Nintendo's IBM / Matsushita Deal
Howard Lincoln, at a pre-e3 press
conference, released new information
regarding Project Dolphin.
Apparently IBM is well into designing
the
processor (known as "Gekko") based on its
current .18 micron copper chip technology.
The chip, based on their PowerPC line of
microprocessors, will be very cheap allowing Nintendo to sell the system
to the mass
market. The deal between IBM and Nintendo is said
to exceed $1 Billion.
Also partnering with Nintendo is the
Japanese super-giant Matsushita (better
known as Panasonic in the states.) They will
be designing the DVD drive included with the system. The DVD drive is said
to have the ability to play movies right out of the box.
(unlike Playstation 2, which sony is still
debating on whether it will include movie
playback with the PSX2.) As part of the
deal, Nintendo will conduct research with
Matsushita to develop a line of home
networking products.
Current System Specs
As they now stand, these are the
system specs.
CPU
- IBM "Gekko" Processor
- Clock Speed of 400MHz
- Semiconductor Process 0.18 micron
Copper Technology
Graphics
- Full-Custom Chip designed with
ArtX Inc. in the U.S.
- Clock Speed of 200 MHz
- Semiconductor Process 0.18micron
Embedded DRAM Technology
System Memory
- High Speed DRAM Technology
- Bandwidth - 3.2GB/second
Software Format
- DVD Format with Matsushita's DVD
Technology
- Enhanced Counterfeit Protection
In conclusion to his speech
Howard
Lincoln sounded very enthusiastic about
his competition. "We're going to continue
to be very circumspect in revealing all
of Dolphin's specs... for a very simple
reason - there are more technological
surprises to come, and we'd like to keep
them just that - surprises - for you and
especially for our competitors.
But as I stand here this afternoon, I think
Nintendo is very well positioned to take on Sony and Sega.
And with partners like ArtX, IBM and
Matsushita, I'm very confident we'll do
very well in that coming bout. In fact,
we can hardly wait!"
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