IBM has recently announced that they have shipped the Broadway chip to Nintendo for their Wii next-generation console...early.
The custom-designed chip has been handed to Nintendo, but not today... back in July. Ron Martino, directory of IBM Technology Collaboration Solutions says, "We have been shipping well within this quarter. In fact, we have shipped a significant volume in this quarter."
This information, reported by Joystiq, came early in the morning (12:01A.M actually). This news comes as a surprise because that means Nintendo and their next-generation console has been working in production for a lot longer than we thought.
Nintendo has also confirmed the news saying "the first chips are in our possession", Genyo Takeda, Senior Managing Director/General Manager, Integrated R&D Division at Nintendo goes on to say "Today's milestone marks the final stage of our drive to reach both core and nontraditional gamers with an inviting, inclusive and remarkable gaming experience."
Final Stage? The product was not predicted to be released until Q4 2006 - but people assume later in Q4 than sooner. In any case, IBM's Ron Martino reports the CPU being "20% more power efficient than the GameCube and performs significantly better."
What we all want to know: price. It's nice that the product may come out early and it would be great if it's more efficient on power (perhaps not as hot as some consoles) but gamers are eagerly awaiting the cost.
The custom-designed chip has been handed to Nintendo, but not today... back in July. Ron Martino, directory of IBM Technology Collaboration Solutions says, "We have been shipping well within this quarter. In fact, we have shipped a significant volume in this quarter."
This information, reported by Joystiq, came early in the morning (12:01A.M actually). This news comes as a surprise because that means Nintendo and their next-generation console has been working in production for a lot longer than we thought.
Nintendo has also confirmed the news saying "the first chips are in our possession", Genyo Takeda, Senior Managing Director/General Manager, Integrated R&D Division at Nintendo goes on to say "Today's milestone marks the final stage of our drive to reach both core and nontraditional gamers with an inviting, inclusive and remarkable gaming experience."
Final Stage? The product was not predicted to be released until Q4 2006 - but people assume later in Q4 than sooner. In any case, IBM's Ron Martino reports the CPU being "20% more power efficient than the GameCube and performs significantly better."
What we all want to know: price. It's nice that the product may come out early and it would be great if it's more efficient on power (perhaps not as hot as some consoles) but gamers are eagerly awaiting the cost.
