Hofstee Talks PS3

[pipo]

http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2686&Itemid=2

"I’m an IBMer," began Hofstee, chief architect of Cell. "There were a lot of IBMers on the project. It was done here in Austin, at the IBM campus…But it really was Sony, and Ken Kutaragi that was the driver for this project.

"And he spent quite a bit of money on it. $400 million for a processor…this is about as serious as it gets," said Hofstee.

"Remarkably," Hofstee responded to a question about size, "this chip is almost exactly the same size, in square millimeters, as the first chip that went into the PlayStation2. That’s about as explicit an answer as I can give you."

There's also a link to the IBM resource center in there (probably posted before): http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/power/cell/

 

[Titanio]

I thought this was an interesting quote too:

"My dream is that everyone who has a PlayStation can start programming with Cell. But, Hofstee also pointed out, "I think the biggest problem is to find ways to make it effective for the programmers."

Hello PS3 Linux

 

[Shifty Geezer]

I didn't think there was much worth posting about that article when I saw it, as they haven't provided a transcript so we only have a few select quotes. And as for everyone who owns a PlayStation programming for Cell, they're going to either need some incredible 8th generation languages or only sell PlayStations to seasoned hardcore programmers!

 

[predicate]

I didn't think there was much worth posting about that article when I saw it, as they haven't provided a transcript so we only have a few select quotes. And as for everyone who owns a PlayStation programming for Cell, they're going to either need some incredible 8th generation languages or only sell PlayStations to seasoned hardcore programmers!

I know I would be totally lost by anything other than typing in what you want

'I want a tree with cool bump mapping and normal mapping and HDR effects.'

I somehow doubt that will happen

 

[London Geezer]

I know I would be totally lost by anything other than typing in what you want

'I want a tree with cool bump mapping and normal mapping and HDR effects.'

I somehow doubt that will happen

I'm quite sure one day something like that will exist. Once "trees" are calculated in a procedurally random manner by the processor, we will need to just "add trees", maybe specify the type of tree, and the job will be done for you, without the need to manually model the bark, the branches, the leaves... The system will just make one up for you using randomly generated values.

It will take a looong time, but one day we will be able to even tell a computer "i want a fantastic landscape with thousands of pine trees swayed by the wind" and the computer will draw it for us.

Ok i'm way off topic now.

 

[Mintmaster]

"My dream is that everyone who has a PlayStation can start programming with Cell. But, Hofstee also pointed out, "I think the biggest problem is to find ways to make it effective for the programmers."

If this is true, I'm buying a PS3. I don't think it'll happen though. Too much for Sony to lose, very little to gain.

 

[DemoCoder]

Yeah, they'll have problems stopping people from cracking the copy protection if they give them unrestricted Linux shell, moreover, they run the risk (IMHO small) of a separate homebrew industry taking all the publishing fees away from Sony with independently written games. They could stop the majority of it with a EULA stating you can't sell anything you write outside of Sony, but must give it away for free if you use a non-Sony distributor, a sort of Sony GPL. Sure, hardcore people would know how to download shit, but it would keep homebrew stuff off the shelves of Walmart and Target and out of Gamestop.

 

[Phil]

The Linux kernel wouldn't have to be fully open though. On PS2-linux it isn't either...

 

[Panajev2001a]

If this is true, I'm buying a PS3. I don't think it'll happen though. Too much for Sony to lose, very little to gain.

I would not say that, many people were able to learn some of the most intricate aspects of PS2 development thanks to PS2Linux and they industry and Sony themselves surely gained some good coders this way (the creator of the SPS2 library ended up in SCEA). If they want the architecture to have success and spread they are interested that more and more people become familiar with it and help develop applications for it.

 

[KageMonkey]

I know I would be totally lost by anything other than typing in what you want

'I want a tree with cool bump mapping and normal mapping and HDR effects.'

I somehow doubt that will happen

http://web.media.mit.edu/~hugo/demos/metafor-bartender-simple.mov

 

[mckmas8808]

http://web.media.mit.edu/%7Ehugo/demos/metafor-bartender-simple.mov

What in the hell?? Surely this will not work as good as it seems right? Seems to be alot of overhead.

 

[KageMonkey]

What in the hell?? Surely this will not work as good as it seems right? Seems to be alot of overhead.

It really depends on what you mean by 'overhead', but it's just a prototype of something that is being developed right now.