC) in Japan for about $375. If I also have to buy a NIC for it, which will probably be a bit of a cost as well, and pay for a service (which I don't even know if I can get yet) I don't know how well this system is going to go... so far, Sega's done everything right. Let's hope that Sony doesn't make mistakes. Competition is good.
(PLUG: Check out my Armored Core web site! With pics I *borrowed* from From's website... go here.)
to say about this. Sony has got very very good technology. Their know-how in consumer electronics and media production is phenomenal. However, the content and media tools field is creativity and software driven with many firms holding content franchises and/or proprietary visual special effects close to their chest. Despite the inroads of the NT juggernaut, SGI does still hold some sway in the media industry with Apple probably filling the lower niche. Also developing efficient code and compilers for multiprocessors is not trivial. How many programs are currently optimised to use Apple's Velocity or the Intel/AMD SIMD extensions? The silicon hardware is willing but the carbon wetware (ie brain-power) is weak. I'm not saying that a revolution of the media industries can't be done, the Japanese are brilliant engineers but the competition for skilled developers and creative storyline writers (the so-called Gold Collar workers) is going to hurt. Also the content is going to be revved up if you don't want 3D reruns of old scripts. I suppose a holoplex where instead of a sit-down film, you have Indianna Jones experience for hormone driven teenagers can't be too far off.
An interesting world, I wonder what Shakespear would have done in today's time.
LL
But Sony don't want to enter existing workstation markets, so they will not quite face the same problem. They want to create new markets.
Creative Uses for your old Playstation
If they were computers, you could reformat and install Linux when you got your next upgrade. So what do you do with your old Playstation, after you've gone out and plunked down the $$$ for a new game system?
We want endless gardens of data, where the bits can flower, flourish and reproduce. -- Andy Mueller-Maguhn