***The PSINext Archive***

[xbdestroya]

PSINext Knowledge Archive

Index



PS3 General (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showpost.php?p=894330&postcount=2)

Cell, Programming, & Semiconductor (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showpost.php?p=894331&postcount=3)

RSX (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showpost.php?p=894332&postcount=4)

Online Strategy (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showpost.php?p=894333&postcount=5)

Interviews (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showpost.php?p=894480&postcount=13)

Blu-ray and Media Functionality (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showpost.php?p=894334&postcount=6)

Linux (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showpost.php?p=894336&postcount=7)

Graphics Highlights (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showpost.php?p=894337&postcount=8)

Featured Games (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showpost.php?p=894338&postcount=9)

Patents, White Papers, and Other Technical Documents (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showpost.php?p=933317&postcount=14)

[xbdestroya]

PS3 General


Phil Harrison Keynote at GDC (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=53834) - Keynote address discussing many aspects of the Playstation 3 and incorporating several game demos, March 2006

March 15th Surprise Playstation Conference (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=53285) - The surpise conference that revealed the intended release date, hard drive details, and online focus, March 2006

PS3 Release Date Poll (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=50708) - Poll and discussion on estimated release date, January 2006

PS3 Controller Mega-thread (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=36078) - Discussion on the PS3 controller possibilites, started April 2004

PS3 Color Poll (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=48806) - Poll and discussion covering the different color options for PS3 displayed by Sony at E3 2005, started November 2005

PS3 Hard Drive (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=37027) - Discussion on the effects on PS3 of hard drive being non-standard or standard, July 2005

February Surprise (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=48303) - Discussion about the elusive February 2006 surprise Sony may be planning, started November 2005

February Surprise Discussion, continued post-CES (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=50616) - Discussion continues on the February 2006 'surprise' after a quiet CES, January 2006

Sony Announces Purchase of Zipper Interactive (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=51197) - Sony purchases SOCOM developer Zipper, January 2006

Sony Announces Purchase of Guerrilla Games (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=49280) - Sony purchases Killzone developer Guerrilla, December 2005

Possible Lack of Region Coding on PS3? (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=47909) - Discussion over the fact that PS3 might be region-free, October 2005

Playstation 3 Backwards Compatability (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=47372) - Discussion on PS3 B/C in light of some recent issues with the new slimline PS2, October 2005

[xbdestroya]

Cell, Programming, & Semiconductor


STI Alliance extended; Cell to reach 32nm (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=50629) - Discussion on the announcement of Sony, Toshiba, and IBM's research alliance extension, January 2006

Cell Ships in Mercury Systems blades (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=50556) - Mercury Systems begins shipping Cell-equipped servers for evaluation, January 2006

Ageia PPU Shares Similar Design Philosophy to Cell (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=54455) - Thread discussing similarities between the upcoming PhysX PPU and STI's Cell processor, April 2006

Toshiba announces Cell to be used in all new 2006 TV's (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=50305) - Supposed announcement from Toshiba (never confirmed) that Toshiba will use Cell in 2006 TV's, January 2006

Estimate of Cell's Wattage (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=50899) - Discussion of Cell's possible power draw within PS3, January 2006

IBM project: MPI micro-tasking for the Cell broadband architecture (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=50792) - IBM researchers explore programming methods for making better use of the Cell's architecture, January 2006

Audit of Sony's Fabrication Capabilities (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=51910) - Thread discussing the total of Sony's fabrication capabilities, February 2006

IBM project: Cell-server for online games (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=50789) - IBM researchers explore the possible applications of Cell-based servers to accelerate physics in massively-multiplayer online games, January 2006

The Cell Mega-thread (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=35653) - The Cell mega-thread, started April of 2005

AI, Physics, and Animation (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=49411) - General thread on the other aspects of gaming, and how PS3 will fare, December 2005

Forbes article on Cell (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=50674) - Forbes publishes an article on Cell and it's prospects, January 2006

Cell's AI Performance; good or bad? (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=36256) - Thread discussing ways to implement AI on Cell, May 2005

Sony Semiconductor Meeting, 12-14-05 (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=49646) - Thread discussing a Sony Semiconductor document indicating the intended path of the semiconductor division, started December 2005

