140°

IBM Getting More Work from Nintendo

The Big N and Big Blue look like they're going to be collaborating again.

EAST FISHKILL - IBM East Fishkill workers were called to an all-hands-on staff meeting Thursday evening where they were told more work is coming their way.
Employees were told work will come to the Systems and Technology Group from Nintendo, Freescale and Sony.

Read Full Story >>
recordonline.com
Blasphemy6059d ago

So not only Nintendo but it looks like Sony will have them design their next processor too. That's good news.

Iamback6059d ago

Didn't sony and IBM co-develop CELL?

qface646059d ago

yes they did i think someone else was involved as well i think samsung?

Ju6059d ago

^^^ "STI" Sony-Toshiba-IBM.

ChickeyCantor6059d ago

And so it begins.
I guess its purely research now. Development is obviously on its way later on=P

DeadlyFire6059d ago

They could easily assemble a processor in 2 years. Only takes a year or two now to put one together. Unless they aim for all powerful chips. Cell 2 is already coming along for Sony. 2010 is the likely public debut of Cell 2 though so its still a year away. Nintendo's design on the other hand. Noone could tell you. I say by 2011 we will know what projects these guys have in store for us.

ChickeyCantor6058d ago (Edited 6058d ago )

But bringing out a new system so fast is not so smart.
And not fair to developers =P.

So i guess its research now before actual development starts.

--joshua--6059d ago

was mentioned nowhere in this small article

Ju6059d ago

MS will wait like they did before. And then show up with a bag full of money and buy into whatever project IBM has going on at the time.

N4g_null6058d ago

Ms will be using larrabee I'm pretty sure about it. Hey but that is just a rumor siggrah is tomorrow. Larrabee will be there and they will be talking about why this chip is better than every thing else using real world advice on coding it. Should be good fun. SONY is up in the air right now and since the price has dropped on the PS3 look for them to be back in the game next year and post a profit.

Nintendo will need to first get the zelda team up to snuff about their own chip and how did capcom do what they haven't yet? The old nintendo is getting that graphic whore itch agin from what I'm hearing. This could be really cool but I hope they understand where graphic are today and the price level that is the sweet spot.

The wii is the closest to a SOC design right now and I'm sure they can reduce the cost of the Wii even futher yet this also means that the next system could come out near the same price and be a beast.

kesvalk6059d ago

well, we are on the 3rd year of this console gen... they tend to last 5~6 years... i think in 2011 we will already see the successors of our beloved consoles...

well, maybe sony will hold 1 or 2 years befores announce theirs, they have a more powerfull console...

EvilTwin6058d ago

I agree, but it's worth noting that many people disagree with this POV now, thinking this gen could last significantly longer (sorta falling in line with Sony's 10-year strategy).

But technology moves faster now than ever. The technological arms race could move even further toward alternative control schemes, though, instead of raw graphical prowess.

kaveti66166058d ago (Edited 6058d ago )

I think Microsoft will have to have some more foresight for the next generation. It looks to me like Nintendo will be aiming to create a more powerful console next time around. A friend of mine speculates that with all the money Nintendo has made off of the Wii, there's no where else for them to go but up in terms of power. Sony's Cell 2? Sounds intriguing. Microsoft should be very scared of the future, or else what they should do is wait for Sony to announce the PS4 and then wait to see the specifications of the Cell 2, and then create a more powerful system.

That's what I would do if I controlled MS.

N4g_null6058d ago

The larrabee is going to crush the cell 2. IBM is on their own with that chip right now. MS made a profit and nintendo is swimming in cash. I think SONy is going to be late to the game again and intel and MS are going to be the scary guys on the block but but AMD/ATI are not slouch. If MS does go with intel then AMD will put their all into nintendo to fight for one of their last money trains.

Next gen is going to be fun.

kaveti66166058d ago

I'm not so sure. The Cell 2's specs are unknown. Who knows what Sony will do?

N4g_null6058d ago

No I'm pretty sure after looking at the larrabee and even how the compiler works there is no chance in hell the cell can touch the larrabee.

You can use C++ code on it and the compiler can use at least 3 different ways to optimize your code. On top of this the Larrabee does what IBM will never be able to do own their own including SONY, make a graphics processor that can actually compete with Nvidia and Ati.

Many people waited for IBM/SONY's magical compiler that was sup[pose to unlock the cell and it came and people still had to break the bank to write code for it.

