MGS4 is 1080p!

[MikeB]

@ Entroper

About the Insomniac article:

"Most recently, Insomniac has published the ideas behind internal work being done to field 'SPU shader' support across a number of their larger systems.


Designed to alleviate the contextual burden that might affect certain programmers in their approach to Cell, the idea behind SPU shading is to create pipelines within larger SPE-based systems that resemble in spirit the models more generally associated with GPUs. Within this framework, a programmer is able to insert one or more 'shaders' - essentially a fragment of SPU code - that will accomplish custom work inside of the larger system, with code and required data explicitly associated with one another. Shaders are system-specific in nature, and must conform to parameter, code size, and scratch memory norms. From a performance perspective, one of the primary advantages of this model is that independent programming objectives within a system can be addressed while at the same time reducing the need for callbacks and synchronization requirements between the SPE and PPE.

In their provided overview, Insomniac reveals that the igPhysics system developed by Christensen has been the first to be re-worked to support SPU shading. igPhysics was modified to support the dynamic loading of code and transformed into a multistage pipeline, with each stage loading the next. Although the system pipeline itself remains fixed at runtime, the code being run can be dynamic due to the shader model; the resultant system is both faster and simpler than before. The move to the shader model has led Insomniac to the creation of a real system of deferred physics, with performance of roughly twice its immediate predecessor.

Mike Acton indicates that Insomniac will be expanding the number of SPE systems utilizing the shading model going forward, extending next to "...game (AI) logic. Custom shaders for specific types of characters, updating asynchronously on the SPUs."

IMO the article fits well into better understanding the SPEs.