Chip Division Shows Rapid Growth (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=48739) - Sony's semiconductor unit is growing rapidly, thread November 2005

How Much Does Cell Cost? (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=48543) - Possible price of the Cell chip is explored, thread November 2005

Toshiba, Sony, and NEC Alliance (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=48008) - Alliance for the quick move to the 45nm fabrication node, November 2005

Sony LSI Demands to Rise (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=47673) - Charts from Sony presentation showing the future growth in demand for logic LSI, November 2005

Sony to Invest Further in Cell (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=46025) - Semiconductor division to get further investment, September 2005

Toshiba MPEG2 Demo (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=35612) - Thread discussing Cell's first public technology demonstration, April 2005

Sony Execs Say 2007 For Widespread Cell Useage (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=35464) - Interview discussing the use of Cell in Sony's consumer electronics, April 2005

Sony's Cell Presentation Slides from GDC 2005 (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=35077) - Sony GDC Cell presentation, March 2005

*Flashback!* The ORIGINAL Cell Mega-thread (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=32731) - The original Cell mega-thread from PS3Insider days, unfortunately lost a lot of it's best posts from Jan through Feb due to a server crash back then. Great thread though, July 2004

[xbdestroya]

RSX


NVidia Announces New Contract With Sony (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=53895) - Discussion of new contract for an undisclosed system, March 2006

RSX Memory Bandwidth Concerns (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=50519) - Thread discussion over the possible constraints of RSX's memory bandwidth, January 2006

NVidia Confirms Design of RSX Completed (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=52356) - NVidia in a conference call confirms that it is now up to Sony to produce the chip, February 2006

RSX Taped Out? (http://forums.e-mpire.com/forumdisplay.php?f=199&page=3&order=desc) - Comments from prominent industry insider Dave Baumann lead to speculation on whether RSX has taped out, January 2006

The RSX Mega-thread (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=36168) - The RSX mega-thread, started post-E3, May 2005

RSX/GTX512 Analysis (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=48265) - Article and discussion on possibility that RSX might be based on NVidia's rumored G70@90nm revision, November 2005

Quad-Core Possibilities? (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=49734) - Thread discussing old patent drawing and possible modern implementations within RSX/PS3, December 2005

News on G71? (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=50084) - G71, the possible PC analogue to RSX, has supposed specs leaked, December 2005

RSX and PureVideo (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=50367) - Discussion on whether NVidia's PureVideo feature may be preserved in RSX, January 2006

[xbdestroya]

Online Strategy


PSM Feature Expands on Online Functionality (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=54219) - Discussion of certain newly revealed online features, April 2006

Playstation Life - PSM Introduces us to Sony's Online Strategy (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=51494) - Thread discussing the PSM article that began to shed light on Sony's online ambitions for PS3, January 2006

Online Strategy Mega-thread (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=46658) - Thread that begins with discussion of Sony Online Entertainment strategy, but turns to general PS3 online strategy, October 2005

Patent for 'Super' Network (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=48015) - Discussion over a Sony patent for a Cell-based super-network, November 2005

[xbdestroya]

Blu-ray and Media Functionality


The Blu-ray Mega-thread (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=32595) - Blu-ray mega-thread, begun June of 2004

Toshiba Delays HD-DVD (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=49498) - HD-DVD gets delayed into 2006, thread December 2005

50 GB Discs on Way (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=49232) - Panasonic and TDK sampling 50 GB Blu-ray discs, December 2005

Location Free TV for PS3? (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=49459) - Article indicates PS3 may support location-free TV, December 2005

Sony and NEC Optical Tie-up (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=48446) - Discussion on what it might mean for NEC's future support of HD-DVD, November 2005

Blu-ray Region Coding (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=49758) - Thread indicates what the region coding break-down for Blu-ray will be, December 2005

Microsoft May Subsidize HD-DVD (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=50042) - Article and thread discussing Microsoft's possible future efforts to support HD-DVD, December 2005

Native USB Storage Support? (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=50013) - Discussion on whether or not PS3 may support USB flash storage natively, December 2005

[xbdestroya]

Linux


Linux on the Hard Drive? (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=49526) - Thread discussing the implications for Microsoft and the consumer if Sony includes Linux on the hard drive, December 2005

