| MikeB said: @ HappySqurriel I prefer Sony to focuss on the long term perspective, I think the choice for Blu-Ray was really a no brainer considering the PS3's specifications (memory, bandwidth & performance), within which a higher capacity drive suits very well (like DVD was for the PS2). I also think Sony and other companies have far more long term plans for the Cell design processors well beyond just the PS3, I'm sure they evaluated both the short term and long term gains for the company. I am most happy with the fact the PS3 has a Blu-Ray drive, but especially with the inclusion of the Cell processor. |
I realize that Sony has plans for the Cell processor beyond gaming; in fact there were news stories about the Cell in 2002 that were stating that Sony designed it after a DSP mainly because they were planning on using it as a DSP in many of their products in the future. My problem with the Cell (and Blu-Ray) is mostly that Sony is trying to finance their (at the time) struggling electronics division's R&D with the Playstation division's budget with questionable value being returned to the Playstation division.
I'll contrast Sony's strategy to what I believe is Nintendo's R&D strategy for the future ...
With the Gekko/Broadway and Flipper/Hollywood processors Nintendo now has a very cost effective, powerful (for the clockspeed and die size) and well known architecture. With the 65nm and 45nm processes Nintendo will be able to produce a single core solution based on these processors for handhelds, and an inexpensive multi-core solution for home consoles. Since the technology is being used in multiple products it is very cost effective for each product, and the software technology (engines) will be (mostly) re-useable and standard across platforms.
I'll try to state what I mean in another way ... There is nothing (necessarily) wrong with the approach Sony has taken with Blu-Ray and the Cell but their decision is what makes the system so unfamiliar, expensive, and makes including certain features (backwards compatibility) difficult.
