Link Posted November 28, 2005 Share Posted November 28, 2005 RevoGaming has heard from sources inside the development community that IBM has finalised the Broadway processor and is showing it to developers. Details inside. The details come from two different sources inside the development community. One source revealed the information to RevoGaming around three weeks ago, whilst the other revealed it to us a few days ago. We were waiting for a word from another development insider before we would report it. Apparently, the "Broadway" processor is finished, and IBM has shown plans and a prototype to Nintendo. After some discussion, it has been shown to select developers. One source said that the processor was a dual-core one, whilst the other would not reveal any technical information. Both sources would not talk about ATi's "Hollywood" graphics chip or any other internal Revolution components. The names of the sources cannot be revealed at their request, nor the developers they work at. There is no official word from Nintendo, so this should still be classified as a rumour. RevoGaming will keep you updated. http://www.revogaming.net/html/modules/news/article.php?storyid=145 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Konfucius Posted November 28, 2005 Share Posted November 28, 2005 Good to hear the processor is complete but why can't they leak some specs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
system_error Posted November 28, 2005 Share Posted November 28, 2005 A friend of mine has a uncle who has a cousin and the brother of him works at a store which sells Del Monte bananas and he said that the IBM Broadway chip will feature IBMs new RubberD uCK technology. It enhances the plastic look of a given object by 1 and it can float. It looks very realistic in water areas especially in a bathtub Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Link Posted November 28, 2005 Author Share Posted November 28, 2005 A friend of mine has a uncle who has a cousin and the brother of him works at a store which sells Del Monte bananas and he said that the IBM Broadway chip will feature IBMs new RubberD uCK technology. It enhances the plastic look of a given object by 1 and it can float. It looks very realistic in water areas especially in a bathtub why are u being an ass? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YenRug Posted November 28, 2005 Share Posted November 28, 2005 why are u being an ass? Because he's a developer and doubts the likelihood of this news being true, at least with regard to the possibility of it leaking like this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
system_error Posted November 28, 2005 Share Posted November 28, 2005 @Link: Don't feel insulted so easily I was making fun of that article. My intention was clear - posting a sarcastic reply to an article which is horrible. I think it is good that you posted it but please allow me to express my opinion about it. Look why would IBM need to show the chip to developers? The architecture and the custom features Nintendo wanted have been finalised surely months ago and developers don't need to see a chip but rather a good SDK with the needed documentation. "Look Mr. EA this is the Broadway chip it is silver and very shiny ... look at the little golden pins on its back aren't they beautiful?" Furthermore one developer says dual core, the other says "I don't say anything" and both don't comment on the ATI chip or anything else Revolution related? Those must be insiders for sure ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCK Posted November 28, 2005 Share Posted November 28, 2005 system_error can be so undeniably right sometimes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hellfire Posted November 28, 2005 Share Posted November 28, 2005 And isn't dual core kind of hard to develop for? That seems to defeat the purpose of Revo being simple. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
system_error Posted November 28, 2005 Share Posted November 28, 2005 Well since Sony and Microsoft use even more cores developers have to get used to it and at least dual core CPUs are "easier" to code for than 3 or more. Moreover you gain (IF you have the neccessary skills) much more power from a dual core CPU with less MHz than a single CPU with a lot of MHz. Temperature is definitly a issue for the small Revolution case so dual core means less heat (although it takes a bit more space depending on the architecture) but a good amount of power. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiemetriX Posted November 28, 2005 Share Posted November 28, 2005 Well.. if Coding for a singel Core is a 1 (in terms of difficulty) then coding for a dual core is a 10. With revolution already using technolgy that makes games run better (singelpass) Singel core is the way to go IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaijin von Snikbah Posted November 29, 2005 Share Posted November 29, 2005 Call me cwazy, but doesnt the DS have 2 processors? One ARM9 and one ARM7. Im also thinking it could be the physics engine, wich is almost like a second CPU. I dont believe dual core is 10 times harder to develop for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jordan Posted November 29, 2005 Share Posted November 29, 2005 Call me cwazy, but doesnt the DS have 2 processors? One ARM9 and one ARM7. Im also thinking it could be the physics engine, wich is almost like a second CPU. I dont believe dual core is 10 times harder to develop for. No no, the ARM7 is waaaay to weak to do any kind of physics calculations. Same with the ARM9 actually. Basically, the DS has two processors so that the CPU's can share out the calculations or so that they can display two different things on two screens and also for GBA Emulation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCK Posted November 29, 2005 Share Posted November 29, 2005 Yeah, the ARM7 is just a nice chip to dump annoying stuff on you don't want to bother the ARM 9 with. It's mostly used as a sound processor and network manager, so that the ARM 9 can focus on what's more important. Dual core works a bit different. Besides, if Nintendo uses dual core, then PC programmers that are getting used to the new PC dual core generation (Pentium D and Athlon 64 X2) can use their experience for the Revolution. I'm not worried too much about the CPU, it's the GPU Nintendo needs to do a good job on, seeing how much the 360's GPU costs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
system_error Posted November 29, 2005 Share Posted November 29, 2005 Metrowerks CodeWarrior might be the alternative to GNU GCC or even a special compiler from Nintendo itself. Of course a good compiler is needed but so is a fundamental understanding of a parallel architecture. Even the best compiler can't help if your calculations are data dependend. Mapping and scheduling is quite important too. The PowerPC has a rather big pipeline which can speed up things (Fetch, Decode, Get Operands, ...) if the branch prediction works out well. The problem is with multicore development that everything has to be adjusted to the new plattform. You need the right software and a different design because with a lower clock rate (assuming that the Revolution will have a rather low clock rate with a dual-core layout) you don't want to miss more cycles than neccessary. I am quite sure that at the start of the dual-core era much power is wasted because I doubt that the average developer had to care about such things before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
faz99 Posted November 29, 2005 Share Posted November 29, 2005 why are u being an ass? I thought what he said was funny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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