Well, so much for Nvidia in PS3, at least for now.
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?section_name=pub&aid=2161
NVIDIA link with PS3 rubbished by senior source
Rob Fahey 09:38 01/09/2003
"Lashing NVIDIA's technology onto the PS3 architecture would simply
make no sense..."
A rumour linking graphics chipset manufacturer NVIDIA with the
PlayStation 3 has been described as "ridiculous" by a senior source,
who claims that the company will design its own GPU for the console.
The rumour was reported widely last week by a number of online news
sites, based on a single article on CNN which quoted American
Technology Research analyst Erach Desai as saying that NVIDIA "is in
discussions with Sony for the PS3".
However, a senior source close to Sony Computer Entertainment told
gi.biz that it was a "ridiculous suggestion" that Sony would look
elsewhere for a designer and manufacturer for the graphics processor
(GPU) for the future console. "Sony has its own chip design teams and
manufacturing facilities with massive experience in this sort of
thing," he commented. "Lashing NVIDIA's technology onto the PS3
architecture would simply make no sense either technologically or
commercially."
Although NVIDIA is recognised as one of the market leaders in PC
graphics technology, along with ATI, the company's chipsets are very
different to the type of graphics unit required by the PS3
architecture, he claimed. This matches up with comments from other
development sources who claim that the PS3 will feature a graphics
chip not dissimilar to the Graphics Synthesizer in the PS2 -
"effectively GS Mark Two", one told us - which Sony's internal teams
are far better placed to create than NVIDIA's.
Sony is noted for taking a homegrown approach with the components in
its console; the PS3 is expected to feature the Cell microprocessor,
which Sony created in partnership with IBM and Toshiba, while the PS2
and PSP both feature custom graphics chipsets designed by Sony's labs.
This approach allows the company to enjoy significant economies over
the lifespan of a console, as its engineers can continue to work on
integrating components into single chips or reducing the cost of the
manufacturing process by other means.
NVIDIA's major rival in the PC space, ATI, recently won the contract
to create the graphics chipset for the successor to Microsoft's Xbox -
no surprise to those who have been following the internal tensions in
the relationship between Microsoft and NVIDIA over the current Xbox
contract, but rumours suggest that the final stumbling block may have
been a refusal by NVIDIA to hand over manufacturing permissions for
the chipset to Microsoft rather than creating and supplying all of the
components itself. Given Sony's track record, it seems highly unlikely
that it would accept anything less than this from a technology partner
- so even ignoring the technology hurdles, a deal seems highly
unlikely.
However, our source could not rule out the possibility of discussions
between Sony and NVIDIA. "I'd expect that Sony talk to a lot of
people," he commented. "In a business like that you always explore all
the options, but it would take a hell of a pitch to change minds at
Sony about internally developing the GPU, and NVIDIA just don't have
that pitch. People hear a whisper that someone from NVIDIA is talking
to someone from Sony and bang, you have a massive rumour, but it
really doesn't mean anything - people from these companies talk all
the time."
