What's the point of cell?

[greenmedic88]

NJ5 said:

@greenmedic88: I don't see many people criticizing the Cell itself, as it obviously has its applications.

As for Sony's decision to use it in a gaming console, that's quite controversial and rightly so. It's not just "naysayers" criticizing that.

When I look at that Killzone 2 CPU usage diagram, it reinforces my belief that the Cell isn't a blessing for game developers.

 

It is more ideal for a media center as opposed to a basic CPU/GPU based game PC/console. It makes one wonder whether Sony was really engineering a game console or a Sony branded media center that "also plays games" for the living room from the beginning.

Seeing as how it was used to push the BR format to success over HD-DVD, and that it's also being used as a portal to Sony's online media rental service/store, it does seem as though gaming may not necessarily have been Sony's sole priority this generation.

And it isn't the simplest platform to develop for; that much has been made pretty clear if the developer is at all interested in optimizing performance from the architecture.

Either way, the loudest opponents of the Cell seem invariably a part of the anti-Sony brigade.