AMD

[Hum]

AMD (NYSE: AMD) is said to be producing the chips for Microsoft?s (NASDAQ: MSFT) next generation Xbox video game console, according to a report from Bloomberg. That comes after AMD?s chips were confirmed to appear in Sony?s (NYSE: SNE) upcoming Playstation 4. Nintendo?s Wii U -- released last November -- is also powered by AMD.

The announcement was a huge win for AMD, whose shares rallied over 13% on Monday. Most interesting, however, was what the announcement represented for the video game industry as a whole.

Video game consoles have evolved rapidly over the years. Internet connectivity and the ability to play movies has transformed them from boxes dedicated to playing games to fully-featured entertainment centers.

At some point, the line between a traditional PC and a gaming console became blurred. Now with AMD architecture, that line is set to be virtually erased entirely.

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[The Evil Overlord]

AMD powered SpyKids 4 too?

[chrisj1968]

How can AMD be a monopoly when they are second behind Nvidia? Perhaps the OP article should be titled, "Because AMD plays nice, they shall benefit more."

I should think that, with PC's and Laptops that run Windows, they should incorporate the Xbox system so a user can use their HDMI connections to the TV and use bluetooth to run up to 4 controllers.

could running 4 controllers off of bluetooth be doable?

[The Teej]

Uhh, I think we're forgetting that the CPU in the Wii U is an IBM PPC - only the GPU in the Wii U is built by AMD :laugh:

I get this article's point but it's slightly over-zealous :p Unfortunately, though, it does painfully point out an even bigger disconnect between the Wii U and it's next-generation fellows - first on a horsepower front, and secondly on an architectural level, but I digress.

Good work AMD!

How can AMD be a monopoly when they are second behind Nvidia? Perhaps the OP article should be titled, "Because AMD plays nice, they shall benefit more."

I should think that, with PC's and Laptops that run Windows, they should incorporate the Xbox system so a user can use their HDMI connections to the TV and use bluetooth to run up to 4 controllers.

could running 4 controllers off of bluetooth be doable?

The PS3 and the Wii run 4 controllers off bluetooth already. Also, it's technically a console monopoly but yeah, slightly poor wording there :p

[Hum]

How can AMD be a monopoly when they are second behind Nvidia?

I think it is a monopoly in terms of producing chips for the new Xbox.

[MorganX]

I think it is a monopoly in terms of producing chips for the new Xbox.

If games developed for the next Xbox can be easily ported/co-developed for Windows 8 (WinRT), this will indeed be significant.

[+LogicalApex MVC]

I think this can potentially start to get PC graphics back to a point of competitiveness. With the duopoly of Nvidia - AMD in the discrete graphics space we expect more competition than exists. Nvidia has been pricing their parts high with little regard for AMD pricing as they feel they have a clear lead. With many games preferring to be cross platform and AMD holding the chip space in both upcoming game consoles it is possible newer games will be AMD optimized. This could lead to Nvidia having to compete better on price and/or features.

Hopefully this is a win for us consumers :)

[neufuse Veteran]

first thing I thought when I read the first paragraph was, Wii U? That is an IBM PPC chip.... then realized they are generalizing because it has an AMD (What was ATI) graphics chip in it.... just like the Wii did :rolleyes:

[Arceles]

AMD and monopoly... interesting choice of words, hardly. But Yeah, go AMD :D

[Motoko.]

"AMD's graphics merges PC and Console Gaming"

It can't get anymore accurate than this, Gentlemen..

[francescob]

Are we sure AMD is going to get any profit from that?

[seta-san]

diablo 3 proved that the lines between console gaming and PC gaming are still very much different. D3 was a much smaller game with many more limits than diablo 2 specifically to tailor to consoles.

[Arceles]

I just want to see them on mobile... my next phone hopefully will be an AMD powered one...

[FloatingFatMan]

IIRC, Nvidia specifically declined to produce chips for the next gen consoles, handing the job over to AMD free and clear; so if it IS a monopoly, it's not one of AMD's making.

[PGHammer]

If games developed for the next Xbox can be easily ported/co-developed for Windows 8 (WinRT), this will indeed be significant.

