As gamers wonder how Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI) plans to top the PlayStation 2 game console, the company and NVIDIA Corp. today announced that they have been collaborating on advanced graphics technology for the next-generation computer entertainment system. The companies are jointly developing a custom graphics processing unit (GPU) incorporating NVIDIA’s next-generation GeForce and SCEI’s system solutions for systems featuring the Cell processor under development by IBM, Toshiba and Sony Group.
The collaboration between SCEI and NVIDIA falls under a broad, multi-year, royalty-bearing agreement. The powerful custom GPU will be the graphics and image processing foundation for a broad range of applications from computer entertainment to broadband applications. The agreement will also cover future Sony digital consumer electronics products.
“In the future, the experience of computer entertainment systems and broadband-ready PCs will be fused together to generate and transfer multi-streams of rich content simultaneously," says Ken Kutaragi, exec deputy president and COO of Sony Corporation, and president and Group CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. "In this sense, we have found the best way to integrate the state-of-the-art technologies from NVIDIA and SCEI.”
“We are thrilled to partner with Sony Computer Entertainment to build what will certainly be one of the most important computer entertainment and digital media platforms of the twenty-first century,” added NVIDIA president and CEO Jen-Hsun Huang. “The combination of the revolutionary Cell processor and NVIDIA’s graphics technologies will enable the creation of breathtaking imagery that will surprise and captivate consumers.”
The custom GPU will be manufactured at Sony Group’s Nagasaki Fab2, as well as OTSS, a joint fabrication facility of Toshiba and Sony.
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