The Larrabee is basically a bunch of P4 with powerful FP vector units on each core with a way better memory setup also. We are also talking about intel the guys that took apple from IBM. The guys that had to fight off amd on the cpu side and the guys that are going up against N vidia and are expected to win.

The cell does not have a chance simply because they may not have any one to fund the development.

Sure the cells specs are unknown but there is not a chip in development as of right now. Siggraph is on the 4th and I don't expect to see the cell2 cpu or GPU variant at all. You know what this means is people will be learning the Larrabee before any one even knows about the next cell if they even make it. On top of this is the fact that the cell is a failed attempt at being a GPU/CPU combo. What makes you think it is ready to run direct x 11 graphics now?

Some one at sony better gett hyping soon because the last thing I heard was that SONY was going to use the larrabee. It would make sense since it is way better than the cell cpu right now even. What is funny is intel could even drop the cell into the larrabee that is how modular it is. Yet I'm sure the die size would be crazy.

Seriously the cell is a power PC chip with a few SPEs that are self contained vector processor which acts as an independent processor yet they are not. The Larrabee is a bunch of P4s with their own brand new vector processor that have x86-64 support, each core supports 4-way simultaneous multithreading, each Larrabee core contains a 512-bit vector processing unit, able to process 16 single precision floating point numbers at a time. This is similar to but four times larger than the SSE units on most x86 processors, with additional features like scatter/gather instructions and a mask register designed to make using the vector unit easier and more efficient. Larrabee derives most of its number-crunching power from these vector units.

The Cells SPE are just great at guess what FP math and video decoding... this chip is the real deal. Intel equipped it to be a problem for discrete graphics firms. SONY nor IBM have any real expertise with this.

On top of this intel can drop any type of extra logic they want on to this chip just to keep heat down or just put it on the MB with the chip. You have to ask your self when was the last time SONY or IBM made a GPU?

kaveti66166058d ago

Obviously you've spent more time thinking about this than I have. Nevertheless, even though Larrabee will be easier to learn, I think that by the time the Cell 2 is released programmers will have had plenty of experience with the Cell. Also, if I had to put it all into speculation I still think that Microsoft would choose convenience over power, like they did with the 360. Another thing to question is whether Microsoft will still want another headstart next generation. This time around they needed it because Playstation is a more popular name brand than Xbox. But now that the 360 is a household system, I think we will see the Xbox 3 after the PS4. So by the time Xbox 3 comes out maybe MS will desire a modified version of the larrabee, or else who the hell will they work with for the CPU? IBM?

N4g_null6057d ago

It is part of my job to stay up on these things. People already understand how to use the cell right now yet they choose to make their games based on what they want rather than what the cell can do well. Like all chips the cell is going to have it's short falls. The cell has alot of them. There is a reason why SONY and IBM has not dumped the cell out on the open market for PC add in cards. That along would have paid sony's way out of their losses yet we all know that the cell can not stand with any GPU at all.

Seriously the cell is good at crunching numbers but you do understand the normal 486 processor did things the same way that cell is doing them. IBM just added vector units yet their use is very limited... which is the main problem. The reason why the larrabee will beat the cell period is because IBM doesn't have a chip small enough to turn into a spe... intel has basically turned a P4 into an SPE and added an additional supped up vector unit to it also. The thing is bored line over kill.

IBM has been very silent about making a System on a chip lately and on top of that they are not going to enter the GPU/CPU war right now simply because they are not good at GPUs yet.

Yes cell would be interesting if SONY was drowning right now. Then on top of that I don't think no one can compete with Intel on this level.... the amount of money they have spent is ridiculous. Way beyond what the cell cost I believe.

To sum it all up you have a lot of capable coders that are having a problem with the PS3 because they are not catering to PS3 owner only they are catering to ex PC owners...

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 6057d ago
90°

Pachter: "I Think The New Xbox Console Is Already Dead, They've Blown It by Embracing Game Pass"

Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter believes the next Xbox console might be already dead due to Microsoft embracing Game Pass at $30.

Read Full Story >>
wccftech.com
jznrpg4d ago

You know the world is f’d up when you can agree with Michael Pachter

VenomUK4d ago (Edited 4d ago )

You know the world is f’d up when Michael Pachter has given up cheerleading Xbox.

Eonjay4d ago

The crazy part is that this crazy fool was saying that Sony was doomed (or in his words 'going to be run over by Microsoft') because of GamePass after the Activision Deal. He was the one telling them to embrace GamePass and now that its killed them he is acting like he never said that.

