OK, so we all sort of knew this, and it’s not like PS2 was famous for ease of programming, but it looks like it may take a lot of work to properly tap that cell chip. What’s news is that IBM is writing a special compiler called the Octopiler to break down single threaded code so it can feed all eight cores on the cell processor. What this means in layman’s terms is that a developer can take a simple program without many special optimizations for the newer multi-core processors and the new compiler will split it into threads to most efficiently use all those cores.
The bad news is that this new compiler is a long way off. It won’t be fully ready or functional anytime soon. Also not a whole lot of game code has been designed for multiprocessing in the past, so switching to three cores (on the Xbox) is going to take some ramp up time, and eight (on the PS3) is going to take even more. Honestly, I think Sony has a lot more on the line here, and Microsoft’s easy programming library (XNA) is pretty much ready to go.
Sony’s PS1 beat the Saturn for a number of reasons, but one you hear a lot is that it was easy to program for. It seems they’ve some a long way from that. Is Sony at risk here? Only time will tell.
Source: [url=http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060225-6265.html]Arstechnica[/url]
I’ve seen this rumor a few places, but Joystiq is reporting that there is a rumor of a new PSP on the works with 4 gigs of internal memory and a camera. This way it can be a better iPod killer, I suppose.
Personally I don’t want any of that stuff. I just want it to be cheaper so I can check out those Megaman remakes. I also don’t want to pay for a huge bundle of stuff I don’t need. Let’s hope they make those changes, too.
Remember folks, this is still just a rumor, even if it is widely reported.
Source: [url=http://www.joystiq.com/2006/02/24/rumor-new-psp-to-get-a-built-in-camera-and-4gb-of-flash/]Joystiq[/url]
I’m not sure how I missed this, but the link was down there in Arstechnica and I passed right over it. Some guy has recreated a few classic game scenes in Lego goodness.
Simple, yet awesome.
Source: [url=http://www.thenewgamer.com/journals/r_lefeuvre/2006/02/lego_video_games_sanity.php]The New Gamer[/url] (via [url=http://arstechnica.com/journals/thumbs.ars/2006/2/22/2954]Ars[/url])
OK, so I’ve been looking at Gametap for a while, but this may be what pushes me over the edge. They will apparently have Ultima 1-6 available for play, soon. I know people who have played every game in this series. I was just addicted to five, but plowing through it and doing all the side quests took a good 100 hours or so out of my life. I don’t think I’ve ever been more drawn into an RPG.
I’m not sure I can pump 100 hours into this game again, but I may get Gametap anyways.
Source: [url=http://www.gamesetwatch.com/2006/02/gametap_to_get_ultima_rereleas.php]GameSetWatch[/url]
OK, I know two Parappa videos in about a week is a bit much, but man. De La Soul doing Parappa in an appropriately themed video? That’s crazy. They even go 2d for part of it.
[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lB5AgzAtIqI]Video here.[/url]
Source: [url=http://arstechnica.com/journals/thumbs.ars/2006/2/20/2929]Arstechnica[/url]