IBM, Philips, and Sony Form Linux Alliance (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=48010) - Group founded to spread and protect Linux, November 2005

Linux for PS3 and Cell (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=36589) - Thread discussing the version of Linux to be released for Cell and links to an interview with the IBM team designing it, June 2005

Kutaragi Comments on HDD and Linux (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=36439) - Kutaragi gives indication hard drive may not be standard and talks Linux, June 2005

[xbdestroya]

Graphics Highlights


Cell Assisting RSX Through Ray-Tracing (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=53878) - Thread discussing the confirmed assistance through limited ray-tracing Cell provides RSX in the game Warhawk, March 2006

Sony to Support 'Flash Lite?' (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=52643) - Thread discussing the possibility of low-cost Flash-based games developed for PS3 and PSP, February 2006

Graphics/CGI Mega-thread (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=36536) - Thread discussing what PS3 will be capable of graphically; one of the longest-running in PSINext history, Part 2 started September 2004

INT8 vs FP16 HDR (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=49423) - PS3 dev comes up with new (better?) way to do HDR on on the PS3

Sony Chooses Speedtree (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=48271) - Deal signed for the use of Speedtree, November 2005

Issues With PS3 Particle Performance? (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=37525) - Discussion of the PS3's capabilities in handling particles, July 2005

[xbdestroya]

Featured Games


List of Games in Development for PS3 (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=39199) - Information on the list of titles confirmed to be in development for PS3, September 2005

Metal Gear Solid 4 (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showpost.php?p=894366&postcount=10) - Metal Gear Solid 4 sub-topic

Killzone 2 (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showpost.php?p=894375&postcount=11) - Killzone 2 sub-topic

Heavenly Sword (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showpost.php?p=894387&postcount=12) - Heavenly Sword sub-topic

[xbdestroya]

Metal Gear Solid 4


Metal Gear Solid 4 (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=39333) - MGS4 mega-thread

MGS/Kojima in 1Up Magazine (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=49509) - Week-long Kojima interviews and MGS news from 1Up, started December 2005

Splinter Cell vs MGS4 (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=48657) - Poll on MGS4 vs Splinter Cell and the expected graphics, started November 2005

MGS4 Realtime Video Demonstration (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=49339) - Demonstration video of MGS4 graphics, December 2005

[xbdestroya]

Killzone 2


Sony Announces Purchase of Guerrilla Games (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=49280) - Sony purchases Killzone developer Guerrilla, December 2005

Killzone Dev Interview (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=48523) - Killzone devs get interviewed, November 2005

Killzone Poll and Mega-thread (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=36066) - Killzone poll and mega-thread, May 2005

Guerilla Dev Team sets expectations (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=50829) - Questions asked of a Guerilla dev team member hint at release of information, January 2006

Blur Studios discusses feasibility of trailer graphics (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=50764) - Blur Studios comments on the possibilities of achieving Killzone trailer graphics, January 2006

[xbdestroya]

Heavenly Sword


History of Heavenly Sword (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=48814) - History of the Heavenly Sword project, thread started November 2005

INT8 vs FP16 HDR (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=49423) - PS3 dev comes up with new (better?) way to do HDR on on the PS3

[xbdestroya]

Interviews


Interview: Phil Harrison 12-14-2005 (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=49540) - Interview with Phil Harrison on the future of the PS brand, December 2005

Interview: J Allard/Kaz Hirai 12-13-2005 (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=49631) - 1Up interviews both J Allard and Kaz Hirai, December 2005

Interview: Howard Stringer 11-01-2005 (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=47586) - Howard Stringer interview on PS3, Blu-ray, and Sony's HD strategy, November 2005

Interview: David Reeves 06-26-2005 (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=36689) - Interview with SCEE's David Reeves, July 2005

Interview: Kaz Hirai 07-01-2005 (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=36647) - 1UP interview with Kaz Hirai, July 2005

Interview: Ken Kutaragi 06-09-2005 (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=36434) - Kutaragi talks to Japan's Hiroshige Goto, parts 1-3, June 2005

Interview: Ken Kutaragi 05-21-2005 (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=36195) - Kutaragi interview following E3, May 2005

