Several UK Studios working with PlayStation3 DEV KITS

[Megadrive1988]

UK studios already working with PlayStation 3 dev kits

Rob Fahey 15:46 21/03/2005

Britsoft developers get their first glimpse at Sony's next-gen plans in the flesh

Several studios in the UK are already working with development hardware for the next-generation PlayStation console, GamesIndustry.biz has learned, as Sony continues quietly rolling out dev kits to select partners ahead of the system's E3 unveiling.

A number of Japanese companies have had development hardware for the console for several months, and some are believed to be working on software demos for E3, but today brought the first confirmation that kits have shipped in the UK as well.

So far, however, the roll-out of systems appears to be to a small group of Sony's close partners, and we're only aware of two studios in the country which have hardware - although some others may simply be remaining more tight-lipped about the kits.

Details of what exactly is present in the next-generation PlayStation dev kits are sparse, but according to one development source, "they're more advanced than the PowerMac kits [Microsoft] has given us [for Xenon] - they're still prototypes, but they're closer to what'll be in the final console... The graphics chip isn't there, say, but we can get a pretty good idea by taking an NVIDIA 6800 and saying, okay, it'll be like this but faster."

However, he did note that developers are expecting Microsoft to update the prototype PowerMac-based Xenon kits with more advanced hardware "pretty much any day now" - an important step for the company, since it's still planning to launch the next-generation Xbox before the end of the year, and industry rumours suggest that it may even have recently pulled the launch schedule forward by several weeks.

entire article

 

[persiannight]

I can see what this topic is going to lead to. Xenon vs. PS3 anyone??

 

[Josh378]

ok, so they have CELL and a weak GPU?

Or is it just CELL and no present GPU?

:?

-Josh378

 

[Lumine]

Interesting that sony gets a british ceo, shortly after which dev kits go out to the uk

 

[Megadrive1988]

I can see what this topic is going to lead to. Xenon vs. PS3 anyone??

I appologize. I don't want this to turn into an Xenon-vs-Playstation3 thread, or a flameware. heh, so I edited my post accordingly, putting in-bold only the important PS3 details, and de-emphisizing the Xenon-PS3 comparison.

 

[mckmas8808]

Looks like the cell with a weaker GPU.
________
Suzuki Rgv250

 

[pc999]

we can get a pretty good idea by taking an NVIDIA 6800 and saying, okay, it'll be like this but faster

SM3(+?) for PS3 GPU

 

[version]

2 CELLs + 6800gpu ???

 

[blakjedi]

The rumours that the kits that developers are receiving show "more under the hood" for PS3 may be true. But what those reports failed to mention (unlike this report) is that developers dont have MS kits that are even close to Xenon's final hardware... meanwhile PS3 kits are much closer PS3's final specs... Interesting.

 

[Megadrive1988]

well, PS3 has also been in development for alot longer than Xenon.

Xenon's been in development for about 3 years. PS3 has been in development for about 5 or 5 and a half years. therefore, PS3 was in development while the original Xbox1 was being built.

 

[Xenus]

I'm sorry to tell you but lacking a video card means the PS3 dev kit isn't any better off than the Xenon's and no place in there does it stae there are 2 cells only that it is more advanced than the dual G5's.

 

[Megadrive1988]

I'm sorry to tell you but lacking a video card means the PS3 dev kit isn't any better off than the Xenon's and no place in there does it stae there are 2 cells only that it is more advanced than the dual G5's.

well, the article / quote did not say that PS3 development kits do not have graphics cards/chips. It most likely means that they don't have final PS3 GPUs. otherwise, how would developers start building games without some graphics processor ?

maybe I mis-understood what you said--perhaps you did not mean that PS3 dev kits don't have graphics cards of some sort.

 

[Pugger]

If PS3 is going to be a CELL bolted to a PC derived next gen GPU, why the need for 2?

 

[Titanio]

There is no need for two, imo. Even if the CPU is handling vertex shading.

It sounds to me like it's possible the dev kits don't have any graphics chip even remotely approaching what the final kits will have - there may just be a very basic chip in there for output purposes, but these kits may simply be there to let developers mainly get their feet wet with the CPU, perhaps with a software emulator for the GPU so devs can get code going on that side aswell.

The comments are a bit too ambigious to come to definitive conclusions, imo.

 

[one]

I'm sorry to tell you but lacking a video card means the PS3 dev kit isn't any better off than the Xenon's and no place in there does it stae there are 2 cells only that it is more advanced than the dual G5's.

well, the article / quote did not say that PS3 development kits do not have graphics cards/chips. It most likely means that they don't have final PS3 GPUs. otherwise, how would developers start building games without some graphics processor ?

There'd be no GPU in the current devkit I guess because an unmodified GF6800 can't be slapped to a Cell system which requires FlexIO interface. Otherwise they won't say "they're closer to what'll be in the final console..." than the Xenon devkit.

 

[Titanio]

I'm sorry to tell you but lacking a video card means the PS3 dev kit isn't any better off than the Xenon's and no place in there does it stae there are 2 cells only that it is more advanced than the dual G5's.

well, the article / quote did not say that PS3 development kits do not have graphics cards/chips. It most likely means that they don't have final PS3 GPUs. otherwise, how would developers start building games without some graphics processor ?

There'd be no GPU in the current devkit I guess because an unmodified GF6800 can't be slapped to a Cell system which requires FlexIO interface. Otherwise they won't say "they're closer to what'll be in the final console..." than the Xenon devkit.

Very true, I'm leaning toward that scenario myself. What components are in the dev kit currently (CPU) probably will map more closely to their counterparts in the final kit than Xenon's, but that's probably only because the number of components is less (e.g. no "real" GPU).

Times like this I wish I knew someone working in customs. "Yes...uh...I'm going to have to 'inspect' that package..." *photocopies PS3 manuals*

 

[nAo]

There'd be no GPU in the current devkit I guess because an unmodified GF6800 can't be slapped to a Cell system which requires FlexIO interface. Otherwise they won't say "they're closer to what'll be in the final console..." than the Xenon devkit.

Nothing prevents CELL to use the main bus have access to the GPU, it's not a final kit.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

I think you've all missed a very important word and as such are reading too much into this...

The graphics chip isn't there, say, but we can get a pretty good idea by taking an NVIDIA 6800 and saying, okay, it'll be like this but faster."

This statement is giving an example of the hardware's accuracy to last system. As an example, if the GPU in the dev kits isn't the same as the PS3, they can guesstimate the performance of the PS3 from the GPU they are provided.

I'd have thought NDAs would be sufficiently tight that a statement indicating the GPU is 6800+ wouldn't be permissable. Such statements usually are.

The term 'more advanced' regards the Xenon kits likewise probably doesn't mean performance but accuracy to final hardware. The Xenon kits are PowerMacs running on PPC and not XenonCPU (in-order), whereas the PS3 devkits are something Cell based.

 

[jvd]

I read it that the gpu isn't there but they will program with a faster 6800 in mind . But that is all they are doing , thinking about the 6800 because there is no gpu in there.

Thats how I read it and i could be wrong . Of course the guy could have missed quoted.

 

[Cobra101]

This is a very exciting development if it is true.