Please; games for the CURRENT-generation XB360 can - and have - been ported to Win32 already, as was the case with the *original XBOX* (which was based on modified WinCE/NT code, as is the current XB360 - the first two HALO games were ports). Bejeweled Blitz Live has also been ported from XBLA to 8/RT (it's in the App Store right now) as have several other XBLA titles. Porting from ANY console to Windows is not hard - it's been done way too many times to count - the problem is doing it well enough so that it's not obvious. Games have gone the OTHER direction (from PC to consoles) as well - Probe Entertainment's ONLY original game - Forsaken - was a PC title that was ported to the PS2; not the other way round. (While it made the rounds originally as a demo for the original 3dfx Voodoo Graphics cards, it did, in fact release as a PC title; however, it supported D3D on release - not GLide so much.) The reason it isn't done more often (porting or co-development) is that consoles have just as high an appetite for title exclusivity as the PC - further, they can command higher prices than PC SKUs; the high prices that Crysis 3 Hunter Edition and Simcity demanded for the PC are standard fare for consoles, while atypical for the PC.

IIRC, Nvidia specifically declined to produce chips for the next gen consoles, handing the job over to AMD free and clear; so if it IS a monopoly, it's not one of AMD's making.

That is because nVidia and fab partner TSMC have their hands quite full keeping up with Tegra demand, not to mention Kepler and progeny.

[HawkMan]

IIRC, Nvidia specifically declined to produce chips for the next gen consoles, handing the job over to AMD free and clear; so if it IS a monopoly, it's not one of AMD's making.

I don't think we should necessarily trust Nvidia's words on that...

And i they did refuse it's because they couldn't go down to the cost numbers requested by MS/Sony/Nintendo, while AMD could meaning there was never any second round with higher bids. so in that case it was AMD's doing.

[FloatingFatMan]

I don't think we should necessarily trust Nvidia's words on that...

And i they did refuse it's because they couldn't go down to the cost numbers requested by MS/Sony/Nintendo, while AMD could meaning there was never any second round with higher bids. so in that case it was AMD's doing.

It was a few weeks ago I read the article (on here, no less), and IIRC, the reasons given were that it wasn't cost effective for them. I guess they didn't want to take a loss on initial production like they have previously.

[HawkMan]

I know, I read the article. however, their whole basis for the statement was a bit dubious at best.

[watchthisspace]

I think the writer should of done a little more homework before typing that up. Is it actually great consoles will have an x86-64 CPU architecture? I doubt joe consumer will care or even reap any of the benefits. Will the drop in dev costs also be passed onto consumers? Definitely not.

Because of the simpler nature to pirate PC games, will this translate to consoles like he suggests? That really depends on what DRM measures Microsoft and Sony implement.. It's not going to be a day one problem.

[Brandon H Supervisor]

I came in here thinking this was about a monopoly game that actually had cross platform multiplayer on pc and consols

i feel kinda silly now :p

[MorganX]

Please; <snipped>

I'm not sure any of that changes what I said. The XBLA ports to date are tablet-friendly weak titles. No meat, and not doing a thing for promoting the Modern UI as a PC gaming platform.

[Rickkins]

Go Amd...!!!

[Luc2k]

Hopefully this will bring a lot more of the console games to the PC, unlike the current generation. Even if piracy is very high on the PC, it is a stupid idea to shut yourself out of a market now that the architecture gap has been removed.

[Nilus]

IIRC, Nvidia specifically declined to produce chips for the next gen consoles, handing the job over to AMD free and clear; so if it IS a monopoly, it's not one of AMD's making.

Incorrect. Nvidia said only after the fact that they were not interested in the console space, after AMD had been said to be producing chips for both consoles.

The person interviewed just said 'i'd imagine it wasn't cost effective' . It was a complete guess for the purposes of the interview without any backing behind it.

Nvidia lost out on 2 major contracts and just played the 'we didn't want it anyway' card.

[Hum]

AMD and monopoly... interesting choice of words, hardly. But Yeah, go AMD :D

Do not pass Go. :p