Iceball20004d ago

I agree but that was before they doubled the price of game pass

peppeaccardo3d ago

this senile old f@rt is still in business ?

blacktiger3d ago

You know the world is f'd up when investors listen to Michael Patchtcher after the advice "Sony is doomed if Microsoft buys Activision and put it out on gamepass"and now he's saying "I Think The New Xbox Console Is Already Dead, They've Blown It by Embracing Game Pass"

I feel bad for investors.

1Victor3d ago

It’s true what they say “even a broken clock is wright twice a day”.
In this clock case is twice a game generation 🤣

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 3d ago
dveio4d ago (Edited 4d ago )

Wouldn't it be the case of Pachter finally agreeing with parts of us rather than we agreeing with him?

I remember vividly that back in the day when GP was introduced and shaped further, many of us were saying that it's a great service on one hand. But were also already skeptical, too, as to how Microsoft would be able to keep the service running financially in the future.

Or/and how it would affect studios and game development in general.

As of March 2026, I think we have the answers some of us anticipated back then, when it was still Pachter who had forecasted «100 million subscribers».

Outside_ofthe_Box3d ago

A lot of this is just basic logic and common sense.

How much does it cost to develop a game? How much does it cost to market a game? How much does it cost pay devs/publishers to release on GamePass?

How much do users pay per month/year on GamePass? How many users does Microsoft need to be subscribed at once for them to truly be profitable to where GamePass pays for ITSELF(i.e not including stuff like in app purchases that they would get regardless of GamePass' existence).

You would need a large amount of subscribers or increase it's price to a point where it's no longer a "bargain" for it to be profitable.... if you're asking me. For some reason Pachter didn't see it that way nor did MS' users.

bigfish4d ago

Likely the next Xbox will have a premium price tag so they have some profit margin on the low numbers they sell. We all know that the bulk of revenue will come from 3rd party sales on other devices and perhaps some from game pass.

Hypertension1404d ago (Edited 4d ago )

Not to mention the fact that if it does have steam, nobody is going to buy games off the windows store.

If they dont have free online, this thing is dead to me.

TheCaptainKuchiki4d ago (Edited 4d ago )

And even Gamepass flopped. The end goal of Gamepass was to be hegemonic, to kill game purcahses with subscriptions. But that never happened. Game sales are still thriving, Gamepass' subscriber count has stalled, it's costly for MS and studios and its price is increasing.
The purchase of Activision allows them to hide Gamepass' failure. Not suprising that gamepass was removed from Nadella yearly bonus, they knew they would never hit the targets.

Michiel19894d ago

the tinfoil hat is on!
You think they spend 75 billion to hide that gp isnt doing well? XD
They totally didnt buy activision because they got some of the biggest and most profitable ips on the planet, but instead they bought it so you can't say online that gamepass failed!! that's totally the reasoning fr fr

Outside_ofthe_Box3d ago

He never said any of that..

Said that it ALLOWED them to, not that it was THE reason for the purchase...

TheCaptainKuchiki2d ago

learn to read each word before hitting "reply"

Rainbowcookie4d ago

I am not a Pachter fan , but I have to agree...who would have though. It used to be to sell cheaper hardware that is subsidised by First party game sales in the first few years until you can reach millions owning the console and by that time you can cheapen your hardware because the tech have been revised. With gamepass on everything and developers losing sales that option is now limited. With the onset of more options for games and developers going for Gass gambling FOMO style games and dlc consumers have become rightfully picky. Add that to growing hardware prices and escalating ram and pandering to society... it kills a brand. Most og gamers are gonna find you out and stay away. Put on the pressure of companies demanding higher revenue for sales, the poor developer has no other option to put a new coat of paint on a copy of another successful game. Innovation , what we are looking for doesn't happen a lot because the danger of failing could lead to budget cuts and them letting you go...so you play it safe and make a copy of a copy. Yes we get genres and types but 80% is the same game we have had for ages. So then because you are scared you let them put it on gamepass and you know you know at least what you get.

Show all comments (48)
40°

Nintendo's partners are selling $2 billion in shares — here's what that actually means

Nintendo announced Friday that several of its long-time partners, including DeNA, will sell off some ¥300 billion in company shares.

Read Full Story >>
hanafuda.report
30°

Mobile revenue remained flat across 2025, but PC gaming "sees another record year"

Digital intelligence and analytics firm Sensor Tower has released its State of Gaming 2026 report, revealing flat growth in mobile game revenue, double-digit growth for PC and console gaming, and another record year for PC, with more games sold on Steam than ever before.

Read Full Story >>
gamesindustry.biz