Physics Processing Unit?

[Shifty Geezer]

I am not disagreeing, look above. I am not saying it will be, or wont be, in the X2. My point was that these statements that MS would have to reorganize their board and all that other stuff is silly.

Now I was the first to mention this, but if people look closely, I actually preceeded those remarks with an IF conditional statement! IF MS didn't have this in mind from early on, they would need hardware redesigns to add the technology now. Anyone disagree? Anyone think you can pick up a novel prcoessor and stick it into a spare space on the mobo and run a few wires across without designing it in?

That is, I cannot see that this PPU could be added now. I'm not saying, nor never did say, that it won't feature (we don't know the specs) but saying the potential for inclusion is dependant on prior knowledge from MS. As has been pointed out, there's reasons for AGEIA to be partnering MS other than through silicon, so simply saying AGEIA is a partner is circumstantial evidence to see this as a probable inclusion.

I have to say though, what's the point of including 3 fast PPC cores if graphics are handled by one PU and physics by another? That's an AWFUL lot of AI and sound processing if those PPCs are going to be fully utilised!

 

[Shifty Geezer]

I doubt Ninty will take it up either, but I think there's more likelihood than MS!

Once again I see there's zero chance of nintendo incoporating this kind of technology. Give me one Nintendo made game on the gamecube that has or does need realistic physics? nintendo simply wouldn't have a use for it. MS on the other has lot's of games that need or require a realistic phsyics engine. Dang, Halo 2 used Havok.

Well Nintendo had never used 3D graphics before StarFox, so why believe they would ever add a 3D processor to a game cart?

We've no idea what Nintendo have planned for Revolution. Maybe games will be highly physics-based augmented reality? I've certainly found physics models on computers to be extremely engaging and think it would make way for highly engrossing games in all genres. Maybe Nintendo have got plans to move onto physics based gaming?

I doubt they'll include anything of this PPU sort too, but I still think if it does end up in a console it'll be a Nintendo, or more likely one of these upstart companies, similar to the handheld overcrowding that's developing at the moment.

 

[Megadrive1988]

sorry if old

Physics Processing Unit pictured

Games Developers Conference 2005 Epic, Ubi, Sega announce support

By Fuad Abazovic in San Francisco: Wednesday 09 March 2005, 07:52
[Advert]
WE WROTE ABOUT the "physics processing unit" yesterday and today can reveal more and answer some of the many questions that we got from your mails. You can read our original story here

Ubisoft, Sega and Epic have announced support for the processor.

All of these companies are working with AGEIA for quite some time using its Novodex engine and the companies said that their next generation titles are going to be powered with this architecture. Some of the companies have worked with AGEIA for the past fourteen months, we are told.

At first we expect that some of the game levels are going to be optimised for the PPU and you won't be able to play them if you don't have this card. Some online titles will use this architecture as well and as I said it definitely looks cool and can change your feeling during a gameplay. The company will bundle some of the smaller shorter games and cool demos as soon as the card hits retail.

We managed to snap a picture of the prototype card with both PCI and PCIe ports, using a real chip and with 128MB of GDDR3 memory. The PhysX chip is made by TSMC and it's quite a large piece of silicon. We expect to see these cards in action soon. It's all about waiting for the games titles but you should be able to buy cards by the end of the year at the latest. Here is the picture, but the retail prodcut will have PCI or PCIe interface and the printed circuit board will end up much smaller. µ

http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=21681

 

[London Geezer]

A whole PCI slot used up for a *physics card*?! Maybe i uinderestimated this thing, i thought it was gonna be integrated in either CPUs or GPUs but i was obviously wrong.
However, how many people will actually go out and buy "physics cards"? I would if i had the money, but i can't see this being sold in the millions, therefore support will be poor if it's not made standard and integrated at least in graphics cards..

 

[pc999]

While this is very nice I think that it is a job for nex gen GPUs, and starts with XeGPU.

 

[jvd]

A whole PCI slot used up for a *physics card*?! Maybe i uinderestimated this thing, i thought it was gonna be integrated in either CPUs or GPUs but i was obviously wrong.
However, how many people will actually go out and buy "physics cards"? I would if i had the money, but i can't see this being sold in the millions, therefore support will be poor if it's not made standard and integrated at least in graphics cards..

If it was sold for about a 50-150ish i would buy it .

After all i spend about 200 on a cpu , 400 on a gpu. If this helps take off some of the performance drain from the cpu and gpu i'm all game.