Interview: Kaz Hirai 05-19-2005 (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=36169) - Kaz Hirai interview with the Seattle Times post-E3, May 2005

Interview: Phil Harrison 05-19-2005 (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=36143) - Phil Harrison interview post-E3, May 2005

Interview: Ken Kutaragi 04-11-2005 (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=35766) - Interview with Ken Kutaragi about Cell pre-E3, April 2005

Interview: Arnd Bergmann 06-25-2005 (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=35653&page=14&highlight=EETimes+Kutaragi) - Interview with Arnd Bergmann of IBM, developer of Linux for Cell, June 2005

Interview: David Roman 01-17-2005 (http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/editorial/display/ces2005.html) - Interview with David Roman of NVidia at CES 2005 concerning RSX, January 2005

Interview: Ken Kutaragi 06-xx-2005 (http://www.eetasia.com/ARTICLES/2005JUN/C/2005JUN_INT_WK2.HTM) - Interview between Ken Kutaragi and EETimes on the origins of the Cell and the PS3, June 2005

[xbdestroya]

Patents, White Papers, and Other Technical Documents



Cell Broadband Engine SDK, pt. 1 (http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/power/library/pa-cellstartsim/)

Cell Broadband Engine SDK, pt. 2 (http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/power/library/pa-cellstartsdk/)

Fall Processor Forum 2005: Unleashing the power of the Cell Broadband Engine (http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/power/library/pa-fpfunleashing/)

IBM research: Cell-server for online games (http://www.research.ibm.com/journal/sj/451/damora.html)

IBM research: MPI micro-tasking for the Cell broadband architecture (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=50792)

Sony presentation - Cell: A New Architecture for Digital Entertainment (http://www.research.scea.com/research/html/CellGDC05/index.html)

IBM: Dan Greenberg on Plans for Cell (http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/power/library/pa-cellinterview.html)

IBM: Cell's Element Interconnect Bus (http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/power/library/pa-fpfeib/)

IBM: Meet the Experts - David Krolak on the Cell Broadband Engine EIB (http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/power/library/pa-expert9/)

IBM: Cell DMA Engines (http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/power/library/pa-celldmas/)

IBM: Meet the Experts - Alex Chow on programming models (http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/power/library/pa-expert8/)

IBM: Introduction to the Cell Multiprocessor (http://www.research.ibm.com/journal/rd/494/kahle.html)

IBM: Cell Broadband Engine, First Implementation (http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/power/library/pa-cellperf/)

IBM: Meet the Experts - Dan Brokenshire and Sid Manning on alphaWorks for the Cell Broadband Engine (http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/power/library/pa-expert6/)

IBM: The Cell Synergistic Processing Unit as a virtual file system (http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/linux/library/pa-cell/index.html?)

IBM: Meet The Experts - Arnd Bergmann on Cell (http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/power/library/pa-expert4/)

Nvidia Patent for a Unified Shader Architecture (http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=/netahtml/search-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=ptxt&s1=nvidia&OS=nvidia&RS=nvidia)

Sony Patent for an Image Processor (http://appft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-adv.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&d=PG01&p=1&S1=%28%22Sony+Computer+Entertainment%22+AND+%22nob uo%22%29&OS=%22Sony+Computer+Entertainment%22+and+%22nobuo% 22&RS=(%22Sony+Computer+Entertainment%22+AND+%22nobuo %22))

Sony Patent for the Cell Broadband Engine and Visualizer (http://appft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=/netahtml/PTO/search-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PG01&s1=20020138637&OS=20020138637&RS=20020138637)

Sony Patent for a 'Super Network' (http://appft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PG01&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=%2220050238052%22.PGNR.&OS=DN/20050238052&RS=DN/20050238052)

For an introduction to the Cell Processor, PSINext recommends RealWorldTech's series on the chip: ISSCC 2005: The Cell Microprocessor (http://www.realworldtech.com/page.cfm?ArticleID=RWT021005084318), The Cell Microprocessor revisited (http://www.realworldtech.com/page.cfm?ArticleID=RWT022805234129), and Cell Microprocessor III (http://www.realworldtech.com/page.cfm?ArticleID=RWT072405191325)