Now if its 500$ you can count me out . But around the 100$ mark and it will be an upgrade every 2 years along with my video card. Just get the 400$ video card and a new physics card instead of a 500$ video card

 

[WarLox]

AGEIA Technologies, Inc., a company dedicated to delivering pervasive interactive reality to next generation games, announced today that its NovodeX Physics SDK will enable unmatched performance for game developers targeting the next generation Xbox platform. As a result, users of the Xbox video game system from Microsoft will be able to enjoy some of the most exciting, lifelike game experiences available on any platform.

As the games industry's first multithreaded physics SDK, NovodeX is uniquely equipped to exploit the multicore architecture of the Xbox, allowing game developers to deliver incredibly lifelike worlds and characters for Xbox users.

"AGEIA's NovodeX Physics SDK is a powerful middleware engine for game developers who want to make the most of the multicore architecture of the next generation Xbox platform," said Tracey Frankcom, program manager, Xbox Tools and Middleware. "The real-time physics capabilities of NovodeX, combined with the high-definition graphics and audio of the Xbox, enable the creation of totally immersive environments and unbelievably lifelike character interactions."


"The next generation Xbox platform is the first available game console system to unleash the multithreading capabilities of the NovodeX SDK," said Manju Hegde, CEO and co-founder of AGEIA. "Today marks the beginning of a new era of hardware-accelerated physics for developers and users alike, in which pervasive interactive realism enters the world of gaming."

 

[nelg]

Yep its official
http://www.ageia.com/pr_03092005.html

 

[Farid]

Before people start drawing inaccurate conclusions about the Xbox 2 having a "PPU":

AGEIA's NovodeX Physics SDK is a powerful middleware engine for game developers who want to make the most of the multicore architecture of the next generation Xbox platform," said Tracey Frankcom, program manager, Xbox Tools and Middleware.

It's the middleware physic engine Novodex that has been ported, as expected, to the next -generation Xbox platform.

 

[Joe DeFuria]

To be clear, It's official that the SDK will be / can be used used in x-box development (part of standard XNA?).

I'd say this definitely rules out any possibility of the Ageia chip being part of the platform.

(Edit: Vysez beat me to it!)

 

[mattcoz]

Give me one Nintendo made game on the gamecube that has or does need realistic physics?

WaveRace Blue Storm, 1080 Avalanche, Mario Sunshine, Zelda Wind Waker, Metroid Prime/Prime 2, etc. etc.

Nintendo has always been big on physics, not sure why anyone would think otherwise.

 

[GwymWeepa]

The physics engine must be great, but I want a dedicated chip in one of the consoles. I know I probably won't get one lol, but it would be pretty nice to have a dedicated PPU.

 

[Brimstone]

If this got included in the Xbox 2, it would be intresting for sure (Monkey Ball with PPU hardware).

 

[gurgi]

Give me one Nintendo made game on the gamecube that has or does need realistic physics?

Not only are there great physics in Waverace, they actually affect the game mechanics.

But I'm sure all the racing games on Xenon will want realistic looking damage heh.

 

[Confidence-Man]

So when the Novodex/Xenon announcement mentions "hardware-accelerated physics", and J. Allard also mentions "physics acceleration" in his speech, what are they talking about if not a PPU?

 

[Brad Grenz]

He probably means having spare PPC cores around for stuff like that.

 

[gurgi]

So then, where would non-hardware-accelerated physics be computed?

 

[Brad Grenz]

Fingers and toes.

 

[MistaPi]

This is probably a silly question, but would the physics made with this NovodeX SDK on nextbox work on a PPU on the PC if the game was ported to a PC?

 

[Brimstone]

This is probably a silly question, but would the physics made with this NovodeX SDK on nextbox work on a PPU on the PC if the game was ported to a PC?

Are you infering to the multicore cpu running the physics while a seperate PPU in the PC runs the physics code? I suspect the SIMD Altivec-like portion of the X-Box 360 CPU shares intellectual property from Ageia/Novodex. Microsoft licensed technology from ATI, so I could see them having the desire to license I.P. from Ageia/Novodex.


Ageia was founded in the second quater of 2002 and the IBM contract was signed in November of 2003. Ample time for Microsoft to have worked with Ageia and IBM. Tim Sweeney has even said they've worked with Ageia since their inception.

GS: How will Epic's Unreal Engine 3 incorporate Ageia's technology?

TS: We've been collaborating with Ageia since their inception, and Unreal Engine 3 thoroughly exploits the Novodex physics API; when the first Unreal Engine 3-based games begin shipping in early 2006, they will really up gamers' expectations. The combination of next-generation graphics, next-generation physics, and content-rich games goes way beyond current games, both qualitatively and quantitatively.

http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/03/08/news_6119896.html